Photo credit: Lin & Jirsa

A photography business of any sort, whether it’s a full-time venture or a weekend fling (you know what I mean), needs a beginning. Whatever your business objectives, you need a map for this adventure before hitting the road. This tutorial is your road map (GPS, if you’re like me) to starting a successful photography business. I’ll teach you how to:

• Set business goals
• Create a business plan
• Establish business accountability
• Create a portfolio
• Build a client list
• Make a marketing plan
• Acquire the right tools

Set Business Goals

Business goals can begin in general terms. For example, my goal was to establish a core group of expectant mothers who I could photograph — from maternity through the kindergarten years of their children. I wanted to replace my existing full-time job, so I had to be available about 40 hours per week to make it happen.

Having an end goal in mind makes it simpler to find the path needed to reach the destination, like breadcrumbs you’re leaving for yourself to follow later. Let’s begin with your client goals.

Choose your ideal client

It’s important to first establish your ideal client. The audience you choose will greatly impact the necessary time commitment and revenue potential of your new business. Be specific. The definition of an audience can include any or all of the following:

• Type of person (twenty-something bride, mom with three children, etc.)
• Location (city, venue, distance from home, etc.)
• Income level (luxury, budget)
• Style
• Interests

For example, marketing to a wedding client who favors a luxury destination is much different than marketing to a mom on a budget who needs family photos. Effective business and marketing plans (we’ll get there soon) require knowing exactly who this ideal client is. You shouldn’t even begin a plan before defining your ideal client.

Set revenue and schedule expectations

Begin with the amount of time you want to put toward the business, the amount of money you want to make, or a combination of the two. You can start to see real numbers emerge after doing a little bit of math.

Let’s assume a 40 hour workweek. That could mean one to two portrait sessions per week for 48 weeks (assuming four weeks of vacation) or one wedding session per week for 26 weeks (half the year). Move these numbers up or down depending on how much you want to work and the time required to complete each session.

$50,000 per year in revenue requires $500 – $1,000 per portrait session or $2,000 per wedding.

$75,000 per year in revenue requires $750 – $1,500 per portrait session or $3,000 per wedding.

Once you see the actual numbers, you will be better able to plan the potential of your business.

When making these calculations, don’t forget to account for expenses, downtime, seasonality (especially for weddings), and time needed to manage the business (advertising, marketing, office organization, strategic planning, record keeping). Don’t be overly optimistic. I use very conservative assumptions so that I’m not shocked when unexpected things arise, like a severe computer crash or a nasty flu during the peak of the photography season.

Create a Photography Business Plan

When you have goals in hand, begin putting them to work. Creating your business plan is the next step toward successfully achieving your goals. PhotoShelter offers a Photo Business Plan Workbook to get you started, or you can do your own.

Essential parts of a solid business plan include:

Business summary

Company description: What do you do? How is your business different than others? What needs does your business serve?

Management and organization: How is your business structured — both from a legal perspective and internal standpoint? Who is part of it? There are a variety of business structures to choose from: sole proprietor, LLC and corporation. Each of these choices has a different level of initial investment cost, personal choice of liability and tax liability.

Services and products: What does your business sell? How does it benefit your clients? What is the story of your product line?

Market Analysis

Market research: What unmet need does your business serve? Who are your competitors? What are the industry trends? How does this benefit your business? Who is your perfect client?

SWOT analysis: SWOT stands for Strengths, Weaknesses, Opportunities and Threats. What advantage does your business have over its competitors? What personally do you bring to the table? What do you need to improve upon? Why do you see opportunity with your business idea? What could make your business fail?

Sales strategy: How are you pricing your services and products? Do you have different pricing options for different clients?

Marketing strategy and planning

Marketing strategy: How are you going to promote your business? How often are you going to promote it? What different methods will you use? How will you gain exposure?

Advertising strategy: What are potential advertising opportunities? What is your advertising budget?

Sales planning: How are you going to attract clients? How will you store information about clients? How many clients are you looking to work with? How much do you expect your average client to spend? What products will they buy?

Financials

Forecasts and budgeting: What are your fixed costs? What costs will you incur every time you make a sale? What major purchases will you make? What workshops will you attend?

Cash flow: What is your initial investment going to be? When will your busy/slow seasons be? How will you finance any slow periods? How much and how often will you take money from your business?

Many new business owners find it valuable to sit down with an accountant and work through these numerous questions during an initial forecast-and-budget session. A financial expert will likely think of things you have not considered.

Establish Business Accountability

Be confident your business will make it big. But first, you must act like the big business you will become: Set up proper documentation before your first sale.

Register a Business Name

A business name should be easily remembered, descriptive and distinctive. You can brand the business with your name or come up with something different and unique. My last name is difficult to spell, but I want people to remember ME when they come across my site. Therefore, I kept my name in my business name: Kelly Tuohey Photography. Your decision is a personal one, but here are some tips for researching a business name.

Develop a list of three to five names you love and then get feedback from friends and family. Their unique perspectives may save you from choosing a bad name for your business.

Consider how your business name will be used:

• Search – Will your name be hard to find in Google?
• Social – Is your business name available across all major social networks?
• URL – Is the domain name you want available?
• Trademarks – Does another business have the same name registered?
• Memorability – Is the name easy to remember?
• Logo – Does the name work well with a logo?

Registering your business name is a smart idea: It protects your name from use by others and is helpful when establishing financial accounts. Read this Wall Street Journal article for more information on How to Register US Trademarks.

Create and register your website and social media accounts: Facebook, Pinterest, Twitter, Google+ and YouTube (even if you don’t plan to use them any or all of them). Don’t spend hours designing them; the point is to secure your identity as quickly as possible.

Register with your local and federal governments for tax, legal and communication purposes.

Set up banking accounts, business insurance, licenses and basic record keeping

Having separate business accounts is essential for proper organization and record keeping. This article on Legal Zoom (a great website) supports this concept. Don’t forget to connect the bank account to online payment services such as PayPal.

Apply for a business credit card. Many online vendors only accept credit cards, so you will need some way of paying that doesn’t touch your personal accounts. I simply added a debit card onto my business bank account — easy!

Business insurance is not cheap and can be a major deterrent for those who are starting out. In the long run, however, it’s more costly to be caught without insurance, so set up business insurance right away.

