"Ring, ring, ring..." The phone rang again. Ronald picked up the phone and gave an example to his neighbor, Miss Weber.
"This is Ronald Portrait Photography Studio. Please..., okay, I have written down your name and phone number. Your appointment time is 02:30 pm.
"Look, it's very simple." Ronald looked at the neighbor girl, today's temporary operator.
"Ring ring ring ring..." The phone rang again within a few seconds. Ronald:
"This is Ronald Photography Studio, may I ask you... ok, your appointment time..."
"Ring ring ring ring..." The phone that had just been put back was ringing again.
"This is Ronald, may I ask you... tomorrow afternoon, can you..."
"Ring ring ring ring..."
"Ahem...please say"
"This is Ronald Portrait Photography. Do you want to make an appointment for a photo shoot?" Fortunately, Miss Weber took over immediately.
Ronald's phone has been ringing since 10 o'clock in the morning, and the notebook recording appointments is getting longer and longer. The photo sessions were quickly filled up and Ronald had to make arrangements for the evening.
There were so many people that there was no room to change clothes or wait, and the customers made a mess with their comments.
There were more people in the afternoon than in the morning, and the filming was not completed until 8pm. Ronald felt that the momentum was wrong. The effect of the advertisement was beyond his expectation. Today is Christmas, and there will be more people tomorrow. If there is no improvement, your reputation will collapse.
After thinking blankly at home for a long time, Ronald decided to expand his business immediately, took out a pen and paper, and started planning.
First finding his neighbor Mrs. Weber, Ronald immediately raised his daughter's daily wage from $5 to $20 a day. I also paid a little rent for Mrs. Weber, and asked her to temporarily use the living room and bedroom in her apartment as a waiting room and dressing room for the portrait photography studio.
In the next few days, Miss Weber was promoted from operator to secretary. She was responsible for making appointments and recording the number of people taking photos every day, and issuing numbers to each customer. Arrange customers to line up next door, put on makeup, and be called when it's their turn.
Her mother, Mrs. Weber, was also hired by Ronald to archive each customer's film, sending it to the Kodak printing shop twice a day, and then getting the developed photos back.
In order to prevent mistakes, Ronald also bought a Polaroid instant camera to take photos of customers, and asked Mrs. Weber to use them to archive them with the film to prevent mistakes.
Ronald no longer accepts outdoor shooting business and only shoots in the apartment. I take portraits every day, develop them, file them in the evening, and send them to clients the next day.
Working continuously morning and night, Ronald had earned more than 14,000 US dollars after a week's holiday. After excluding the cost of hiring Mrs. Weber and his daughter, the cost of film, and the cost of printing, the net profit was more than 12,000.
Looking at the cash in the drawer, Ronald counted them one by one again, and he really made a lot of money.
The strategy of celebrity endorsement is very successful. As soon as customers see the two audition photos of beauties, they will have a fantasy, as if I can also take such photos.
This is because the customers that Ronald attracts are mainly young people in their late teens and early twenties, and more than 80% of them are women. Most of them have never appeared in movies or TV series.
They are similar to the two dancing beauties in "Rock and Roll High School". They are at the age when they are the best in the world and are full of longing for future dreams. Their minds are filled with the idea of "I will definitely succeed, all I need is a photo".
As long as the audition photos are taken well, they can become the next Olivia Newton-John (the female lead in the movie "Grease"), dance on the screen with John Travolta, and become the idol of thousands of boys. .
Ronald relied on his experience with the crew during this period to explain to them in a few words the function of the audition photos, the shooting method, and a few gossips.
Then he pointed out the audition photos of Demi Moore and Natasha Kinski to them, and casually mentioned that director Roman Polanski had chosen them, and the customers couldn't wait to pay for the photos.
Ronald didn't say that it was the audition photos he took that impressed Director Shorty. They were all imagined by the customer.
Even the nearby Kodak printing store also made a lot of money. The manager was surprised and tentatively asked if he would send someone to serve him, hoping to get him as a big customer with stable business.
Ronald's advertising was on the right track, and with the blessing of Demi Moore's incomparable beauty, this wave of holiday crowds was beyond his expectation. The business seems to be doing well.
Ordinarily, if Ronald's purpose was just to make money and find a career, then this would be a great start.
