After 28 years of life, I never expected to find myself running a wedding photography business, let alone operating a photo booth on the side. Those mall kiosks with the little curtain I remembered from my youth were the furthest things from my mind. But after years of shooting weddings, I started to notice a gap in the vendor lineup: where were the photo booths?
Extensive research and networking with other photographers revealed a wide-open opportunity. In 2020, I decided to seize it, launching my own photo booth service to complement my existing photography work. What began as an afterthought has allowed me to offer clients an extra dose of fun and memories from their special days. The concept may seem strange at first glance, but that little kiosk from the mall has taken on a whole new life and purpose. There are so many different kinds of photo booths in terms of styles and how they are operated. Our favorite type of booth is the iPad photo booth.
It’s no secret that the public is captivated by selfies; you don’t need to be an Instagram or facebook celeb to recognize this trend. But you might as well hop on the trend and monetize it.
What Photo Booth Did We Purchase?
We Invested in The Salsa Booth | Photo Booth Supply Co
During the height of the COVID-19 pandemic, we sought an open-air photo booth experience that offered flexibility for events of all kinds. We found the perfect solution in PBSCO’s Salsa Booth, an iPad-powered digital photo booth that is fully open on all sides. This highly adaptable booth allows for safe, contactless photo-taking and sharing, making it an ideal choice for these unprecedented times. However, its appeal extends far beyond the current crisis, as the Salsa Booth delivers an unforgettable social photo experience for any occasion.
Through an intuitive app, Salsa, the photobooth delivers a seamless digital experience. Within seconds of snapping a photo or recording a video, guests receive their glamorous shots via text, email, or QR code. An online gallery grants instant access to the night’s collection of memories.
With hands-free, mask, and green screen features, Salsa encourages unabashed silliness and self-expression. Combined with impactful marketing materials and dedicated support, Photobooth Supply Co.’s photo booth is an event essential with guest experience at its core.
Why Did We Go With PBSCO?
- Great customer service
- Easy to use user interface/app. We really like the photo booth software used with this booth.
- Amazing customer support when we had questions about the gear/app/features/anything
- They followed up with us multiple times and made us feel that they cared about what they were selling
- The design for the Salsa Booth was sleek and attractive
- Straight to the point website
- Great bundle pricing. We purchased the middle tier from their website (pictured)
- They had a pricing calculator based on what we would charge/how many events we projected
- They had ready to go marketing material, allowing clients to accept bookings before receiving their photo booth gear
We purchased out Salsa booth at $4799. After meticulously researching the competition in the photo booth world and evaluating various booth styles, we went all in with the Photo Booth Supply Co; we believe the Salsa provides tremendous value to our client.
This was no haphazard decision – we poured our hearts and souls into searching for a photo booth that delivers an unparalleled experience at an unbeatable cost in terms of business investments.
When we felt comfortable sharing with the world, we launched NWA Photo Booth under my THEN brand, Kait Jackson Photography. The NWA Photo Booth experience has since blossomed into its own unique brand and sleek website. We are thrilled to now offer our fun and engaging photo booth experience to all of Northwest Arkansas and beyond!
What Kind Of Photo Booth Is The Salsa Booth?
As an iPad based photo booth, the Salsa delivers an unforgettable photo experience your event guests will love! This innovative open air photo booth that is operated by an iPad; it captures high-quality, print-ready shots with the tap of a button. Simple to set up and use, the Salsa Photo Booth is perfect for maximizing fun at your event and creating truly unique experiences.
While our newer DSLR photo booth, the Guac and Chips booth offers enhanced features such as using an actual camera body to take photos, the Salsa was our original photo booth for a reason. It provides a streamlined photo experience that’s easy for guests of all ages and technical skills to enjoy. With the Salsa Photo Booth, every picture tells a story of your special occasion – and these stories are ready to share and print on demand. The Salsa Photo Booth: making memories as vivid and vibrant as its namesake sauce!
Do We Recommend Photobooth Supply Co To Potential Photo Booth Business Owners?
Absolutely! We speak highly of Photobooth Supply Co. Not only do they promptly answer emails, but they often take it a step further and follow-up with phone calls or texts. Additionally, their Facebook group for salsa booth owners is incredibly useful when seeking help on questions or leads related to the business.
Did We Need Anything Else To Go With Our Salsa Booth To Provide A Great Service?