Business licenses are an absolute requirement. This registers your business at the local (municipal) level. Again, the penalties for lacking a business license can be severe: The fines you may be levied can be more than the initial cost of the license. Learn more at the U.S. Small Business Administration.

Set up a record keeping system. Even if you have no desire to maintain your own books, you need to have a basic understanding of proper record keeping. There are many low-cost software programs available online that can link directly to your bank accounts. For example, here’s an article describing how to integrate ShootQ successfully.

At the very least, keep printed copies of all your expenses and store them chronologically. Also maintain an electronic spreadsheet that tallies your income and expenses, preferably separated by categories.

Take photos of receipts with your phone and email them to yourself.

Live by Larry’s advice (he’s my tax dude): Plan time each week to update your records, which is easier and more accurate than saving everything until the end of the year.

Create a Portfolio

It’s hard to get clients if you don’t have sample photos ready and available. That’s where a portfolio comes in.

What is a portfolio?

A portfolio is a representation of your current and best work that reflects personal style, your niche and — most importantly — the work you want to do. Your portfolio should be minimal and concise so that potential clients get a great introduction to who you are and your style. Keep it simple; you don’t want to overwhelm them.

I’m new. How do I develop a portfolio?

Creating a portfolio can be difficult if you are just starting out. But a portfolio is very important when you are new on the scene. Don’t be afraid to do a few sessions for free in order to create the exact scenes and style you want to showcase in a portfolio for your future clients. You’ll attract your ideal client through images that best represent your style.

But I don’t know what my style is!

As a new photographer, finding your groove can be a bit intimidating. Everyone else seems to have something that screams who they are as an artist. The thing to remember, though, is that successful photographers were at one time new, too. Style won’t jump out and shake your hand on Day #1.

Start by looking for ideas. What do you enjoy viewing? What do you like shooting and who is your target market? Take those in and go out and practice. Soon, your style will emerge.

Build a Client List

What is client building?

Client building is the process of attracting ideal clients who can hire you. A photography studio doesn’t start with a line at the door; it takes hard work to recruit interested people and website traffic, and then turn those leads into clients.

Building your client list

Build slow and steady, one client at a time. Treat each client like they are your ONLY client (in the beginning they might be). Treat each client like gold, regardless of how much the person spends.

When starting out, word of mouth and referrals will be your best friend. You want every client to become an evangelist for your business. The client should love the experience with you so much that she or he will freely promote you to all their friends and family. The first few clients are your most important and likely will turn into lifelong, repeat clients.

Develop a system to remember the fine details about each client.

Set up a standardized client inquiry sheet in addition to a standard client workflow process that details everything — from the client’s initial phone call all the way to the delivered product. Note birthdays, anniversaries, favorite colors, taste in music, memorable first dates, or birth weight of children (depending on the type of session). Send each client greeting cards on their anniversary or birthdays. Attention to detail makes you unforgettable to a client.

Online list building can include collecting email addresses or social media followers (especially on Facebook and Pinterest). A combination of great content (like inspiring Pinterest boards) and an incentive (like a free PDF with “What to Wear” advice) will encourage potential clients to trade their contact details for your valuable information. Once you have a person’s contact information, it’s much easier to continue interacting through an email newsletter or social media.

Make a Marketing Plan

It took more than being a good talk show host for Oprah Winfrey to become a media mogul. Her company was a marketing machine that was skilled at developing partnerships and relationships, as well as product delivery. Similarly, it will take more than good photos or an advertising budget to build your business.

Think about the relationships you need to foster over the next year, and how to bring revenue from those relationships.

Creating a 12 month marketing plan

A solid marketing plan keeps you in a proactive mode. You’ll be ready well in advance for family sessions in the fall, the summer wedding season or Christmas holiday sessions. Avoid scrambling to put together packages and marketing pieces after the season is already upon you.

Types of marketing:

• Advertising (local print publications, Google, Facebook, etc.)
• Online (website, blog, social media, search engines)
• Networking
• Referrals and word of mouth
• Email
• Direct mail
• Events (meetups, tradeshows, speaking gigs)

Your marketing efforts should reflect the essence of your business. Most photographers have niche businesses that provide personalized services and products. Your marketing tactics should reflect that. Mass mail campaigns with “Dear Customer” on them may not bring you the right type of client.

Relationships, not dollar signs

Whenever you create a marketing piece, write a client newsletter, draft a blog post or attend a networking event, keep in mind the purpose of your content. You are speaking to past or potential clients: What will be useful for them? Always focus on them and the relationships you want to build.

Good marketing focuses on a customer need (not your need).

For a client, investing in photography is much like buying a house. Remember that sales are based on emotions, first impressions and relationships. Focus on these three things when formulating every piece of your marketing content, and the look and feel of your website and community presence.

Acquire the Right Tools

A business can’t operate smoothly without the right tools and products. Some will improve the quality of your service; others will improve efficiency. The starting list below shows all the areas where you might need funding. Keep in mind that this isn’t a list of must-haves to be successful. It’s a list of suggestions for items that can help you and your business. Your needs will vary and your business can function without some of them. Buy what you need — not what you want — and your budget will be much happier.

• Camera – Canon EOS 5D Mark III
• Back up camera – Canon EOS 7D
• Lenses – Canon EF 24-70mm f/2.8L II
• Flashes (at least one) – Canon Speedlite 580EX II
• Batteries and chargers (make sure and buy spares)
• Card readers & cables – SanDisk Compact Flash Cards
• Editing software – Photoshop (Elements and/or Aperture, Lightroom and Photoshop)
• Studio equipment – lighting, stands, backdrops, modifiers, props, floors, backgrounds, remote triggers
• Computer for editing
• Monitor calibration device – Xrite EODIS3 i1Display Pro
• Basic office productivity programs – Microsoft Word, Apple’s iWork, Open Office
• Backup storage devices – Drobo, Time Machine
• Offsite backup storage devices
• Professional print labs – ProDPI
• Professional album creation sites and/or software – Fundy Software, Vision Art, Kiss
• Website and online presence – Pro Photo Blogs
• Marketing and advertising materials (Moo business cards, rack cards, print packaging materials)

Now It’s Time to Start the Business

You can see by the sheer length of this blog post, there are several important factors to consider before starting a photography business. Addressing these topics early on will set you on a path to success.

Take the time to set up everything properly in the beginning so you aren’t unprepared later. You will present yourself as a professional because you will have taken the right steps to BE a professional business person.

