Gary Vaynerchuk said something about the worst thing you can do in business is to be romantic about how you make your money. But show me a photographer who doesn't love taking pictures.  In fact I just wrote two rather emotional posts myself about professional photography. So I thought I'd set out the unromantic business reasons to sell products. Not how to sell or what to sell, but why.  And yes, we make the products, so of course we’d love you to sell them, but this is what's in it for you. We call them the three Ps. 1. You benefit from the sale of the To View More >>

Previous |  Contents | Next Download the eBook There are so many reasons why the printed image matters, but long term accessibility to your most treasured photos is surely a deal breaker. Why printed images matter Back in the ’90s I remember walking back to our trade show booth behind two people from a neighbouring stand. They were into IT. As they approached our booth I heard one say to the other, “I feel sorry for these guys. How long can they last in the modern world?” It’s so long ago I feel like they must have been visionaries — how did they know 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 >>

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 >>

I've just finished re-watching Barry Schwartz's Ted Talk on The Paradox of Choice. He makes this very important point: Too much choice produces paralysis. Offer people too much choice and they'll find it very difficult to choose at all. Yes, at Queensberry we offer a lot of choice! We know that. We do it because every photographer is different. And we agree, as Barry Schwartz says, that it can be difficult to get your head around. But … if you want to sell products, you need to make the effort, not leave it to your customers.  As our designer friend Donna says, to run a design To View More >>