Absolutely! Without a doubt. Yes is the only word I want to emphasize when talking to photo booth owners—yes, you can offer quick, one-time services; however, customers are looking for something more meaningful and memorable on such special days. We have compiled a list of items that would benefit any new photo booth business so they don’t make the same mistakes we did in our early start-up stages. Don’t miss out on giving your clients an experience they will treasure forever!
Important Salsa Booth Gear To Give A Great Experience:
- LED Wand Lights
- Extra batteries for LED lights
- Mic Stand for LED Lights
- Mic adapter for LED Light Stand
- Heavy Duty Chargers for LED Light Batteries
- DNP Printer(not in stock currently, but we use DNP 620A)
- Paper for DNP620a (finally in stock on Amazon!!)
- Spandex Table Cloth
- 2X4 table for your printer and props
- Neon Signs
- Heavy Duty Backdrop Stand
- Gaffers tape or wire cover
- AirCastPro (if you want to print you NEED THIS. It is a MUST)
- Yellow Flat Fold Up Dolly
We put all of our gear into bags based on type and then those bags into a large tote, making setup and moving gear much easier.
Gator Bag – for poles/light poles/bases for light poles
17 gallon totes – for all other gear/plugs/etc
Join Amazon Prime to Get Your Photo Booth Gear Shipped in Just 2 Days! Link is Below
Join Amazon Prime – Watch Thousands of Movies & TV Shows Anytime – Start Free Trial NowMore Information On Additional Photo Booth Lighting
To learn more about the gear we use for our iPad photo booth lighting, visit our blog post ‘Why We Use Additional Lighting’.Here, you’ll find an in-depth overview of this equipment and why it is essential to boost your image quality. Believe us – once you add additional lighting to your set up, you won’t regret it!
Pros To Owning A Salsa Booth
- Easy user interface for guests
- Guided access on the photo booth events
- Simple and fast to setup
- Not a TON of gear is needed to be successful
- iPad Booth – no extra cameras needed
- Access to an online gallery immediately
- Marketing/advertising tools come with the membership
- Offers videos, boomerang, photos and GIFS options
- Ability to AirPrint with AirCastPro
- Easy to transport in a compact sedan
- Device can run off of either cell service or wifi
Cons To Owning A Salsa Booth
- Ipad photo booth only
- Monthly membership to the Salsa app
- No ‘true’ offline mode to run events on
- Camera quality does not match that of a DSLR camera booth
- Built in Salsa ring light is lacking for larger groups
Is A Photo Booth Business Profitable?
It’s entirely up to you. I can attest that yes, it is possible to make a profit from owning a photo booth business! We made it happen: through hard work and dedication we put in late nights, weekends, early mornings and more – now this has been our full-time job for years. We turned our $5k investment into 6 figures within 24 months of starting out business.
We put a great deal of effort into constructing an iconic brand that offers distinct experiences. Through social media and Instagram, we connected with our preferred customers. Additionally, to support the community around us, we offered free salsa booth rental during holiday parties, corporate events, weddings and more. Lastly – but certainly not least – we joined forces with local wedding planners, venue owners as well as other vendors to build meaningful relationships with them over time.
Owning a photo booth company is SO much more than a one person show. All of this to say, YES. It is profitable, if you do it in a way that works for you and also respects your community, others time and boundaries are created.
In a mere 10 months, we managed to pay off all our gear – not just the photo booth! If I could offer any counsel about operating a photo booth business it would be this: always keep pushing forward. Bookings in the early stages of your business will undoubtedly fluctuate; expect those inconsistent periods to last between 6 and 10 months. But with perseverance and patience, within 18-24 months you should have honed your skills enough to recognize trends more easily in this line of work.
What Events Do People Use Salsa Booth Services For?
Weddings
Our business has mainly focused on weddings, making them a great entry point for those entering the photo booth industry. With the high demand of wedding after parties and receptions, there is an obvious lack in quality photobooths to meet that need; luckily we have come prepared with our superior experience!
Ways To Enhance the Experience
Flower walls, neon signs, extra lighting, pose guiding, the ability to toggle between photo and video on the user interface, custom overlays, custom print templates, and more. Our wedding clients always leave happy with their experience with us, as well as their guests.
WHY YOU NEED A PHOTO BOOTH AT YOUR WEDDING – check this blog!