Use this article to create a plan of action — steps that will take you from the idea to the realization. Then work through the plan a little each day. It doesn’t matter if you only have 10 minutes a day to work on it, you can do it. This means taking action. Ideas mean nothing if not put into action. Whether you think you can or think you can’t — you’re probably right. Keeping a positive frame of mind during your growth stage will help you combat burnout, frustration and self-doubt. It will be hard and there will be some rough going, but you can do it.

Now get out there and start the business you’ve always dreamed of. Create your own success!

Best Website or Blog Template

ProPhoto Blogs

ProPhoto is the most-respected photo blogging tool in the industry, whether for a mobile device, an iPad, or your desktop. With unrivaled customization options requiring no previous web expertise, and a top-notch support system, it’s easy to see why ProPhoto is the No. 1 choice for both professional and amateur photographers.

ProPhoto offers a stunning blog, website and portfolio all in one. With 13 built-in designs, photographers have the power to start with a strong website, and the freedom to change the appearance of their business. Its long list of features includes everything you could ask for in a web theme.

Features:

• layouts designed to showcase photos;
• mobile site customization;
• Flash-free slideshow galleries;
• built-in social media integration; and
• search engine optimization controls.

ProPhoto has built its reputation on high-quality customer service. The company responds quickly, and with thorough, helpful support for whatever you need.

Best Forum

B School offers much more than a standard forum. It’s a social mentoring and referral network for wedding and portrait photographers. For example, you can team up with other photographers to refer business.

Your community experience begins with a customizable “homeroom” dashboard where you can organize content from the forum as well as outside resources like Twitter streams and RSS feeds. You can follow your favorite threads from the homeroom as well — a sweet feature for keeping track of all your discussions.

Members can create a public profile page that’s much more rich than a typical forum profile, and it’s public, which can help your search results.

B School includes Study Hall, a weekly live broadcast covering specific photography topics and live Q&A.

Features:

• forum supported by successful photographers;
• customizable homepage;
• social gallery for sharing photos and getting feedback;
• high-definition training videos;
• hundreds of face-to-face local interests and clubs;
• public profile pages to help SEO;
• special member Study Hall access; and
• referral system access.

As B School’s homepage says, there are a lot of places you can hang out online. But B School distinguishes itself by focusing on supporting your business.

Best Digital Magazine

Professional Photographer Magazine

For more than 100 years, Professional Photographer, the official magazine of Professional Photographers of America, has helped readers advance careers in the photographic industry. Each issue contains practical yet cutting-edge lessons in the artistic, business and technological aspects of professional photography. No other magazine offers such an influential presentation of the people, trends, products and photographs changing and defining the portrait, wedding and commercial photography landscape.

Print and digital editions are available by subscription. The digital experience looks great on a mobile device, and comes complete with flipping pages, live links to additional content and search features.

Features:

• articles on everything related to photography;
• contests;
• reviews;
• inspiration;
• business tips;
• interviews; and
• trusted product recommendations.

Best Action

This Photoshop action set combines the most versatile and user-friendly workflow actions with beautiful color and black-and-white conversions. Together it brings you an action set with infinite possibilities. Not only does MCP Fusion Photoshop Actions help guarantee beautiful images, it will allow you to experiment with different recipes in order to create a style for your photos that is truly uniquw. This package is the only Action Set purchase you will ever need.

There is even help and support provided if you need some extra assistance installing or utilizing these actions!

Features:

• 21 color workflow actions;
• 8 black and white workflow actions;
• 7 exposure-adjusting actions;
• 13 special effect enhancers;
• 7 contrast and sharpening actions; and
• Photoshop AND Photoshop Elements compatible!

Best E-Book

From Portfolio to Profit Engine by Jenika McDavitt

Time to look at the psychology of web browsing. Of marketing. Of memory and influence and persuasion. Jenika McDavitt’s From Portfolio to Profit Engine: How to Build an Absolutely Irresistible Photography Website, is one of those e-books that’s changing the industry.

With a master’s degree in psychology, she dives into phenomenal ideas about how customers, think, act and make buying decisions. Then McDavitt teaches the reader how to align your photography website to those principles in order to convert visitors to booking clients.

This e-book is more like a workshop in PDF format. You get step-by-step help for creating a target client profile that covers what you most need to know. It teaches how to build a photography website that markets for you and brings in the clients you most want to work with.

Features:

• learn to write a full pricing page plus other action-eliciting web copy;
• understand how to write and arrange your website so people take action;
• how to disguise key information in delightful ways;
• how humans naturally view a screen;
• what content people share with friends;
• ways to use galleries;
• what memory research says about your navigation bar;
• how to draw a client in with interactivity; and
• why narrowing your target audience actually widens your reach.

Best Online Workshop or Webinar

Sal is one of the most sought-after business consultants in our industry and is someone with a proven reputation for helping studios and photographers take their businesses to the next level. His Creative Live seminar on Wedding Photography Bootcamp is one of the best!

In 2007, gross sales for Salvatore Cincotta Photography were less than $50,000. Today, his business is a million dollar brand that’s shooting weddings, seniors, babies and families. Find out how he did it. Salvatore Cincotta Photography includes several brands, including Studio C, Salvatore Cincotta Films, BehindtheShutter.com and Signature Collection Albums.

Not only does this workshop include five full days of classes, but it also includes bonus materials as well as a host of contracts and paperwork you can start using in your business today.

Features:

• learn how to run your wedding business successfully;
• develop a business and marketing plan;
• prepare yourself to succeed at bridal shows;
• learn how to educate yourself and your clients during the pre-consultation;
• rock your engagement session;
• how to post-process and sell to your clients after the wedding; and
• learn how Sal navigates the wedding day

Best Pricing Guide

Easy as Pie by Alicia Caine

Pricing is one of those business decisions that can be completely overwhelming. With Easy as Pie, Alicia Caine manages to nail it down and make it easy to set up your pricing in a way that works for you.

Easy as Pie first outlines the philosophy of pricing. Then it turns the spotlight on your goals, helping you to create realistic numbers for the continued growth of your business.

Features:

• worksheets for every step of the way;
• truly understand why to price for profit;
• price each product you offer; and
• build collections easily.

Best Album Software

Sometimes photographers shy away from selling albums because they are afraid of the work needed to design them. By utilizing Fundy Album Builder by Fundy Software, you can create beautiful designs with the click of a button.

