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 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 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 Competing on price is tough when what you’re selling is your time. Your business model is different Visa,MasterCard and Paypal make huge amounts by clipping a tiny percentage off every purchase we make. Lucky them. Microsoft and Adobe make a fortune by charging hundreds for something that costs them less than a dollar to produce. You’re not that lucky. You have to charge hundreds (or thousands) for something that nobody needs, and only a handful of people want. So … what do you do? How much? There are two questions 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 >>

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 >>

When's the right time for a promotion? Certainly for the holidays — so your clients can have their  beautiful printed products under the tree for Christmas. The ultimate in personal gifts! Or when the wedding season's over — and you have time to chase past clients who're still dilly-dallying about their album. And for what purpose? Maybe to turn your social media audience into paying customers. Or lapsed enquiries into future business. Or past customers into repeat business! But once you've defined your goal, what's involved? This is our take on it, but of course To View More >>

So your Print Shop is live, you’re all set and ready to go, and now you’re wondering how to get your first paying customers. Your first sales are some of the most important. They build momentum and motivation, and will help you refine your marketing strategy going forward. But it’s no surprise that they can be some of the hardest to get. Here are eight suggestions to get your first paying customers.  Share the news with family, friends and your personal networks Your friends, family and personal networks are a great place to start. Not only will they want to support To View More >>

Still working on getting albums approved six, nine, twelve months down the line? This will be eating into your time and your profit. Here are some simple ways to get albums approved quickly, while adding value for your client and offering them a great experience. 1. Get in quick! There's before the shoot and there's after the shoot. Before, they're looking at your products (yeah, nice!) and photos of … other people. Afterwards they have your photos of them to fall in love with — and they will. But get in quick! — before the emotion of the To View More >>