Rules of Packaging

Posted on March 6, 2008
Filed Under The Basics | 8 Comments

By (Guest Contributor) Allan Tyndell

Packaging must enhance the product appearance.
Packaging must increase the perceived value to the customer.
Packaging must protect the product and make it easy to transport.
Packaging of luxury products (purchased as a gift) must always enhance the perceived value of the gift. Packaging should NEVER lessen a product’s value or force a gift giver to make enhancements before it is given.

Luxury Items According to Webster

Anything contributing to one’s enjoyment, usually something considered unnecessary to life and health.

Something to Think About…

The vast majority of photographs are purchased for someone else.

Detailed Information in a Client Profile

Posted on July 31, 2007
Filed Under Marketing Yourself, The Basics | Leave a Comment

Reaching in the mailbox Now that you are keeping basic profiles on your clients, it is time to move on to keeping more detailed records. There is no set list that anyone can give you on what to put as extra details for your particular clients. It really just depends on your particular client set.

If you are creating family portraits, then it would be a good idea to note the children’s names and ages in a client’s profile. If you are doing Senior Photography, then noting the school the Senior is attending might be helpful. For wedding photography, noting the date of the wedding would be a good idea, and will give on a head start for contacting the couple on their anniversary.

But really, anything could and should be added to a client’s profile. Don’t be afraid to add anything you can think of to a profile. Try to think of client profiles as an extension of your memory. If you were to see a client on the street and you happened to remember that the client had a daughter, would you ask that client how his daughter was? Of course you would. Client profiles just help you to remember small details like that.

As stated in the article about basic profiles, when a customer comes in for a repeat sitting, be sure to review the client’s profile so that you know as much as you can about the client. Repeat customers will become even more loyal if when they come in for their annual family portrait, you know the names of all their children.

But detailed client profiles have uses beyond just being a friendly photographer who appears to have a memory like an elephant. Detail client profiles are an excellent way to augment and extend the marketing of your studio.
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Say a family comes in for a sitting. Their oldest boy is 15. They leave happy with their purchases and you make note of the children’s ages. Two and a half years later (when their son is now 17 1/5), a short note or postcard will put you back in front of them just in time for Senior pictures.

Taking wedding photos? A postcard a year or two later may just get you taking the first photographs of the precious little baby girl they now have.

A yearly postcard and a friendly reminder that “Jane, Jake and Susan will only be this age once” may turn a portrait every five years family into an annual customer.

And, as always, detailed client profiles can help you with how you package and present your photography to the client. If you noted that for the last sitting, the client bought a brag book for Grandma, you can present this right at the start as an option. If you noted that a family’s eldest child attended a school with blue and gold as its colors, you can have a folio or photomounts wrapped in the appropriate colors ready for their younger sibling to choose from at their Senior session.
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Detailed client profiles are a way to turn one time customers into lifetime clients.�

The Basic Information in a Client Profile

Posted on July 24, 2007
Filed Under Marketing Yourself, The Basics | 20404 Comments

Meeting with clients In the previous article, we talked some about building a client profile. We touched a little on what can go in a client profile, but what is the bare basic information you should have about your client?
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The basic information you should have about every client you serve is Name, Address, Phone Number, Dates of Sessions and Products Bought. Email Address is helpful as well, if your client has one.

The very first time a client enters your studio or you do a sitting with them, have them fill out a short profile. Just ask them for the basic facts that were listed above. Let them fill in the information for which they feel comfortable. This information is the start of your client’s profile.

Come up with a system to file this information, either on the computer or on paper. The next time you need to work with this client, pull out the profile and familiarize yourself with them and their last session. Use this information to anticipate what they might want in this sitting and how you might be able to offer them more.

Having basic information about your client is essential to marketing yourself in the future. Building a database of names and addresses of former clients allows you to reconnect with these clients at a later date. Sending out a postcard every few months helps your customers keep your name fresh in their minds.

Keeping a list of what your client’s bought can help you anticipate inventory needs for prints and photo packaging. If many of your clients requested black photomounts for their photographs, than you know that this is a popular item. Yes, you may have a hunch that this is the case if you don’t keep these kinds of records, but keeping detailed client profiles lets you turn that hunch into hard facts. This in turn helps you to avoid ordering the wrong types of products.

In this internet age, many people are now communicating via email. Ask your customer for their email address and if it is okay for you to occasionally email them with offers. As long as you have permission, don’t be afraid email your clients every few months.

