Product Feature - Album Approved

My friend Fundy did it again and went and created one more thing that I just can't live with out. It's called Album Approved and I'm already spinning with excitement with how I will build this into my sales process!

Introduction to Pricing for Profit

Pricing yourself appropriately (and when I say appropriate what I really mean is profitably) can be one of the most daunting tasks for a photographer to undertake. COGS x A + B / mc² can leave us all remembering just how much we hated algebra, however it is still a very necessary task and I promise once you've found where you should be, it's also incredibly liberating!

Creativity... Passion... That most likely came as the easy part (it comes as pretty standard territory to us "artist" types) but operating a successful small business, well if you're like many you may not have put much thought into it. But the bottom line is this, there are 2 kinds of artists, those who define themselves and those who are defined and the reality is that those who starve have no choice but to be defined and those who thrive are able to define themselves! And it's not always about skill either! I have seen amazing photographers who lack the fundamentals in business and so find themselves trying to survive from job to job. I have also seen the flip side, photographer's who may not be as technically savvy or creatively inclined and yet their business is booming! Why is this? One gets the nuts and bolts of running and marketing a small business and the other does not.

Today, I'd like to try to help clarify just how you should and should not go about establishing your pricing. The most common price determiner is... Google (in some form or another) You know what I'm talking about, you Google a few photogs in your area check out the pricing and put yourself somewhere in the middle. While this may not be the very worst way to price yourself, it certainly isn't good either. Here are 3 reasons why:

1. You don't know the bottom line they are working from, and what (or even if) they established a profit margin on.
2. There is a really good chance that they came up with their pricing sheet exactly how you just did yours so now the circle of 'in the middle' pricing is growing but in actuality the pricing structure just keeps falling lower and lower.
3. Without knowing your numbers you can't know your profit and without knowing your profit (or loss) you won't know what adjustments need to be made until it's too late!

So, what should be considered when establishing your pricing? You need to know your Cost of Goods Sold or COGS (how much did it cost you to hand them that 8x10?) Are you considering the following:
1. Retouching time
2. Shipping
3. Packaging (Bag, Tag, Tissue, Box)
4. Time for assembling packaging (not just a bow)
5. Hourly wage for your time.
6. Cost of Print

Okay. Let say you have figured out all of that and you now know that your COGS is... Is there a special formula for marking up the product? I'd like you to think of 3 tiers for pricing...

Top end of market is 20% COGS

Midpoint would be 30% COGS

Low end of market 40% COGS

Should you ever go below 40%? No! Don't go below 40% {period!}

If you feel you have to be at 40% in order to sell your products you need to come up with a different solution. Either you need to cut down your cost by quicker retouching, cheaper packaging or a different print lab but one way or another you're going to want to find a way to drive down your bottom line.

I hope you have enjoyed this little bit of insight into pricing. I will be going into much greater detail on pricing for profit at the Seattle Building the Biz Workshop, August 20th and 21st.

S.E.Ohhh...

We've been having a lot of questions about SEO lately.  Well what is SEO?


Search Engine Optimization - is the process of improving the volume or quality of traffic to a website or a web page like a blog from search engines via un-paid search results as opposed to other forms of search engine marketing (SEM) which may deal with paid inclusion.  Get it?  Yeah me neither...


No, it's how you can get your website to get more hits and to get more traffic without having to pay for an add.  So what I want you to do right now is google your photography genre in your area.  Example: Honolulu HI Wedding Photographer.  Are you on the first page that pops up?  The second, can you even find your name?  Seriously keep looking till you find it.  You need to know where it's at to record the process you'll be making to getting your website towards the first pages.  When you google do you choose anything on page two...maybe?  I know I hardly do and thats the whole theory surrounding SEO.  That you want to be on the first page because you'll get more visitors and hits.  


So now how to get your name towards the top.  There are many different ways. 


