Downtown Baltimore Wedding Album Design for Eli Turner Studios
We have designed close to 100 albums for talented Washington DC based wedding photographer Eli Turner in the past 7 years and working with his thoughtfully crafted images is always a treat! Eli has a background in filmmaking which makes him uniquely gifted at telling the story of a wedding day. Eli has also mastered the art of shooting with the album in mind. He values albums and knows they are the end product, so he makes sure to document the day in a way that lends itself to creating a stunning album!
We are so excited to share one of the most recent designs we created for Eli -- a winter wedding set in the heart of Baltimore near the water! Eli was kind enough to send us some images he took of the printed album. Here are a few of our favorite spreads from this stunning design:
We are so excited to share one of the most recent designs we created for Eli -- a winter wedding set in the heart of Baltimore near the water! Eli was kind enough to send us some images he took of the printed album. Here are a few of our favorite spreads from this stunning design:
To see the design in full, click through the slideshow:
Thank you, Eli, for trusting us to be a part of your team!
Thank you, Eli, 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
How to cover your album design costs and make a bonus profit!
photo credit Melissa Jill Photography
Hey guys! Melissa Jill -- Align's owner and founder and pro wedding photographer here! We've been talking the last couple weeks about how we as photographers should be up-selling our albums and how to do so well. If you've missed out on these conversations, click below to get caught up!
A Compelling Reason to Up-sell
3 Tips for Up-selling Your Albums the Right Way
Today I'm going to continue this discussion about up-selling to share how I myself, and many of our super-star Align clients, have covered their costs for outsourcing their designs to Align (as well as made some serious profit) -- through up-selling. Up-selling and outsourcing are a match made in heaven. Like peanut butter and chocolate. Jeans and t-shirts. Love and marriage. The internet and cat videos. You get the idea. They go together REALLY WELL.
Here's how I outsource to Align and cover my costs (feel free to skim, I explain in more detail below):
Hey guys! Melissa Jill -- Align's owner and founder and pro wedding photographer here! We've been talking the last couple weeks about how we as photographers should be up-selling our albums and how to do so well. If you've missed out on these conversations, click below to get caught up!
A Compelling Reason to Up-sell
3 Tips for Up-selling Your Albums the Right Way
Today I'm going to continue this discussion about up-selling to share how I myself, and many of our super-star Align clients, have covered their costs for outsourcing their designs to Align (as well as made some serious profit) -- through up-selling. Up-selling and outsourcing are a match made in heaven. Like peanut butter and chocolate. Jeans and t-shirts. Love and marriage. The internet and cat videos. You get the idea. They go together REALLY WELL.
Here's how I outsource to Align and cover my costs (feel free to skim, I explain in more detail below):
Now there's a little math involved to take this all in, but I'm going to walk you through it. No calculator necessary. Let's say you include an album in your package that is 20 spreads (40 pages). The client has paid for this up front when they book you. When the wedding is over, you send images off to Align super-fast (because speed is key when you're wanting your clients to fall in love with their images and album design) and on your order form, you say you want a design with 28-30 spreads. Because your images are so incredibly amazing, Align designs you an initial design with 30 spreads, to really tell the story of the day in an ideal way. Whereas you would have paid Align $180 to design a 20 spread album, you pay $90 more to take a risk and attempt to up-sell your clients on a larger album. Follow so far? You are paying an additional $90 up front in hopes that your client will love the ideal design and decide to order the whole thing.
Let's say they DO love it, but they can't afford to upgrade to the full 30 spread design. You are quoting them $150 per spread for the additional 10 spreads over what was included in their package, so that's a hefty fee. Now some clients WILL upgrade and purchase the full upgrade (about 50% of my clients do), but let's say this client can't afford to, and decides to delete some spreads. But they can't part with all of them, so they decide to upgrade by only one spread, deleting 9 spreads and purchasing a 21 spread album. They pay you $150, and that not only covers your $90 risk on the upgrade, but you make $60! Let's say the client deletes 8 spreads from the design and ends up upgrading by 2 spreads. They pay you $300 -- and look at the number under "design 30 spreads" above! -- the outsourcing cost of the entire 30 spread design that you pay Align is that exact same amount! You cover the cost of outsourcing when clients upgrade by just 2 spreads!
Is that worth the initial risk? ABSOLUTELY.
Even if 4 out of 5 clients end up not choosing to upgrade at all, but one upgrades to the full 30 spread album, you've covered the cost of the $90 up-selling risk on all 5 designs and profited $1,050 overall!
See -- when up-selling and outsourcing get married, beautiful things happen. Let me know if you have any questions in the comments below! And if you currently up-sell and outsource, I'd love to hear about your experience there too!
