By David Walker
© 2009 wonderful machine / photo by michael murtaugh
The Wonderful Machine staff. Back row (l to r): Marketing director Neil Blinkley, marketing assistant Carley Hennessey, founder and director of photography Bill Cramer, business manager Adrienne Watts, producer Jess Dudley, photographer liaison Carolyn Harper. First row (squatting, l to r): production assistant Ben Weldon, interactive designer Peter Clark.
Wonderful Machine launched 18 months ago with a mission to provide
member photographers with a level of marketing services between
that of an online portfolio portal and a full-service rep.
Photographers pay $125 per month to have their work featured
periodically in e-mail blasts, a company blog, printed mailers and
trade magazine advertising. The suburban Philadelphia company is
having no trouble building business, despite—or perhaps even
because of—the recession. "You would expect a slowdown, but people
need to promote in a down economy," says founder Bill Cramer. So
far, 200 photographers have joined. Annual revenues are currently
about $250,000. Wonderful Machine is adding five new members per
week, while turning away many others because they don't meet the
quality or diversity standards. "We want as much diversity
geographically, and as much diversity with the type of photography
as we can get," Cramer explains.
Wonderful Machine arose from Cramer's own frustration with
marketing when he was working as an editorial and corporate
shooter. Three years ago, he hit upon the idea to share the cost of
a full-time marketing employee with several other photographers.
"If you can spread those costs out, you can maximize efficiency,"
he explains. The idea worked, and soon other photographers wanted
in. So Cramer and his former studio manager, Neil Binkley, scaled
their fledgling operation into Wonderful Machine, with a mission to
provide marketing services to photographers around the world.
Cramer is sanguine about his company's success because he believes
it satisfies an unmet need. "We're providing really good value," he
says, asserting that portfolio portals don't provide photographers
with enough marketing services, while reps provide more than many
photographers want or need. "A lot of photographers are quite
comfortable handling their own client contact and production," he
says, though Wonderful Machine provides those services for
additional fees if photographers ask for them.
Perhaps the real test of the business model is whether competitors
start cropping up. Stay tuned.
Who's Not Panicking: Wonderful Machine
May 4, 2009
By David Walker
The Wonderful Machine staff. Back row (l to r): Marketing director Neil Blinkley, marketing assistant Carley Hennessey, founder and director of photography Bill Cramer, business manager Adrienne Watts, producer Jess Dudley, photographer liaison Carolyn Harper. First row (squatting, l to r): production assistant Ben Weldon, interactive designer Peter Clark.
Wonderful Machine launched 18 months ago with a mission to provide member photographers with a level of marketing services between that of an online portfolio portal and a full-service rep. Photographers pay $125 per month to have their work featured periodically in e-mail blasts, a company blog, printed mailers and trade magazine advertising. The suburban Philadelphia company is having no trouble building business, despite—or perhaps even because of—the recession. "You would expect a slowdown, but people need to promote in a down economy," says founder Bill Cramer. So far, 200 photographers have joined. Annual revenues are currently about $250,000. Wonderful Machine is adding five new members per week, while turning away many others because they don't meet the quality or diversity standards. "We want as much diversity geographically, and as much diversity with the type of photography as we can get," Cramer explains.
Wonderful Machine arose from Cramer's own frustration with marketing when he was working as an editorial and corporate shooter. Three years ago, he hit upon the idea to share the cost of a full-time marketing employee with several other photographers. "If you can spread those costs out, you can maximize efficiency," he explains. The idea worked, and soon other photographers wanted in. So Cramer and his former studio manager, Neil Binkley, scaled their fledgling operation into Wonderful Machine, with a mission to provide marketing services to photographers around the world.
Cramer is sanguine about his company's success because he believes it satisfies an unmet need. "We're providing really good value," he says, asserting that portfolio portals don't provide photographers with enough marketing services, while reps provide more than many photographers want or need. "A lot of photographers are quite comfortable handling their own client contact and production," he says, though Wonderful Machine provides those services for additional fees if photographers ask for them.
Perhaps the real test of the business model is whether competitors start cropping up. Stay tuned.
