Florida Beach Resort Wedding Album Design for Ailyn La Torre Photography
Today's featured album design is a gorgeous one full of blue skies and pops of color. The stunning photography in its pages was done by Florida based wedding photographer Ailyn La Torre Photography who we have had the pleasure of working with for about 2 and a half years now. We've designed over 30 albums for Ailyn in that time and her images are such a treat to work with!
Ailyn uses our Hands-off Service to streamline the album proofing process and we communicate directly with her clients to get their revision requests implemented. Ailyn's design preferences are to not combine color and black and white images on spreads together, but her client in this instance requested that we do so and really seemed to like the resulting juxtaposition. We are a fan of the finished design with its clean minimal spreads that really allow Ailyn's best images to SHINE!
Here are a few of our favorite spreads from this beauty:
Ailyn uses our Hands-off Service to streamline the album proofing process and we communicate directly with her clients to get their revision requests implemented. Ailyn's design preferences are to not combine color and black and white images on spreads together, but her client in this instance requested that we do so and really seemed to like the resulting juxtaposition. We are a fan of the finished design with its clean minimal spreads that really allow Ailyn's best images to SHINE!
Here are a few of our favorite spreads from this beauty:
To see the design in full, click through the slideshow:
Thank-you, Ailyn, for trusting us to be a part of your team!
Thank-you, Ailyn, for trusting us to be a part of your team!
-----------
Design by: Shannon (View More) // Design style: Classic (View More) // Blog post written by: Melissa Jill
Design by: Shannon (View More) // Design style: Classic (View More) // Blog post written by: Melissa Jill
4 Tips for Getting Your Clients to Value Albums...and buy one
photo by Elizabeth Gelineau
How many of you wish you could sell more albums? Do you find it difficult to find clients who see the value of an album and are willing to pay the additional cost to include one in their package?
This has been a dilemma I've dealt with as a wedding photographer as well. What I've found is that if I don't value albums and prioritize them for my clients, they typically won't value them either. If you want to sell albums, you have to prioritize them. Here are a four tips for how to do so:
1 -- Share your passion for albums with your clients. Let them know that out of all of the products you offer, this is the one YOU most want them to have. After all, a wedding album should be a couple's first family heirloom. It is the one photography product that they can purchase that will stand the test of time. Long after prints are taken off the wall, children are grown, and grandchildren are running around, an album will be there to tell the story of their love for generations to come.
2 -- Include them in every package. Communicate through the structure of your pricing that the album is the #1 product your clients will want to have.
3 -- Create a space on your website to share your passion for albums. Here are some tips on how to create a space for on your website. I have done this for my own photography business, and you can view the album page on my website here for inspiration.
4 -- Talk about your passion for albums during your initial client meetings. You can do this in any number of ways. If you have a personal story about your wedding album or lack-there-of, or your parents' album, and how that experience has shaped how you value albums, these stories from personal experience can be very powerful. Or tell a story about one of your past clients and how their album has been a blessing to their marriage. And then don't pass up the opportunity to show your clients beautiful samples, allowing them to touch and experience each one while you share what you love about them. Click here for my other blog post about tips for introducing albums during your client meetings.
I believe in the value of a wedding album; I'm passionate about them. And my clients know it. They know it when they look at my website and read about albums. They know it when they see my package info. And they know it when we sit together looking through albums in their initial client meeting. They become excited about their wedding album, in part, because I'm excited about it.
And you know how I talked about the power of story above? This is my "why" story behind my passion for albums:
This is a photo I grabbed off of the Instagram feed of one of my past brides, Ashley. She and David were married in 2008 and now have three children. This is their youngest, Carson:
How many of you wish you could sell more albums? Do you find it difficult to find clients who see the value of an album and are willing to pay the additional cost to include one in their package?