1.  You can pay for it.  This is SEM.  When I googled Photographers the top two things that popped up are highlighted tan.  These people are paying per click and you can do this through Google.  It depends on what phrase you use that determines the cost but you can decide how much you want to spend.  If a phrase like "photographers" costs $3 per click and you only want to pay $3 a day then your name will only be on the first page once.  If you put enough money into this then you'll eventually be on the first page and then you don't have to pay anymore to be on the first page.


Then the ads on the right of the page are google ads.  You can also pay for this until you're the first on the page then once you're there you can stop advertising.

2.  Google Maps.  This isn't google maps like getting directions, it's a map that has targeted businesses.  So I googled photographer and these businesses popped up.  Go into your google account and make one of these immediately!  Don't worry about being an on location photographer and not having a studio.  There's a place to state that but you still want to have one up.

3.  Key phrase your blog and website.  See the top circled bar.  Really describe what it is you're doing.  Use key phrases like your location, what type of photography.  And put the most important one first.  I can totally jazz this up more but I kept it simple for you to see.  When bookmarking someone's page the page title will also appear.  So jazz it up!

My bracketed business name is part of a flash slide show.  Check with your blog or web designers to make sure they are SEO optimized.  My ProPhoto3 blog is, do you know if yours is?  Also my header links to my website/portfolio.  Instead of linking my blog to my blog, which is still good, link it to another site to help get more hits and then link your website to your blog some how.  I do have a "home" button to still make it easier to get back to my recent posts.  Link your blog up!

Then I know you've seen people write crazy long titles next to their blog post titles.  It's because they want search engines like Google to find them.  If you repeat a key phrase enough, when somebody googles that key phrase your site is more likely to be found.  Don't just put "photographer" or "children's photographer."  Because you'll be competing with everybody who has either Children or Photographer in their title.  Get descriptive and be specific! 

Last thing is write in your blog post.  Don't just post pictures.  The more words you have the more key phrases you use the more likely you'll come up in the search engines.  Once you've done all these things and continue to do these things keep track of where your blog comes up on google.  I know you'll get closer to the top!

How do you know you’re pro?

This post is going to be far more blunt, I’m warning you because I want you to put your thick skin on. I want you to realize that I’m not writing this post directly to you, personally but to a mass and if in reading it, you get the feeling it's directed toward you... Well then take courage in knowing that you recognize there is room for growth. And there is always room for growth.

Let me explain where this post comes from. I have always struggled with calling myself a PROFESSIONAL photographer. After all who says I'm "pro"? Me? And who the heck do I think I am to claim that? So because I love photography, because I operate a business, because I work at it all the time and have put great effort into learning my craft, I say I’m a photographer, and a professional one at that. And although withoutquestion those are very real and very good reasons there has always been something plaguing me about the fact that I’m the only one who says so. If you don't see and hear the tree fall, did it really fall?

I would never let someone cut my hair who hadn’t been properly trained. I would never let someone bring a drill to my teeth who hadn’t studied thoroughly how to do so.  I would never affirmatively trust that my books were properly done and safe from penalty in the event of an audit if I didn’t pay an accountant who had the training and certification to do so. And I certainly would not send my children to be educated by someone who was not certified to educate. Never, never-ever would I take a chance at any of these things. And yet hundreds and thousands of us picked up a camera, were told by a few people that we were good and so called ourselves photographers. Now please, please do not mistake what I am saying. There are so many incredible photographers with no paper credentials who I respect, admire and learn from. But, and this is a big but – there are thousands more who have not honed their skills, who could not go into any environment or situation and know with confidence that they will be able to deliver what a client wants or needs and furthermore have not strived to learn the diverse aspects of our industry and yet they are calling themselves professional. Is this right? Would you be okay if people who had a love for medicine but not the training started writing you prescriptions? Would you be okay if the man who you just gave hundreds and hundreds of dollars to fix your car had heard about transmissions but never been taught properly how to work with one? Why then have so many photographers decided that it's okay to claim a professional status when they are not even confident enough to use their camera on Manuel? I want to take a minute to tell you, that if I'm keeping it real - I started as one of those photographers. I shot in AV and sometimes even Auto mode because I was not confident in Manuel. Now granted, I did make it clear I was portfolio building but should I have even claimed that much when I wasn't even qualified to use my camera fully as it was intended? I don't know? I chose my path, I jumped head first and I never looked back but I also see that maybe looking back could have made the path far less scary and far more gratifying. 

