Previous |  Contents | Next Download the eBook I would not sabotage my long-term business in order to survive a panic attack or a short-term crisis. Panic attacks — we all have them “My bookings are down.” “I’ve gotta cut my prices.” “I’ve gotta slash my costs.” We all have anxiety attacks, so maybe this chapter’s for you. Anxiety is worrying in advance, worrying without a plan, psychological rather than rational. And the actions you take while you’ve got the cold sweats could affect your business for a long, long To View More >>

Previous |  Contents | Next Download the eBook If the first time you think about me is when you realise I’m blocking the sale, too late! Some years back there was a young man called Nigel working at Queensberry. He was about to get married, and that's how the following exchange got started. It prompted me to write a post in which I said that, to hear people talk, you’d think that only two people are involved in buying a wedding album – the bride and her mother. Same with portrait shoots, I was sure. I couldn't imagine To View More >>

Previous |  Contents | Next Download the eBook GOOD is what gets people in the door, like a newspaper headline or a “special” at the supermarket. Good is what makes you competitive. Don’t offer just one service, offer choices. Don’t assume the deal that encourages people to get in touch with you is the one they’ll commit to later (once you’ve open their eyes to how good you are, and what you can do for them). And don’t assume that they won’t go even further once they’ve fallen in love with their own photographs. That’s the To View More >>

Previous |  Contents | Next  Download the eBook Be yourself. Everyone else is taken. Be yourself Heather and I have been friends with a particular couple since our kids were pre-schoolers, which is some time ago. She’s got progressive musical tastes. He likes Simon and Garfunkel. She’s been complaining for forty years about Neil Young’s whiny voice. He’s been complaining that Bob Dylan can’t sing at all. I don’t care. What would they know? Not everyone likes Neil’s voice, or Bob’s, or what they have to say, but everyone knows them, To View More >>

Previous |  Contents | Next Download the eBook "Me me me! My favourite word." — Seth Godin The people paying Here’s the key thing about social photography. Those people in your viewfinder are paying your bills. All of your bills. And the images you take are more or less worthless to anyone else. What are your customers after? Why do they want their photographs taken? Actually, do they want their photographs taken? In social photography the trick is to understand that it’s not about the print, or the album, or the photography, or Photoshop, or what your peers think To View More >>

Previous |  Contents | Next Download the eBook "They’re proud of their family or their new baby. Proud of their farm, cars, horses, dogs. Proud of the party they put on for the wedding..." Pride — personal and professional We’re in the “love” business, yes, but we’re in the pride business too. Professional pride in your case, but with your clients it’s personal… They’re proud of their family or their new baby. Proud of their farm, cars, horses, dogs. Proud of the party they put on for the wedding — the location, the spread, To View More >>

Previous |  Contents | Next Download the eBook "...There are those who serve the high end and those who serve the budget end of the market. And like most industries, if you don’t choose the high end, the low end will probably choose you." What I mean by " professional" When I talk about professional photographers I mean people who aim to make a living from their photography — pay the bills, buy a home, raise kids, enjoy a good life and save for retirement. We all do it differently, but you get the picture. I think people for whom it’s a side hustle — To View More >>

We very rarely share the positive reviews we receive from our clients but the other day we received a pretty special one from one of our new Print Shop users, Damien Lovegrove. He's a "go for it" guy who'd launched his store within a week of deciding to use Print Shop, and within days of that made his first large format canvas sale. We're sharing his review for two reasons: It offers great advice for anyone starting out — why he chose the platform, and the challenges he faced when setting it up. If you're already using Print Shop we'd love your thoughts over on the insider about what features To View More >>

How to talk about products? In a nutshell, in your own voice, with conviction! Let's start by saying there are three aspects to this: Talking about products. Sharing about products. Believing in products. Talking  about products We'll be brief because we've covered this in a separate article, about how to sell more without being  "pushy" or "sales-y". Photographers who  love  selling probably don't need our help, so it's addressed mainly to those who're shy about it — which is possibly most of us. In that article we discuss how to build "talking about products" into To View More >>

There are lots of ways to make money as a landscape, travel, adventure, wildlife or fine art photographer. Shooting for a publication, for example, or selling through galleries or other commercial spaces such as tourist stops or cafes. Or working with clients to produce product or marketing images. Or décor for commercial or hospitality spaces. But over the course of your career you'll likely build a library of images that are yours to sell over and over again — if you could only work out how, without turning yourself into a shopkeeper! More opportunities today Today we're free to To View More >>