This has been a dilemma I've dealt with as a wedding photographer as well. What I've found is that if I don't value albums and prioritize them for my clients, they typically won't value them either. If you want to sell albums, you have to prioritize them. Here are a four tips for how to do so:
1 -- Share your passion for albums with your clients. Let them know that out of all of the products you offer, this is the one YOU most want them to have. After all, a wedding album should be a couple's first family heirloom. It is the one photography product that they can purchase that will stand the test of time. Long after prints are taken off the wall, children are grown, and grandchildren are running around, an album will be there to tell the story of their love for generations to come.
2 -- Include them in every package. Communicate through the structure of your pricing that the album is the #1 product your clients will want to have.
3 -- Create a space on your website to share your passion for albums. Here are some tips on how to create a space for on your website. I have done this for my own photography business, and you can view the album page on my website here for inspiration.
4 -- Talk about your passion for albums during your initial client meetings. You can do this in any number of ways. If you have a personal story about your wedding album or lack-there-of, or your parents' album, and how that experience has shaped how you value albums, these stories from personal experience can be very powerful. Or tell a story about one of your past clients and how their album has been a blessing to their marriage. And then don't pass up the opportunity to show your clients beautiful samples, allowing them to touch and experience each one while you share what you love about them. Click here for my other blog post about tips for introducing albums during your client meetings.
I believe in the value of a wedding album; I'm passionate about them. And my clients know it. They know it when they look at my website and read about albums. They know it when they see my package info. And they know it when we sit together looking through albums in their initial client meeting. They become excited about their wedding album, in part, because I'm excited about it.
And you know how I talked about the power of story above? This is my "why" story behind my passion for albums:
This is a photo I grabbed off of the Instagram feed of one of my past brides, Ashley. She and David were married in 2008 and now have three children. This is their youngest, Carson:
A few years ago, Ashley and I were catching up and she told me a story about what their wedding album meant to their family. She told me that their daughter's "favorite book" is mommy and daddy's wedding album. She regularly asks them to "read" it to her -- to flip through the pages while she sits on their laps, and tell her all about the people in its pages. When they get to the page with mommy and daddy's first dance she always asks her dad if she can dance with him.
If that doesn't paint a picture of the importance of having a wedding album, I don't know what does.
I'm convinced in my heart that wedding albums are important. And every married couple should have one. Having this passion and communicating this passion to your clients is step one of selling more albums.
If you found this post helpful and would like to receive tips like this straight to your inbox, click here to sign up!
If that doesn't paint a picture of the importance of having a wedding album, I don't know what does.
I'm convinced in my heart that wedding albums are important. And every married couple should have one. Having this passion and communicating this passion to your clients is step one of selling more albums.
If you found this post helpful and would like to receive tips like this straight to your inbox, click here to sign up!
And exciting news! If you're a photographer who wants to start offering albums without investing hours of guesswork and trial and error -- we have a solution for you! Check out the Album Start-Up Kit and start maximizing your profit today!
-----------
Blog post written by: Melissa Jill
Blog post written by: Melissa Jill
Summer Charleston Wedding Album Design for Tori Kelner
Everything about today's featured wedding album design is fantastic -- the stunning venue (Lowndes Grove in downtown Charleston, South Carolina), the darling couple, and New Jersey wedding photographer Tori Kelner's documentation of every moment and emotion so artistically. We have been greatly blessed to work with the lovely Tori for the past 6 years and have designed nearly 50 albums for her and her clients to date! Wow!
Tori is one of our Client Advocates. Click here to hear Tori share a little insight into how she is able to get albums into the hands of her clients within THREE WEEKS after the wedding! Mind-blowing!
This particular album ended up being 25 spreads, which is such a great length. It allows us to use fewer images per spread so that each one stands out and it also gives ample room to tell the story of a wedding day. Sometimes it can be tough to sell longer albums, but if you can, we think it's always worth it!
Without further ado, here are a few of our favorite spreads from this beautiful design:
Tori is one of our Client Advocates. Click here to hear Tori share a little insight into how she is able to get albums into the hands of her clients within THREE WEEKS after the wedding! Mind-blowing!