Corporate Events
We are eager to expand our business by working with corporate clients. These customers can be challenging when it comes to photo booths because they typically ask us to remove all of our branding! This was a difficult lesson for me, as I am determined (I’m a Taurus), and my logo is important to me. But ultimately, the customer and their satisfaction take precedence over everything else — so we had no choice but to let go of our branding.
Unique Experiences For Corporate Clients
The Salsa Booth is an absolutely remarkable tool for creating branded experiences with corporate clients. We are able to tailor the entire experience to their specific requirements – logo, colors, QR code, links on the interface, template and overlays plus much more! With the Salsa Booth App we can offer our corporate partners a truly personalized event they won’t soon forget.
Click HERE to hop over to our article talking about why corporate clients and events can benefit from a photo booth at their next event. The salsa app is a powerful advertising tool that your corporate client can benefit from. Furthermore, it should be attractive to them knowing you can extract the data from photobooth supply and deliver it after their event has ended. This means they will have access to potential leads in the form of emails or phone numbers!
You can use QR codes on templates to help clients/customers link to where you want them to link.
Corporate offices also use photo booths often for their holiday parties! This is a great way for them to do team building without much effort.
Sporting Events
Our photo booth services are highly adaptable, ready to be hosted at a variety of functions. We have recently become very involved in providing our options for sporting events, especially here in a college town with all the Razorback spirit! It’s been an exciting opportunity to work hand-in-hand with the local Athletic Department and see what we can accomplish together.
To provide our services to the local community, we organized several free events that included our branding as well as their own. As a result of this philanthropic gesture, more leads began coming in from other campus sectors. During the LPGA tournament held at our town’s golf course, we also had a salsa booth on Hole 17 with no visible branding. Nevertheless, it was still an amazing exposure opportunity – when preparing the online gallery for the event coordinator afterwards, many familiar faces and friends were spotted!
Do We Offer Prints With The Salsa Booth?
Short Answer: YES
We understand that many Photo Booth businesses don’t offer prints, and we commend them for it.
However, offering quality prints is a must in our business; this has enabled us to book at least 80% more projects than booths without printed photos. Our booths are all equipped with the highly efficient DNP620A printer which takes only 15 seconds from pressing print button to completing the task!
What Are The Image Capture Options With Salsa Booth?
In the past, photo booths were only capable of producing photos in a limited range. But with Salsa Booth, you can have it all! Not just your classic retro strip layout but also single or multiple images for infinite portrait, landscape and square options – truly limitless possibilities. Advancements like this make photography more creative and exciting than ever before.
Salsa booth can also take video, GIFs, and Boomarangs! Boomerangs are an enjoyable and creative way to engage your customers, as well as a great tool for marketing on social media!
How Can Guests Get Their Pictures?
Guests can access their images digitally through text message, email, QR code or AirDrop for those with iPhones. For occasions where cell service is spotty or wifi bad to non-existent, we recommend using the AirDrop option! We also offer physical prints that guests can take home – Salsa Booth offers multiple sizes of print options so you get exactly what you need!
Does The Salsa Booth Come With An IPad?
Absolutely not!
The Salsa booth is equipped with a 12.9″ iPad Pro faceplate and we are currently utilizing the 4th Gen 12.9″ iPads in our photo booths. As newer generations come out, it wouldn’t be unimaginable for us to upgrade to 5th Gen iPad Pros because they feature an impressive front camera of 12MP rather than 7MP as seen on its predecessors (3rd & 4th Gens).
View the iPads that are compatible with the Salsa below!
IPad Pro
- 12.9″ iPad Pro 5th Generation (2021) – our suggestion with wifi and cellular!
- 11″ iPad Pro 3rd Generation (with different faceplate for $49) (2021)
- 12.9″ iPad Pro 4th Generation (2020)
- 11″ iPad Pro 2nd Generation (with different faceplate for $49) (2020)
- 10.9″ iPad 4th Generation (with different faceplate for $49) (2020)
- 12.9″ iPad Pro 3rd Generation (2018)
- 11″ iPad Pro 1st Generation (with different faceplate for $49) (2018)
- 12.9″ iPad Pro 2nd Generation (2017)
IPad Air
- 10.9” iPad Air 5th Generation (with different faceplate for $49) (2022)
- 10.9” iPad Air 4th Generation (with different faceplate for $49) (2020)
How Much Does The Salsa Booth Weigh?
