1.4 million people have seen this movie already, but don't let that stop you. A few days after selling out Boston's Symphony Hall, one of the world's best violinists went busking with his Stradivarius for 43 minutes in a DC metro station. A thousand people streamed past. A handful stopped, nobody clapped ... and he made $32. Grab a coffee and read Gene Weingarten's story in The Washington Post. He arranged the performance as "as an experiment in context, perception and priorities". Do I want to make a cheap marketing point out of this? Not really, but it makes you think. Cheers, Ian PS Sal Criscillo To View More >>

Johannes accused us of hiding our light under a bushel. Not very nice. Is it our fault his friend doesn't know Remix can export HD slideshows? Probably, so here goes. Remix can export HD slide shows ... or iPhone slide shows ... or ... why not customise? Just have a play with the Movie Size pop-up on the slide show settings window. My favourite is Custom, so I'm not stuck with the pre-sets. Cheers, Ian To View More >>

Our UK Account Rep, Jo Newman, emailed me today: I thought you might use Mark's comments as an opportunity to talk more about our plans to XXXXXX XX XXX XXXXXXXX . [Sorry - Ed]  I was a bit disappointed when I saw your second post about Mark's comments.  It didn't mention marketing at all :) In fact I've had a few comments and quite a few emails talking about our brand strategy over the last few days. And Robert emailed me weeks ago saying I should be stressing branding more and pricing less: if photographers don't "foster an expectation consistent with their pricing level" they're fighting a To View More >>

I got an email from Mark Miller today, and he's happy for me to share it and comment. I wanted to let you know how much I've been enjoying Queensberry Connects lately, specifically the posts about how QBY albums differentiate us as photographers from our competition and the idea that press-books are everywhere. I have a couple of comments/questions that I hope might add to the conversation: 1. QBY albums differentiate us as photographers - my clients love my (your) albums but they don't know who Queensberry are (I tell them all about you 'You're the best in the World' etc), but I don't think they To View More >>

When people contact us about their wedding, if they are doing a general search, they most often ask, 'How much to shoot our wedding?' Eventually they get around to 'What do I get?' and finally 'Are you available?' This email just came in. It says it all really.To whom it may concern,Would it be possible to be sent a full price list of your wedding packages?Thanks, Justin We all want our clients to care, because it is the caring that makes them better clients. So what are we selling? Are we selling a product at a price? Are we selling our ability to make great photographs? Are we selling our ability To View More >>

What is it that our clients are paying for? Photography? (But what does that mean) Entertainment? (Couldn't afford the clown for the party) Documentation? (Recording content for a historical document) Memories? (Least we forget) Glamorisation? (See, the bride can look glam with the right dress, makeup, hairdo, and some photoshop!) Impressionism? (To impress the neighbours) Fairytaleism? (Living the dream) Then you might ask, what are each of these worth in the final package? It would be an interesting exercise to give each a percentage value. And then think about those percentages, and ask yourself To View More >>

My friends, Keith and Maria, live in the future. Its a fact! When my clock says 7pm theirs says 7:15pm. By living 15 minutes in the future they will always be early in our world. That's the plan. When we design albums we design them for the future. We want the albums to be timeless. We keep our albums simple and try to keep away from the latest tricks. We want our albums to keep their dignity – we call it future-proofing. This is not to protect them from the people that do, or will, live in the future, but to protect them (in the future) from poor judgement in their past. Hugs Johannes To View More >>

[caption id="attachment_2679" align="alignnone" width="500" caption="Click on the images to view them larger"][/caption] We often talk about albums catching our eye... This one by Josef Isayo certainly did. He shot Porsche and Adam's wedding in early 2007. The couple, two ER doctors from San Francisco, came to Josef and asked him to shoot their wedding in Cuixmala, Mexico- an opportunity many photographers strive for. But as an experienced destination photographer who's shot several weddings in Mexico, Josef knows it's no walk in the park - you've got to be prepared. I asked Josef to share To View More >>

Tupperware 'fan boys' are everywhere. Prodding the skeptical, hosting Tupperware parties, and enthusiastically trying to convince their peers of the benefits. Their argument: Once you try it, you'll understand. And most people do. The experience of using Tupperware's product is usually enough to quickly switch a sceptic's loyalties, and soon enough they'll be passionately promoting the product themselves. That's (loosely) Tupperware's business model, and you can see how it would have a snowball effect. They've built a brand around positive customer experience and word of mouth marketing.  As To View More >>

More feedback on my email, Your next album company It's hard to compete ... We've seen a massive influx of photographers from Eastern Europe charging very low prices and supplying reasonable products.I understood the impact of this EU "migration" in British hotels and restaurants, but I honestly hadn't thought about the impact on photographers (Jo and Kirsten will be shaking their heads!). Even so I feel that this kind of competition is always with us ... in one form or other. The purpose of outstanding presentation is to add value to your photography. That's why,whoever you use, your albums must To View More >>