Since the start of Collages.net in 1999, our customers have been the main source of our growth and continued success. When we see customers, we love to ask the question, “Why do you love Collages.net?” Here are some of our favorite answers:

“With Collages.net, I get a kick-butt online presentation that increases my studio reprint sales.”

“I get paid for my reprint orders each Friday. Cha-ching!”

“I don’t have to put album design on my to-do list anymore.”

“I’m not sitting behind a desk fulfilling small reprint orders – I’m shooting!”

“I like the peace of mind that comes from knowing that my print, product, and posting vendor cares about quality, turnaround time, and service as much as I do.”

Keep talking! We love listening, and our referral bonus for each professional photography colleague you refer is $50.

Tell your professional photography colleagues how much you l-o-v-e Collages.net, and you can earn $50 of credit to spend on Collages.net’s full line of products. Referring a friend is easy and takes less than five minutes. Start today at www.collages.net/referral.

Also, give us a call, shoot us an e-mail, or chat with us to get 50% off of a product you have not yet purchased including albums, books, cards, or gallery wraps.

Photo Credit: Small Wonders Photography

You’re self-employed in a creative industry. What could be better? Your friends are consistently jealous of your Facebook and Twitter statuses that have you outside and about town during normal office hours. “At lunch in this super hip bistro.”  “At the gym. It’s so empty at 10:00 AM. “  “scouting locations in the city and found some delicious ice cream.” What your friends don’t know is that your to-do list never ends, and you go to sleep at night feeling like you didn’t get enough done.

Collages.net compiled a few suggestions on how your studio can increase productivity by becoming more efficient. As a professional photographer, you might be your company’s only employee, but that doesn’t mean your studio can’t become more efficient. Since we can all use a lesson in productivity, here are some of the many ways you can easily increase your studio’s productivity:

Outsource your most time-consuming tasks. How long does it take you to design an album? What could you be doing with the time it takes you to design that album? Designing an album is one of the most time-consuming tasks for professional photographers. Outsource your design to Collages.net and gain back valuable time in your studio. What about print orders? Why should you waste your time manually fulfilling your print orders when Collages.net can fulfill them automatically? Learn more about Collages.net’s automatic print fulfillment workflow here.

Set timelines and deadlines for yourself. It can be difficult, but set timelines and deadlines for your work. If you don’t set a deadline for work to get done, you’ll be much more likely to take on non-essential tasks. For those who find it difficult to stick to self-made deadlines, provide deadlines to your clients so you’ll be held to the date.

Set your own hours. Being self employed provides you with many benefits. You can work anytime, anywhere, but it’s important to set your work hours and stick to them. When you set aside certain hours of the day to work, your priorities will shift dramatically. If you schedule a standard eight-hour day to work each day, you will limit what you can and cannot accomplish in a day.

Eliminate distractions. Many professional photographers have access to the Internet 24 hours a day. It can be hard not to be distracted by non-business related phone calls, e-mails, and social networking. However, it’s important to set aside work time from leisure time. Now that you’ve set your work hours, don’t check your Twitter and Facebook accounts (unless they’re your business accounts), turn off the TV, and keep other distractions to a minimum.

Take a break. Nobody can be productive without taking a break. Make it a point to schedule a lunch or snack break throughout your work day so you can restore your energy and be ready to tackle the rest of your day at maximum productivity.

Stay healthy. Get exercise, eat well, and get enough sleep. When you feel tired or sick, it’s hard to focus on work. When your body is healthy and you get enough sleep, you will be more alert and able to focus.

Avoid multitasking. Studies have shown that multitasking decreases productivity. When you can’t fully focus on one task to complete, you won’t complete each task to your full potential. As hard as it may be, try not to multitask and focus on the most important task on your to-do list.

Go paperless. Scan and save all of your business-related documents to your computer. Dealing with paper contracts and bills is a time waster as it’s usually difficult to keep organized. Also try going paperless with your business’ bills. When there are fewer pieces of mail to open each day, you’ll save yourself even more time.