Not only does the software work seamlessly in Photoshop — allowing you to utilize the tools you normally use to edit images — but the company’s customer service is fantastic and there are constantly sales going on. You cannot do any better than Fundy Software!

Features:

• auto-design double-page spreads in less than 5 seconds;
• full manual double-page spreads in less than 15 seconds;
• templates by Jerry Ghionis, Gene Higa, Frank Salas, Michelle Turner, Anahi Navarro, Spinnaker Graphics and Fundy;
• automatically resizes and drops images into designs;
• works directly inside Photoshop, where you can retouch images on the spot;
• free design auto-aligns images for you; and
• compatible with Photoshop CS6, CS5 and CS4

Best Workflow

Essential Workflow Studio Assistant by Design Aglow

Do you frequently find yourself relying on sticky notes to recall important client information and product details? You need an organizational intervention — and you can find all the tools to do just that (and more) in the Essential Workflow Studio Assistant template for photographers. It’s designed to help you with virtually every aspect of studio life, from organizing your client lists to organizing your entire production system. Distinguish your workspace by keeping orderly schedules and by designating places for items and processes. This whiteboard template helps you create the ultimate organized workspace with photographer-specific best practices and workflow system, session checklists and more. It’s a complete photographer’s guide to studio organization. And everything is fully editable and can be customized to your own specifications.

Features:

• creates a way for you to schedule and organize things you didn’t even know you needed to plan out;
• allows you to easily find where clients are located in the process;
• assists in making sure nothing and no one gets lost; and
• four sample letters to submit to your clients.

Best New Product

Designed by professional photographers in early 2012, StickyAlbums has taken the photography community by storm. The idea is genius: create a custom photo album app for each of your clients so they can share your work via their mobile device. Clients access their own album— complete with your branding — via their phone or tablet. They can share the album face to face, or they can send the app to the devices of their friends and family.

On your end, StickyAlbums’ software makes creating the albums as quick and easy as creating a new blog post. It takes just a few minutes to produce albums that are clean, professional and guaranteed to impress your clients.

StickyAlbums works as an add-on premium, as part of top-level packages, or as a value-added giveaway.

Features:

• create digital mobile app photo albums;
• easily update albums at any time;
• custom “app” icon for each album;
• embed YouTube video in albums;
• keep private albums secure with passwords;
• unlimited images; and
• lifetime album hosting included.

Photography Spark is a partner with some of the honorees and affiliate links are used in this post.

Types of Albums and Uses

There are four main types of albums. It’s very important to have a clear understanding of different album types, how they are made and their main function in running a profitable studio.

Photo credit: Melanie Nashan at Nashan Photographers

1. The Matted Album

The popularity of matted albums is waning, but there are still plenty of brides looking for them. The matted album is made with images under mattes and cutouts revealing the images. Much like a photo in a photo frame with a matte, a matted album usually has multiple openings cut into the mattes for displaying multiple images. It is possible both to order pre-designed mattes and to assemble pre-designed albums, or do a custom-designed album and the album company will custom cut mattes based on your design.

Matted albums generally are more expensive than other options. In addition to the binding, printing and so forth, you’re also paying for the mattes. Because of the higher costs, most matted albums are sold as wedding albums, which can fetch a higher price. There are some album manufacturers that sell pre-made albums with pre-made mattes and it is possible to produce these at very similar costs to lower-priced flush mount albums.

2. Flush Mount Albums

Flush mounts are the dominant album in the world of digital photography. They combine the unlimited possibility of digital layout and design, with the beauty of old-world, handcrafted books. As a photographer, flush mount albums allow you to present your photography as a work of art. Additionally, the pages are thicker than press-printed albums. When they are manufactured, the prints are adhered to a thick card backing. This gives the pages a heavier, more durable feeling that increases the perceived value over press printed books. The majority of flush mount albums are made with photo paper and prints. The prints are often laminated with a protective film or spray. There are a few flush mount album manufacturers who will use press prints to make flush mount albums. I’m not a fan of that process.

Flush mount albums can be used for both wedding and portrait albums. Most wedding studios carry flush mount albums of some sort. Studios are able to sell wedding albums that the majority of clients cannot reproduce easily at Costco or through a service like iPhoto.

There are a number of photographers who sell flush mount albums as portrait albums. Personally, I find this difficult as most flush mount albums are only available with a minimum of 20 pages. I find 20 pages to be too many for a typical portrait shoot. Sure, photographers can fill 20 pages, but are the pages filled with their best work? Additionally, a 20-page flush mount album is at a high enough price point that the retail price a photographer needs to charge will be higher than the average portrait client will want to pay.

3. Press printed books

Press printed books are extremely popular. It seems that every lab in the country is offering these books at very inexpensive prices. The problem is that Costco, Walmart and Walgreens sell them too. I’m not a big fan of offering press books in the studio. The reason simply has to do with profit. The process of designing an album, getting it approved by the client, uploading the design and ordering it takes an enormous amount of time and energy. That means a significant amount of the cost of producing albums is in the labor. If we choose a cheaper press printed book that has more pages than a self mount, we are basically increasing our costs for an album that sells at a lower price.

Most people use press printed books as inexpensive options for wedding albums and portrait albums. I don’t recommend this as a business strategy. It’s simply taking money out of your pocket. Some people use press printed books as parent album options. This is really the only case that I would recommend using press printed books. However, I would still offer a flush mount as a parent album over a press printed book.

4. Self Mount Albums

Self mount albums had a “low-brow” reputation for awhile due to cheap Chinese imports of self mount albums with cheap, fake leather and poor construction. With the emergence of new flush mount album companies, self mount albums have been given a new life. They sport sturdy construction and beautiful high-end cover options. As an example, Finao Albums offers dozens of high-end Japanese and Italian art fabrics for its self mount albums and dozens of leathers and options. All of these choices help you provide a higher end product, which will help you command a higher price.

When choosing which albums to offer, many photographers buy on price. I recommend buying on profit. With a higher quality album (which may be slightly more expensive) we often can command a higher price and increase profit per album, even though our costs might be higher.

How to Price your Albums

Your three primary costs are the cost of the album, the labor for designing the album, and shipping and handling. To price correctly, you must know your costs.

