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"That process has two distinct stages—before and after the shoot. The first sells the booking, the second is the up-sell…"

High-end photographers have been selling albums profitably for as long as we’ve been in business, but for many today it seems a lost art.

Why?

Obviously the world has changed — "shoot-and-share" and "just the files" are seductive ideas, and so is selling online.

And who needs the hassle of getting people into the studio, playing nice, offering them bubbles and selling them - gah! products!

Working together

The first time I sat in on an album design session was in the early days of Photojunction, well before online sales were a thing. The bride had already been in to see the photos with her husband and had a good cry!

She’d also seen the draft album design, which she knew had more pages and more images than she’d signed up for — and would cost her more if she decided to buy it.

But she also knew what she wanted. In fact she’d brought notes.

Make no mistake, this was a sales session, but what I absolutely LOVED was the atmosphere — friendly and collaborative. As they went through the design the bride checked her notes and suggested changing images and rearranging pages. Maybe she cut back a bit. But after an hour or so her credit card came out, and she and her photographer parted happy.

2-3 weeks later her customised, beautifully printed, fully finished album arrived.

This is so easy to do today with modern software. Just invest in an HDMI cable, so you connect your laptop to a big screen TV and your client can enjoy what you’re doing.

In this chapter I’ll go through the practicalities, and also discuss how best to shift the process from in-studio to online.

But first I’ll explain how we got to where we are, which is exponentially better than the bad old days. A bit like getting your teeth done today compared with when I was a little kid and bit the dentist, who was using a treadle-operated drill. 

The history of albums

Eighty years ago your great-grandparents got a few wedding photographs in mounts or frames.

Forty years ago your grandparents may have got an album. Photographers sold them pretty much the way they do folio boxes today. They kept a stock of “album bits” on hand — covers, pages and mats. After shooting a wedding they’d order a set of prints from the local lab and invite their clients in to view them for the first time.

Right then and there — on that emotional high! — the clients would choose their favourites. When they’d gone the photographer would prep the negatives so the lab could print enlargements, and, when those arrived back, assemble the album for the happy couple to take home.

The problem was the whole process was laborious and the albums really clunky. Clunky covers, clunky pages with pin hinges or screw posts to assemble them, and a very limited range of die-cut mats. So what “putting the prints in the album” really meant was ordering the prints from the lab and the album components from someone else, taping the prints to the mats, and the mats to the pages, and assembling the pages in the cover. Then throwing away the reject prints just like you do today with boxes.

So why did people go to all that trouble? Because there was good money in it! And because the alternatives were even worse: no album at all (thanks to which Heather and I have only a couple of wedding photos left) or those dreadful vinyl things with clinging plastic pages.

And they also had the chance to up-sell. Switched on photographers didn’t sell their clients a wedding coverage, they sold them an album with a set number of pages or photos in them. There was always the opportunity to sell them more. And we had clients who regularly increased the value of a sale by 50% over the pre-wedding commitment.

Then there was light…

25 years ago we took a very big gamble. What if we made albums to order?

If we did that we could make beautiful, fully-bound books instead of all those clunky bits and pieces… Plus photographers could order books with however many pages they liked… PLUS we could be adventurous with materials and colours instead of needing to flog off whatever we had in stock…

Then we saw our first computer-driven mat cutter at a trade show in Australia. They were developed for framers, not album makers, but we were wrapt. If we could make album mats with a machine like that we wouldn’t need to make them in the hundreds or thousands, we could cut them one at a time.

And since we were making them to order, why not print them as well, and sell them fully assembled?

Put those ideas together — made-to-order products, computer-cut mats, print-and-bind — and we’d have the world’s first fully designable albums.

All we’d need to do was develop some software to design the pages and drive the new mat cutters, right?

Wrong! Sure, photographers loved the new albums but how were they to order them? We had people sending us hand-drawn sketches of the page layouts that they wanted us to cut. For a while everything was very “bleeding edge” at Queensberry, but we managed, thanks to Stephen, our resident nerd.

“…but how do I order these?”

By 2000 New Zealand and Australian albums were pretty much all fully bound and computer cut, and we and certain other antipodean adventurers took our products to the States and UK, which were still in the thrall of big companies selling clunky album bits.

Heather and I decided that the way to break into the US market was to go on vacation. We travelled around the States visiting people who’d contacted us on the brand new inter-web. Our first stop was in Sacramento, and the first question we were asked was, “How do I order these? Do you have album planning software?”

We had no idea what that even was. We were still using the paper order forms and hand drawn sketches that people faxed us! But a rather visionary entrepreneur had developed an album design program, and we actually went to visit him, which turned out to be a rather sad occasion.

He was a nice guy who was being forced out of the market by one of the Big Boys, which had decided to essentially copy what he was doing and offer it free to their customers. It also wasn’t compatible with our computerised mat cutting, which offered far more design flexibility than his program could cope with.

So it was back again to Stephen, and we released the first iteration of our own album designer, Photojunction, the following year.

“…and how do I sell them?”

