photo by Charity Maurer 
 
 
Hey guys! Melissa Jill -- professional photographer and founder of Align here! 
 
I'm SO excited to announce that I will be holding a FREE ONLINE TRAINING where I will be sharing my proven sales secrets and workflow system plus an additional 30 minutes of Q&A to answer any and all album-related questions NEXT TUESDAY, SEPTEMBER 12TH! 
 
CLAIM YOUR SPOT HERE! 
 
To date, I've shot over 200 weddings, sold over 100 albums, and made $200,000 on albums alone over the course of my career. That's why the largest wedding photography conference in the world -- WPPI -- invited me for a number of years to speak on this very topic. 
 
And during this free online training, I'm SHARING IT ALL. 
 
I would love for you to join me!  
 
During this completely free training I will be sharing the five things I wish I would have known when I started selling albums. I learned them the hard way and since implementing them, I have grown my album profit to $25,000 per year! I can't wait to help you do the same! 
 
Topics covered will include: 

• The #1 key to selling more albums.
• How to best present albums to your clients and remove obstacles to the sale.
• How to streamline your album workflow so it's not held up by your clients.
• My favorite efficiency trick that will speed up one of my least favorite parts of the album process.
• A 5-minute trick to ensure faster album finalization

 
Plus I'll be doing 30 minutes of Q&A at the end to answer all of your album-related questions that aren't covered during the training! I geek out about this stuff and am pumped to talk about one of my biggest passions: 
 
Helping photographers succeed at albums. 
 
This will be so fun! 
 
Click here to reserve your spot and I'll see you on September 12th! 
 

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Blog post written by: Melissa Jill

The #1 thing that photographers struggle with when it comes to albums is getting their clients to value them enough to invest in such a high-end product. 
 
We've heard this over and over again. And because our mission is to help photographers succeed at albums, we set out to remedy this situation STAT! 
 
Some of you may have seen on our Instagram story a few weeks back that we were working on a fun project with a full film crew, and today we are excited to unveil the finished product!  
 
Introducing -- The Value of Albums Stock Video: 
 
 
 
This film was a HUGE undertaking -- taking a few months of planning, a full day of shooting, and a production value of $10,000. The end product is a powerful tool to help photographers communicate the value of albums to their clients in a non-salesy way. You can find out how you can get your hands on this short film and all the details of the various versions we are offering for sale here. 
 
And just for the fun of it, here are a few behind-the-scenes photos of the production:

Thank you to this incredible team for all your amazing work!!  
 
Producer: Sara Nevels 
Director: Chris Heck 
Director of Photography: Miguel Norigenna 
Still Photographer: Melissa Jill 
Gaffer: Mike Perry 
Key Grip: Alex Miller 
Key Hair & Makeup: Jessica Fierro 
Wardrobe & Production Design: Sara Nevels & Melissa Jill; Wedding dress courtesy of Destiny's Bride 
Set PA: Jenny Roberts 
Actors from The Agency Arizona: 
Mom: Lauren Richardson 
Dad: Matthew Garrison 
7 year old daughter: Addison Pruetz 
Grown daughter: Lia Briehl 
Additional amateur actors: 1 year old daughter (my neighbor Arden) & Dixie dog 
 
To incorporate the Value of Albums Stock Video into your client meetings or website click here! 
 

 
 

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Blog post written by: Melissa Jill

It's been hard to keep this project under wraps as we worked on it, so we're incredibly excited to finally be able to share it with you! After months of thinking and planning and even more months of development, we are thrilled to announce the launch of the ALBUM START-UP KIT, a streamlined, all-in-one album solution that is the EASIEST and FASTEST way to start selling albums! 
 
Align founder and professional photographer Melissa Jill shares what led her to create this kit:  
 
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"I remember when I was first starting out and one of my clients asked for an album. I was so busy that I wondered if I had time to figure out an album system. I felt intimidated by the entire process. I spent countless hours researching album companies and design software, then even MORE time designing and redesigning mediocre albums that I wasn't happy with. I bought things I didn't need. I frustrated and disappointed my clients. I struggled with pricing. There was a WHOLE LOT of trial and error.  
 