There is no magic number for the price of an album. But there is a magic formula. In order to calculate this formula you need to simply know the cost of the album, the cost of the labor to design it and the cost of shipping. Some may not want to mark up shipping. It takes time to get the shipped item, unpack it, check it, repackage it and then ship it off. Handling is a big cost and it should be accounted for and marked up.

Here is an example:
$200 = cost of album
$75 = cost of design (3 hrs)
$15 = cost of shipping

We add these up for a total of $290. Now, we need to figure out the retail price based on cost of goods. Most pros in the industry that have been around for any length of time agree that you need at least 35% cost of goods pricing.

So, take your cost, $290, and divide by 0.35 (35%)
$290 ÷ 0.35 = $828
So, retail should be at least $828 or $900 for a nice round number.

The key to selling albums is giving the client easy choices and pre-selling. These two simple things will increase album sales more than just about anything else.

How to Price

With albums, having three size choices along with cover upgrades is the most profitable form of album pricing. Also, the ability to add pages for an extra fee can increase back-end sales.

Below I have some fictitious portrait album prices. These will be quite low for most wedding albums. The goal here is to show what I think is important in album pricing. It is important to give choices in size. Here I have three size choices. You don’t want to overwhelm your client with a ton of sizing choices. Even if your album company offers every size under the sun, you don’t want to offer them, too. I like to offer square albums and horizontal albums. Feel free to offer vertical albums also, if that is what you like.

Photo Credit: Melanie Nashan at Nashan Photographers

How to Sell

Albums are all about the pre-sell. If clients aren’t interested in getting an album before you take pictures, chances are they won’t change their minds later on. Get them interested upfront. In all in-person contact with your clients, have them hold sample albums in their hands. They also need to be engaged in the discussion about albums. Whether it’s a portrait or a wedding client, pick up your most popular sample album and hand it to your client and say, “Most of our clients this year purchased this album.” Let them flip through the album and then start asking them about their preferences. “Do you prefer square albums like this, or horizontal albums like the ones over there?” Or, “Do you like the newer photo covers or the more traditional leather albums?”

We are doing two things here. First, we are making sure we don’t make a mistake. If the client loves traditional leather-bound albums and we are excitedly showing off our cool new metal-covered albums, what are they going to do? Decide they just don’t want an album. We’re also asking them to take emotional ownership of an album. Once this emotional ownership is established, getting them to take physical ownership is just filling out the order sheet.

Albums are tactile. Clients need to touch and feel them. As photographers, we need to explain why we are excited about our albums and why we believe clients should get an album. I truly believe that each and every portrait or wedding should end in an album. It is a final, physical representation of something so special, something that happens so few times in a lifetime that we need to preserve it. Since I really do believe this, it’s not difficult for me to communicate that sincerity with my clients.

Planning Your Design

One of the biggest problems that photographers face is the ‘deer in the headlights’ problem. Too much information in front of you makes you freeze up. Break down the design process and cut your design time.

Photo Credit: AJ’s Studio (including call out below)

In the photo above you can see a list of folders, titled Cover, Page 01, Page 02-03, etc. These folders represent the pages of the album. I begin each album design by organizing images into specific page folders. Most photographers break images down into “moments of the day”–getting ready, ceremony, etc. While this is helpful, it is still very difficult to organize the images into page designs while you are designing. By breaking down the images into pages, you can view just the images going into that page design. It is a tremendous help. Just by making these decisions before beginning design, you’ll save LOTS of time.

While organizing my images, I go through the following process.

1. I choose the cover image first.
2. I choose the last page of the album.
3. I organize pages, by ONE main image and accent images to go with that image.

In the above screenshot, you can see that the outdoor image can serve as the main image and that the other images are accent images. By working with this frame of mind, sorting images is a piece of cake. To the right you can see the final design.

First Things First, Start with the Cover

Designing the cover is often the trickiest part. With photo wrap covers, as with any cover, you’ll want to get the EXACT specs from your vendor. Often cover specs are different from page specs.

For cutouts, all you should need to do is crop the photo to the correct size. For example, a 5×5 cutout will require an image cropped to 5×5. For specialty covers, like metal and plexiglass, your vendor will have specific templates. This is due to the fact that the left side of the metal, plexi or even wood is covered up by the leather that binds the rest of the album.

First Page

When you open up a book and go to the first page, it is always on the right hand side. And it is always a single page. Many album companies, especially some flush mount companies, use a full spread as the first page. When you open these books, the first page falls on the left side and is a double page spread. So, pages one and two are connected, and pages three and four, etc. Make sure you know whether the first page of your album is a single page that starts on the right side, or a double page spread that starts on the left.

Spreads

Spreads are easy, just start designing, making sure that your designs focus on a main image with accent images.

You can only sell what you truly believe in

It’s essential that you believe in your products in order to sell them. If you only choose an album because it fits your budget and you think that it will fit your clients’ budgets, chances are it won’t sell.

Deep down we all know this. We’ve all been sold something by someone who truly believed in the product, whether it was a new car or an iPhone or that cool, new fake grass, so we don’t ever have to mow the lawn again. The point is, if you don’t believe in the albums you’ve chosen for your clients, they won’t believe in them either, and you won’t sell them. Choose your albums carefully. Not only do they need to be top quality, but they also need to fit your personality. Find an album company that fits your personality, promote your albums, sell them correctly and albums easily can be an enormous profit center for you and your studio.

Running a photography business comes with big legal implications that are important to understand; if you don’t, you could find yourself in hot water. From forms to copyright law, this post outlines everything you need from a legal standpoint to establish your business:

• Becoming “biz legit”
• Having the appropriate legal forms
• Understanding contract privity
• Copyright law
• Photographer shooting rights

If you don’t have a firm handle on these subjects, you will be scrambling from the get-go.

1: LEGITIMIZING THE BUSINESS

The process of setting up a legitimate business can differ depending on the state, county and city where the business is being established. However, there are a few basic things to evaluate.

Type of Business Structure

There are a variety of business structures to choose from, such as sole proprietorship, LLC and corporation. Choosing the structure that’s right for you depends on the type of business, initial investment cost, personal choice of liability, and tax liability.

Sales Tax Permit

Photographers, because they sell products and services, are required to collect sales taxes that are remitted to a state government’s taxing agency. Some jurisdictions require that photography session fees be taxed for sales; others do not. Either way, a photographer is required by law to charge sales tax on products/services sold to a client. In other words, the photographer is merely working as the middleman between the client and state government.