This particular album ended up being 25 spreads, which is such a great length. It allows us to use fewer images per spread so that each one stands out and it also gives ample room to tell the story of a wedding day. Sometimes it can be tough to sell longer albums, but if you can, we think it's always worth it!
Without further ado, here are a few of our favorite spreads from this beautiful design:
To see the design in full, click through the slideshow:
Thank you, Tori, for trusting us to be a part of your team!
Thank you, Tori, for trusting us to be a part of your team!
-----------
Design by: Shannon (View More) // Design style: Classic (View More) // Blog post written by: Melissa Jill
Design by: Shannon (View More) // Design style: Classic (View More) // Blog post written by: Melissa Jill
Elegant Martha's Vineyard Wedding Album Design for Scott Clark Photography
Today's breathtaking album design is one we did for long-time client Scott Clark. We have had the pleasure of designing a whopping 78 album designs for Scott and his clients in the past decade that we've worked with him and each one seems to be better and more fabulous than the last!
This wedding took place in picturesque Martha's Vineyard on a perfect sunny day. Scott captured every detail and moment flawlessly and this design came together so well! Here are a few of our favorite spreads (although it was super-hard to pick favorites from this one!!):
This wedding took place in picturesque Martha's Vineyard on a perfect sunny day. Scott captured every detail and moment flawlessly and this design came together so well! Here are a few of our favorite spreads (although it was super-hard to pick favorites from this one!!):
To see the design in full, click through the slideshow:
Thank you, Scott, for trusting us to be a part of your team!
Thank you, Scott, for trusting us to be a part of your team!
-----------
Design by: Kari (View More) // Design style: Classic (View More) // Blog post written by: Melissa Jill
Design by: Kari (View More) // Design style: Classic (View More) // Blog post written by: Melissa Jill
Align's Owner Melissa Jill: My Album Story
Hey guys! I'm Melissa Jill -- the Owner of Align!
I wanted to take a second to introduce myself to those of you who may not know me.
I started out my career as a professional photographer based out of a Phoenix, Arizona where I shot weddings for 16 years. Four years ago I moved to Huntsville Alabama where I am continuing to shoot weddings part-time but focusing even more of my energy on Align Album Design. I started this album design company back in 2012 as a way to help other professional photographers get a handle on their album workflow because I know from experience how tough it can be. Small business owners have A LOT of balls in the air at any one time.
I really value albums and always highly encouraged all of my photography clients to include one in their package. But my relationship with albums hasn't always been a happy one. I struggled like many photographers to learn how to sell albums profitably and efficiently and at times it was a rough road! More on that later!
I now live in Huntsville, Alabama with my husband, Bruce, and our four year old little boy, Beau. They are my world:
I wanted to take a second to introduce myself to those of you who may not know me.
I started out my career as a professional photographer based out of a Phoenix, Arizona where I shot weddings for 16 years. Four years ago I moved to Huntsville Alabama where I am continuing to shoot weddings part-time but focusing even more of my energy on Align Album Design. I started this album design company back in 2012 as a way to help other professional photographers get a handle on their album workflow because I know from experience how tough it can be. Small business owners have A LOT of balls in the air at any one time.
I really value albums and always highly encouraged all of my photography clients to include one in their package. But my relationship with albums hasn't always been a happy one. I struggled like many photographers to learn how to sell albums profitably and efficiently and at times it was a rough road! More on that later!
I now live in Huntsville, Alabama with my husband, Bruce, and our four year old little boy, Beau. They are my world:
Our days are filled with raising a human, running a business, pouring into our church, and keeping up with family and friends. Oh -- and eating my husband's amazing cooking! I totally lucked out in that department!
So that's a little about myself. I LOVE what I do, but like many photographers, album design and workflow has been a pain point of mine. I remember sitting down to do my very first album after a client requested one during my first year in business and thinking... "This is going to be easy, I'll just throw this together." Turns out it wasn't so much. There was a HUGE learning curve and every time I thought I had one thing mastered, another issue popped up.