Manage your staff’s time. If you don’t work alone or are responsible for a staff of photographers, delegate tasks and manage your staff’s time. Employees need direction and must have deadlines in order to work efficiently. Develop a schedule and a timeline of tasks so all employees are clear about their work expectations.

It’s never too late to make your studio more productive and efficient. Even during your busiest season, you can become more productive and save your studio time and money in the long run.

Photos From: http://scrapetv.com/News/News%20Pages/Everyone%20Else/images-4/clock.jpg
http://greenhealthinformation.com/wp-content/pic/healthy_eating.jpg
http://www.pagcor.ph/pque/portal/wp-content/uploads/2009/11/paperless.jpg

In our recent blog series “How To Sell More in Your Photography Studio“, we presented the positive and negative aspects of offering packages, a la carte products, and shoot and burn packages. Because these options don’t fit the needs of every studio, hybrid package structures provide professional photographers greater flexibility to choose what works best from each of the options.

If your studio is looking for a hybrid package, here are a few alternatives and suggestions you might want to consider:

Product and Disc Package: Do you want to offer shoot and burn packages because of the convenience, but feel like you’re missing out on potential sales? Try offering your clients a disc of their images only when they purchase a product. For example, in order for your client to receive their disc of images, they must first order an album. In other words, clients cannot receive a disc unless they purchase a product. Once their album has been produced, you can mail the disc in the same package as the album.

Limited Image Disc: If you are opposed to selling discs of images because of potential loss in sales, but your clients beg for a disc, why not compromise and offer a disc that contains a specified number of images? Instead of giving your client the rights to all of their images, stay in control and only choose a few images to provide on a disc. Your clients can do whatever they’d like with the images on the disc, but they’ll have to go through you for product orders that highlight the entire wedding day or portrait session.

Delayed Discs: For clients who purchase an image disc, provide them with a lengthier than normal turnaround time. Even though you might have all of their images edited, delaying sending the disc will allow you to capitalize on print sales both online and in the studio. Upload selected teaser images to a Collages.net Event Site, but wait to send the entire image disc to your client. The anticipation of seeing the images for the first time will have a big impact on print sales. When you delay sending the image disc, clients will be much more likely to order prints directly from the site. Keep in mind that you should always give your client a specific time range when they will receive the disc.

Remember that every studio is unique, and tailoring packages to your studio’s needs will only benefit your sales. Don’t try to base your offerings on other studios just because of their successes. Look into what will benefit you and your clients the most and remember to be flexible.

Are your product sales down or are you having trouble selling products at all? Now is the time to get creative about marketing, selling, and positioning your products. Take a hard look at the products and services you’re offering. The low sales may not be the economy it could be because you may not be selling your products correctly.

Some of the most common selling mistakes studios make can be easily remedied. Take a peek at the list below and see if your studios falls in one of these categories:

You’re offering discs as an a la carte item. If you are a shoot and burn photographer, this does not apply. However, if you offer discs as an a la carte item in addition to an array of products, you’re doing yourself a disservice. Why? Let’s face it. Most clients want a disc of images so they can purchase consumer-grade products. When you offer a disc, clients are able to do anything they want with that disc, which leaves you with no room for product sales. Try either removing image discs from your a la carte price lists, or make it a requirements for clients to purchase a product before they can receive their disc of images.

Your clients are not educated on the importance of professional-grade products. Professional photographers not only have to take great photos, but also sell the products that will showcase their photos. Although you may understand the importance of professional-grade products, most clients don’t. To show the difference, have the same photo printed on professional-grade paper and then on your local pharmacy or big-box store’s paper. Show your clients the differences. Educate your clients on the differences between your products and the products they can purchase as non-professionals. They’ll be much more likely to purchase your professional products when they see the difference.

