Category Archives: best

IS PROJECTION RIGHT FOR ME?

Projection and in-person sales sessions for portraits simply aren’t for everyone.  Which begs the question…

Who will projection benefit?

Those who have a studio space will see immediate benefits from investing in projection equipment. As you already have the overhead of rent, you want to maximize the sales of existing and future clients!

Those who are ready to take their portrait sales to another level will benefit from projection. If you’ve been averaging sales of a few hundred dollars because you’re selling 5×7′s and nothing else, prepare to be wowed. Part of in-person ordering covers the needs of individual clients, allowing you to make individualized recommendations the client didn’t know he or she wanted. (Clients don’t just buy groupings of canvases. They need your expertise to help them know which images to choose, where to place the gallery, whether it should come in black and white, etc…)

Those who wish to provide their clients with a high-end portrait experience will benefit from personal consultations in clients’ homes, complete with wine and even dinner. In-home projection is a spectacular form of customer service.

Who will NOT reap the benefits of projection?

If you deal in volume photography services, projection may not be for you. It is a time-consuming process. Clients find themselves running late. They want to chit-chat. They have trouble deciding on their order. They want to see seven versions of the same wall mockup you made, then decide on the first one they saw.

If you do photography on a very part-time basis, projection probably isn’t for you. It’s a heavy investment that requires commitment to hard deadlines and to your clients. If the ordering appointment is at 7 p.m on Tuesday in the client’s home, you can’t wait until Wednesday to edit the photos.

If you can barely keep up with orders placed via online proofing, projection may not be for you – though you might consider hiring an assistant to complete ordering sessions for you!

Where can I find out more about projection and in-person sales?

The Projection and Sales Merit Badge, love.  It’s full of sales-y goodness in the most compact format possible.  Click here to buy.

SHOW COMMENTS HIDE COMMENTS 2 comments

brandcampblog - July 20, 2010 - 4:23 pm

Projection sales right from the start are great, Yolanda, IF your work can bear being projected and sold at larger sizes. Selling 16×20″ + larger images when you haven’t mastered the fine art of nailed focus/exposure/etc…will only highlight any imperfections in an image. But if you’re out of that stage, rock it!

Yolanda - July 20, 2010 - 12:34 pm

Understanding that there is a financial and time investment involved, would projection sales only be recommended as a “next step” for an established business? Would you recommend for or against doing projection sales from the start?

SALES SECRETS FROM THE MERIT BADGE

What’s the secrets to getting clients to commit to an order?

Limit the number of choices a client is given!

Three album sizes x four possible covers x three paper finishes = 36 possible combinations for your client to consider.  And that’s if you’ve already narrowed your selection down significantly!  (I used to offer more album choices, but clients literally groaned at the thought of making another decision. So I chose the one I like best and offer it exclusively.)

Adding tons of images from a portrait session to the mix only muddies the decision-making waters.  It makes order-finalizing even harder.

How many images do you show a client during an ordering session?

Twenty-five to forty. Clients are paying for editing a shoot. (That includes deleting images, not post-processing-every-photo-that-doesn’t-suck.) They don’t need to see seven variations of the same pose. They just need to see the one deemed ‘best’ by you, the portrait professional.

But I take at least 327 fabulous images per portrait session!

Tough toodles!  Become a brutal editor. If you have any hesitation about an image, delete it and move on.

Don’t let your ego get in the way of delivering manageable results to your client.

This is awesome!  Hook me up with a Brand Camp promo code for the Projection & Sales merit badge, Kristen!

If you’re interested in learning more about projection and/or in-person sales in as few words and pages as humanly possible, you want the merit badge.  You might want to download the Pricing & Sales Remix to get it a lil cheaper.;)

SHOW COMMENTS HIDE COMMENTS 2 comments

David Bier - July 7, 2010 - 4:57 am

Your promo code link doesn’t work…which is a shame as I’m interested in it!

[...] This post was mentioned on Twitter by Karyn Kelbaugh. Karyn Kelbaugh said: Listen to the smart lady! RT @brandcampblog: Portrait sales secrets from the merit badge are on the blog today! http://bit.ly/duAB5y [...]

SALES & PRICING REMIX LAUNCHES

While trying to find one of my articles about pricing, I realized that there’s no easy, pretty and printable way to read closely-related blog articles.  This made me sad.  (Not like, drink-some-Windex-my-life-is-over-sad.  Just ugh-people-are-missing-out sad.)  And so…

The Sales and Pricing Remix contains my favorite Brand Camp blog posts about establishing pricing, tweaking pricing, gaining confidence, and rocking sales.  I’ve even added a few bonus tips and hints for those of you who were scoffing and thinking you’ve already read the entire blog from beginning to end. (Twice.)

The best part?  The Sales and Pricing Remix is free.

That’s correct, it’s $0.00 right here. Enjoy!

SHOW COMMENTS HIDE COMMENTS 14 comments

Amy - June 25, 2010 - 4:30 pm

I just wanted to stop by and thank you for your Sales & Pricing Remix. I just downloaded it and printed it out to read. You’re amazing!

Christi Traster - June 9, 2010 - 7:31 pm

You rock my world. Seeeeriously. Free? Who loves free? Me!
xo

Truc - June 9, 2010 - 6:23 pm

Thanks so much, Kristen!

Julie - June 8, 2010 - 10:38 pm

Thank you so much! This is great:)

Carrie Hasson - June 8, 2010 - 10:27 pm

xo!

Anna Mollet - June 8, 2010 - 3:36 pm

suhweeeeeeet. Thank you so much!

