Many photographers worry they’ll come across as pushy or inauthentic — especially when they’re trying to encourage clients to invest beyond the digital files. But here’s the truth: Selling doesn’t have to feel “salesy.” In fact, it shouldn’t. Authentic sales are about connection, not persuasion. About guiding, not guilting. Here’s what that might look in practice: Not: “You need this album or you’ll regret it.” Instead: “Most of my couples say they’re so glad to have something tangible from the day. To View More >>

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 >>

|  Contents | Next Download the eBook A guide to building a profitable photography business Is this for you?  These pages are for professional photographers, primarily social photographers, by which I mean those who’re paid entirely by the people in their viewfinders. Think family portraits, weddings, babies, kids, pets, events, glamour, boudoir, schools, graduations and so on. This is not the official Queensberry view of the world, just my own. But it lays out the lessons I believe we’ve learned from 50 years listening to successful photographers. ~ Ian To View More >>

When was the last time you opened one of these? Ours go straight in the recycling. What happens when you (or your customers) decide you're over Facebook, or stop clicking on Google Adwords? In this video Gary Vaynerchuk asks a bunch of event marketers how many of them said five years ago that they'd never have a Facebook account … but now they do. He says we need to ask ourselves where our customers will be hanging out in two years time. Hey, you could be on Snapchat or Vine! There's no point fishing in the wrong spot, and those fish are schooling all over the place. Partly because marketers To View More >>

Power users really like keyboard shortcuts, especially in winworld it seems, so here's a list of Remix's many keyboard shortcuts from our online tutorial pages. Next week we'll post about right-click and modifier-key functions. HTH, Ian To View More >>

I don't know how you'll feel about this, but a few days ago I unsubscribed from a customer's Facebook page. I just got sick of the bad taste in my mouth from a stream of quite unpleasant political comments and links in my newsfeed. I personally don't think anyone in business should mix business and politics. Or religion for that matter. Not just because it's unwise to turn off people who might be your customers, but because it's wrong to judge people by their ideology or faith, or the lack of either. I don't care whether they're of the left or the right, in my experience if you can get past people's To View More >>

In the context of professional people photography here are a few things that surprise and puzzle us. How often the images are released from the studio before the sale is finalised. How the album planning/sales process can take months, sometimes years. How there's often no attempt to up-sell after the event. How the album is treated as a cost, not a marketing tool. How album planning is treated as an obligation not an opportunity. How studios go with the crowd, instead of standing out from it. None of those maximise your opportunities, and there are probably less of those to go round right now. To View More >>

Queensberry is now on Google+. Get all your Queensberry news from the Junction, Connects and the Blog in one spot. Join us! Click here to Follow us on Google + Cheers, Anna To View More >>

I use the Browse Tab of the PJ Welcome screen a lot, but if you're sending orders to Queensberry the Uploads screen is also important, particularly if there happens to be a problem with your order. The screen has lots of information, so when the list of uploads gets busy you can sort (by any column), search, or filter based on status or upload date. The buttons are really important, and they change depending on the status of the upload. UPLOAD or RESUME - If the upload was interrupted or paused you'll see this. Mind you, when you booted PJ a popup would have reminded you had incomplete uploads) To View More >>

OK we're celeb junkies here, just like the rest of the world. We love it when we see famous people in our albums as they're being made, especially when they're Kiwis. Today we had a double treat as we despatched two beautiful sets of albums to Auckland photographer and Queensberry client, Emma Bass. I wanted to tell you all about them, but Ian won't let me. He reckons what's sauce for the gander is sauce for the goose, too, and it's true that, because we have a confidentiality policy, he's missed seeing some very exciting albums. So all I can say is that both weddings were absolutely stunning, To View More >>