In today’s feature I have chosen to talk about a subject that I addressed during my 2009 WPPI platform program “FUNdamentals”.  This traditional sales philosophy generated a lot of discussion during my program and I feel it is worth talking about here on this forum.  Application of the principle I am about to discuss will certainly add to your profitability as a professional photographer.

We are professional photographers and the number one item we sell are our images.  Seems simple enough, but in this digital age the marketing line sometimes seems to get blurred between our artistic efforts and our merchandising schemes.  Today’s digital world has opened up a whole new arena for marketing add on items to the initial fee we charge for our photographic services. In the past we offered the bride an album, the parents an album of their own, and the occasional large wall portrait, often sold in conjunction with exquisite custom picture framing.  Today there are literally countless new products borne of the digital age:  press-printed albums and fine art cards, canvas gallery wraps, purse-sized companion albums and brag books, etc., etc.  Yes, I offer these exciting new products to my clients but I maintain that the number one product I have to offer my clients is still my photographic work.

Back in the dark ages of film photography we used to produce 120-150 images on an entire wedding.  Today I routinely shoot twice that amount during the bride’s preparations.  On an average wedding assignment these days I’ll capture 800-1000 images per day or more.  In the “good ol’ days” a finished album of 60 or more images was a big sale.  Today I see some photographers offering starting packages that contain 100 or more images.  This is a short sighted practice that undermines your profitability and dilutes the industry as a whole.  Remember…we SELL images.  My wedding photography packages start with a bridal album that contains 50 pictures…30 choice pictures plus a 20 picture/2 page candid composite panorama.  Each additional picture a bride adds to her album costs $40.00 which may not seem like a large amount until you realize that the finished wedding albums that leave my studio average around 150 images.  Do the math and you’ll see that selling (not giving away) your images is a lot more profitable than any add-on novelty.

Industry icon, Jim Garner, adopts a similar approach in his sales.  His masterful “Story Shooting” lends itself to selling additional two page spreads in his award-winning albums.  At his appearance at Skip’s Summer School in August 2009 Jim stated that “People want to spend.  They just need to be led there.  Show it…They’ll want it”.  After the wedding Jim shows his clients mockups of two page spreads that he creates with his personal choices from the amazing images he captures.  His clients want them and purchase them.

Here’s an album we recently completed for a client.  I trust all of my finished bound albums to the artisans at Leather Craftsmen, Inc.  As always they did a masterful job of binding this client’s book.  Some add-on merchandising was done upgrading the client’s album from the 10″ X 10″ size they had contracted for to the 11″ X 14″ size they fell in love with.  They then added a Euro Leather cover upgrade, imprinting on the spine, four pictures inset into the cover, copper page gilding and an Asian Rice Paper end lining treatment.

The biggest upgrade to the album, however, was the number of my images that they chose for the finished presentation.  Here’s a short video slide show of the finished 255 picture album!

Resist any inclination to engage your competition on a price level.  They know what their product is worth.  Believe in your mastery and be compensated accordingly as an artist and a professional.  I’ve had clients tell me that they would rather have 50 of my images than 100 of my competitor’s.  Renowned photographer, Jerry Ghionis, said it best at Skip’s Summer School: “What is priceless tomorrow has to be expensive today”.  Make your images the best that they can possibly be and sell them first.