Once you get the hang of collecting basic information from your customers, you will want to start collecting more detailed information. In the next article, we will take a look at why detailed information is just as important as the basic information.

Building Client Profiles: What Do You Know about Your Clients?

Posted on July 18, 2007
Filed Under Marketing Yourself, The Basics | 252 Comments

Family with picture frame When a client comes in for a session, what do you know about them? Do you know their name? Their children’s names? The last time you did a sitting with them? Do you know their address? How they came to use you as their photographer? When their birthday is? What they last bought from you?

While this may seem like a lot of information, knowing these kinds of facts about your customers is a practice called “building a client profile”. A client profile is a database of facts and information about your clients that will help you strengthen your relationship and anticipate the needs of your clients. The more you know about your clients, the more you can figure out about how you can best address their current needs.

On their client profile, fill in the basic facts, like name and address. During the first sitting, mentally take note of any fact that you can. Children’s names and ages, graduation dates or any small details that you think may be of importance to your client. Add them to your client’s profile later on. Also make note of anything related to the sitting, such as the client’s preferred sitting style or anything that either pleased or displeased the client.

After you have completed work for your client, add to their profile any information about the order. What sizes did they order, how many of those sizes did they order? Did they order just for themselves or for family as well? What kind of packaging did they want? This sort of information belongs in the client’s profile.

Too much information? Not at all. The more you know about your client, the more you know about what they might need from you and, ultimately, about what kinds of clients are the ones with which you’ll wish to work.

Use the information in your client’s profile to help you build a better relationship with them. To you, these may be business motivated steps. To a client, these are personal touches that separate you from everyone else (especially the faceless discount, department store studios).

In the next article, we will talk about the very basic information that should be found in a client profile. This information will help you start building better client relationships.

What is an Upsell?

Posted on June 29, 2007
Filed Under The Basics | 1 Comment

In the world of sales, there is a concept known as an upsell. Really, it is a very basic concept. It is getting the customer to upgrade to a more expensive item.

When you go to a fast food restaurant and they ask you if you want to Value size your meal, which is an upsell. When you go to buy a TV and the sales staff shows you the new HD TV (that just happens to be a few hundred dollars more), that is an upsell.

The art of upsell is something that has been practiced for as long as people have been buying things. Knowing how to properly use an upsell technique can help you make more out of the sales to your client.

Rule #1 – Don’t present the upsell until after the client has agreed to make a purchase

At this point in time, you already have the client’s business. Offering an upsell before you have a commitment to purchase can make you seem too pushy, which could cause you to lose the whole deal.

Rule #2 – Upsells must have a no-thought benefit

It is best if an upsell seems to offer more than the cost so that the client does not need to think very long or hard on the upsell. It seems like a no-brainer, less than a dollar for almost double the fries and drink is a pretty good deal. Of course, those extra fries and drink costs fast food restaurant pennies.

If the cost is too high or you don’t present a benefit, your client will stop to think about the deal and is more likely to say no.

Rule #3 – The client must have a need for it

Don’t try to upsell something that your client will never use. The best upsells are things that your clients might want. If they are buying photographs for themselves, offer a slightly larger package for just a few dollars more so that they can give some prints to their extended family. If they are buying an 8×10 print, ask them if they would like to have it framed. Think if what you are offering is something you would want if you were in their shoes.

Rule #4 – State the benefit first, and then ask

Don’t ask the client if they want the upsell right upfront. State the benefit first. “That photograph would look absolutely lovely in a frame. Shall I show you our framing options? I can offer you a reduced price on the frame since you have already decided to buy from us.”

Upsells are a great way to make a little extra money out of every order from a client. And photo packaging is an excellent upsell to offer to your client. For a minimal investment on your side, you can make a few extra dollars every time you sell a package. �

How to Assemble a Pin Hinge Album

Posted on April 27, 2007
Filed Under The Basics | 1 Comment

Many photographers prefer to use a pin hinge album for their client’s wedding and family albums. But, many of the newer photographers may be intimidated by putting a pin hinge album together. This short video will show how easy it is to assemble a pin hinge style album.

Suggestions on how to put together different Senior packages?

Posted on April 24, 2007
Filed Under Questions from Visitors, The Basics | Leave a Comment

Hello,

I am a photography student who is trying to get my business organized. I will be putting together packages for seniors. Do you have any suggestions on how to put together different packages and what would be popular? I like your site it was very helpful but I did not see anything to pertained to this area.