Photojunction got rid of faxed design sketches and order forms to the great relief of both our customers and ourselves, but what soon became apparent was that we had also solved the problem of how to sell albums.

What photographers were creating in Photojunction were “virtual albums”, which proved to be powerful sales tools, as I described at the top of this chapter.

It didn’t take long for many photographers to realise that they had a massive opportunity to up-sell — as long as they did things right, and took advantage of the fact that there are not one but two sales opportunities — when their clients book, and after the wedding.

That starts with setting the right expectations — “I do albums, and here’s why.”

Like this, for example, although I’m sure you’ll express yourself more like a fully functioning human being!

Here are my sample albums for you to touch and feel. They’re completely customisable, so you can have exactly what you want. Take a look at them while I go make you a coffee.

[Time passes]

Here’s your coffee. What did you think?

When you book an album (or an album credit) will be part of the deal.

You can upgrade or add extra pages later, and MOST PEOPLE DO — because they fall in love with the photos and want more! In fact $$$ is what people normally spend.

As soon as you get back from your honeymoon I’ll have a draft album design ready to show you — and the photos too of course! We’ll book a session for you to come in and go through the design with me, and make any changes you want — like swapping images or changing layouts.

I normally design more pages than you’ve committed to. That’s so you can see the best I can offer you, but it’s quite OK to cut back.

It’s even simpler if you decide you don’t want to chase the up-sell, as I’ll explain.

I’m so excited!

That “conversation” is a large part of setting expectations, but Alexandria pointed out something else that’s different about photographers who sell lots of albums — they talk about them at every opportunity.

Instagram stories! Facebook posts! Photos of the parcel on the doorstep! Reveals! I’m so excited! Sharing with @clients who loooove theirs! That’s enough exclamation points for a while.

There’s no doubting the fact they sell books and albums. And the same thing’s true for selling other products.

Thou shalt not

If you break these two commandments you can almost guarantee that you won’t sell many albums.

Don’t offer “shoot and burn”! You’re giving away the crown jewels as part of your fee, and, once your customers have the digital files, chances are they’ll never spend another penny with you. I’m not saying they shouldn’t get the files, just that that’s not ALL they should get. Not if you want to up-sell, anyway.

Don’t sell “à la carte” (where you take the photos for a fee and clients buy albums and other products if they want to). Chances are they never will, and if they do they’ll buy cheap consumer products that reflect badly on you and your professionalism.

I’m not saying your customers shouldn’t get the files

Understand I’m not saying your customers shouldn’t get the digital files, or at least a selection. What I am saying is you need a strategy to avoid them kneecapping your business. Shoot and burn will always be with us, just as in the old days the budget operators and the weekend warriors would give people the negatives, or a stack of prints from the mini-lab.

Professionals looked on that with horror — do people have no standards?!

Today many professionals aren’t that confident, but in every day and age you need a defence strategy against the budget operators. And of course you may be one of them, and that’s fine too.

20 ideas to start you thinking about your personal sales strategy 

We believe in differentiation — standing out from the crowd, not following it — so we strongly suggest that you do it “your way”, as Frank Sinatra said.