Let's say they DO love it, but they can't afford to upgrade to the full 30 spread design. You are quoting them $150 per spread for the additional 10 spreads over what was included in their package, so that's a hefty fee. Now some clients WILL upgrade and purchase the full upgrade (about 50% of my clients do), but let's say this client can't afford to, and decides to delete some spreads. But they can't part with all of them, so they decide to upgrade by only one spread, deleting 9 spreads and purchasing a 21 spread album. They pay you $150, and that not only covers your $90 risk on the upgrade, but you make $60! Let's say the client deletes 8 spreads from the design and ends up upgrading by 2 spreads. They pay you $300 -- and look at the number under "design 30 spreads" above! -- the outsourcing cost of the entire 30 spread design that you pay Align is that exact same amount! You cover the cost of outsourcing when clients upgrade by just 2 spreads!
Is that worth the initial risk? ABSOLUTELY.
Even if 4 out of 5 clients end up not choosing to upgrade at all, but one upgrades to the full 30 spread album, you've covered the cost of the $90 up-selling risk on all 5 designs and profited $1,050 overall!
See -- when up-selling and outsourcing get married, beautiful things happen. Let me know if you have any questions in the comments below! And if you currently up-sell and outsource, I'd love to hear about your experience there too!
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
Spring Wildflower Wedding Album Design for Lucy Struve Photography
We have been SO blessed to be the album design company of choice for talented Austin, Texas wedding photographer Lucy Struve for 5 years now. Her work is impeccable and she is a master at storytelling and capturing the memories AND beauty of each unique wedding day.
The wedding in today's featured album design is set in the spring in Austin at a Wildflower Center! You can't get much more lovely than that! Make sure you check out the gorgeous portraits Lucy created for the couple in a wildflower field!
This design ended up growing from 20 spreads to 22 spreads over the course of the revision process with the client. We love designs with a little more breathing room like this one because they allow us to give the images the space and attention they deserve!
Here are a few of our favorite spreads from this stunning design:
The wedding in today's featured album design is set in the spring in Austin at a Wildflower Center! You can't get much more lovely than that! Make sure you check out the gorgeous portraits Lucy created for the couple in a wildflower field!
This design ended up growing from 20 spreads to 22 spreads over the course of the revision process with the client. We love designs with a little more breathing room like this one because they allow us to give the images the space and attention they deserve!
Here are a few of our favorite spreads from this stunning design:
To see the design in full, click through the slideshow:
Thank you, Lucy, for trusting us to be part of your team!
Thank you, Lucy, for trusting us to be part of your team!
-----------
Design by: Rachel (View More) // Design style: Classic (View More) // Blog post written by: Melissa Jill
Design by: Rachel (View More) // Design style: Classic (View More) // Blog post written by: Melissa Jill
3 Tips for Up-selling your albums the RIGHT way
Hey guys! Melissa Jill -- Align's owner and retired wedding photographer -- here again to continue our series on successfully selling albums and pricing for maximum profit. In a recent post, I shared why you should be up-selling your albums and that there is a right and wrong way to do so. Today I'm going to share three tips for doing this the right way.
1 -- Educate clients up front
In order to make sure your clients have a great experience with you and your album workflow, you need to be very clear on your process up front. Let them know in your initial client meeting -- before they even hire you -- that you will likely design their album with more spreads than what comes included in their package. Let them know that you do this as a service to them. That right now, it's hard to know how many images they will want in their album since they haven't seen them, and that by designing an album that tells the story of their day in an ideal way, they will have options. Whenever I explain our process in this way to potential clients, they nod in agreement. It makes sense to them and they are on board.
Another way that I communicate this is in the verbiage of my package and pricing information. Rather than including a specific album in a package, I include an album credit. My album credits are $1,700 or $3,000, and each amount is enough to purchase each of the albums I offer with the minimum number of spreads. So I can point to my Queensberry Duo album (a version of which is pictured above -- this set of albums purchased by my clients was a result of an upsell -- both the couple's album and the parent album ended up with 30 spreads and the client spent a total of $7,500 on their albums alone!) and let them know that the $3,000 credit will cover that album with 16 spreads. But the fact that it is worded in the package as a "credit" indicates that they may choose to spend more on their final album after the wedding. The credit is a way for them to set aside money toward their album pre-wedding with the option to upgrade later.
2 -- Allow clients to narrow down the design
Once your client sees the initial design, give them the option to narrow it down by deleting spreads. So in the example above, if I have a Queensberry Duo designed with 25 spreads and the client paid for 16 spreads in their package, they have the option to delete 9 spreads and have no further financial obligation. But at least they are seeing something ideal and given the option to upgrade. Like I mentioned in my last post, many clients do decide to upgrade because they love their images so much. But obviously there should be no obligation to do so.