Insurance

Every photographer should have liability insurance and equipment insurance. Liability insurance safeguards the photographer’s business, especially for photographers who work with specialized clients (i.e., newborns or weddings). Equipment insurance protects the artistic tools of the business, such as cameras, lenses, laptops, etc. Investing in these two types of insurance is critical so that unforeseen circumstances don’t derail the growth of your business.

Get specific help on choosing and setting up a business structure with the Business Revamp eWorkshop

2: LEGAL FORMS

Portrait Agreement

A portrait agreement outlines the responsibilities and expectations of both parties — the photographer and the customer. The portrait agreement acts as the foundation for all photography services provided and steers the entire business transaction. At a minimum, a portrait agreement should include specifics (parties’ names, photographer name, monetary exchange, promised product/services, deposit amount), cancellation/late policy, expectations (turnaround time, guaranteed quality of product, how/when products will be delivered, etc.), and a notification of copyright.

Model Release

A model release is signed by the subject of the photography or the parent/legal guardian if the subject is a minor. This document provides the photographer with the necessary permission to take and display photographs. A model release is not an essential requirement for fulfilling a photography services contract, but it is required if the photographs are used on public mediums such as social media, websites or  portfolios.

Print Release

This is another optional form needed when digital files are sold to clients. A print release is the legally operative document in which the photographer provides the client permission to reproduce the purchased digital files. The document should outline the restrictions and privileges given to the client. Note: This document does not release copyright. Ownership rights still are intact.

Copyright Notice

This isn’t required to be a separate form, as it should be integrated in the portrait agreement. But a copyright notice is critically important in the digital age. Copyright is the ownership rights to the photography produced, and copyright is retained by the photographer until the photographer contractually relinquishes ownership. A notice of copyright can be given to clients when products are delivered to remind them of federal copyright laws.

Here are some keys to think about when using legal forms:

• Get it in writing!
• Electronic delivery is a great way to be efficient and paperless. Utilize digital embedding within a website (such as using Machforms or Gravity forms) or email forms as a PDF file to the client.
• Every contract must have the proper specifics, both parties must have the capacity and intention to enter into agreement, and the consideration (i.e., giving of money in exchange for photography services/products).
• Photographers who cannot afford to hire an attorney or purchase drafted forms should sit down and think about the specific things they want in a contract. Simply write them out. While legal forms should be drafted in a certain manner, writing out specifics of the business transaction is better than nothing.

3: CONTRACT PRIVITY

Many business owners, unless they happen to have a law degree or study the law in their free time, are unaware of the “privity” of contract theory. This theory is the relationship between two contracting parties. For example, high school seniors oftentimes are the subject of a photograph, but many are too young to legally commit a portrait contract. The parent or legal guardian must be the signing and obligated party to the contract. The parent or legal guardian is the actual client, while the high school senior is a mere beneficiary of the contract. Therefore, any obligations to be executed — and issues that may arise — must be directed to the parent or legal guardian. Understanding the difference between subject and contracted party will help you avoid potential legal complications.

A model release must be in place for minors, including high school seniors.

Right of privacy is a big legal issue and should be adhered to and understood as much as possible by business owners, especially photographers. A model release is signed by the subject (or in the case of a minor who is a high school senior, the parent or legal guardian). Releases typically provide the photographer with the right to use of the photographs for portfolio, studio samples and other marketing uses. Depending upon jurisdiction, the age of “majority” varies, so it’s imperative that each business owner research this age. If the high school senior has not reached the age of majority, the parent or legal guardian must sign the model release. Unless it is otherwise written in the contract in similar language, you are unable to use the photographs for marketing or portfolio use until you obtain the model release.

Here are some keys to remember:

• Even when the high school senior initiates customer-photographer transaction, the parent or legal guardian should be the signing party.
• Always double check the photography model’s age prior to entering the contract.
• Don’t push out high school seniors from the process; simply remind them that this aspect is required between photographer and parent/legal guardian.

4: WHEN IS A MODEL RELEASE NEEDED?

A model release is a legal document that provides the photographer permission to publish the photograph as defined by the elements listed in the release. In the cases of minors, the model release is signed by the parent or legal guardian. For adults, the release is signed by the subject. A purpose of a model release is to provide the photographer with permission to use the photographs for portfolio, studio samples, marketing, and Internet uses.

Keys:

• Model releases can be inserted as provisions into your contract.
• These always should be in writing.
• You should always have a model release — even when working with friends and family.
• Shooting in public areas does not generally require a model release for all people in the public area. Always double check the local laws, which vary state to state.
• If you have a client who refuses to sign a model release, consider whether or not it’s worth turning down the session if you can’t use the photographs publicly.

5: COPYRIGHT 101

A copyright is a legal device that gives the creator of a literary, artistic, musical, or other creative work the sole right to publish and sell that work. Copyright owners have the right to control the reproduction of their work, including the right to receive payment for that reproduction. An author may grant or sell those rights to others, such as publishers or recording companies. Violation of a copyright is called infringement.

Copyright is a property right. Under the Federal Copyright Act of 1976, photographs are protected by copyright from the moment of the work’s creation. According to the U.S. Copyright Office, the owner of the “work” is generally the photographer or, in certain situations, the employer of the photographer. Even if a person hires a photographer to take pictures of a wedding, for example, the photographer owns the copyright to the photographs unless the copyright is transferred — in writing and signed by the copyright owner — to another person.

The subject of the photograph generally has nothing to do with the ownership of the copyright to the photograph.

If the photographer is no longer living, the rights to the photograph are determined by the photographer’s will or passed as personal property by the applicable laws of intestate succession.

Protecting copyright goes beyond mere ownership. Actions can be taken to protect digital art, such as uploading watermarked, low-resolution files to a website; disabling right-click saving; and offering watermarked, web-sized files to clients for their personal use.

Infringement can occur if claiming another person’s work as your own, scanning a photograph, any manipulation of a photograph, downloading sneak peeks from the web, and taking a screenshot of the gallery.

To ward off copyright infringement, it’s best to inform and educate clients from the beginning.

