Previous |  Contents | Next Download the eBook "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 To View More >>

Previous |  Contents | Next Download the eBook Social media platforms encourage you to feed them constantly. Fair enough, they have the audience. But you need to feed yourself!  You’re lucky Photographers are fortunate in that their work generates rivers of desirable online content. You need to avoid giving away the Crown Jewels, and you need your clients’ permission to share, but your photography is a wonderful online resource. The ideal Things aren’t always ideal in the real world, but nevertheless… — Real friends are better than Facebook friends. 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 You can divide the people who contact you into two groups, those who know how much you charge and those who don’t. Those who know are the perfect prospects. Don’t assume Back in the ’90s Heather and I backpacked around Vietnam. It was a rewarding and emotional experience from end to end, but one of the highlights, after weeks sweating our way around the country, was heading to the Metropole Hotel in Hanoi for a high end lunch. The wait staff weren’t particularly keen to see us, dusty and unkempt with 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 >>

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 Model yourselves on people who’ve built long, profitable careers — those who get as much fun out of making a sale as taking a picture. Predictions Here are some predictions for you: Over the course of your career new cameras and technology will continue to make it ever easier for anyone to take a half-decent picture and share it with their friends and family. Even so, many people will continue to make a good living using skills that they share with most people on the planet (not just photography — writing, cooking, To View More >>

Previous |  Contents | Next Download the eBook “Measure results, change activities.” — Keith Cunningham Focused I’ve never met a photographer with a more analytical approach to his business than Craig. He was a wedding photographer whose goal was to clear “100k in 100 Days” from 30 weddings. (The actual figures don’t matter — they just sound snappy — so I’m not going to tell you when, where or in what currency.) Many a photographer has built a profitable business out of shooting 30 or 40 weddings a year, bur Craig’s To View More >>

As everyone knows, Covid has been very disruptive for business — from product availability to courier services to prices — and it’s starting to feel like the “new normal”. So we’re starting the year with an updated cover material range, and a new strategy to move this forward in the future. We’re excited about it, but we also know that any change can raise questions, which we’ve tried to answer in advance here. We’d love your feedback! Please take a few minutes to read the following, but if you just want to see the updates follow 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 >>