But I pushed through and to date, I've shot over 200 weddings, sold over 100 albums, and made $200,000 on albums alone over the course of my career. That's why the largest wedding photography conference in the world invited me for a number of years to speak on this very topic!  
 
I don't say any of this to brag. I share this because I want you to know I've lived it. And I've realized there's a problem in our industry. Every photographer has to put together their own piecemeal solution for albums. I started thinking, 'Wouldn't it be great if there was a way to streamline your album workflow?'"  
  
Melissa Jill, founder of Align Album Design

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... And that's how the ALBUM START-UP KIT was born.

If you are feeling as overwhelmed as Melissa was at the beginning of her album journey, then the Album Start-Up Kit is exactly what you've been waiting for! It has EVERYTHING you will need in order to quickly add albums to your studio and start increasing your profit per event. It takes all of the guesswork and trial & error out of the process. 
 
This kit is JAM-PACKED, so be sure to click here for more complete descriptions and info! But to give you a taste of what's included, here are the 11 tools included in the kit:  

• Tool #1 - CUSTOM SAMPLE ALBUM - A 10x10 custom-designed leather sample album with 15 spreads and your choice of photo cameo or cover text. Designed with YOUR photos by Align Album Design (with 3 rounds of revision included) and printed by Align Legacy Books.
 

• Tool #2 - PRICING GUIDE - We take the guesswork out of pricing. This tool is an exact guide for how to price your albums in order to make $300, $500, or $1,000 additional profit per wedding depending on your business and market. It even includes customizable Photoshop pricing guide templates.
 

• Tool #3 - WEBSITE TEXT - To help you communicate the value of this one-of-a-kind product to your clients, we've included text you can customize for your website and blog.
 

• Tool #4 - STOCK PHOTOGRAPHY - To help you show the value of your new albums on your website and blog, we have included over 180 high res stock photos of Align Legacy Books. Melissa Jill photographed these in a bright white studio, and they're ready to drop onto your site, blog, and social media.
 

• Tool #5 - EMAIL TEMPLATES - To help you create a smooth and efficient workflow, we've included 8 pages of email templates that will help you clearly communicate with your clients from start to finish throughout their album production process.
 

• Tool #6 - CONTRACT TEXT - To help you manage your clients' expectations and create a sense of urgency to finalize their albums, we've included album-related contract wording that you can paste directly into your contract.
 

• Tool #7 - INITIAL CLIENT MEETING TALKING POINTS - Your initial client meetings are THE PLACE to showcase your products and communicate value, so we've composed helpful talking points to guide your meetings.
 

• Tool #8 - COVER SWATCHES - This pack of leather and linen cover swatches for Align Legacy Books is great to have on hand for clients to touch and feel during your initial client meetings.
 

• Tool #9 - SALES SECRETS GUIDE - A compilation of everything Melissa Jill has learned through her 14 years of experience about how to sell albums effectively -- all collected in one simple guide!
 

• Tool #10 - START HERE CHECKLIST - Since there is a whole lot included in this kit, we created a "Start Here Checklist" to walk you through every step of implementation. Simply open the Start Here Checklist upon download and follow along to launch your albums.
 

• Tool #11 - EXCLUSIVE FACEBOOK GROUP - A private Facebook Group just for all of the photographers who have purchased this kit. Learn from those who have gone before you, compare notes, and ask any album-related questions you have, right when they come up. Melissa Jill will also be regularly monitoring this group and will be happy to answer any questions you have going forward!

 
See what we mean about jam-packed? We are so excited to introduce this all-in-one album solution that is streamlined and will save photographers hours and hours of research and trial & error.  
 
If YOU are a photographer who is looking to start offering albums, check out the Album Start-Up Kit and take your business to the next level today! 

 
 

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Blog post written by: Denise

Today we are beyond excited to share with you our newest milestone as a company! Super proud parent moment today! Introducing ... drum roll please ... Align Legacy Books!