1. Set expectations! Explain what you do, how you do it, and how much it costs. Until you’ve built a reputation people will come to you with their own agenda—“All I want is the digital files, thanks. Products are expensive and I can organise my own.” More likely, after a brief flair-up on social media their photos will disappear down a dark digital hole and never be seen again. What a waste.
2. Treat every interaction, from your first contact on, as an ongoing sales process. That process has two distinct stages—before and after the shoot. The first sells the booking, the second is the up-sell, where they commit to their final album and any other extras.
3. Include an album as part of your fee. Let’s call it your “Good” album (not Better, not Best, just Good).
4. You could also call this a “wedge album”. It gets your foot in the door so you can tempt them with something more desirable!
5. If clients say they don’t want the album, the price stays the same. If they ask why, explain that shoot-and-burn is a bad idea (you do know why, right?), that consumer products are poor quality, and they won’t show their beautiful photographs at their best. Which is why you always make an album for your clients.
6. You’ll need to invest part of your fee to pay for the Good album—maybe 10%. You may want to put up your fee to recover the cost, but don’t price yourself out of the market.
7. The Good album shouldn’t have expensive options. It should be a set size, cover style etc, and have a strictly limited number of pages and images. For example, in Queensberry terms, it might be a 10x10 Buckram Flushmount with 10 pages (20 sides, 60 images). If that’s too expensive at your current prices there are more affordable options. If you’re already high-end, your Good album should probably be more high-end to match — you don’t want to end up with a smaller sale! Really you need to experiment, to see what works best for you.
8. Part of the Good deal should be that you choose the images and design the album yourself. That will keep both your time and cost under control, and maximise their reasons for upgrading.
9. The Good album may be “free”, but it still needs a value. It might be better to describe it as an album “credit”. If clients upgrade their album, that credit will be deducted from the price they pay.
10. Share the Good album design with them as soon as possible. No more than 2-3 weeks after the wedding. In Workspace. You might like to share the rest of the images at that stage too, so they know what they’ll miss out on if they don’t upgrade. This is what will help motivate the up-sell.
11. If you’re not actively up-selling you could simply deliver the Good album as-is, with no input from your clients. Or you could invite them to check out the design in Workspace and ask them if they want to add more pages and images.
12. If you do want to up-sell, make sure your clients understand that they CAN upgrade, and that MOST PEOPLE DO! That should be part of “setting expectations”, and of every ongoing conversation. Practice your language and build the relationship so you don’t sound like a used car salesman.
13. It’s easier to up-sell if you start with a more ambitious design, something with more photos and more pages than your clients committed to when they booked. Something that does justice to the great photos you’ve taken!  They’ll see something beautiful that hasn’t been limited by the budget they set before they saw your photographs. And they’ll find it easier to make changes — it’s so much harder to add than to cut back.
14. Decision time! Clients often procrastinate, even if they’re keen and engaged. If you’re going to meet with them face-to-face, schedule a sales meeting as soon as possible after the honeymoon, and make sure the decision makers will be there. If you just need a Yes/No decision on whether to stick with the Good album or make changes, give them a deadline of maybe a week or two. If you don’t hear from them they will get the design you prepared, which they’ve already paid for.
15. What does “upgrade” really mean? More pages and more images, to start with. All clients need to do is “favourite” images in Workspace—very simple to do. Limit the number of images per page/side, and charge those at a multiple of the wholesale cost (3-4 times?). 
16. There are other ways to upgrade. A larger album or premium page type will do more justice to the photos. Add-ons like display boxes, custom embossings, leather covers etc add value and enhance the album. Copy albums and print boxes mean friends and family don’t miss out. So do print sales in Workspace.
17. Manage client sign-off on the album design efficiently. If they upgrade, you could allow two free “rounds” of edits in Workspace. Again, limit the time they can take to respond.
18. If you offer upgrades you need to have shown what you’re offering! We believe in showing Good Better and Best options. GOOD we’ve already described. It’s affordable, yes, but beautifully printed and bound. Something you can be proud of. BETTER is an offering that has great perceived value. Given your great photography, and the relationship you’ve built, who wouldn’t want to spend a little more? BEST is something awesome for them to aspire to, and something that makes the cost of Better seem quite reasonable!
19. Don’t overburden people with choice, especially if you won’t be available to explain things. Offer products and services that you love, and display them proudly—up-front and centre, not just on your “album page”. 
20. Remember, you’re selling a product, not photos or digital files. Build your albums and other products into every touch point. Your Zoom calls, your website, your image galleries, your offers, your prices. It’s truly amazing how few photographers do this.

If you can’t sell in person

Selling albums online is now common, and for good reason:

If you’re shooting destination or out-of-town weddings, chances are you’ll never see clients except on the big day.

Even people who live on the other side of the city can face a big commute every time they come to see you.

This becomes more of an issue the more successful you are, as people will be booking you as a result of referrals and your reputation—not because you’re handy and don’t charge too much!

But selling online can be more difficult than in the studio:

First, it’s harder to get people to make a decision when you’re not face to face, and even harder to get them to spend more!

Second, how do you get people to like you if you never meet? We believe that successful wedding photographers are generally good, engaging people who are really easy to like. In a word, it’s a lot easier to fall in love with you than your website.

To sell albums successfully online, therefore, means working on two things: a good sales strategy and a trusting connection with your clients.

It’s been said that if you spend less time editing images and more time relationship-building you’ll get better photographs and bigger sales. If you’re not meeting clients much in person, it sure helps to make yourself available whenever and however they want to communicate, whether by mobile, text, email, FaceTime, Zoom, WhatsApp, Messenger or whatever.

Zoom

If you can’t meet your clients in person, Zoom is a surely a game changer, and Covid gave most of us a taste of it.

I discussed Zoom in the chapter on the Online Experience — pictured you using it to strike up a relationship with a prospective client — but going beyond that, to the post-shoot sales phase, and replicating the type of collaborative album planning session I described earlier.

You could certainly come close with Zoom and the Workspace album design module.

It’s a powerful idea, and certainly better than waiting passively to see if anyone buys something. Anything. Good rather than Better or Best.

Back to basics online

Having said all that, much of what I said above — in my list of 20 strategy ideas — translates well into online sales. It just makes it even more important to set expectations as to what you do.

Interactions with your clients will need to happen via Workspace, or whatever album proofing service you use. Share the design with your clients, receive their feedback and respond to any changes they request, and once you have their approval, place the order. 

If you’re going to design that “ideal album”, you’ll need to make sure they understand what you’re doing and why, that it may cost them more, and that they can make changes or scale back.

Above all, perhaps, you’ll need to set a strict limit to the time they have to make decisions about their album. Stick with the Good album? Add more photos and pages? Upgrade to something bigger or better? Maybe with an incentive, like an add-on gift or discount?

Otherwise, again, they get your design, which they’ve already paid for as part of the commitment they made on booking you.

People will pay good money for what they love. Their budget becomes a hurdle to clear, not a fence to contain them.

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