Wanted: Killer iPad app for Taking Client Orders !
Wanted: Killer iPad app for Taking Client OrdersTHIS MUST EXIST, RIGHT? Wrong!
As the weepingly happy new owner of an iPad, I have spent a whole week playing games like PacMan and Godfinger, organizing the PANTS of myself with the ToDo app, and emailing and generally conducting business from my iPad from my office (even though my fancy computer sits 3 feet away)... Because that is all stuff my iPad can do! I've also been totally slacking on that color-coordinated To-Do list, so as I edge back into the world of my biz after my week of iPad-oblivion, I realized there is one thing I KNOW my beloved iPad CAN do for me, one other way that it can rock my world EVEN MORE. But WILL it? Alas, THERE IS NO APP FOR PHOTOGRAPHERS THAT TAKES CLIENT ORDERS. And I have searched high and low!
My true hope is that a reader will comment on this right away and say, "Like, DUH, it's the ______ app! Obvs!" And then I will start weeping again, out of gratitude this time, and tell Jeff to just take down this post. Because, I mean, REALLY?? I can't even find a photo viewer that will show the file name so that I can jot down accurate notes!?
Backup a step, let me tell you why I want it. As a small portrait studio based in NYC, I often am meeting clients in coffee shops and random locations to have their ordering appointments after their sessions, since they may live far away or be so busy that they can't meet me for more than a few minutes. Wouldn't it be lovely to just hand them the iPad so that they could scroll through themselves, tap the images they loved, and leave the rest to me? Wouldn't that, like, totally ENHANCE their experience??? (And yes, I know I could go to their home with a projector, but there are a few reasons that won't work for my clients most of the time, unrelated, so won't detail here!) This intimate one-on-one meeting, in a public place is how I've been doing biz and doing it just fine thus far, but I KNOW it can work better with the use of my beloved iPad. There are all kinds of ways this idea of Ordering Device for Photographers could get REAL fancy, and that would be amazing, but for now, REALLY, all I need is something that would let my client page through their proofs, make "picks" and then have a list of those image numbers available to me somehow afterwards.
APP BUILDERS, START YOUR ENGINES!!!! (Please? And THANKS!!!!)
Ana
http://www.anaphoto.net
I think this is definitely a useful app that should eventually hit the app store. It just depends on who makes it first.
There are tons of possibilities for apps on the iPad that could make it one of the most valuable pieces of computing to ever hit the market. It all just comes down to someone taking the time to make them.
Like everyone else, I have had plenty of ideas for apps that I think would be amazing, it's just a lack of coding skills or the money to pay someone to create it.
So I'm forced to wait...
A mobile iPad version of ProSelect would be pretty handy. Not only do many of us know how to use ProSelect but hopefully we could also leverage the existing templates that we already use.
I dont have an ipad. They literally hit the stores here this morning and I might have to go and visit ;)
However, I thought I would ask a question in case it helps. Does the ipad have iphoto? a cut down version at least? and if so does it have the preference option to show the file name AND maybe to rate the image like the one on a mac? If so.. the client could rate the images they want?
Alternatively, if it doesn't rate there should be an option to turn on the file names and at least write them down. Hope it IS an option for you.
I totally agree! A mobile version of ProSelect would be DIVINE! And no, the "Photos" app that comes on the iPad, which is sort of like a dumbed-down iPhoto, does not allow you to show file names. ERGGG!! (If anyone knows how to make that happen, though, please speak up! Perhaps I'm just not aware...) P.S. Loving the conversation this has started! We gotta bounce this stuff off each other to find the best solutions! :)
Gee I dont know - I think lbobi cost me some serious money today LOL. I went to the store and flicked open iphoto to see if it was possible and .. it isnt - sorry.. but i played for 2 mins and then bought one LOL. There has to be a solution to this?
A sales app would be great..but in the meanwhile....have you checked out MoodBoard Pro? I used this at a clients house the other day and scored a HUGE sale because she was instantly able to visualize exactly how the portraits would look on her wall. This app is designed for designers and creative types...fiddle with it for a few minutes and you can see how you can remove the color pallette tools, etc if you wish. This gives you a blank "wall" with which you can start laying out your customers portraits. I know we increased our sale significantly with this app! Good Luck!
I think it's just a matter of time before enough interest is shown within the Photography community that someone like ProSelect will create an iPad app. If they realize it would be profitable, they'll do it.