Photo Booths That Post To Flickr... Awesome Idea, But A Good Biz?

[villarrealsj]

Hello All,

I use Google Reader to keep up with all of the blogs I read and today I read a few feeds about a club called Shines in San Fransisco that installed a photo booth that instantly posts the photos to a Flickr site. I took a look at the Flickr page and I think this is a cool idea!

I was surprised not to find a business concept or opportunity already out there on the internet. I Googled "photo booth flickr" and all that really came up were articles about this very same booth I mention. Maybe I'm just not using the right keywords.

I bring this up because again, I think this is a great business idea! The club owners say they basically came up with this idea almost by accident. Read an article that talks about it here.

QUESTION: Anyone have any good ideas or suggestions on starting this type of business? The booth would obviously have to be fabricated, which shouldn't be too difficult if you know the right people. The software and applications would also be fairly easy to outsource. Probably the most costly part would be the hardware.

I also like the idea the club is planning to do, which is install a screen in their club that instantly shows the photos as they are taking them... and post them to the Flickr site.

I'm sure much more can be added to make this idea a viable business. I'm interested in hearing what you have to say and add.

[jimmiejo]

I don't think enough is taken away from such a product. Especially if I have to pay just to have my photo taken and put online.

A great idea that is huge in Japan is Print Club, something that I've yet to see transferred into a North American format. This business, or one like it, was featured in Business 2.0 several months ago. It's taken off so big, mainly if not only, because friends swap stickers with one another to create their own albums. Something like this would have a much better chance of success than a Flickr booth. At least I think so.

[villarrealsj]

Funny you mentioned the Print Club machines. I was stationed in Japan for almost 4yrs at Marine Corps Air Station in Iwakuni, Japan. These things are everywhere! Anywhere you go, you'll see rows of these machines and Japanese love them. They love anything faddish, small and they absolutely love taking pictures, so that's why it's so popular.

As for the Flickr booth. Good point, not enough is taken away. Maybe providing printed photos and uploading to the Flickr site, so they have something in their hands... or... maybe incorporating some sort of advertising capability somewhere?

Anyone else have ideas?

[Jeff]

If you use it as a promotion device, then free wouldnt be a bad price for the pictures.

You could probably make up for it in the long run getting people to come look at the site.

[skatewhale]

I have actually taken some pictures on one of print clubs machine during my trip. First you stand inside this little camera room. When you are ready, there is background papers dropping and switching from the back. Then smile, and cheese! you've got a picture. The fun part is after the picture is taken, you can actually draw all kinds of stuff using a digital pen and a computer screen on the side of the machine. You can choose to add fancy frames, and different objects. such wacky sun glasses, snowflakes, flames etc.
it's pretty fun to play with it once in a while.