Adding Value After Scanning - Slideshows

Everytime I look at our photo scanner I say thanks to Kodak for the service we can deliver to 1Scan's clients and for the substantial revenue it has brought our way. Scanning photos has been a great money-spinner, taking our service to another level having broken into scanning via a flatbed device. As a small (or should that be micro) business I'm acutely aware that if you aren't moving forward, you're rapidly falling behind. Talking to clients it soon became obvious that other companies were gaining revenue post scanning. How could we get a slice of that? My first step was adding an online album facility. People want to show and share their photos, our offering is free and enables them to do just that. We can also offer additional features such as ordering prints. Let me give you an example to show how it operates. This last week I scanned a batch of photos for a chap who, judging by the images, has just got married and been to Spain on honeymoon. We posted his scans to his own, shareable, online library and sent him the link, inviting him to share this with friends. Very soon I could see the hits on that album and my guess is that his bride originally hails from eastern Europe. Those hits peaked dramatically yesterday, they're obviously a popular couple. Very quickly I could see people were downloading free digital copies of the photos. That saves the happy couple hours burning CD copies of the scans, the time and trouble of mailing them across the world - and saves very significant cost. It gains me revenue too, many viewers wanted prints which they can also buy from the album, for direct delivery. I don't have to do anything to make all this happen but I do receive a small royalty from the sale. Second step was photo albums. This seemed to be the most popular next step for scanners. So I was able to do a deal with an album printing company. I'll spare you the gory details but it was a technical nightmare to get running, their client support was poor (including shutting up shop at lunchtime on Friday). Worst, for all the revenue our clients generated for them they never paid us a bean. very, very poor. So we didn't scratch our heads much before ditching them on the first anniversary of the sorry saga. Now we have a link with another photobook supplier and that's working much better. Our third step has just gone live. We're offering to create photo slideshows (or should that be photo slide show) for clients. It's a simple format, you pick one of three styles previewed on our site, tell us what title you'd like, we do the rest. Up to 200 photos for a fixed fee of £9-99. This has been on offer for a week and the response has been very positive. It has surprised me in that we've got a couple of orders where the slideshow hasn't been the simple add-on but the main purpose of the order. If you're in the scanning business, think about slideshows as an optional extra, then you can thank me and Kodak.

Kodak? Leica?

As I've often said, I just love Kodak. My Dad's first camera was a Kodak and he passed it on to me (when he bought a swish new Kodak). My first digital camera was a Kodak and the bulk of our photo scanning is done on a brilliant photo scanner, the Kodak s1220. The camera I long aspired to was a Leica but the best I could afford was a battered Nikon F and a newer Nikon, with a markedly lower build quality and an accurate exposure system. With the advent of digital I'd thought Leica had missed the boat until one of our clients showed me his new digital Leica, it's just brilliant. All the traditions of build quality have been preserved, giving the camera a lovely feel and the image quality is first class. Horrific expensive but lovely. Sadly our friends at Kodak seem to have fallen on hard times, and an article on Techcrunch suggested radical surgery, turning Kodak into a giant R&D shop which farms out its technology. Just imagine an iPhone with a built-in Kodak camera. Interesting idea. Today the Times is reporting a massive investment company has, at massive cost, bought a minority stake in Leica. They'll continue to build cameras in Germany but their focus will be switched to the Far East where they have identified market potential. Up for Leica, down for Kodak? Why? Kodak have, I think, lost their way. I recognise the signs from my experience in the computer industry. When I left university I joined a major world player which over the years not only lost its way but couldn't find anyone who could point the way out of the mess. We acquired profitable companies and ran them into the ground, invested in others that promptly turned a loss. Our price manual ballooned, warehouses were stuffed with kit (unsold alongside unsellable), customers were confused about the business we were in, as were our staff. Running my own business spares me from the internal turmoil I'd guess besets Kodak today. Cameras - yes, but not great. Photo developing stations. Printers, multi function devices? Why? And my beloved range of photo scanners. Don't forget the document scanning range. Some sells to consumers, some to small businesses, others to big companies. I bet much is sold direct while other items are sold indirectly. Then to further muddy the waters there's probably whole teams of people selling to online businesses such as Amazon. Best Buy. PC World. How on earth do they manage that lot. From what I can see, it's all made in the Far East too. So the manufacturers are working while the directors are awake. Recipe for disaster. So, you ask, what would you do? Well, there's little in a big company that can't be improved by turning it into a small company. The first step would be to decide what Kodak is and needs to be, then slim down to fit. Kodak invented and in the public eye still owns photography. I would define that as the act of getting the analogue world into a digital format, supported by a raft of software to make the whole thing the best it can be. As a European I'd say get all of that into America. Drop anything that isn't core. Facilitate anyone who wants to use your patent, design, PCB, or whole unit. Just agree it will have that little logo to keep the message out there. Concentrate on making the Kodak address the go to location for any photo and imaging issue or opportunity. Have people who can help me at a technical and commercial level. I know Kodak has such people, they're the spear carriers standing ready to lead Kodak out of the mire. Good luck to you all.