Thanks
Corrine

Thanks Corrine for sending us your question! I asked Brian Hrdlicka from Wn albums & frames to help answer this question. Here is Brian’s answer:

That a very good question and one that many photographers struggle with even after years of experience .The good thing is you realize the opportunity for offering packages to your clients, some professionals do not see the advantage and unfortunately minimize their income potential.

First of all, I would ask if you have defined your strategy for marketing yourself and your services. By that I mean, what price point do you see yourself charging for your services and what type of images do you take? Stunning art-like photography with exceptional posing and lighting techniques can command high dollars, whereas a photo journalistic approach may have a limited appeal and result in less return.

Packages for these two approaches or styles, if you will, can vary and so will your profit. That is where the importance of packages and strong packaging support come in. Keep this in mind: You sell what you show your clients, so prepare your packages before you show them to your clients. Seniors for instance should be offered an array of products from wallets (in a presentation box) to hand out to friends and family to a brag book for mom and dad, multiple poses presented in a 4×6 or 5×7 self-adhesive Superior Mount Album from TAP make a great item to offer as part of a package combination.Also consider a framed photo or two as part of your package. Look at it this way, an 8 x 10 print can sell anywhere from $20.00 up. Now take that $20.00 print and mount it in a nice desk frame or easel mount and now your sale is much higher and your photograph ready to be displayed.

So your basic senior package may consist of the following, usually printed in multiples of 8:

24 to 32 wallet prints packaged in a nice wallet box with a coordinating wallet album
A folio with multiple poses or themes
Eight or more 5×7 prints - several packaged in a professional folder with your studio name imprinted and two framed for wall or desk display. The remainder should be packaged neatly in a box with tissue and a ribbon
A selection of 8×10 prints, handled the same as the 5×7’s

Try this too, their favorite pose is enlarged to a wall portrait size print, framed and positioned for display on an easel when they come into your studio. Remember our saying; you sell what you show…

If you add this package to a fun make-up and clothing consultation before the sitting, conduct a super model photo shoot atmosphere throughout their session, you can command much higher pricing depending on the market you serve, how you approach it and your area.

I really do hope this helps. Please keep in mind one thing. Simply provide a CD of pictures and you’ll likely receive very little in return. By making a complete professional presentation, you not only gain in profit, but you will also impress your clients and they will be more likely spread the word about your services. What you get from your efforts depends largely on how much you put into your efforts.

Feeling your Worth: Stimulating Your Client’s Sense of Touch

Posted on April 19, 2007
Filed Under The Basics | 4 Comments

I saved the sense of touch until last because of all of the senses you might appeal to, the sense of touch is where photo packaging can help you the most. With the other senses, photo packaging must be either enhanced or work in tandem with another element in order to accomplish your goal of making your photography have a higher perceived value.

When it comes to the sense of touch, photo packaging is what makes it.

By nature, people associate the weight of an object with the value of an object. These days, you will hear about it often in regards to electronics. Someone will buy a new camera or MP3 player and will comment on how it is so light that it must be junk.

While the opinion is voiced frequently with electronics, this opinion does carry over into all aspects of shopping. It also includes your photography.

Take two photographs of similar content and quality printing. Put one photo in a high quality frame or folder and leave the other plain. Then place these two photographs on a table in front of a person and ask them to decide which photo is better or has the greater value.

Usually, the very first thing they will do is pick the photographs up. They might turn the photograph a bit and cock their head to look at it better, but all that time their brain is picking up on as many clues as it can to help that person make a decision. The brain recognizes fact that one photograph feels heavier than the other. The weight means (to the average person) that the heavier photo is more durable and worth more. 9 out of 10 times, that untrained eye (like your client’s) will choose the “mounted” photograph as being the best.

The materials that go around your photos are important too. Your clients can’t (or at least shouldn’t) directly touch the images you create for them. They should be handling the photo packaging itself. Just by touching the photo packaging, your clients will judge the quality the of the packaging and, by association, the photographs within. Photo packaging made from rich, high quality materials feel like they are high quality. Low quality feels low quality. And, just like they will use the weight of an object to judge the quality of it, they will use the texture of an object to discern the quality of it as well.

As with all of the other senses, you do not want to disregard its impact on how your client perceives your work. The sense of touch is second only to their sense of sight in helping your client to determine how much they are willing to pay for your service.

