I wish I could do that. It’s not envy. It’s admiration. When you see a business idea so smart, and yet so simple, you’re intrigued to see how the founder’s story unfolds.
You’ll be inspired by the story of Death to the Stock Photo.
2 ‘rogue photographers’ taking to the road with a business proposition supported by common ground shared with their audience. We’ve all seen the success stories of crowd-funded Kickstarters. Take Form1, the 3D printers. They set out in search of $100k in funding. They received $3 million.
Death to the Stock Photo have taken a different route to fund their business. They’re working one-to-one with an audience of believers.
KNOW THE PAIN POINT
Every great service targets a pain point. As the world of content marketing explodes there’s been a proliferation of generic imagery with little or no context to the associated words. You’ve seen it. The cheesy grins and the man with the notion to write on the window.
The Pain Point -> How can we shift away from stock photography? Smart content marketers demand more than the generic photo.
Step forward Allie and David. The creators and founders of Death to the Stock Photo (Don’t you just love a brand name that encompasses how your audience really feels?)
Here’s the back story:
So for $15 a month content marketers and creatives can access a carefully curated portfolio of highly contextual imagery. Our role is to delve into the catalogue and find photography that suits your content. Smart thinking. Plus, there’s a free batch available to email subscribers (the taster for things to come).
DELIVER THE PROPOSITION
It’s pretty simple. Photography in context. With access to a catalogue of brilliant images, just like the content you write, you can now include more purposeful visual content….
LET YOUR AUDIENCE BUY INTO YOUR BRAND
This is where so many businesses fall down. The idea of not simply inviting your customers to buy from you, but to buy into you.
I love the way Death to the Stock Photo do this. Allie and David are embarking on a roadtrip. Last year they visited 4 locations across the US (Chicago, Big Sur, New York & Nashville). This year they’re giving their audience the opportunity to access 200 photos taken during their 2015 trip. We, the audience, are funding the trip to gain access to this exclusive collection. Smart thinking? Do you see what I mean now when I say ‘I wish I could do that’?
This is where crowd-funding is at.
A sustainable business model that allows your audience, your believers, to invest in what you’re about to create. This is true market maker territory. Ask yourself, where’s the competition? What are other freelance photographers doing that can compete with the connection Death to the Stock Photo have made with their audience?
DeathToStockPhoto Pricing Model
We’re asked to invest a minimum of $25. Not a price tag, just a recommended investment. Nothing less, anything more. We’re asked ‘how much is this product worth to you?’.
It’s a consumer behaviour that fascinated me during my time at Priceline.com. The acceleration of the ‘Name Your Own Price’ proposition reframed the way we think about the costs associated with travel. The value behind the value proposition swings 180 degrees. Ask your audience ‘what are our efforts worth to you?’
The greater our buy-in, the greater our willingness to invest.
Death to the Stock Photo use your investment to create something exclusive and with a value we can clearly identify with.
It may sound ridiculous right now, but how wide can this proposition of ‘buyer driven investment’ travel? Once we know how our investment is used, what the craftsmen will create, this represents a tremendous opportunity to build a unique connection with your audience.
CONSIDER THIS
Death to the Stock Photo are just one of thousands of owner-led businesses disrupting the way we buy. Their proposition becomes more compelling as we get to understand the backstory. The context. For their roadtrip, we live the journey we’d love to make ourselves. Knowing the personalities and the desire of those we invest in builds the definitive connection that allows our businesses to thrive. Rather than taking investment from the bank or the VC, we’re asking for investment from the community we create.
Can a software company thrive on the ‘pay what you believe’ model?
We already see adaptive pricing, excellently demonstrated by communication platform creators Slack.com and discussed by Steven Forth here.
We’ve also seen the ‘Pay what you believe’ model used for album releases, football matches, charity events and many more examples exist.
What can you do to create a more meaningful price structure for your own products? A basic offering and a premium version?
What can you do to create a greater connection with your audience whereby they’re willing to invest that little bit extra to receive something a little more unique (even before the product itself is crafted?)
Learn from Death to the Stock Photo. Take your audience on a roadtrip. Show them how their investment in your business can create something more meaningful, more unique. Share the journey no matter what problems your business has set out to solve.
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