I love photography and I also love this industry. I have deep respect for those who paved the way that I now get to skip down and a sense of gratitude toward them for what they accomplished. It's through their accomplishments that we have had the doors opened so widely to us. It's with this admiration that I feel so strongly about building my industry, not hindering it. I want to improve on the ground work that's been laid not tear up the efforts of those who labored before me. When we do not properly understand our craft, when we charge far less then industry standards, when we operate in a non-professional manner, it's not just ourselves we hurt.  The industry as a whole feels the effects. 

The great news is that there is a fantastic answer and resource for all of us. We can become CERTIFIED PHOTOGRAPHERS and with that never again have to cringe that little bit when someone asks about our training, all the while wondering silently if we truly are legit. The Professional Photographic Certification Commission can make sure to properly link this! (with hard work on yours and my part) declare us certified professional photographers! While in Portland, Sam Puc asked for a show of hands to know how many people in the room were certified. I had never heard of this before and thought I would be one of the few who wasn’t. To mine and apparently Sam’s surprise as well,  only one - maybe 2 people raised their hands. It sparked the idea and so I wrote “certify!!!” in the top margin of my notes. I was excited for the prospect!

You see, my husband has been going to school for the last 7 years. I have helped and watched as we get him closer and closer to those letters that will soon be behind (and in front) of his name. I will admit that I’ve felt left out, he is working at an education that when finished proves to the world what he is, while I work just as hard, study as hard and push myself as hard but have no one to back my claim that I too am legit in my field and passion. Except of course my family and friends, but really- how comforting is that? Think of all those people who have gone onto American Idol and none of their friends and family thought it was a good idea to step in and admit that they were terrible. What if that was all it was? That fear had always plagued me. But soon I will have CPP next to my name and in my own little head it’s just as exciting as the “Dr.” that will be in front of his. I will be the real deal because the real deal said so!

So how’s it done?

First your declare your candidacy with The Professional Photographic Certification Commission. Along with that declaration there is a $100 fee and you have 3 years to complete the 2 steps to certification. The written exam, which is a 100 question test as well as the image submission portion, where you submit 20 of your very best images from 20 of your sessions.

 Now it’s time to study! But oh wow is there an AWESOME opportunity to help all of us! Turns out that Sam Puc was shocked to see so few of hands as well. She is a huge advocate for constant education and maintaining high standards for our industry, it’s with this mindset that she has created a website, ‘Certify with Sam’ and dedicated it to help photographers get certified and improve our industry… And she has promised to maintain this website until 1000 photographers are certified.

With the Certify with Sam website available as a recourse I really don’t think there is a better time to take the initiative. I am so excited for it!

For me it is without question more personal then anything else. I want to know not think that I AM a professional photographer!

Look into it, explore the PPC website and the Certify with Sam website, ask questions here… Tell us what you need to learn and we'll just try to write posts to help and share resources that we know of as well.  If you are one of the thousands who is lacking the confidence to truly feel empowered to say, ‘I am a professional’ then take this step with me!

I am so excited to study and learn, it can only make me better and that, my friends, is what it’s all about! I really hope you'll do it with Noelle and I. 

Helpful Tips & Links  if you are going to declare intent:

Professional Photographer Certification Commission

Certify with Sam Puc Program

A suggested (mind you it’s suggested – questions are not pulled from this text) book is Photography by Barbara London (9^th or 10^th Editions). I ordered to help me study and use as a long term reference guide.

iPhone Peeps – there is a FREE app for flashcards to help you study. Download the app ‘Touchcards’ and enter the code: 2059436 No iPhone? Go to www.quizlet.com and enter the same code. 