Thauna - June 8, 2010 - 12:44 pm

Awesome!! Thank you, thank you, thank you!

hannah - June 8, 2010 - 10:47 am

OH my this is so well written and witty! I just adore your style! thank you so much this will be my coffee and reading material this morn! amazing!! :)

Megan C. - June 8, 2010 - 10:37 am

Hey, thanks! :)

Samaria - June 8, 2010 - 10:27 am

Thanks so much!

Pleasant Vonnoh - June 8, 2010 - 10:00 am

Thank you so much!!!

Marie S - June 8, 2010 - 9:21 am

Thank you so much for sharing!

Alex Maldonado - June 8, 2010 - 8:12 am

free is good. just downloaded it. looks like lots of info. i’ll be placing it on the fancy iPad for reading later. :) thanks so much.

[...] This post was mentioned on Twitter by staceydoyle and Allison Davis, Brand Camp. Brand Camp said: The Sales & Pricing Remix is flying off the virtual shelves. It's free, so get your copy! http://bit.ly/94eNP3 [...]

GET LIVING.

Johnny was in the midst of the Italian Market festival (attended by thousands) seemingly unchaperoned and offering $3 black and white portraits to festival goers.  There was even a $2 upsell to a color version of your portrait!

My heart swelled. I wanted to hug him, love him, wish him unending luck, pinch his cheeks, and dump $50 into his little jar of dollar bills.  Instead, I got my portrait drawn.  And made my friend get her portrait drawn.  And heckled a few passers-by into forking over the dough to get their portraits made, too.

Johnny’s out there living his dream.  He’s showing up.  He’s looking people in the eye and making art.  He’s earning money for it.  He’s a little crazy and a little fearless.

This week, let’s forget our fears, all the ‘what-if’s and reasons to give up.  Let’s go make art.  Just like Johnny.

SHOW COMMENTS HIDE COMMENTS 6 comments

Jennifer stanhope - June 11, 2010 - 1:16 pm

Once my 10 year old daughter wanted earn some money for donated a single mom who have a partly of Alzheimer’s disease..
she had her baked sale on my driveway..made over $40!!
she would sell anything to stranger! I am so proud of her.

erika - May 26, 2010 - 8:16 am

I thought it was gonna say “but instead I took him aside and told him to raise his prices…..”

=)

johnwaire | photo - May 26, 2010 - 7:32 am

i really like this one :)

Megan C. - May 25, 2010 - 10:52 am

That is awesome!!!

Karyn - May 25, 2010 - 9:57 am

Love it. =)

[...] This post was mentioned on Twitter by Crystal Chick, Brand Camp. Brand Camp said: Johnny is my hero. He's 10. http://bit.ly/cspYSK [...]

ONE PRICE. HERE’S WHY.

When you go to the Gap and buy a dress, it’s the same price whether you’re a size 2 or a size 14.  That dress has been designed, manufactured, inspected, shipped, and merchandised the same way for all sizes.  The difference in amount of fabric used is an inconsequential portion of the total cost of the final product, so it doesn’t factor into the consumer price.

If it did, you can be damn sure that I’d be squeezing into a size 10 instead of rocking the perfectly-fitting size 14 — I’m gonna spend as little as possible on this dress and my. hips. will. fit. in. there. to save $6.

Same thing for photographs — the taking, developing (or culling), scanning (or post-processing), blogging, posting online, order-making, packaging, and delivery costs are the same whether we’re talking a passport-sized photo or an 8×10″ print.

The difference in amount of paper used is an inconsequential portion of the total cost of the final product, so it doesn’t factor into the consumer price of small prints.

Charge one price for prints 8×12/8×10 and under.  If it’s a 4×6 print they need, great!  And if they’d rather have an 8×10 but are just shoving their hips into something smaller because it’s cheaper — they’ll be ever so much happier when they can get the print size that fits.

For more about pricing, or for the secrets of pricing larger prints (think the need for a size 38 when Gap stops at 14 — or a 20×30″ canvas print) — you all know I recommend buying Easy as Pie.  In fact, this is a riff on a theme you’ll find there.  And if you don’t yet have it, code BrandCamp50 takes $50 off the price of the Easy as Pie and Pastry School combo TODAY ONLYPick up your copy here.

Oh, and the winners from the Birthday Bash?

90-minute business therapy session (super-secret giveaway for the mailing-list peeps): Speed of Life Photography

Totally Rad Lightroom presets: Creative Clicks Photography

Easy as Pie + Pastry School combo: You Look Nice Today photography

Get Schooled guide to school portraiture: Asher Images

SHOW COMMENTS HIDE COMMENTS 6 comments

Jeremy Sale - May 21, 2010 - 2:07 pm

I will certainly defer to your opinion (and experience) on this, but every layman I showed this article to said that they would feel ripped off by the apparent bumping up (or bait-and-switch) of the smaller print size; thus instilling mistrust in the client.

Fascinating, nonetheless.

Laura - May 17, 2010 - 9:53 am

So true! Never really thought about it that way. :) Love your insight and craftiness with words, Kristen.

Rebecca Mitchell - May 13, 2010 - 2:42 pm

SO.perfectly.said. Thank you so much for putting that into a simple and perfect perspective!

tamsen donker - May 13, 2010 - 2:34 pm

wow, thanks so much for the awesome giveaway! I’m so excited for the Lightroom Presets!!!
Love your blog!

Amy Hoogstad - May 13, 2010 - 1:20 pm

Excellent analogy – I’ve never heard it described that way before, but it makes perfect sense!

And YAY!!!! Thank you so much for the Get Schooled Guide!

Rebecca - May 13, 2010 - 11:50 am

That is how I price ( thanks to Easy as Pie!) but I hadn’t thought about the clothing comparison – so smart!