Whether it’s their first enquiry, the day of the shoot or the day they receive their beautiful prints, every interaction with your client shapes their impression of you and your brand.  Here’s a straightforward process to analyse and improve your client experience, step by step. 1. Understand the customer journey Start by listing all the steps your clients take when working with you — their initial enquiry, the booking, your pre-shoot communications, the shoot itself, and product selection and delivery. Any others? Identify the key moments and To View More >>

We get it — in the age of social media, digital files feel like the norm. Especially in the wedding world, they’re generally expected. Couples want to share their big day right away, and portrait clients love the idea of having “all the photos.” But if we stop there, we’re not just shortchanging ourselves — we’re shortchanging them. Here’s why: Digital is fleeting. Print is forever. Digital images are shared for a moment and then forgotten, buried in a sea of phone photos and cloud storage. Prints become treasures. Albums become stories passed on. 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 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 >>

This is an updated post about trading arrangements into the UK and Europe, including drop-shipping, now that the Brexit deal is in place.  UK customers We don't expect any change in our arrangements with you. Your orders will continue to be shipped via DHL and you'll continue to be invoiced by our UK company. Shipments may take longer to clear in the short term, simply because HMRC and the UK border authorities will be much busier handling shipments to and from the EU, which until now have not needed to clear customs. Drop-shipping: We can deliver your wholesale orders direct to your clients 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 >>

In many markets Covid is likely to limit the size of weddings —  and therefore wedding photography — for some months yet. And with all the restrictions and uncertainty many weddings are likely to be postponed until next season. But there's an upside! Any 2020 weddings delayed until 2021 and 2022 could make those years busier than normal! Which will be a great "problem" to have, as long as you can cope with the extra work. What that means…  • This year albums will be very important as a way to maximise revenue and profit from wedding clients — both current To View More >>

Life can be frantic.  We spend much of our working day on low value tasks — constantly checking our email, picking up our phones for every notification or call — and filling the gaps with our real work, whatever that is. Then we wonder why we're not making progress. We feel burnt out, unsuccessful and overwhelmed — never have enough time, "never get things done". But there's a solution, and I believe that if you start applying it to your own life — by becoming more disciplined about how you structure your days — you'll be more productive, and feel like you have To View More >>

We’ve been thinking a lot about how we can help our community get through everything going on in the world right now. So how can we help you navigate the storm?  We’re asking you for input because we don’t know how things are for you personally. Yes we have our own ideas, but please send us an email so we can talk about yours.  For now, please scroll down for details of a  shared promotion  offer,  plus a  discount on Workspace plans  to get you into Print Shop at bargain rates. We’re not giants of the industry To View More >>