Rebecca Sehn on Selling Portrait Albums
As you might guess from poking around on our website, the majority of the albums that Align designs are for weddings. But that's not ALL we offer! We absolutely love designing albums for portrait sessions too! We love the flexibility and beauty that comes along with family portraits, senior photos, boudoir shoots, newborn sessions, etc. And it's a special bonus when we get to design a portrait album for Rebecca Sehn Photography! Rebecca is a Vancouver-based photographer who specializes in childhood and family portrait photography. Her work is always stunning!
We asked Rebecca about her album process and she came back with a wonderful testimonial that I think with be helpful to both portrait and wedding photographers alike! Let's meet her....
We asked Rebecca about her album process and she came back with a wonderful testimonial that I think with be helpful to both portrait and wedding photographers alike! Let's meet her....
(Photo by White Linen Photographers)
Hi, I'm Rebecca. I'm a childhood and family portrait photographer based near Vancouver, Canada. I love where I live, but also love to travel! I've photographed some pretty wonderful families all over the world, including France, Ireland, and Hong Kong.
While expecting my first baby in 2014, I had visions of work slowing down a little as I adjusted to life as a new mom. I was so wrong. After my daughter Penny was born, business kept growing... fast forward to August of 2015: I found myself fully booked in Vancouver, as well as a packed week of portrait sessions abroad in Hong Kong (a dream come true!). But I was also eight months pregnant with my second baby, and life was a bit chaotic, to say the least.
I've felt so torn between giving everything I have to my family, while also growing and tending to my work -- everything I had been working toward in my business was happening, and it was so hard to say no. But my once forty hour work weeks were now chopped down to stolen hours in the early mornings and evenings, and I was scheduling client calls during overlapping nap times. I began to take a good look at what I really needed to be doing in my business, and what I could outsource.
One of these things on my outsource checklist was album design. I sell albums to almost every portrait client, but they've so far been very simple, with just one portrait per page. When I added a new premium album that needed beautiful design, I knew that this was something I could (and should) outsource. Align makes more beautiful album designs than I could ever dream of! My clients appreciate that they are both modern and timeless, and I love how responsive the designers are to creating albums to my specifications, and remembering these notes each time. It's easy, fast, and perfect.
Hi, I'm Rebecca. I'm a childhood and family portrait photographer based near Vancouver, Canada. I love where I live, but also love to travel! I've photographed some pretty wonderful families all over the world, including France, Ireland, and Hong Kong.
While expecting my first baby in 2014, I had visions of work slowing down a little as I adjusted to life as a new mom. I was so wrong. After my daughter Penny was born, business kept growing... fast forward to August of 2015: I found myself fully booked in Vancouver, as well as a packed week of portrait sessions abroad in Hong Kong (a dream come true!). But I was also eight months pregnant with my second baby, and life was a bit chaotic, to say the least.
I've felt so torn between giving everything I have to my family, while also growing and tending to my work -- everything I had been working toward in my business was happening, and it was so hard to say no. But my once forty hour work weeks were now chopped down to stolen hours in the early mornings and evenings, and I was scheduling client calls during overlapping nap times. I began to take a good look at what I really needed to be doing in my business, and what I could outsource.
One of these things on my outsource checklist was album design. I sell albums to almost every portrait client, but they've so far been very simple, with just one portrait per page. When I added a new premium album that needed beautiful design, I knew that this was something I could (and should) outsource. Align makes more beautiful album designs than I could ever dream of! My clients appreciate that they are both modern and timeless, and I love how responsive the designers are to creating albums to my specifications, and remembering these notes each time. It's easy, fast, and perfect.
The cost of design is worked into my album pricing. But beyond that, in the time it would take me to complete one album design, I can market to new clients, or provide above and beyond customer service to my current clients.
A lot of photographers ask me how I 'get' my portrait clients to purchase albums. Long story short -- I make it the most logical choice. My clients receive a digital copy of every portrait that they choose for their album, and digital files on their own are priced in such a way that unless a client chooses less than five portraits (and who can choose just five??) it's more cost effective to purchase an album.
These days I feel like I have things a lot more under control, thanks in a large part to outsourcing. Does that mean it's time for baby number three?
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A lot of photographers ask me how I 'get' my portrait clients to purchase albums. Long story short -- I make it the most logical choice. My clients receive a digital copy of every portrait that they choose for their album, and digital files on their own are priced in such a way that unless a client chooses less than five portraits (and who can choose just five??) it's more cost effective to purchase an album.
These days I feel like I have things a lot more under control, thanks in a large part to outsourcing. Does that mean it's time for baby number three?
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Oh my goodness, Rebecca, you're brilliant! We sometimes have photographers ask us how they can get portrait clients to value albums as much as their wedding clients do... now we have an answer! I'm going to point them right to this blog post and your sales strategy. And YAY for baby #3 -- we vote yes!! AND we're throwing "Al" into the hat for a boy name! The fact that it's short for "Align" can be our little secret! ;)
Now it's time to check out some prettiness! Here is one of Rebecca's recent albums designed by Align and printed by GTA Imaging. Thanks for sending us these photos of the finished album, Rebecca!!
Now it's time to check out some prettiness! Here is one of Rebecca's recent albums designed by Align and printed by GTA Imaging. Thanks for sending us these photos of the finished album, Rebecca!!
If you'd like to flip through this portrait album design in its entirety, click through the slideshow below!