First there were gazillions of options -- which company do I use, which style album do I pick, which cover, which paper type? Do I design it myself or outsource it? Which software do I use or which company do I outsource to? How do I manage proofing with my clients? In addition to all of these choices, I hit so many obstacles with my client workflow. I waited FOREVER for clients to pick their images. Then when I figured out I needed to be pre-designing, I waited FOREVER for them to finalize their design. There were endless rounds of revisions, clients wanting to stuff every last corner of the design with images, and the list goes on and on. I was left wondering -- IS IT EVEN WORTH IT to sell albums?
Clearly I answered that question in the affirmative. And I've lived to tell about it. And not only that, but I figured out how to make albums PROFITABLE. For the last couple years we were in Phoenix, my studio's yearly profit from albums was close to $25,000. I share this only to encourage you that it is possible. And it IS worth figuring out how to navigate through the obstacles and frustrations!
Over the coming weeks I hope to share a few things I've learned along the way that have helped make my album workflow profitable and efficient. These tips will apply to Align clients, but they will also apply to those of you who design your albums yourselves. And while what I share has worked well for my studio, it's not the only way to do things. I hope this blog can be a place where we can have a conversation; where we can learn and grow from sharing our knowledge and experiences with one another. Life is always better lived in community. So I hope you'll join me, follow along, and share your insight in the comments!
To make sure you don't miss out on any of the upcoming tips in this series -- many of which I guarantee will be life-changing! -- click here to sign up to get them sent straight to your inbox!
And exciting news! If you're a photographer who wants to start offering albums without investing hours of guesswork and trial and error -- we have a solution for you! Check out the Album Start-Up Kit and start maximizing your profit today!
So that's a little about myself. I LOVE what I do, but like many photographers, album design and workflow has been a pain point of mine. I remember sitting down to do my very first album after a client requested one during my first year in business and thinking... "This is going to be easy, I'll just throw this together." Turns out it wasn't so much. There was a HUGE learning curve and every time I thought I had one thing mastered, another issue popped up.
First there were gazillions of options -- which company do I use, which style album do I pick, which cover, which paper type? Do I design it myself or outsource it? Which software do I use or which company do I outsource to? How do I manage proofing with my clients? In addition to all of these choices, I hit so many obstacles with my client workflow. I waited FOREVER for clients to pick their images. Then when I figured out I needed to be pre-designing, I waited FOREVER for them to finalize their design. There were endless rounds of revisions, clients wanting to stuff every last corner of the design with images, and the list goes on and on. I was left wondering -- IS IT EVEN WORTH IT to sell albums?
Clearly I answered that question in the affirmative. And I've lived to tell about it. And not only that, but I figured out how to make albums PROFITABLE. For the last couple years we were in Phoenix, my studio's yearly profit from albums was close to $25,000. I share this only to encourage you that it is possible. And it IS worth figuring out how to navigate through the obstacles and frustrations!
Over the coming weeks I hope to share a few things I've learned along the way that have helped make my album workflow profitable and efficient. These tips will apply to Align clients, but they will also apply to those of you who design your albums yourselves. And while what I share has worked well for my studio, it's not the only way to do things. I hope this blog can be a place where we can have a conversation; where we can learn and grow from sharing our knowledge and experiences with one another. Life is always better lived in community. So I hope you'll join me, follow along, and share your insight in the comments!
To make sure you don't miss out on any of the upcoming tips in this series -- many of which I guarantee will be life-changing! -- click here to sign up to get them sent straight to your inbox!
And exciting news! If you're a photographer who wants to start offering albums without investing hours of guesswork and trial and error -- we have a solution for you! Check out the Album Start-Up Kit and start maximizing your profit today!
-----------
Blog post written by: Melissa Jill
Blog post written by: Melissa Jill