This week the FAQ comes from John in Indiana. Let me start off by saying, I'm probably not the best photographer to ask about driving print sales. It's not what I do best. My philosophy of print sales is that they are an added bonus; I don't depend on them to make a living. Some photographers do, and that's o.k., but I would encourage you to charge a service fee up front that will make you happy to do the job even if you don't make any money on prints. Just like other service providers, we need to be compensated for our time, experience, knowledge and gear.
With that said, there are a few things you can do to encourage print sales:
1. Create a sense of urgency with a deadline. If you put proofs online, don't leave them up there too long. I put wedding photos online for 3 months and portraits for one month. Clients are more likely to spend money on prints if they make their purchase early on, while they're most excited about the images. Email clients a week before the photos go offline to let them know they only have a short time left to make their purchase.
2. When pricing prints, make smaller print sizes more expensive to encourage clients to purchase larger photos. I charge $18 for a 4x6, $25 for a 5x7 and $35 for an 8x10. I do this because I really want my clients to forgo the 4x6s all-together. I want them hanging large prints in their home. By charging $18 for a 4x6 I create more value in the larger prints that are just a few dollars more. Hopefully clients will see that and go big.
3. When shooting a wedding, email all of the guests a gift certificate. I put little half sheets of paper on all the tables at the reception asking guests for their email addresses if they'd like to see the photos online. I email them once with a link to the blog post of some of my favorite images from the wedding, and once with a link to all of the proofs. I include a gift certificate for $20. I do $20 because then, they can get one 4x6 for free if they'd like. But they probably won't because no one can bear to leave the 2 extra dollars just sitting there. They will feel the need to use all of it and hopefully purchase more prints than they would if I hadn't sent the gift certificate. At least it will get a lot more people to click on the link and view the photos, generating more sales.
That's all I got! Feel free to leave other ideas if you have them!
With that said, there are a few things you can do to encourage print sales:
1. Create a sense of urgency with a deadline. If you put proofs online, don't leave them up there too long. I put wedding photos online for 3 months and portraits for one month. Clients are more likely to spend money on prints if they make their purchase early on, while they're most excited about the images. Email clients a week before the photos go offline to let them know they only have a short time left to make their purchase.
2. When pricing prints, make smaller print sizes more expensive to encourage clients to purchase larger photos. I charge $18 for a 4x6, $25 for a 5x7 and $35 for an 8x10. I do this because I really want my clients to forgo the 4x6s all-together. I want them hanging large prints in their home. By charging $18 for a 4x6 I create more value in the larger prints that are just a few dollars more. Hopefully clients will see that and go big.
3. When shooting a wedding, email all of the guests a gift certificate. I put little half sheets of paper on all the tables at the reception asking guests for their email addresses if they'd like to see the photos online. I email them once with a link to the blog post of some of my favorite images from the wedding, and once with a link to all of the proofs. I include a gift certificate for $20. I do $20 because then, they can get one 4x6 for free if they'd like. But they probably won't because no one can bear to leave the 2 extra dollars just sitting there. They will feel the need to use all of it and hopefully purchase more prints than they would if I hadn't sent the gift certificate. At least it will get a lot more people to click on the link and view the photos, generating more sales.
That's all I got! Feel free to leave other ideas if you have them!
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