Provide them a contract containing the copyright information, a follow-up copyright notice and reiterate the copyright information in a print release. If infringement occurs, it’s best to approach the client in a professional manner: Cite the contract and request that all copyright-infringing actions cease. If the client fails to cease the infringing actions, there are a few options to move forward: (1) a Cease and Desist Order –- given by a judge to order a person to stop a certain act; or a (2) Cease and Desist Letter –- given by the copyright holder to the infringer.

Here are a few thoughts to remember about copyright:

• Copyright is formed at creation of the photograph.
• Copyrights are protected by federal U.S. law.
• Educate and remind clients of copyright law and all the responsibilities they receive upon purchasing prints and/or digital files.
• Keep in mind that many clients are unaware of copyright law; a gentle reminder may serve better than a formal cease-and-desist document.

6: PHOTOGRAPHER SHOOTING RIGHTS

When a photographer hits the pavement for a session, there is a conglomerate of shooting rights outside of the client and photographer relationship to keep in mind. For the most part, a photographer can shoot anything in plain view within a public place. This includes individuals who are in a public place while shooting. Photographers are not expected to get model releases for individuals in public areas. What an individual knowingly exposes to the public is generally allowed to be photographed free of a model release. Use common sense in determining what is a public place. Obviously, public restrooms, changing rooms or peeking into a private home’s window are not covered under this rule.

Things get a little trickier when the property is either privately owned or is generally open to public but the owners places restrictions on photography. If a public property is generally open to the public (e.g., a restaurant) a photographer can take photographs unless informed by the owner that photography is not permitted. If a property owner requests that photography cease, you must stop. If the owner asks you to stop and you refuse, you can be held as a trespasser in the eyes of the law once the invitation for you to be there has been revoked by the owner. It’s better to ask permission to photograph in order to avoid legal battles or face embarrassment in front of a client. When in doubt, ask for permission.

Keys to shooting rights:

• Get permission in writing.
• Always abide by permit application guidelines and fees.
• Consider offering compensation to the landowner if he or she provides permission.
• Always have an agreement between you and the property owner that outlines the responsibilities.

Want some help to make sure you’re on the right path?

Check out legal forms that are photography specific. These are drafted by a photographer/lawyer for photographers. All come in Microsoft Word files, so they can easily be lifted for insertion into websites and contract applications — or anywhere else you need them to be! All can be customized to suit your branding and contract needs.

Legal Forms include:

• Photography specific contracts (portrait, wedding, boudoir, senior, newborn, birth, etc.)
• Model Releases
• Print Releases
• Cancellation of Contracts
• Product Delivery Agreements
• Amendment of Contracts
• Payment Plan Agreements
• Credit Card Authorization Forms

These legal forms can be used as is, can be amended to suit your personal preference, or can be used with your own attorney as a baseline (read: reduces attorney costs).

The Legal Lens

- Free legal ebook for photographers -

Want step-by-step legal guidance for your photography business including legal information every photographer should know? Snag a free copy of the Legal Lens,a free ebook from Rachel Brenke.

Get 15 pages of protection and knowledge, including:

• Business Forms Every Photog Needs
• Contracts 101
• Are Digital Contracts Legal?
• Copyright Laws
• Copyright vs Print Release

See What’s Inside

 

 

 

Disclaimer: The information provided in this site is not legal advice, but general information on legal issues commonly encountered. Rachel Brenke Photography, LLC, is not a law firm and is not a substitute for an attorney or law firm. Communications between you and Rachel Brenke Photography, LLC, are protected by our Privacy Policy, but are not protected by the attorney-client privilege or work product doctrine. Rachel Brenke Photography, LLC, cannot provide legal advice and can only provide self-help services at your specific direction; Rachel Brenke Photography, LLC, cannot provide any kind of advice, explanation, opinion, or recommendation to a consumer about possible legal rights, remedies, defenses, options, selection of forms or strategies.

Photography Spark is a partner with Rachel Brenke and affiliate links are used in this post.

Let’s say you went out to lunch with a wise, aging artist whose paintings you admire. Over steaming Italian food, eager to learn from this artist’s years of experience, you ask him or her how one really creates an impactful, valuable painting. What is the process like? I’m guessing the artist’s answer will not be something like this:

1. Get a canvas.
2. Get some high-quality paint and a few brushes.
3. Dip the brushes in the paint and apply it to the canvas.
4. Repeat until the canvas is full.
5. Hang it up for people to see.

Rather, the conversation would probably center around discovering the answers to questions like: What ideas do you want the painting to express? What emotions do you want the viewer to feel, and what techniques will create that impact?

Of course, at some point, creating a painting requires getting some paint and applying it to a surface. But even decisions about tools and techniques are made simpler when you know exactly what goals you are trying to accomplish.

Similarly, when people ask, “How do I make a good photography website?” my answer is not going to be something like this:

1. Register a domain name.
2. Get a web host.
3. Choose a template.
4. Upload photos and add text.
5. Launch and invite people to look at it.

Yes, these steps are important eventualities. Yet many photography websites that stick closely to these five misguided steps will fail right out of the gate. The real questions that need to be examined in detail — what the website needs to express, and what specific emotions it needs to elicit  often are merely guessed at or skipped altogether.

Unlike a painting (or your photography), which may be enjoyed for purely aesthetic reasons, your website has a clear, actionable goal: to turn viewers into clients. Visitors need to not just enjoy the site, they need to do something (i.e., book you) afterward. Therefore, much ground needs to be covered before you start talking about color schemes and logos.

Before you jump into the world of templates and web hosts, there are three major, well-researched decisions you should make. The answers may change over time, but skipping these steps is the surest way to end up with a confused, underperforming web presence.

#1: Who exactly are you talking to?

How many sessions can you photograph in one week? Multiply that by 52, and that’s how many portrait clients you can possibly serve in one year. For most photographers, this number will be 100 or less. Whatever yours is, I’m guessing this number is far lower than the number of people who live in your town.

Don’t build your website as if you’re trying to attract everyone in the tri-state area. Build it for the 100 people who you would most love to work with.

Drill down and speak, with exquisite precision, to their exact questions, concerns and fears. If you do that, your website will convert visitors into clients at a much faster rate.

To actually do that, you need to know exactly who those 100 people are.

If you’re giving a speech at a physics convention, you might start by telling a joke that starts: “So a quark and a neutron walk into a bar … .” and the audience will respond with hearty guffaws, and then settle in with rapt attention.

Try that same joke at a high school assembly? Crickets. Followed by boredom.