The Salsa booth is lightweight and can be conveniently transported in a protective rolling case, weighing only 60 pounds when inside. Unloaded from the casing, it weighs around 36 pounds- making it comfortable for most people to roll into various events or venues without needing any extra lifting.
Do You Need Power/Plug In For The Photo Booth To Operate?
For the Salsa Booth to be up and running at its full potential, a standard 3-prong outlet is necessary. Generally speaking, most event venues will provide electricity within reach of an extension cord! Include it in your contract that you need to be near an outlet and what kind of amp you need. That being said, you can just as easily run the Salsa booth from a small gasoline generator or battery power pack!
Bonus information: If you are needing a photo booth rental service contract, I absolutely recommend One Moment Please! A Podcast for Photo Boother Owners, contract. It’s 9 pages long and covers absolutely EVERYTHING. It’s easily modifiable as well.
Do You Offer Add Ons With Your Salsa Booth Or Just Build As-Is Packages?
Our add-ons are unparalleled! Grabbing attention and creating unforgettable memories with our neon signs and flower walls is one of the most popular services we provide. We also have guest books, to which your guests can attach their printed photos to for a truly extraordinary experience! This has helped tremendously when trying to bring in a bit more money per event.
Do You Offer Physical Props?
For the majority of events we work on, props are not used; however, if requested, our staff is more than willing to bring them along. As an alternative to props for pictures, drinks in hands or fun poses can be easily arranged when guests find themselves uncertain as to what they should do with their arms and hands.
Props tend to fit better in situations where the parties are more relaxed such as corporate celebrations compared with weddings or higher end gatherings which may appear tacky due to having too many props present. We use a lot of PVC props from Lush Party Studio
Does The Photo Booth Need Internet?
Absolutely! To get the most out of Salsa App, you need an internet connection. Whether that be investing in a wifi hot spot to bring with you (which we do), or subscribing your iPad to cellular service (also something we’ve done) – these are two sure ways to make it happen. You could also inquire with the venue for their wifi password if they have one available; and this approach has worked great for us too!
We do recommend having it in your contract somewhere that you require wifi from the venue and/or proper cell service for your carrier of choice; otherwise, you are not responsible for the output of the photo booth at that time due to your needs being outlined in your contract.
Legal Tips Before Opening Your Photo Booth Business
To safeguard yourself against any potential legal repercussions, it is highly recommended to create an LLC. This can be accomplished through your state government, a lawyer or even online. We chose NorthwestRegistar due to their competitive rates and lack of extra packages that weren’t necessary for our company’s needs.
Afterward, I would highly recommend enlisting the help of a Certified Public Accountant(CPA); the IRS has zero tolerance for those who attempt to avoid taxes. A few people we know have tried and ended up being caught. Furthermore, you’ll need to determine your sales tax in line with guidelines set by your city, state and county before applying for a taxable permit via your state’s website.
To protect your business and ensure that no other photo booth companies can duplicate your name, setting up a DBA in the city/state you operate is highly recommended.
Additionally, opening a bank account for business purposes only will help to keep track of finances for tax filing and auditing much simpler – keeping money separate from personal funds ensures proper financial organization!
Invest in a solid contract. Whether it’s from your personal lawyer or online, make sure you have a contract in place before you accept bookings.
Cool Need-To-Know’s About Our Salsa Ipad Booth From PBSCO
- There are multiple ways for clients to send their images. QR code, airdrop, texting, and email
- You CAN print with the Salsa Booth
- Salsa booth lets guests create videos, photos, GIFs and boomerangs
- You can capture leads through phone numbers & emails from guests
- Salsa app features digital props
- pre-made print templates that can be altered to match your party theme
- EASY set up. The photo booth itself takes ABOUT 10 minutes to assemble, 20 after going through the device settings
- The option to do a green screen for your guests
Conclusion
We are EXTREMELY happy about our Salsa Booth! Our team wholeheartedly endorses it to anyone aspiring to become a photo booth entrepreneur.
You can shop HERE to go straight to Photobooth Supply Co website for more information!
I LOVE PBSCO and what they have to offer. If at any point you have any questions, please reach out to Kait or Matt at:
Kait@nwaphotobooth.co