Tasting Success: Stimulating Your Client’s Sense of Taste

Posted on April 17, 2007
Filed Under The Basics | 5 Comments

Taste is probably the most difficult of the five senses to incorporate into your marketing and photo packaging mix. You can’t exactly feed your photographs to your clients.

But that doesn’t mean that you can’t use the sense of taste to add to the experience that your client has with you. Remember that your client comes to you looking for a particular experience when they hire a photographer which is that they are the focus. Add some taste treats to a photo shoot or a meeting and you help to solidify their fantasy. Professional models have food spreads available when they are at a photo shoot. Imagine how impressed your clients will be if you have thought about them ahead of time and provided a little something to eat.

This does not mean that you need to spend a fortune on a catered buffet. You can put out a nice layout of food for under $10. You don’t need enough to make a meal for them, you only need enough to provide some nibbles for your client to snack on in between shots.

If you have the time and inclination, you can even cook the food yourself. I know of a photographer who bakes cookies every morning to give to her clients throughout the days. Not only does the home baked cookies greatly impress her clients, but her studio also smells fantastic for the rest of the day.

When putting food out for a client, keep in mind that you need to put out photo friendly food. This does not mean photogenic food, but rather food that will not later ruin the shot. The last thing your client wants to do right before getting their picture taken is to eat something that will get stuck between their teeth, smear their lipstick or stain the clothes they are wearing. Also, remember to have high quailty napkins available.

Some good choices for food to put out for your clients are licorice vines, grapes, strawberries, pineapple chunks, carrots, muffins and maybe even fresh baked cookies.

You should also include drinks for your clients but, again, you need to consider what the effects of those drinks might be on the shoot. If the shoot includes only adults then you should be okay with providing an assortment of drinks. But if your shoot includes children, you should offer only clear drinks like water, clear soda and clear juices. Trust me, the last thing you want to do is to be responsible for your client’s child either staining the adorable outfit they are in or launching into a tantrum because their parent made the choice not to let them drink the colored drink that might stain their outfit.

The addition of food does not end with the photo shoot. When you present your finished packaged photographs, it is always a good practice to include a small treat as well. A piece of candy affixed to the outside of the box or a goodie bag of treats can help to leave a good impression with the client.

Food may be the trickiest of the five senses to incorporate but catering to a client’s sense of taste is the one that is most likely to get your name mentioned to all of your client’s friends.

Hearing the World: Stimulating Your Client’s Sense of Hearing

Posted on April 10, 2007
Filed Under The Basics | 34 Comments

I could take the easy way out with this article. I could tell you to put on a good music CD in your studio and call it a day. I could do that, but I wouldn’t be getting into the more subtle aspects of using the sense of hearing to help give your photographs a better perceived value.

Using sound to enhance your finished product does not end with playing music. Our world is filled with sounds. Just stop for a moment and think about what you are hearing right now. You may hear cars driving by, bird chirping outside, wind rushing by or a thousand other things.

We do not live in a silent world. Our world is brimming with sound. As a matter of fact, too little sound can make a person nervous as it sends a signal that you should not relax or worse, that something is not quite right.

On the other hand, having too much noise can cause problems as well. Loud noises can grate on a person’s nerves, especially if it is a continuous sound.

Nervous or irritated are the last two states you want your clients to be in when they sit down to look at your work. These involuntary reactions to sound will be projected onto whatever they look at or think about buying.

Take an inventory of the sound levels in your studio. Are the sound levels too loud or too quiet? Would your studio benefit from a softly played CD or a sound machine or would it be better to invest in sound barriers or a noise canceling machine?

If you show your work to your clients outside of a studio, take note of the noise levels of various locations before choosing a meeting spot.

Sound also plays a role in your photo packaging. If you remember, a few months ago I talked about why tissue paper was placed in high quality socks when they are packaged and why you should use tissue paper. The crinkling sound that tissue paper makes adds an auditory element to your packaging, which in turn adds to the richness of the experience and helps to give a perception of greater value.

Adding a small bell to the packaging for children’s portraits, a rattle to baby portraits or using cellophane instead of tissue paper are some other ways you can add sound to your photo packaging mix.

Sound plays a bigger role in our world than we might think. But a savvy marketer understands that people are programmed to take cues from the sounds around them. Making sure that your clients are getting the appropriate sound cue while looking at your work will help to ensure that your work gets the best possible reception.

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