You don’t have samples. Not having product samples is one of the biggest mistakes professional photographers can make. Put yourself in your clients’ shoes. Would you be willing to make a several hundred dollar investment on a product you haven’t seen? If the answer is no, then why would you expect your clients to do the same? The answer is easy. Collages.net’s sample albums and sample books are 30% off the standard price. If you do have samples, but they’re beaten up, old, or don’t show your best work, consider updating your samples. Purchasing product samples is an investment that make a big impact on sales.

You’re not selling to the proper target. Are you showing your seniors wedding albums or your maternity clients a senior’s gallery wrap? It’s important to help your client visualize their final product by showing samples that can easily translate into a product of their own. When you purchase your first samples or when you make your next sample product update, keep in mind the clients you want to target. If you’re just starting out and don’t have a good set of images to choose to make a sample, consider second shooting a wedding or shooting a portrait session for a reduced rate or for free.

Do you have questions about how to sell your products? Contact your studio’s product and workflow team at Collages.net at www.collages.net/chat or customerservice@collages.net. A knowledgeable and friendly product and workflow consultant will help you determine what works best for your studio’s unique needs.

How well do you really know Collages.net? You might be surprised. We are now revealing the top ten myths about Collages.net and the truths behind them.

1. Myth: Collages.net is too expensive for my studio.
Truth: Collages.net’s pricing is the most competitive in the industry and as the most viable one-stop shop solution for any studio, our service will save you time and money. With a variety of product options, Collages.net provides photography studios the professional products their customers want at competitive prices.

2. Myth: Collages.net isn’t Mac friendly.
Truth: Collages.net loves Macs and the photographers who use them! (There is plenty of water cooler talk among employees about the latest iPhone apps!) Collages.net’s event upload tool and product ordering systems are cross platform. Whether you choose to upload Express events for manual print fulfillment through collagesColor + ROES or Full Service for automatic print fulfillment through collagesColor, all photographers, Mac included, enjoy an online workflow, professional print lab, and product solution that fits their studio.

3. Myth: Collages.net is just for online hosting.
Truth: Online hosting is just one part of Collages.net’s complete product line and turn-key solution. In addition to offering an elegant, user friendly online presentation and workflow solution, Collages.net also offers a full service professional print lab with several product lines including albums, books, cards, custom album design, and gallery wraps. Every Collages.net product is reviewed by our color experts before being printed. If you haven’t tried collagesColor for yourself, use the coupon code 22512EM on your first order to receive a $25 discount. Already printing with us? Call us today for a coupon for 50% off a product that you haven’t tried yet! This offer expires on 7/31/2010.

4. Myth: Collages.net is only for large studios.
Truth: Collages.net is perfect for any size studio. Both large and small studios benefit from the time savings they gain when choosing Collages.net as their vendor for all of their studio’s product needs. Our workflow options give you choices - you can be hands off or hands on. Collages.net doesn’t want to change you. We just want to help you.

5. Myth: Collages.net is just for wedding photographers.
Truth: Collages.net offers products and services for all types of photographers. Whether you shoot maternity, baby, child, boudoir, senior, family, event, sports, or wedding photography, studios of all types can profit from the exposure that hosting images online provides. In addition to online hosting, Collages.net also offers a full range of professional prints and mounts, albums, and press printed products for every type of shoot.

6. Myth: Collages.net’s Full Service workflow won’t work for our studio.
Truth: Do you find yourself complaining about having too much time? We didn’t think so. All studios can benefit from saving time. Our Full Service workflow is designed to do just that. With automatic order fulfillment, you can now use your time on activities to grow your business. What’s the catch? There is no catch. Whether you choose our Full Service workflow or our Express workflow, the cost is the same.

7. Myth: Collages.net doesn’t offer album design.
Truth: Collages.net does offer album design for $1 an image that studios across the country are raving about. We guarantee we can simplify your design workflow immediately. At this price, how can you afford not to try it?

