As a wedding photographer, often we take hundreds or thousands of images that ultimately get seen by a very small number of guests. This affects our bottom line in several very real ways - fewer referrals, smaller print sales, and less name recognition. To help combat this, we changed several things in our work flow and packages to help ensure an amazing experience for our clients, their guests, as well as helping expand our business.
First, we always include an engagement session with every wedding package. While not every client takes advantage of this, we strongly recommend it, as it allows them to get comfortable with our style of shooting, and we get to know how they interact when the spotlight is on, so to speak. After the shoot, we convert the images and upload them directly to Zenfolio for proofing. We also pre-design several custom products for them to see, such as framed prints, signature albums, and save the date cards. This allows them to think of the possibilities of their images beyond just the standard 8x10 or 11x14 wall prints. With the fast turnaround from Mpix, we can have the finished product in their hand within days, rather than weeks or months - a big bonus when working on a tight deadline!
A few weeks before the wedding we utilize the image statistics from their engagement gallery to see which images from their shoot has been viewed the most, and create what we call "Gallery Cards". These business cards from Mpix are designed very simply - the client's name and their image on the front, and a thank you on the back with directions to view their Zenfolio gallery after the wedding, and a coupon code for free prints for the guests. By utilizing Zenfolio's custom coupons, we can create date sensitive coupons that allow us to drive traffic quickly to their gallery, when their emotional impact will still be at its peak. Photography is an emotional purchase, so the longer they wait, the lower the sales will be, plain and simple!
How do we get these cards in the guest's hands? Simple! During the event, we shoot in RAW+JPG mode. During the dinner downtime we simply download the JPG images, pick out our favorite 50-100 images, and apply a few adjustments. Google's Picasa or Bibble Pro work extremely well for this, as both are extremely fast programs. After our quick edits, we will place our laptop either near the bar (always a good choice) or near the entrance, and set the images to loop in a slideshow. We place the gallery cards on the table, and let it go. It's always fun to watch a huge crowd gather, and when the bride and groom get to see it, be ready for the tears of joy!
By using an image of the bride and groom, rather than a business card or just plain text, the guests are more eager to take one, and don't feel like it's a sales pitch. Many times, people don't even realize that we provided the cards, and the clients were just as surprised as the guests! (We don't tell our clients that we do the slideshow, it's always our little surprise for them).
After the wedding we pre-design Thank-You cards for the clients, and offer to put the free print offer on there for them. We provide these at a very nominal charge - it's advertising for us! If they decline, we offer to print more gallery cards to insert in their own Thank You cards, at no charge, of course. All of our clients have expressed gratitude for this offer, and love the fact that they are getting more than they expected. Being able to give their guests free prints is an added bonus!
I know what you're thinking - how do you increase sales if you're giving prints away? Well, to be honest, hardly anyone gets just the free prints. In the past 2 years we've been doing this, I can only think of a handful of orders that didn't buy more than the free print offer. Yes, you'll have some, and I don't have a problem with that. But overall, you can expect your post-wedding print sales to at least double. By using Zenfolio to handle the orders, this extra income comes with no downside - you're free to continue your daily business, while your Zenfolio account balance grows!
I hope this has given you some fresh ideas about how to utilize Mpix Press products for your own promotion, and how to leverage Zenfolio's partnership with Mpix to be able to handle a dramatic increase in print orders with little effort on your part. Take advantage of the tools that are available to you, rely on the amazing team put together by Mpix and Zenfolio, and you'll find yourself free to increase your client base, your referral network, and most important, your income!
Until next time!
Shan
Shannon Smith
831 Photography
www.831Photography.com
Shannon Smith is an owner of 831 Photography, who specializes in wedding photography. His work has been seen in Today's Bride Magazine, Akron/Cleveland Family Magazine, and was recently featured in Rick Sammon's book "Digital Wedding Photography Secrets". He is an avid teacher who freely shares his knowledge with aspiring and established photographers. Check out the Mpix.com forums for the next Mpix meetup Shannon will be teaching at - the 2010 Mpix Cruise!
