A couple weeks ago some of you may have seen me ask you to fill out the first ever survey for my business. Thank you to everyone who participated, it was really helpful! Here is a summary of the results:
1. How did you find out about Shang Chen Photography?
71% of you know me personally
13% of you found me on Facebook
7% of you found me on Craigslist
Not surprising. I think near the end a lot of people just clicked through Facebook. I’d like to have seen more non-friends of mine participate (like, there are a bunch of you who are fans on Facebook who I’ve never met!) and just say hello!
2. How often do you guys check my blog?
4% do so every day. [WOW! You're awesome!]
62% do so whenever it’s updated / Shang Chen Photography fan page pops up on the newsfeed
20% do so with my monthly Facebook updates
13% don’t keep up regularly
The vast majority of those who keep up do so through Facebook or my gchat statuses and my personal Twitter. I was surprised a lot fewer people use Google Reader for an RSS feed, it’s SUCH a great tool for following many blogs at once, then again, I probably read more blogs than the average person. I also know a lot of people are extremely busy, so it’s so cool to know how many people actually keep up on a weekly basis!
5. How can the blog be improved? (multiple answers permitted)
53% think it’s fine
36% want more posts of my gigs
22% want more posts about photography in general
20% want more posts about my life
16% want bigger display photos
Of course I love to post more gigs too, but the only way to do so is to hire me! hahaha! You asked for bigger photos and they’re coming! Only 1 person wanted less posts (I was actually afraid a lot more people would say so). And I’m surprised 20% of you wanted to learn more about my personal life! Um… let’s see, it’s not that interesting, I work anywhere between 60 – 80+ hours at my week job and then work another 15 – 20 for photography… so how interesting can it get! Hahaha, but I do like posting travel photos. Also, other helpful feedback include being more user friendly – major reason why I changed to a WordPress platform. A couple of you guys asked for more technical detail. I don’t think that there is necessarily a “right” technical way to produce a photo, but I can give some details every now and there. Also, I don’t like sharing my editing techniques because that is what makes my photography what it is, and other photogs charge for their workshops, action sets, etc. However, there are many resources out there that would happily teach you, and I’ll share what I’ll find interesting every now and then
6. If you were to hire me, what would you be interested in? [multiple choices allowed]
67% lifestyle
49% weddings
44% engagements
40% event and non-profit
33% headshots / artists
I think the conclusion to be drawn here is that it’s likely based on the demographics of the surveytakers, many of you, should you be my friends, probably are not thinking about marriage yet. However, I think the direction of Shang Chen Photography is going to be moving towards weddings / engagements and lifestyle, because I feel the most at ease and passionate about these gigs. For events and non-profits, as time permits I will consider special cases and the history of our relationship in the past, and I feel a special kinship to the student groups whose events helped launch this career, but it’s not an area that I can sustain very well into the future. One hard thing for events is that usually by the time a student group wishes to book me I’m already unavailable because weddings and lifestyle sessions tend to be booked months, even a year+ in advance.
7. Open Response -
Thanks for all your feedback and kind words! Since then, I’ve started a Twitter for my photography, and also feel encouraged that people are responding to my progression!
So, THANK YOU THANK YOU THANK YOU for helpig me out, this has meant a lot. I used random.org to generate the 2 winners. Please see your inbox, xjemni and cleesmile!