8. Myth: Collages.net doesn’t offer networking opportunities for photographers.
Truth: Collages.net offers several opportunities to connect with other photographers. Facebook, Twitter, our blog, and CLASS, Collages.net Learning and Sharing Sessions, local photographer meetings all provide opportunities for photographers to connect with one another.

CLASS Fairfield, Connecticut

CLASS Austin, Texas

CLASS Southern California

CLASS Denver, Colorado

CLASS Madison, Wisconsin

9. Myth: Collages.net can’t give my studio personal attention.
Truth: Collages.net is not just a vendor; we become partners with our studios. Our team of knowledgeable and friendly product and workflow consultants wants to know what’s going on with your studio. What challenges are you facing? What successes have you had? What tools can we provide to help your studio? Collages.net photographers view our consultants as an extension of their studios. A free consulting team for you? You bet! No other company has a team of people who will come out to your studio to talk about products, packaging, and sales strategies. Collages.net cares about what’s happening with you, and we are committed to your success.

Justin DeMutiis, Justin DeMutiis Photography

Liz and Nick Corona, Nick Corona Photography

10. Myth: Collages.net makes collages.
Truth: Collages.net does not make collages. However, if you make them, we’ll print them for you! Checkout our lab’s offerings at www.collages.net/collagescolor and see what other products we have for you. If you haven’t tried collagesColor for yourself, use coupon code 22512EM on your first order to receive a $25 discount.

Are there any myths about Collages.net that you’d like us to debunk? Contact Collages.net at www.collages.net/chat or leave us a comment!

Photo Credit: Kristen Weaver Photography, Photography, Elegant Images & Photographs, Z Media, & Forever Photography

Collages.net is always adding new products to its already abundant product line, and we’re happy to announce that collagesColor is now offering standout mounts!

Standout mounts are a great addition to our current mounting options at collagesColor . They create an economical, contemporary presentation of your images. With collagesColor’s standout mounts your images are ready for display without framing and are available in two different thicknesses: 3/4″ and 1 1/2″.

To order your own standout mount now, click the below button to open collagesColor + ROES.

This week’s installment of How to Sell More in Your Photography Studio is our series wrap up. In our series, we discussed packages, a la carte pricing, meeting with clients, and shoot and burn packages. Each week, we reviewed several advantages and disadvantages, ideas, and factors to consider. The series was designed to help you learn more about the selling process and what’s important to remember when it comes to your business.

If you’re just starting out or are reviewing your current pricing structure, take the time to consider the various advantages and disadvantages to all types of pricing. Take the time to determine what will work best for your studio - not what works best for your competitors. Whether you’re just starting out or are a veteran in the industry, it never hurts to learn more about how you can better your business.

Now, we want to hear from you! We want to hear all your feedback and suggestions about the series. What did you think of our series? Did you learn anything from the information we provided? We’d also love to learn more about what’s worked for your studio. How are you selling more in your studio this year? Do you have advice that other professional photographers could benefit from? Let us know by leaving a comment on this post or by e-mailing marketing@collages.net. We love hearing your feedback!

Make sure to stay tuned to our blog for more information on selling more in your studio. Don’t forget that there is a wealth of industry information on selling more in your studio. Check out MpactPhoto, an online resource with information on sales, techniques, social media, and more for professional photographers.

Just like you, we get so excited when our customers tell us they appreciate what we do. Don’t you love when brides send you thank you notes or seniors post how much you rock on Facebook? What we really love to see is when photographers post images of their final products online.  Not all of our team members are able to hang out in production to see the final products, so we love when photographers post their completed flush-mount albums, lay-flat coffee table books, and gallery wrap collages on their studio walls.

Now, we want to show you some love. To receive 50% off your first album, sign-in album, coffee table book, gallery wrap, or proof book purchase, contact us at collages.net/chat or customerservice@collages.net for details, and be sure to share the final product images with us!

