INTERNET SPURS SMALL-BUSINESS REBIRTH: Photo Lab Finds Broader Customer Base with 120processing.com

June 1, 2011 - PRLog -- Received wisdom is that the Internet is bad for small businesses, but Steve Frank—owner of Photosmith in Dover—is taking the other side of that bet. For more than 30 years, Frank has processed film and printed photographs in the same location on Central Avenue.  But the digital photography movement has profoundly impacted his business. Though Photosmith has offered an array of digital services to serve the new market, the fact remains that the average customer—a parent of school-aged kids, say, or a realtor—is not spending as much on photography services as he once did.

Though Photosmith has always been a ‘Main Street’ business—many have been its customers for all thirty years—Frank has reached out to the Internet with another brand. Inspired by the resurgence of film photography, he has established http://www.120processing.com to target a new generation of film users.  Through the website, people all over the country can print a pre-paid mailer to send their film to Photosmith and receive their processed film and prints back about a week later. “This way, you can get film processing of the same quality and with the same attention to detail you expect from a good independent lab, no matter where you are,” Frank said.

120processing.com also offers scans and CDs for those who want to store or share their images digitally, and in fact Internet sharing is an important piece of 120processing.com’s business model. Though there might not be enough film enthusiasts to support a photo lab in any given community, the Internet makes possible the creation of a virtual community that stretches across the country. To foster such a community, 120processing.com has established itself on Twitter and Facebook. Frank is also sponsoring a collective of ‘analog’ photographers, Lo-Fi Revolution, which has a presence on Facebook and on Tumblr.

Though the business model has changed, Frank says, the essence of Photosmith has not. “We’re just taking the independent photo lab and making it virtual,” he says. “We still believe in customer service and good work.”  No surprise, then, that Frank’s blog is called “The Old-School Photo Lab” (http://oldschoolphotolab.blogspot.com).

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Real photography. Simple. http://120processing.com is bringing the old-school photo lab to the Internet to serve those who love 120/medium-format film. We'll process your film any way you like (color, B&W, cross-processing) for $9--including shipping both ways!