What if I'm not in the US? To all my international readers... Yes, you can get certified as well. It may be trickier to find a testing center but it can be done!

How hard is the test? That depends on how much you know already. You have 2 hours to answer 100 questions, you need a 70%, which means you can miss 30 questions and still pass. The questions derive from 6 categories, they are 1) Camera, Lenses & Attachments 2) Composition & Design 3) Digital Post Production 4) Exposure & Meters 5) Film, Digital Capture & Output 6) Lighting

What do I need for the image submission? You will need to submit 20 images from 20 different assignments that were shot within the last 24 months. You can not submit 2 images of the same subject. For example, if you shot baby Jane as a newborn and again at 6 months, you would choose your favorite image from all of your sessions with her. You are submitting your very images that will give a reflection of your work and the type of photographer that YOU are, may that be newborn, wedding, family, landscape or culinary. You are also showing your knowledge on composition, lighting, etc.

Thanks to Sam Puc and creating awareness about certification, study groups are going to be popping up all over the country. I just got an email to join one in Portland. Because of this, I don't think there could be a better time to make the commitment! 

Inspire Me Friday Interview #15} Jerry Ghinois

The 6 Winners have been announced - look below Jerry's post!

I'll admit it, I look forward to the Inspire Me Friday's, I really look forward to them (probably because it's not me talking :)  It's so much fun getting to know different photographers. I've gotten to where for the most part, I have a specific set of questions I like to ask, I was worried this would cause the answers to be to similar but it's turned out to be quite the contrary and in actuality has been so much fun to see how different photographers answer the same question! 

Interviewing the ward-winning Australian Master Photographer Jerry Ghionis has been especially fun, you will remember that at WPPI, Noelle and I had our picture taken by Jerry, that was was of course a highlight of the trip, in fact it was so great that we wanted to share the Jerry love with all of you. Now it's easy to see why the ladies love looking at him but trust me, the man is well worth listening to as well! There is a definite brain for business inside that suave appeal. And with that I'm happy to welcome the ICE man! 

1. What’s in the Bag? 

I have:

- Two Canon 5d Mark II
- 70-200mm f/2.8 L IS
- 24-105mm f/4 L
- 85 f/1.2 L
- 17-40mm f/4 L
- 100 mm f/2.8 macro lens
- 45mm f/2.9 Tilt Shift
- Two 580 EX flashes
- Phase I camera system with a P40+ back and with it I use:
   - 80mm f/2.8
   - 150mm f/2.8
   - 28mm f/4.5

And I fit it all into a Think Tank bag.

2. Was there a defining moment when you knew you wanted to pursue photography professionally? For me, it was pretty much the day I was given my very first camera at the age of 15.

3. How long have you been in business? I’ve been shooting professionally for 16 years.

4. If you could only give one speech, for one hour, for one million people, what ONE WORD would that speech be about? Ghionis.  It’s all about branding! (Ooops…was I supposed to talk about love or peace instead?)

6. What’s been your best marketing idea? The idea of doing same day slideshows at a wedding.  That is where I edit a selection of images during the reception, prepare a slideshow and present to the couple and all of their guests that very evening.

7. What activity always makes you lose track of time? It’s a 3 letter word that starts with the letter “s”.

8. How many shoots do you like to do a week to be in your happy place?  To keep me happy it’s not so much about the quantity but instead it’s about the quality of my session.

9. What would be your ideal session? Doing a boudoir session with Monica Bellucci, Salma Hayek, Dita Von Teese and Eva Mendez.

10. Where might we find you if your not working? At the movies, shopping or at a really cool bar or restaurant.  Or more probably in a plane.

11. Tell us about you usual workflow.  Once the wedding has been photographed, I’ll download the images and edit them in Microsoft Expression Media 2.  This is all done on a mirrored hard drive and then I back up the discs (one stays at home and one stays at the studio) and then it gets forwarded to the lab. I work with The Edge Photoimaging where all my proofing is done.  I then pre-design all of my wedding albums using Photojunction.  Once I present and sell the design to the clients, then my digital artist will do all of the post production.  From there, my assistant, Sally Ann Sargood, will do all of the quality control and coordinating of the album production.  And then once the prints are ready, we send them off to Seldex Artistic Albums (which is distributed by FINAO in the United States).

