Category — Branding Your Photography Business

How important is it? Does your packaging make an impact?

Packaging:

1) Is the finishing touch on all your work
2) Is a reflection of your brand
3) Is a reflection on the value you place on your artistic efforts
4) Impacts the perceived value of the money spent
5) Protects the investment of your time and the clients dollars

Packaging actually does a lot so it is important to pay attention to the details.

When Kambara introduced the silver silk bag and the 2 part gift box for the Nouveau Collection, we were amazed at the response. Photographers actually calling us to say thank you for the new packaging! We appreciated the feedback and letting us know we were headed in the right direction.
And it let us know how important packaging is to many photography studios.

We take great care in creating not only albums but packaging and presentation pieces that make an impact not only for you the photographer but for your clients as well. What are you doing to create a brand in your packaging and delivery? Does your packaging show the care you have taken with the client’s order and the value you place on your work?

Tell us about your journey of designing packaging for you your studio.

The photojournalistic style of photography is still going strong.

This stylized wedding album design style is not going anywhere soon. In fact boundaries are being pushed with unusual locations,  grungy looks and urban settings, traditional poses are no longer the norm. Whoever would have thought a few years ago that “Trash the Dress” would become so popular!

Simplicity still has it’s place

Rather then stiff formal poses, informal casual shots are being requested and asked for. Who would rather see Grandma with a big smile and enjoying herself rather then the forced one that often is the result of formal posed images.

Detail shots – rings, flowers, kids, shoes, dress – can’t forget these! The detail shots are important!

We also see that a modified traditional style photography is making a resurgence. With today’s digital flush mount albums you have the opportunity to use a more traditional style of photography while still projecting a contemporary look & feel.

Black & White images

From the images we receive for album designs we see a trend of incorporating even more black and white images. By taking away the color the heart of the image seems to stand out, special moments in black and white make a huge impact on the design of the album.

Does location affect trends?

Absolutely! We see and hear it all the time in talking with our customers. What is hot here in Tualatin, Oregon probably is not in LA or NY or at the very least the same trend but with a new twist.

How do you stay on top of trends?

What is your method of checking on trends, style of photography or album design?  And how do you differentiate between a flash in the pan novelty to a new direction in the photographic marketplace? Tell us about your resources by commenting below or send us an email us.

The Orion & Equinox line of photo albums offers professional photographers the opportunity to present their clients a wide variety of flush mount wedding album options.

A blank canvas

A flush mount album gives you a blank canvas to work with, an opportunity to let the creative juices flow and get to the heart of the wedding story.

While this might be intimidating for some photographers, for others it is a creative challenge to relish. This is your opportunity to work on and refine your design style, a style that becomes your brand and helps you stand out.

The Orion offers a great starting point – standard cover sizes ranging from 5×7 up to 11×14 and 12×12 with a wide variety of cover materials to select from. Each design decision made is a layer that affects the final presentation. From image design to the final look of the cover you have the choice of how your brand will be portrayed and remembered.

This album is an economical entry into the world of flush mount wedding albums.

Step up to the Equinox - Now your canvas has grown and expanded, with even more cover options and custom cover sizes. Step up from the traditional album sizes and design an album that helps tell the story. When you take a 10×10 image and crop it down to say a 9×10 or 10×6, it changes not only the composition of the individual images but the flow of the entire album.

The custom size cover you select will create interesting design challenges that may force you out of your comfort zone, not always a bad thing!

Upsell opportunities

Having a mix of these 2 types of flush mount albums is a great way to create upsell packages that are easy for your clients to say yes to.

Attending a national convention and tradeshow can be a huge investment of your time and your money, what are the issues you consider when deciding to go:

• Location?
• Sponors?
• Vendors attending?
• Speakers?
• Classes/Seminars offered?
• Recommendations from photographers?

We would love to hear from you on what you look for and what you expect from your convention/tradshow investment.

One particular week I had been getting loads of junk email. After going to a few photography shows and entering our company’s info, I got about 5-6 photography related emails a day! At first, I thought “how rude!” and then I actually needed something they were offering and thought “huh, that was handy”. So after my conversion of sorts, I decided to look into email advertising for myself. I have never looked back. There are so many great things about this form of advertising and here are just a few:

Through email marketing, you can:

• Brand Your Business: A big part of branding is people hearing or seeing your name over and over again until it is a “recognizable brand”. What better way to increase visibility than a weekly or monthly e-newsletter?

• Build Strong Relationships: Past clients and even future clients want to hear what you are up to. In our newsletters, it isn’t all business. If something exciting happens in our personal life, we throw it in there. Our son turned 3, why not… throw a cute photo in there with a “Happy Birthday to the youngest lifeimages team member”! You wouldn’t believe how many people wrote back to congratulate him. People connect with what is familiar so connecting on a personal level is great business.

• Introduce New Products: When we first got our new Kambara album, we took photos of it and sent out a “news flash – read all about it” section. It would be impossible to have EVERY client into our studio to see the new line of albums, but this way each and every potential client, or past clients that may want to upgrade, saw an elegant display of photos that created a great buzz.

• Increase Your Sales: Maybe Mrs. Smith didn’t know you offered a 40′ x 5000′ canvas ( I am exaggerating obviously!) but coincidentally it would fit perfectly in her new home! Featuring a product gives your clients ideas for themselves or as gift for someone else.

• Better Advertising Dollars: I have said before how much we spent on print ads ($20,000 in one year). With little return other than a few bragging rights, email marketing is much much more economical and may even be better in terms of keeping or generating business. You will obviously need to do the research for your self (depending on your target market & area etc.) but you really can not go wrong with the cost of email marketing.

• Time Specific Marketing: Each wedding we do, we have a short time period in which guests of the wedding can purchase prints at a discounted price. The email marketing repeatedly reminds them that their window to purchase will be up in ___ days. Feeling the pressure to buy? So do they AND IT WORKS! This is not sneaky, if they were going to buy anyway, it just makes them do it by a certain deadline… at a better price!

• Preferred Advertising Vehicle: Our studio is by appointment only, but if I have the door open in the summer, I get people stopping in to sell me something I simply can not live without. Frozen meat packages, printing specials, carwash deals blah blah blah. I am always frustrated and I rarely purchase anything in this way because I am busy scooting them out the door. Alternately, an email is way less invasive, people can read it at their leisure, they can delete it, block it or simply click as junk if they choose.

There are plenty of e-marketing companies out there. We happen to use Constant Contact, who are great. Google email marketing in your area and you will see, a tonne of companies will come up.

If you would like to see examples of our lifeimages. newsletter, click here and we will gladly add you to our list! (See how easy that was? Sign up for real if you would like but that was an example of how easy it is to put that at the bottom of each email and you will QUICKLY start to collect more names that you can handle!!!)

GOOD LUCK!

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lifeimages. lifestyle wedding and portrait photography

website: www.lifeimages.ca check out our most recent wowrk at: www.lifeimagesblog.ca