Why Albums is important to your Business

Why Wedding Albums are important to your business:

Accomplished photographer Bryan Caporicci is no stranger to selling albums in his photography
business. He is the creator of “Sprouting Photographer”, an educational site dedicated to teaching
photographers the business of photography. We wanted to share one of his articles from that site that
touches on a subject that’s obviously near and dear to us.

Free Advertising:

Sound good? Why not? Everybody likes free. And advertising for your business surely
can’t hurt.

What if we offered you a billboard and placed that billboard in a place where you would
be assured that people looking for your service would see it? What if your clients actually
paid for the billboard plus a nice profit for yourself?

A wedding or portrait album does just that. It becomes a walking, talking billboard
promoting your services. And it aims that promotion in exactly the right places, to like
minded people because brides know girls who are getting married, and pregnant women
know other pregnant women, and ladies who work out and want boudoir know other
ladies who work out and want boudoir. It talks about how good you are and how great
your images fit and flow together. It loudly shouts how nice the person looks and how
beautiful everything seems. It even talks about spending money and what you get for
your money. The album owner gets compliments and reinforcement that she made the
right decision. She likes compliments and shows it off even more. And you get even
more benefit. See the cycle starting here?

Note, I said: ALBUM.

Not pictures on Facebook – they run through faster than a speeding bullet. Not pictures
they see in a 2×3 format. Not pictures on their phone or any old monitor, no matter how
bad the color is. Not pictures they look at (or really don’t look at) while reading
something else. We’re talking about the hard goods, the kind that can be held, touched,
flipped-through at an easy pace and appreciated for the beauty that jumps from the page.
Want this free advertising for your business?
1. YOUR CLIENTS WILL BUY ALBUMS. Don’t tell me they won’t pay for it because I can
point to another photographer in your community who will tell me that 90% of his brides
have albums, or that 75% of her boudoir clients have albums. Same for engagements,
babies, maternity and, to a lesser degree, families.

2. Don’t say it’s not like that where you live, because we have clients in Oudtshoorn,
Vredendal, Lutzville, Zimbabwe and now from Angola. It IS like that where you live, you’re just not getting in on the action.

3. PUT YOUR NAME IN YOUR ALBUMS. I walk through production and see beautiful
albums, open them up, and no maker’s mark. What a shame. If you are that
photographer, you just painted over your billboard. That’s really what it amounts to, and
it’s a damn shame.

4. GET A TAG ALONG BOX so it’s easy for your client to advertise for you. If it’s a small
album, get a gift bag. Help her to help you!

5. THANK PEOPLE FOR REFERRALS. It just encourages them to show off their album and
talk more about you when they know you appreciate it.

INCREASE YOUR PERCEIVED VALUE: We all like something back when we spend our
money. Go to the dentist or accountant, and you get nothing back but bills.
Someone will ask “How much was your photographer, and what did you get?”
If they can show a beautiful album to a potential client, your chances are way better
than a photographer with a only a few pictures on screen. You must be perceived as worth every penny.

SUSTAINABLE BUSINESS: The only sustainable photographers will be product base
photographers. Real businesses finish the job. The print on the wall, the picture on
the table etc. keep the income flowing. Keep the referrals coming in. That are in essence what makes you a real business.

YOU CAN’T SELL WHAT YOU DON’T HAVE: Buying decisions are not made logically;
they are made emotionally. We need to go beyond needs to wants and then desires.
How can someone fall in love with your albums’ leather bound covers if all you have are
photo covers?

Show them albums which showcase your work to their maximum, and show them more
than one book. Even if you think they can’t afford it! You will be amazed what happens.

SHOWING SPECIFIC SAMPLES: There is a huge benefit to being able to show a potential
bride and groom a specific album from a wedding you photographed at their venue as
opposed to showing an album from another venue. They connect with your work so much
more. They feel that you “get” them and they can picture you photographing their wedding.

GENERATIONAL: Does your parents have a wedding album? Then why is your clients less important?!

PERFECT STORM: © G.E. Masana Because at the time you present your clients with their
album design, all the conditions are ripe for the “perfect storm”.

* They are still on an emotional high from the wedding.
* Their wedding day is a significant milestone event in their lives.
*Them finalizing their album design is a “do once in a lifetime, keep forever” permanent
and archival event that registers with them as a high priority and so, one that they may
put more money into to get it done as well as possible….

Speaking of money, the album design comes at a time when more often than not the couple
is flush with funds they got as wedding gifts from their guests….

They’re not about to start shopping for a photographer to make the album for them,
comparing prices and all that, like when they were looking for a photographer to photograph
their wedding.

They already trust you to do great work for them, and in fact they’ve seen the results of
your work first hand. You’ve proven yourself. They’re already sold on you.

Until they have an quality album in their hands, they will never experience the value and
what your images looks in print.

SIZE DOES MATTER! Show them something bigger than what they want, we all like to
say no at some point. Because if we say no to A, the chances are more than likely to be
yes for B.
START AT THE BEGINNING: If you want to sell something, you can’t introduce it at the end
of your meeting when you talk prices. Then it is too late. You have to talk about it the
whole time. The album must become part of your thought process. As you meet them and
they talk about their venue/colour scheme – tell them how you can incorporate it in their
wedding album. Assume they want it from the beginning.
Tell them at the end of their wedding that it was beautiful, and would make such a great
album.

DONT SELL ALBUMS AS A SALESMAN: It should be your genuine intent to want to have
them a beautiful showpiece of their wedding for years to come. The upside is that it is also
a marketing showpiece for years to come.

KEEP THEM INTERESTED: People get bored quickly! Show them big and thin rather than

small and fat. Show your very best photos from one wedding per book.

One day when you don’t fit in your wedding dress anymore – the album says we were young,
beautiful and in love! There will always be a market for that.

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