12. What is your favorite professional photography product(s)? I love my 5d Mark IIs, although I have to admit that there’s just nothing like shooting medium format on the Phase One.

13. Has there been a book/workshop that you feel was instrumental in your early years? No, I can’t say that there is.  And that’s a big reason why I am so relentless on being that educational resource for other people in the industry.

14. What have you always found to be easy? I’ve always found that being able to connect with people very quickly comes naturally to me.

15. Have you felt effects from the economy in your business? Not really.  I did unfortunately start my boutique studio at the beginning of a recession and although I’m not short of work, I do have to work harder for the same work.  So it’s very much about learning how to work smarter rather than harder now.

16. What would you label as your professional weakness? Photoshop. But I do know how to pay someone to do it for me.

17. What question do you look forward to being asked? Do you accept Visa or Mastercard?

18. What has been the highlight of your career? I feel very blessed to have so many events in my career that have excited me.  Being included in American Photos’ first list of top ten photographers in the world was a big one for me because I remember buying their first issue almost 20 years ago and I always wanted to be in that magazine someday.  So that was quite emotional for me.  Winning the album of the year for the sixth time at WPPI was very sweet for me as well as opening a brand new boutique studio, being nominated as an Icon of Imaging from Microsoft and just recently having the privilege of presenting to over 2,000 photographers at WPPI in Las Vegas just this past year.  But my most recent and proudest achievement to date has been the start of my charity, The Soul Society.

19.  When you’re getting to have “me time” what are you doing? I’m watching movies.  I also love going for walks, going shopping and golfing whenever I can.

20.What’s the most common mistake you seen newbie’s making? It would have to be spending all of their time on their photography, rather than on the business of photography.

Now you're seeing what all the fuss is about aren't you? Jerry is positively brilliant behind the camera and in running a successful business. He speaks in workshops and tours all over the world and will be accompanying Sam Puc in her 2011 family tour (next year). If you can't wait that long, don't worry! Jerry also has the ICE Society, and I've asked him to tell you a little about it! The i.c.e. Society is an educational website I have created dedicated to inspiring, challenging and educating fellow professionals.  I teach several lessons each and every month and include video footage of me working, there are also anonymous online critiques, marketing tips and several other topics.  The i.c.e. Society is now well into its third year with 29 chapters already in the library. 

Each month I release new lessons that focus on posing, lighting and how to communicate effectively to your clients.  I include several examples of each topic as well as video footage where you can see how I apply these lessons in real life situations.  There are at least nine different lessons each month and we’re constantly updating and adding new segments.

 I also recently added a live chat feature which has been very popular and so much fun.  Each month I do a live video broadcast that is available to i.c.e. Society members only members can twitter their questions to me and I’ll answer them live on air.  New members also receive a free DVD entitled Ice Pick (which is normally valued at $150).  The Ice Pick DVD contains all of the video footage from the first twelve chapters of the i.c.e. Society so that members can view them anytime even while offline.

A one year membership is $365, but we’d love to offer your readers 20% off of the membership price.  They just need to visit the www.theicesociety.com and click on the “Join” link and use “entice” as a promo code.

Thank you so much Jerry for taking the time to interview with Go{4}Pro! I was thoroughly entertained by this interview and know others will be too! 

Product Feature - The Album Builder

This post is a fun one because it's being co-written by Noelle and I. I will be the BLUE text and Noelle will be Orange. Okay, me first...  


We both recently started using the Album Builder and no joke it's one of my most favorite tools (and super TIME SAVING) tools to date! Because it's saving each of us so much time and making our lives so much easier, we couldn't wait to tell you about it too! 