Your website is essentially giving a speech on your behalf, but you don’t have a captive audience. If someone feels bored or uninspired, they can click away in a flash. You need to capture their attention by showing them immediately that you understand who they are and why they came to you.

As you get ready to build your site, don’t waste time looking at other photographers’ websites and don’t copy what you see them doing. Create a profile of your target client:

• Where do they hang out?
• What books do they read?
• Where do they want to be five years from now?
• What are they pinning on Pinterest?

Refer to someone who represents the 100 people you most want to hire you, and get to know them extremely well. No detail is unimportant.

Lululemon clothing company places employee stations strategically next to fitting rooms so they can eavesdrop for customer preferences.

If you understand who you’re working with, overhear what they like and what they don’t like, and know how they respond and what language they use with their friends, it enables you to present products and services that are exactly what they’re looking for — using language they understand, in a way that solves their problems. That combination is irresistible. When applied correctly, it results in better profits and happier clients.

If you need help creating your own target client profile, keep reading. There’s a great resource I recommend at the end of this post.

#2: What are that target client’s needs, and …

#3: How can you describe what you’re selling in terms of those needs?

Don’t sell yourself short by simply thinking, “Clients need beautiful pictures.” Nope, that’s why you need them. Take a step back and look at the wider picture of their life.

Let’s say you complete your target client profile, and find that she’s a 36-year-old woman named Lynda. She has a corporate job and two kids she feels like she doesn’t get to see enough of. Lynda drives to work and picks her kids up in a Prius, does all her holiday shopping on Amazon (she pays them to handle the gift wrap), and subscribes to Atlantic Monthly.

Or maybe your target client is Suzanne, a 27-year-old graphic designer who left her job last year to stay at home with two kids. Suzanne gets a lot of time with her kids and regularly posts blog updates for their grandparents. But she also craves peace, quiet and adult interaction. She spends her spare time trying out DIY home decor crafts she pulled from Pinterest, subscribes to Real Simple magazine, and feels slightly guilty about how much time she spends on Facebook.

Even though both women are loving mothers who want pictures of their two children, you can tell from just a handful of facts that they’re going to express their immediate needs and pressing concerns differently. And you could attract one or the other simply by shifting how you describe your services.

Lynda craves downtime with her kids (see: corporate job); Suzanne needs a chance to get in front of the camera instead of always being the one holding the camera (see: mommy blogger).

Lynda needs you to handle all the session details (see: paying Amazon for gift wrap), while Suzanne would eagerly discuss every aspect of the shoot with you (see: looks forward to adult interaction, loves Pinterest).

Lynda wants to align her spending with her values, and will spend extra money on a photographer who uses sustainably sourced paper and eco-friendly packaging (see: Prius), whereas Suzanne is frugal, but will start making plans immediately when she sees a list of crafty ways she can use your images as she decorates her home (see: DIY crafts).

Even the exact same product can be framed differently depending on who you’re targeting. If you offer metal prints, you could showcase them to Lynda as a tasteful, subtle way to display her images at the office. Suzanne, on the other hand, might be more excited if you showed her a picture of metal prints hanging in the bathroom above each kid’s towel hook  both decorating the bathroom and eliminating arguments about whose hook is whose.

Clients’ reactions to your website should be “this person totally gets me” rather than “oh look, another photographer.”

If clients see that you understand their life, anticipate their worries, share the same interests, and serve other people just like them, you’re going to immediately stand apart from everyone else. By presenting your services in their words and addressing their exact needs, in one fell swoop you will increase excitement and eliminate barriers to booking.

As you create a profile of a target client and tailor your website to them, don’t worry about excluding anyone. Chances are, if you create a photography experience just for Lynda that is time-efficient, family-focused, and eco-friendly, this will also appeal to a lot of other people. But focusing in and exploring the life of just one person gives you access to the kind of detail that helps you craft a stronger marketing message.

Think of it this way: The TV show The Office exaggerates all the loony, exasperating, funny things that happen when you work in an office. By narrowing down and exploring that universe, the creators were able to find gems of humor. But the audience they attracted wasn’t just people who worked in offices; the characters were popular among all kinds of people. In the specific, you will find the universal. Zero in and study the exact person you most want to work with, and in the process you’ll naturally attract a wider circle.

So whether you’re grabbing a canvas and paintbrush, or a domain name and WordPress, take some time and think about what you’re trying to say with your work, and to whom you want your work to speak to. Answering the three questions above will make downstream decisions about your website much easier, with the result speaking directly and powerfully to your ideal client.

How To Build An Absolutely Irresistible Photography Website

- Don’t worry, we’ll do it together -

Want step-by-step help creating a thorough target client profile? And additional know-how about how to translate that into a fantastic, client-booking web presence?

That’s exactly what we’ll do together in How To Build An Absolutely Irresistible Photography Website. This workshop in e-book form walks you through the exact information you should gather about your target clients, and helps you summarize it into an actionable website road map.

This e-book does not provide a cookie cutter template. Instead, it outlines the process for taking your business and tailoring your own website to match the desires of your target client.

As you walk through this e-book, you’ll learn:

• How to write and arrange your website so people take action
• Exactly how to talk online about your pricing
• How humans naturally view a screen — and how to use it to your advantage
• How to disguise key information in delightful ways
• What content people share with friends
• What memory research says about your navigation bar
• Unexpected ways to use galleries to show more than your portfolio

See What’s Inside

 

 

Photography Spark is a partner with Jenika McDavitt and affiliate links are used in this post.

Zach Prez and Darlene Hildebrandt chat about Google+ for photographers.

• Google Plus is for finding people to connect with. Find people in Google Plus Communities.
• Photographers can socialize online (versus attending a PPA event).
• Claim your content via Google Authorship, so your profile photo shows in search results.
• Huge opportunity for SEO. Your profile will show in the search results of people you’re connected to.
• Used http://gplus.to/ to create a short URL for your Google+ page, such as http://gplus.herviewphotography.com/
• Complete your profile information with a cover image, your story, social media links, etc.

Ideas for Google Hangouts (a part of Google+)

• Virtual meetings, like for destination weddings
• Recording the meeting to keep as an archive
• Content creation, such as an interview turned into a blog post
• Video testimonials

Additional Resources

Tips on how to use Google Plus
Verification for Google+ pages
Getting started with Custom URLs
Custom URLs Frequently Asked Questions (FAQ)