Here at Align, we have been providing album design services to hundreds of photographers for just over 5 years. We LOVE what we do! But now we also offer our own in-house line of physical albums! And although we are indeed growing, we still consider design to be our primary calling. 
 
We understand our clients have their tried and true, "go-to" album printing & binding companies they are loyal to and we aren't asking for that to change! The reason we have decided to start offering our own line of physical albums is because, well... not all photographers are the same! Some of you have been using Align for years as your design service, while relying on your favorite album company for all your printing and binding needs. Others of you are still flirting with the idea of offering albums for the first time and are searching for a quality album manufacturer you can trust. Or perhaps you've been offering albums for awhile but feel like your process could be simplified with an all-in-one solution. Regardless of where you are in your album journey, we want to assist you! Our goal has always been to help professional photographers save time and streamline their album workflow, but now in addition to album designing, we have this all-in-one solution available as well! 
 
Apart from offering a new printing and binding service, nothing at Align Album Design has changed! We will continue to design albums for all of the other album companies our clients use and love!

Adding this printing service alongside our already helpful Hands-off Service where we can communicate directly with your clients throughout the revisions and final approval means that if you so choose, you can now outsource your entire album process from beginning to end ... with ONE company. From design to revision to printing and binding, you need not look any further than Align for ALL your album needs! How AWESOME is that?  
 
While having a one-stop-shop is SUPER convenient and frees up valuable hours to be spent in other ways that help grow your business, we acknowledge this isn't the only important factor when it comes to making decisions about where to print your albums. You need to LOVE the product you offer your clients! That is why we have chosen to offer the very BEST quality products possible. Our 100% natural Italian leather covers are so soft we have, at times, caressed the swatches with our cheeks. And our linen covers are equally as stunning with their beautiful woven texture. We hope you will agree that our products are swoon-worthy and that you will be so proud to offer these custom one-of-a-kind heirlooms to your clients!

We understand that oftentimes with change comes questions, and we are MORE than happy to answer those for you! Click here to find out even more about our Align Legacy Books!  
 
Just to reiterate, although we are growing, we are still the same Align you have come to know and trust for your album design needs -- even if you don't choose to use Align Legacy Books. There are many album companies out there and Align will still design layouts based on the specifications of whichever one you choose! We value the relationships we have created with each of our clients and look forward to customizing our service for each photographer and studio!

In honor of this celebratory occasion, we'd love to offer you a gift! 
 
For the next two weeks -- through April 14th -- take 20% off sample albums AND $50 off of the album design! Yep! You read that right, friends! We are super excited to share this offer with you and beyond excited to see where this new venture takes us ... together!  
 
To redeem your gift, just place an album design order (choosing the NEW option for Align to print your album!!!) and use promo code [EXPIRED PROMO CODE HAS BEEN REMOVED] at the bottom of your order form, submit your images, and pay your $75 deposit by 11:59pm Pacific on Friday, April 14, 2017. After your album design is approved, we'll subtract $50 from the final design invoice! Woohoo! Then when we ask you to pick out your Align Legacy Books options, be sure to check the "Sample Album 20% Off" box to receive that discount as well!

We hope you are as excited as we are about this new addition to our service here at Align! We look forward to taking even MORE off your plate so that you can do what you love!

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Blog post written by: Melissa Jill

We're geeking out a little over here because a project we have been working on for months is finally ready to unveil! 
 
We get a lot of traffic to our home page and the reality is that many of our first-time visitors don't know what we do. There's confusion, and although we try to answer commonly asked questions throughout our website, we thought it would be helpful to create a short video explaining who we are and what problems we solve.  
 
We just added this brand new custom animated explainer video to our home page and are hoping it will do the trick!  
 
 
 
We had so much fun creating this video with the help of Eggplain! They were amazing at creating the characters and animation and were so easy to work with.  
 
There are so many other services that Align provides that we didn't have time to cover in the video like our culling service and hands-off service, but we're hoping this intro will help people get to know us and answer some of their most pressing questions right up front!

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Blog post written by: Melissa Jill