As photographers we spend A LOT of time trying to get new clients (you know, like the tedious task of posting on instagram, or trying to consistently blog, or pouring hours of work into SEO strategies that you don’t 100% understand). But it’s actually easier to sell to the clients you already have instead of continually hustling to get those new leads.
THE KEY IS CREATING A SYSTEM FOR SELLING AND DESIGNING ALBUMS THAT MAKES THE PROCESS EFFICIENT AND PROFITABLE.
So let’s start breaking down the process and giving you the first actionable steps towards creating your system. You may need to invest a little bit of extra time to get your system up and running, but albums will give you the opportunity to create the success and longevity you have been working towards for your business, so the little bit of time and effort you initially put into the process will truly pay off in the long run.
1. YOU NEED A SAMPLE ALBUM
Now, I know I will sound like a broken record because I repeat this over and over, in my mentoring and anywhere else photographers are asking questions about selling albums, but the first step is to always invest in a sample album.
There are a ton of suppliers out there for every style and every budget. I know you may feel like you don’t want to spend the money, but trust me, this is what will make your album sales take off.
Do you feel like you just can’t decide on what album to go with? I know it can be overwhelming (there are A LOT) of options out there. Look through a couple of album suppliers (it’s great to try to source local) and maybe you end up going with one because of a great recommendation or they have a great sale on. Perfect! Just commit.
Now that you’ve chosen your supplier, choose an album that fits your budget and brand.
Bonus Tip: Most Album Suppliers offer discounts for Studio Samples so you can save on your initial investment. Also, as long as you price your albums right, you will recoup all of your investment back on your FIRST SALE.
Need some suppliers to check out? I would highly recommend QT Albums, Queensberry, Dekora, Pikto, Red Tree Albums, and GTA Imaging.
2. SET UP YOUR WORKFLOW
To save yourself time you are going to need to have a system. This is where most of your initial hours will be spent when getting yourself up and running to start selling albums. You’ll want to invest in album design software to make yourself as efficient as possible. In my workflow I use SmartAlbums 2020 to design my layouts and their Cloud Proofing software to get the feedback from my clients. My clients love the SmartAlbums online previewer because it gives them a perfect visual of what their album will look like in print and it’s super easy for them to let me know what changes they would like to make.
Time Saving Tip: SmartAlbums 2020 has a released a new feature that will now Auto Build layouts for you. All you need to do is have the photos selected, choose your settings, and click one button to have a full album designed for you! Talk about amazing!
3. FIGURE OUT YOUR WHY
A big key to selling albums is understanding your why. You aren’t just trying to make more money when selling albums, you are selling albums because you know your clients deserve to have their memories preserved forever. As photographers, that is our responsibility. So do a little self-reflection and figure out why you believe every client should have an album in their hands at the end of their experience with you.
If you need a little help, check out my Free Resource: 6 Things You Can Do Right Now To Start Selling Albums. After you complete that exercise you will have pinpointed your why and learned how to incorporate it into all your messaging and social media.
4. BE CONFIDENT
Okay, so it’s easy to just say “be confident!” but this really will be the key to selling albums to your clients. When you have a meeting and you’re showing off your beautiful sample albums, raving about all the features that you love about it, your potential clients will feel that energy. Having the confidence in the products you are offering, truly believing in them and in the positive impact they will have for your clients will translate to sales.
Use your WHY to help you communicate to your potential clients the VALUE of albums.
YOU HAVE THE OPPORTUNITY TO OFFER SOMETHING SO VALUABLE TO YOUR CLIENTS THAT IT’S A DISSERVICE TO THEM WHEN YOU DON’T GIVE THEM THE OPTION TO GET AN ALBUM.
Although the task of offering albums may seem like a daunting one, completing one step at a time will get you that much closer to having albums as an integral part of your business.
Think about yourself a year from now, when you’ve successfully added albums to your client workflow and every client is ordering an album from you. You’ll need less clients to reach your financial goals and you’ll find yourself having more time to do the things you love. It just starts with completing these simple steps.
-RH
Still feeling not motivated enough to get your album system started? Check out my post “Why You Need To Be Offering Albums.”