To all of our professional photographers, thanks for the props. Here’s what you’re saying on your blogs and what we’re sharing with our entire team:

“We LOVE what the folks over at Collages.net are doing with our designs…“

Charles Smith, Louisville, KY - Collages.net customer since 2007

“I chose to use the lovely new hardcover coffee table books from Collages.net and could not have been happier…“

Samantha Bohall, Newton, MA - Collages.net customer since 2009

“Collages.net’s Albums provide so many different options that pretty much every single one of my clients is going to find something that they love.“

Dustin Meyer, Austin, TX - Collages.net customer since 2004

Again, if you haven’t tried Collages.net’s products yet, contact your studio team at collages.net/chat or customerservice@collages.net to learn how you can receive 50% off your first album, sign-in album, or coffee table book, gallery wrap, or proof book purchase.

In this week’s installment of How to Sell More in Your Photography Studio, we’ll be discussing shoot and burn packages.

Shoot and burn packages have become increasingly popular for both professional photographers and their clients. Some professional photographers love the ease and time savings, while clients love the flexibility of shoot and burn packages. Here is something to consider though, when you offer only shoot and burn packages, are you really saving yourself time and money, or are you shooting yourself in the foot?

Consider the following advantages and disadvantages of shoot and burn packages before you settle on your package structures:

Advantages: Offering shoot and burn packages seems like a smart idea for photographers who try to avoid the studio sales process at all costs. When you offer only your shooting time with a disc of images, there is very little selling to do. If a client is sold on your style, you won’t have to meet with them to sell products and prints. Additionally, when you offer shoot and burn packages, there are very few costs you’ll incur. This can then be translated into a lower cost of the client’s package. What client wouldn’t love a cheap package? Shoot and burn packages are also quick and easy. After the wedding or event, edit the images, send them to your clients, and forget about it. Move on to the next client! For the high volume, but low-staffed studio, shoot and burn packages can be a real time and money saver.

Disadvantages: Shoot and burn packages provide your clients with very little perceived value. The only tangible item they’ll receive is a disc of images, which seems like very little for what they paid for. You’ll have to sell your clients on the value of your time, which can be tricky. For all studios, especially those that have low volume, shoot and burn packages also don’t provide you with the ability to upsell and earn more revenue during slower periods of the year. When you don’t offer products, you can only generate revenue from the bare minimum, which is your images. This can translate into losing out on big profits. Products are often marked up to at least twice their value and have very high profit margins. If you shoot only ten weddings a year, this could make or break your studio’s bottom line. Additionally, your images are not on display for people to see. How often do brides keep images on disc and never get them printed? Very often. This means less exposure and less referrals for your studio. For brides who do have their images printed, you don’t have control of how the images will be printed. Do you want your studio represented by consumer-grade print products with pixilated images and poor skin tones?

If you choose to offer shoot and burn packages, you might want to consider offering non-shoot and burn packages, too. There are several advantages to offering shoot and burn packages, but you may also lose out on potential revenue and sales that could boost your studio’s profits. Stay tuned for an upcoming blog post on different hybrid package options.

Calling all professional photographers who have purchased a Collages.net Brilliant Album!

We know that there are tons of you out there because you continually tell us how much you and your clients love them. This is your moment to shine.  Collages.net wants to see your best brilliant album product shots.  We need images that capture why you love the brilliant album - The cover, the spine, the binding, the spreads?

Submit your best shots to Collages.net by e-mailing images to marketing@collages.net.  We will select images to be featured in present and future Collages.net marketing campaigns. If your images are chosen, your studio will not only receive photo credit each time the images are used and social network shout outs, but your studio will also receive a FREE 12×12 or 11×14 photographic cover album studio sample + $100 in FREE prints! You can choose a brilliant or matte photographic cover and matte, metallic, or standard semi-lustre spreads.

So, let’s see your brilliance! Show us those images, and you might get new products for your studio.

Photo Credits: Schmitt Photography