D o you feel like the only photographer that is not yet selling albums and you’re upset with yourself for not being able to provide what your clients have been begging you for AND missing out on the profit that you could be earning …. you are NOT ALONE !!!
I have helped countless photographers over the years jump off the cliff and get their feet wet with album sales – from helping them discover which album companies might suit their clients and market to figuring out which images to use in their first studio sample albums, to designing their first albums …. and then most gratifyingly … designing their album orders for their clients when they start rolling in. It’s incredibly rewarding watching a photographer go from feeling nervous with information overload to being equipped, confident and EXCITED to offer beautifully made albums to their clients.
PART 1.
WITH SO MANY CHOICES… HOW DO I PICK THE RIGHT ALBUM COMPANY FOR MY STUDIO?!
RESEARCH
- FORUMS – read what other photographers say about their positive and negative experiences BUT keep in mind that every single company can have issues from time to time – it’s how they handle customer service when problems arise that is important.
- CALL – Give the company that you’re interested in a call. Do you get a human on the phone quickly? Are they responsive and friendly to your questions?
- CONVENTIONS – Attend one of the many annual photography conventions and visit the album booths! This is the best way to touch, feel, check out the albums themselves for quality, features and overall sensory impressions.
- SHARE – If you have any photographer mentors or friends, all to often they are happy to show your their albums and share what they love about theirs.
- BORROW – Some album companies, with a credit card deposit, will lend you an album temporarily so you can see it in the flesh. Upon return any deposit is returned of course.
- INTERNET – obviously, a ton of info and photos are available online – but the real problem is that you need to see the books in real life. Photos, as you know, can make any book look outstanding ! On the right hand side of this page of our blog is a section called ‘ALBUM COMPANIES.’ There are external links to the various websites for handy reference jump off point.
VARIETY
- Even if you plan to only offer plain black leather albums – does the album company offer other options for upgrading to in the future should you want to offer extra features to your clients? (ie. metal, acrylic, cameos, photowrap covers etc.)
- Some photographers like to offer three different price points of book – you might find all three at one company … or you might have to represent 2-3 different companies depending on your needs.
- ie. less expensive press printed book > leather or photowrap cover flushmount > upgraded cover flushmount or a sultry matted/flush combo book
- Do you like to keep all of your eggs in one basket for ease …. or diversify to keep options open?
- If you know that in your market X% of photographers are selling X brand of album… perhaps it is wise to offer a different album brand. Be different.
PARENT ALBUMS
- Many photographers offer in packages, or a la carte, parent albums:
- These can either be straight duplicates of main album, scaled down sized version of main album, duplicate of the main album BUT in a different book type (ie. flush main to press printed parent)
- Some album companies will offer with the click of a button, a press-printed copy from a flush mount style main album, some don’t.
- Some album companies offer discounts for parent albums or duplicates of main albums, some don’t.
- When looking for your album company, how easy will it be for you to order parent albums? Easy right? Not necessarily.
- Look at aspect ratios. If they offer 14×11 … there might not be an exact scaled down ratio book available. If they offer 15×10 do they also offer 12×8?
- Think squares are no problem? Not necessarily. Some press printed companies have sizes that require hand scaling and fiddling with to make work because the gutter region ALSO changes width as they go up or down. Most mainstream flush mount companies should be easier though – ones that do use a straight dimension – when a 12×12 is a 12×12 …. not a 12.125 x 12.375 …. or something like that.
PRICE
- Make sure the album you choose is something your clients can afford with a little effort …. something that is balanced – not dirt cheap but not something totally out of the ballpark. The perceived and actual value should gel with your market. If you know that your wedding clients are on the lower side budget wise, you won’t have many successful sales of albums from a high end premium album company. On the flip side, if you shoot high end weddings, don’t insult your clients by passing off a cheaper album at possibly a price that’s too high for it’s quality.
- That said, don’t avoid a premium album company assuming everything will be unaffordable either. Perhaps a smaller album, with less page sides will be something that your market can bear as well !
- For higher end markets, seek out an incredible, rare book for your top-shelf offering. Something that not be commonplace in your town or city.
- Album Companies sell wholesale to photographers. Photographers sell the books retail to their clients. Make sure you factor in all costs involved for calculating your mark up. (prints, binding, shipping, cover upgrades in materials, protective coating, imprinting, cameo, end papers, shipping, design etc)
- Speaking of pricing, is the company known for offering frequent sales or buyer incentives or free product? This might seem awesome and is … BUT … consider too that when all of this information is available with a quick internet search and seen by the public – brides too will be wondering if they can save money on their album as well. That is… if they know, or can figure out, what brand of album you are selling to them. Some books are easily recognized despite lack of ‘name.’
- Additionally, I’d say 85% of photographers do NOT sell their books by brand, solely because this provides the couples with price shopping criteria to compare apples to apples with your competition. Also, by selling the books by format, size, features only – if that company discontinues a material, or product feature post-contract signing… you’ll still be able to find the best possible quality comparable book to provide.
OTHER FACTORS
- Turnaround Time varies tremendously from company to company. Often it’s worth the wait, but not always. Depends.
- Eco-friendly options – is this important to you? Ask about recycled content papers, soy ink if press-printed, non-animal cover materials, biodegradable packing materials etc. Is the album company physically closer to your city = less shipping energy to get to you. I know some companies are so close to their photographers, the photographer can pick their books up even!
- You are most likely a small business owner …. is supporting other small businesses important to you? Some album companies are small to medium in size, they are working at a hand made scale vs. large factory automated scale.
- Is supporting products made in your own country important to you? Read the fine print. An album company in X Country, might actually be getting their books printed and/or bound in another country. On the flip side, there are incredible books made in other countries, especially Europe, Australia and New Zealand. Reasons to go international might be the sense of exclusivity or uniqueness that you wish to bring to your customers.
- Ease of ordering. Is the album company EASY to order with? Some companies require a simple website upload, others FTP and quick order form, while others require using proprietary software or lab ordering software such as ROES or Digital Studio. Gauge what your level of ease is and number of steps that you are happy taking to order the books.
Watch for more ‘Getting Started with Selling Albums’ posts in the near future.