Next, you should register the company, rent the space, hire manpower, and then sign a contract with the Kodak printing store to ensure the time and quality of printing. When the business stabilizes, you can start recruiting photography assistants and expand the scale step by step.
Then try a higher-level photography business, such as shooting covers for fashion magazines and models for print advertisements.
But Ronald's dream is to be a film director and make something real. A portrait photographer who is a first-timer is not as influential as a fledgling film director. After all, the size of the audience for the work, the number of people making money, and the sense of satisfaction you get are not on the same level.
So should we take advantage of this wave of popularity and do another advertisement? Earn as much money as you can in a short period of time, at least earn enough money for four years of tuition and filming a graduation short film.
Ronald hesitated.
The constant flow of people in the apartment day and night has aroused the curiosity of many people. Ronald feels that if this continues, it will attract the attention of the IRS and send people to inspect the accounts.
In addition, Ronald is also worried about theft and robbery. Venice is relatively safe, but it is not without people from other communities wandering around.
If you have too much cash at one time, you are afraid of attracting covetous attention and being targeted by the IRS. When Ronald was taking photos in Staten Island, he inquired about the current high tax rate for individual freelancers. Those who earn more than $400 in annual income through photography must pay tax.
Moreover, in addition to the tax filing season in April each year, freelancers also need to estimate the tax amount for the next quarter and prepay the income tax for the next quarter in advance.
California state taxes are not friendly to freelancers either. In short, in addition to the high tax rate, the tax payment procedures are also very cumbersome. A few dollars missing or a few days late will result in large penalties from the IRS.
Everyone is trying to avoid it if they can, and small businessmen and freelancers are doing their best to use cash for transactions to prevent the IRS from getting caught. But the IRS will also conduct surprise inspections based on reports or clues in the news.
Cash transactions can avoid taxes, but leaving so much money at home is not safe.
If the one-time cash deposit is too high, it will alert the bank and report it to the IRS.
It would be nice if there was a senior person I knew well who could ask me about this kind of thing.
Ronald simply called Aunt Karen to wish her a Happy New Year and asked her how to deal with such a thing.
Ronald half-hiddenly said that he worked part-time as a portrait photographer and made some money, but he didn't know whether he should continue his business to earn tuition or continue working in a company to gain experience.
Aunt Karen comforted him and said, don’t be afraid, God will guide him:
"If you don't have the answer, then act based on your intuition. This is the guidance God gives you. Every time you determine the direction based on your intuition, it will be smooth sailing. If you don't follow God's guidance, but think about it over and over again, you will often end up with nothing. There will be setbacks.”
Over a bowl of typical American chicken soup, Ronald decided... to listen to Aunt Karen.
I am indeed quite hesitant about the idea of expanding my business, and subconsciously I may not want to continue, so I might as well proceed with caution.
Ronald went to the advertising agency of the Los Angeles Times again and placed another closure notice in the Times. From now on, I will only take orders recommended by old customers on weekends to avoid attracting thieves and the IRS.
Then I broke it into small pieces, went to the post office and Western Union, and bought some cashier's checks (Money Order) for US$300-500. This kind of cashier's check is purchased in cash and is more reliable than a check and will not bounce.
Therefore, it has a good reputation and can be honored at any time in major department stores and supermarkets.
Divide the remaining cash and cashier's checks into two parts, carry one part with you, and put the other part in a plastic bag and hide it in the refrigerator, so that Ronald feels a little relieved.
He planned to go to the bank at different time periods, one after another, every one or two weeks, deposit some money into the bank account, fly low-key and stay close to the ground, and avoid the radar of the IRS.
After doing these things, Ronald's thinking became clearer. The current business volume is undoubtedly brought about by the holidays and advertising. After the holidays, if we do not continue to advertise, we will not be able to maintain this scale of customer flow.
Rather than reluctantly expand the business, it is better to close down and return to a semi-underground state. After all, it is still uncertain where to go to school in half a year. If I go to New York, it will be very troublesome to handle business here.
Afraid of scaring Aunt Karen, Ronald only sent $500 home this time, and would give her more money when he returned to New York to make her life easier.
In the blink of an eye, the Christmas and New Year holidays passed, and it was time for Ronald to go to New World Productions to work as an editing assistant.
