Whether it’s their first enquiry, the day of the shoot or the day they receive their beautiful prints, every interaction with your client shapes their impression of you and your brand.  Here’s a straightforward process to analyse and improve your client experience, step by step. 1. Understand the customer journey Start by listing all the steps your clients take when working with you — their initial enquiry, the booking, your pre-shoot communications, the shoot itself, and product selection and delivery. Any others? Identify the key moments and To View More >>

We get it — in the age of social media, digital files feel like the norm. Especially in the wedding world, they’re generally expected. Couples want to share their big day right away, and portrait clients love the idea of having “all the photos.” But if we stop there, we’re not just shortchanging ourselves — we’re shortchanging them. Here’s why: Digital is fleeting. Print is forever. Digital images are shared for a moment and then forgotten, buried in a sea of phone photos and cloud storage. Prints become treasures. Albums become stories passed on. To View More >>

Previous |  Contents | Next Download the eBook Bad taste takes a while to show up, but as soon as it does it’s embarrassing. How to avoid it? Start by keeping it simple. If in doubt, leave it out. The half life of crap In her book The Mesh, Lisa Gansky talks about “the half life of crap” – about cheap manufactured products and how long they last. Or rather don’t last. Her point is that the half life of crap products is way too short. They get boring or they break. They end up at the back of your garage or as land fill. Our poor planet can’t afford To View More >>

Previous |  Contents | Next Download the eBook Our brand isn’t a look but a promise kept — not what we say but what we do. Value Imagine if you said, “I want you to pay me what you think I’m worth.” Most people would imagine themselves out of business. We need to tell our clients what we’re worth, and live up to our rhetoric. What is the value of your work to people who don’t know you, or how much they should be paying? The value of a compelling and authentic brand is that it tells people the price of entry and helps them see it’s worth To View More >>

This is an updated post about trading arrangements into the UK and Europe, including drop-shipping, now that the Brexit deal is in place.  UK customers We don't expect any change in our arrangements with you. Your orders will continue to be shipped via DHL and you'll continue to be invoiced by our UK company. Shipments may take longer to clear in the short term, simply because HMRC and the UK border authorities will be much busier handling shipments to and from the EU, which until now have not needed to clear customs. Drop-shipping: We can deliver your wholesale orders direct to your clients To View More >>

I'm going to be a bit pushy here. Our series on selling albums talks about:  — setting expectations — making it clear you sell them, and why! — making it easy for your clients to buy — not coming across as "pushy or sales-y" etc. I think that's good, sensible stuff — I helped write them, so there's that! — but let's face it, they lack something: ambition. Sales-ambitious or sales-shy? Portrait and wedding photographers come in all shapes and sizes, attitudes and ambitions, but one of the most important things that define them is surely their attitude to To View More >>

Life can be frantic.  We spend much of our working day on low value tasks — constantly checking our email, picking up our phones for every notification or call — and filling the gaps with our real work, whatever that is. Then we wonder why we're not making progress. We feel burnt out, unsuccessful and overwhelmed — never have enough time, "never get things done". But there's a solution, and I believe that if you start applying it to your own life — by becoming more disciplined about how you structure your days — you'll be more productive, and feel like you have To View More >>

We’ve been thinking a lot about how we can help our community get through everything going on in the world right now. So how can we help you navigate the storm?  We’re asking you for input because we don’t know how things are for you personally. Yes we have our own ideas, but please send us an email so we can talk about yours.  For now, please scroll down for details of a  shared promotion  offer,  plus a  discount on Workspace plans  to get you into Print Shop at bargain rates. We’re not giants of the industry To View More >>

We love it when one of our staff members gets an album made for themselves. We spend most of our time creating handmade products for photographers, but we like to walk the talk when it comes to printing our photos. Maddy works in the Queensberry bindery and she's let us share her Portrait Album with you. Take a look.  "I made my own scrapbook style photo albums when I was younger and printed photos to frame. This is the second Queensberry album I've made.  "I wanted to make a gift for my partner, Simba, to celebrate the adventures we’ve had together so far, including a To View More >>

If you love Panorama Flushmount albums, chances are the full bleed, uninterrupted layouts are one reason why. This 12x12 album by  Birch & Wattle of Sydney, Australia,  makes great use of panorama images. What also caught our eye was the warm and joyful imagery of Fleur and Steve's wedding. Yana shared some stand-out moments  from  the day, and some thoughts about their photography business. "We are Pavel and Yana - professional wedding photographers, based in Sydney, who  specialise  in natural, genuine and emotive story-telling To View More >>