3 -- Charge per additional spread
When you are presenting an option to upgrade, price based on the number of spreads that the client chooses to upgrade by. As photographers, that is what we are charged for by our album company, so we should also charge this way to cover our costs. "How do you figure out how much to charge per spread" you ask? Easy! Divide the price of the album in your package by the number of spreads included for that price, and round. That's your per-spread price for the upgrade. Mine is $100 or $190 depending on the type of album they order.
These are my three tips for up-selling the right way! If you educate clients clearly up front, give them the option to narrow down the design to just what they ordered, and charge per spread for any upgrades, you will maximize your profit AND your clients will be on board and thrilled with the process!
Check out my next blog post in this series in which I share how up-selling helps many Align Album Design clients cover their outsourcing costs for album design PLUS make bonus profit!
If you found this post helpful and would like to receive tips like this straight to your inbox, click here to sign up!
1 -- Educate clients up front
In order to make sure your clients have a great experience with you and your album workflow, you need to be very clear on your process up front. Let them know in your initial client meeting -- before they even hire you -- that you will likely design their album with more spreads than what comes included in their package. Let them know that you do this as a service to them. That right now, it's hard to know how many images they will want in their album since they haven't seen them, and that by designing an album that tells the story of their day in an ideal way, they will have options. Whenever I explain our process in this way to potential clients, they nod in agreement. It makes sense to them and they are on board.
Another way that I communicate this is in the verbiage of my package and pricing information. Rather than including a specific album in a package, I include an album credit. My album credits are $1,700 or $3,000, and each amount is enough to purchase each of the albums I offer with the minimum number of spreads. So I can point to my Queensberry Duo album (a version of which is pictured above -- this set of albums purchased by my clients was a result of an upsell -- both the couple's album and the parent album ended up with 30 spreads and the client spent a total of $7,500 on their albums alone!) and let them know that the $3,000 credit will cover that album with 16 spreads. But the fact that it is worded in the package as a "credit" indicates that they may choose to spend more on their final album after the wedding. The credit is a way for them to set aside money toward their album pre-wedding with the option to upgrade later.
2 -- Allow clients to narrow down the design
Once your client sees the initial design, give them the option to narrow it down by deleting spreads. So in the example above, if I have a Queensberry Duo designed with 25 spreads and the client paid for 16 spreads in their package, they have the option to delete 9 spreads and have no further financial obligation. But at least they are seeing something ideal and given the option to upgrade. Like I mentioned in my last post, many clients do decide to upgrade because they love their images so much. But obviously there should be no obligation to do so.
3 -- Charge per additional spread
When you are presenting an option to upgrade, price based on the number of spreads that the client chooses to upgrade by. As photographers, that is what we are charged for by our album company, so we should also charge this way to cover our costs. "How do you figure out how much to charge per spread" you ask? Easy! Divide the price of the album in your package by the number of spreads included for that price, and round. That's your per-spread price for the upgrade. Mine is $100 or $190 depending on the type of album they order.
These are my three tips for up-selling the right way! If you educate clients clearly up front, give them the option to narrow down the design to just what they ordered, and charge per spread for any upgrades, you will maximize your profit AND your clients will be on board and thrilled with the process!
Check out my next blog post in this series in which I share how up-selling helps many Align Album Design clients cover their outsourcing costs for album design PLUS make bonus profit!
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
High End St. Louis Wedding Album Design for Emily Broadbent Photography
This wedding and album design are SUPERB in every way imaginable! I mean, just look at the first spread below and you will KNOW you are in for a treat!
We have been so blessed to work with St. Louis wedding photographer Emily Broadbent for just over a year on 15 designs and counting. Emily uses our Hands-off Service which really streamlines the revision process -- allowing us to communicate directly with her clients and grab any additional images we need from the full online gallery.
We are so enamored with the colorful, elevated style of this wedding. And the outdoor tent reception looks like it was SO magical! After you check out some of our favorite spreads from the design below, you should definitely hop over to Emily's blog post showcasing even MORE beauty from this wedding day!
We have been so blessed to work with St. Louis wedding photographer Emily Broadbent for just over a year on 15 designs and counting. Emily uses our Hands-off Service which really streamlines the revision process -- allowing us to communicate directly with her clients and grab any additional images we need from the full online gallery.
We are so enamored with the colorful, elevated style of this wedding. And the outdoor tent reception looks like it was SO magical! After you check out some of our favorite spreads from the design below, you should definitely hop over to Emily's blog post showcasing even MORE beauty from this wedding day!
To see the design in full, click through the slideshow:
Thank you, Emily, for trusting us to be a part of your team!
Thank you, Emily, 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
