Interesting question from Sergey on my Opportunities post.

What do you do if people want this cool album that they’ve never seen before – but they want to postpone the purchase, maybe until their first anniversary.

Here’s what we think.

As they say, a bird in the hand is worth two in the bush. I’d look for a way to sweeten the deal and get a commitment now.

OK, we hate the D word, but maybe a discount would do the trick. Or arrange monthly payments via credit card, preferably with a deposit to cover your costs. Anyway, try hard for a commitment now, and get the album out there working for you. In twelve months your chances of a sale will be much less.

But here’s our main point. Cherry picking like this is a problem if you sell “a la carte” instead of using packages.

It’s a fair assumption that most people have no idea what professional photographers like you do, and what they do “know” is largely defined by price shoppers, your budget competition and stuff they read on The Knot etc. Packages enable you to show them – wow them – and define what you’d like them to buy, and the price.

They also enable you to be generous if they commit ahead of time to what you want them to buy.

Sergey had another comment. After seeing Queensberry type products many people won’t settle for ordinary. Packages (Good, Better, Best) are a strategy for handling that too.

We have a webinar coming up tomorrow on these very topics. Click here for more details, and to register. See you there?

Cheers
Ian

PS Yes, we know every studio is different, so maybe packages aren’t for you. Worth thinking about though. We also agree packages need to be flexible.

PPS You could also check out our Knowledge Base for more on album-based marketing (you’ll need to log in).

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Nigel’s post about Chris MacKenzie creating his own luck reminded me the world is full of opportunities. The problem is to recognise them and take action.

I was at a seminar in the States 2-3 years ago, a roomful of high net worth business people plus me.

We got to talking about Queensberry, and wedding albums in general.

Not one of them had ever seen a Queensberry or anything like it.

One guy had recently married at an exclusive Carribean resort … spent a gazillion bucks on the event … and “ticked the box” for a shoot-and-burn DVD from the resort’s tame photographer.

I had to go and get an album from my hotel room to show them what I was talking about. They loved it. A roomful of opportunities for the taking.

Cheers, Ian

PS According to dailyfinance.com, global wealth rose by 11.5% in 2009 and the number of millionaire households (in USD) by 14%. Millionaires are thickest on the ground in Singapore (11.4% of households) and Hong Kong (8.8%), but the USA has the most (4.7m). FYI.
Go get ‘em. But please don’t assume they’ll only spring for shoot ‘n’ Burn

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Listen to people talk and you’d think only two people are involved in buying an album—the bride and her mother.

But what happens if the person making the decisions is the guy? How do you sell to him?

Well it’s been a while since I got married but I’m a guy … let me think:

If the first time you think about me is when you finally realise that I’m blocking your sale, too late! You needed to start paying attention a lot earlier.

But let’s start at that point anyway, and work backwards…

1. If you ignore me while doing that sales job on my girl I’m probably not going to be happy. There’s been a lot of ignoring me going on recently by everyone from wedding planners and florists to priests and parents. I know it’s her day, and I love her … but I’ve got an ego, and now you want me to spend … how much?

2. If I was as interested in girly stuff as she is, the dress and the flowers, the pretty details and the fairy tale, chances are I’d be going out with a guy. Don’t make the album just a souvenir of all that stuff, like one of those frilly bedrooms that makes a real man feel an intruder.

3. How can the album appeal to me? Emotion’s great if it’s authentic. I don’t like fakery, that’s all. Our friends’ pictures on Facebook and Flickr capture the emotion and connection and fun. Put them all together and I’d get the story of the day … sort of. I don’t want to lose that, I want you to distill it into a real story … beautifully told … to last. Something that shows both of us, both our families, tells both our stories, and captures the significance of the day. Without me feeling like a stage prop in someone else’s dream.

4. Your sample albums need to meet the same test, or you lost me when we first called. If I can get an emotional tug from someone else’s photos there’s a good chance I’ll love my own.

5. And finally, I’m not a “man”, I’m me. She’s not a bride, she’s my bride. I hope you got to know us both before the wedding, because your real magic is to treat us as individuals. Not to mention that it’s easier for us to buy from someone we know.

Cheers, Ian

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Nigel and I heard about My Portland Photographer through our friend Randy Kepple. What a great idea, well executed: “A collaborative blog by Portland’s finest wedding photographers”.

On the home page a charming image and post by Craig Mitchelldyer caught my eye.

I followed a couple of links back to see if photographers were linking back to the blog from their own websites, but apparently no. I wonder why. You’d win some and lose some, but if you built the google juice together, wouldn’t you win more than you lose?

Don’t know, just wondering. Love it anyway.

Cheers, Ian

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