A fairly common thing we hear from photographers is:

“My clients just don’t want printed products.”

But here’s the truth — more often than not, it’s not that they don’t want them. It’s that they’ve never been shown the value of them.

They’re used to digital galleries. They expect USBs. That’s what the industry has trained them to expect. But just because it’s all they know, it doesn’t mean that’s all they want.

Ian tells the story of being in a seminar with a number of very wealthy Americans. When he tried to explain what Queensberry does, he literally had to show them an album because none of them had seen anything like it! In fact the presenter had just got married, and all the photographer had offered them was … the digital files!

The key is how you present your product offering. If prints are tacked on as an afterthought, they’ll be treated like one. But when they’re a core part of your process — woven into your storytelling, your client meetings, your sample sets — they become part of the experience your clients are buying into. As Heather says, one friend tells two friends, and over time more people come expecting what you do.

One of the simplest shifts?

Start showing albums and printed work early and often.

In your portfolio. In your meetings. In your social content. People can’t desire what they can’t imagine.

You’re not being pushy — you’re being a guide. And years from now, your clients will thank you for it.

One last thought to finish. Maybe it's not that they "don't want printed products". Maybe they're thinking of buying them somewhere else.

Alexandria x

PS Here are some more suggestions for how to introduce product sales.