If ever there was a time that I just happened to run into the right person at the right time, the Fiano booth at WPPI was it! I was in the booth browsing albums when I saw 2 guys taking pictures with their iPhones of an album. When they looked done, I asked if I could see it. They told me it was their images, I smiled and gave an 'oh, awesome' and started to flip through. I immediately realized these images were taken in the great North West and asked where they were from, turns out they are in Portland too! 


Well as fate would have it, we ended up on the same flight back to Portland. I sat in-between Fundy and Focht of Left Turn Studios and we talked the whole flight home. Fundy pulled out his laptop to show me some of the awesome stuff they do - and - awesome in an understatement! Three of the things they showed me are my current favorite products (you know the type when you don't know how you lived with out it before) it's  the Mobile Fotographer-Studio Management, Touch Flow (but those are another post) for today, we want to tell you about the The Album Builder!


When I won the album certificate from Vision Art at WPPI the first thing I said to Leah was:


"Leah, I need to find some album templates!"


But Leah kept telling me no, (she does that sometimes). She kept saying that templates are too confining and that I would constantly find that the template wouldn't match how many pictures or sizes I was needing to fit for the layout.  She said that I'd find that when I'm trying to use a template sometimes it's hard to get the portrait photos to match the number of portrait boxes and then sometimes you have to leave out a good photo because it doesn't match the layout of things.


Oh...  I hadn't thought of that before but at the same time I knew I needed it simple and templates seemed like the obvious solution.  Then I thought about hiring out the design work.  I heard that Jasmine Star doesn't like designing albums so she hires out but after looking into the cost,that adds more then I can justify to my bottom line. With Leah making some strong arguments against album templates and hiring out tooexpensive the only option seemed to spend countless hours working at building albums from scratch. Not appealing!


Then the clouds parted and the sun shone down, and there might even have been some singing.


When Leah told me I had to get this Album Builder I thought to myself, "Really?  Do I really need it?"  But I trust Leah and I trust the man behind the product, so I got it.  Let me tell you what!  It is amazing!  You install Album Builder in Photoshop, where I make my albums, and it takes the major mechanical thinking out of it.  I'm a photographer/artist first so when I have to think of size of photos, to how many photos, to the size of the album, well all those ratios just hurt my brain.  I have to do lots of thinking and lots of trial and error.  With Album Builder I type how many photos I want on one page or a spread and it'll do it for me.  Then I just drag and drop my photo, without having to resize it, and it's done.  THEN if I want to add an action to that particular photo I can do it in Album Builder!  I can change the coloring of the background with a click and there are NO templates that I HAVE to stay with.  I can change how many pictures I want, and move the collage or row of photos anywhere on the page.  It gives you endless possibilities and the freedom to choose just how you want it.  I cannot even say how much of a time saver this is!  Album Builder will cut your time making albums, I personally believe, by 75% or more.  And as a photographer we are always in need of more time.  I firmly believe every photographer that offers albums, especially wedding photographers, need this product. 


I try to avoid wedding photography, my work is as a portrait photographer but albums are every bit as much a critical part of my business as they are for a wedding photographer. I want all my clients to have an album or an image box so that I know they have a tangible keepsake to remember this time in their life. I'm passionate about it so it's easy to sell, in fact 90% of all my clients order albums or image boxes so I do a lot of albums! I have been designing all my albums from scratch (you know from above why I don't like templates and I'm too neurotic to be able to let someone else design it for me). But despite how much i love handing over an album to a client,  I couldn't stand how long it took me to put it together, but I just didn't see a good alternative. Designing an album typically took me between 5 and 7 hours and as much as I don't want to admit it, sometimes longer, time consuming for sure!


Last week I had a mom call, she wanted two Senior albums in time for their graduation open house which was in 2 weeks. I needed to design 2 different albums for two girls and have them ready to send to print the next day if I had any chance at getting them in time. I was dreading the process until I realized I should try my new album builder. Each album only took me ONE HOUR to build!! So ummm yes, I'm a huge fan!  

The coolest part is that there is a 2 week Free Trial so go try it for yourself! You can thank me later! ;) 
And you will! :)