Dream Sales Tip: How to Maximize Profits from Each Session!

Hi. Kyung Jung here. As many of you may know, along with running Dream Album Co., I am a longstanding portrait photographer in the Washington, DC area. I recently received several phone calls and emails asking about pricing and maximizing profits from photographers who are just starting out.

It inspired me to put together some pricing tips that can help any photographer — whether you are in your first years of business or may just need to revisit your sales structure.

Take this sample scenario. Jen, a newborn photographer in a North Carolina suburb, is sitting down with her clients to show them the image gallery from their session. The clients are thrilled and can't imagine how they can possibly narrow down their choices to fit their budget.  They love 30 of the images in the 40 image gallery! But, with à la carte pricing, the price sounds way too steep. 

In Jen's pricing structure, her 5x7 prints start at $45 à la carte.  $45 x 30 = $1350.

But, Jen can easily turn her clients' initial sticker shock around by giving them a way to save money! She can offer the same number of images in a leatherette 9x9 Dream Album with one image per page and one of our six border options for a flat, reasonable $1000 fee. But the sale doesn't end there!

Once the clients are happy with the idea of the 9x9 album for $1000, Jen can offer a number of upgrades — a custom design image cover with the baby's name and birth date, a special quote on the first page, an upgrade to larger size 12x12 Dream Album, a Luxury Presentation Box, a 2nd album just like the first at a discounted price, and/or a Twin Mini Set of albums for the grandparents.

The following table shows a sample sale Jen makes…

9x9 Leatherette Dream Album (30p)	$1000
Custom Image Cover	$180
Twin Mini Set	$550
Protective Album Presentation Box	Free when album order is $1500 or more

Jen designs the Image Cover using our free template and grabs her 30 selected 5x7 images and places the order of a 9x9 Image Cover Dream Album with border #3. She also adds a logo debossed Luxury Presentation Box and Twin Mini Set. Within an hour, she is done placing her order. It's a breeze.  

You get the idea.  You will be amazed by how much business one album will bring you. If your clients really fall in love with the album and upgrades, you can make up to double and possibly more, in profit without adding more of your time! 

Plus, an added benefit — the products that your clients purchase become powerful branding tools for your business, when you include your business name. Dream Album can create a custom metal die with your company name or logo and add a gorgeous debossing touch to a number of our products. 

Bottomline, my suggestion is for you to have a basic album starting price and then offer upgrades with Dream Album Co.'s extensive collection of albums and display pieces. The products sell themselves! 

We can’t wait to hear from you. Please share your thoughts and success stories.  We can all learn from each other.

Save Time & Boost Your Profits! Spotlight on Fundy!

"Custom design in under 15 minutes."

That's what you'll read is possible on the Fundy Software website when it comes to designing your client's album using the company's Album Builder 5 software. 

We were thrilled when Fundy Software recently started carrying preloaded Dream Album sizes in Album Builder — making it easier than ever for you to design your Dream Album products using Fundy.

We wanted to introduce you to the company's Album Builder 5 software if you're not already familiar with it, bring you a few tips and find out about the story behind the company.

Fundy's founder, Andrew "Fundy" Funderburg, agreed to chat with us. Yes, Fundy is Andrew's nickname. Growing up, he was known as "Little Fundy" and the name stuck!

Andrew "Fundy" FunderburgIt turns out that Andrew was an established wedding photographer when he started Fundy back in 2008. As a photographer, he would encounter frustration when he would go to design an album using templates. He found that all the design programs were based on specific ones.

"There would be a template for two vertical shots or maybe a horizontal and a vertical," he points out. "What I found out is I would keep finding templates I would like and my images wouldn’t fit in them."

"We keep adding functions, giving more control to the user and giving the user a lot of control without forcing the user to do much work! 
Fundy's Album Builder software takes the opposite approach.  "If you want three vertical images in a row on a page, click a button and it does it," explains Andrew.

And, since time = money, your profit margin will go up.  "The faster you can design an album, the more profit in an album... The client doesn’t care how long it took you," points out Andrew.  "Portrait albums can be hugely profitable because they have so few images per page."

 "I think the main functionality I want people to know —  it can be fully automated and you can design a fully automated album in 15 minutes. You can get really involved and get really custom and still do it just as fast — just because the way it works, you have so much control over the automated process."

Andrew believes that his own photography background impacts Fundy's design offerings. "There are a lot of products out there for photographers that look cool and flashy... and when you use them they don't really make sense."

He and his team continue to test Fundy to make sure it "makes sense" for its users. 

You can download a free, 30-day trial download of Fundy's Album Builder as well as another software offerings from Fundy.  

Plus, Fundy is offering exclusive savings to our Dream Album Co. Family. If you purchase Fundy software anytime through July 31, 2013, enter DREAMROCKS20 at checkout and save 20% off your purchase.* 

Fundy will soon release new design templates with matching Facebook timeline templates and thank you cards geared for weddings, high school senior portraits and family portraits. Here's a link to a preview of the new templates.  

The company also has other software programs for building blog collages, for adding automated watermarks onto your images and more.

We just put Fundy to the test ourselves. As photographers, we so rarely get time to make our own albums. So, Kyung Jung tried out Fundy to make an album of her recent family vacation to Hawaii.  Take a look at the design below. It only took Kyung 10 minutes to design her album. We'll show you the finished album when it arrives! Stay tuned.

Have you tried using Fundy? Let us know what you think.

 *The Fundy suite is compatible with CS4 or above. Offers expires at the end of July 2013 and cannot be combined with another discount.

Introducing.... Glee! Wait until you see our new album cover option!

It's a hot trend in furniture design! 

And, now it's part of the Dream Album Co. collection!

Meet our newest album — Glee! (available to order stating 7/15)

Image courtesy of Heidi Hope Photography

Glee features a contemporary, beveled edge acrylic cover over a photograph face mount style image. It's a standout, high-style topping to our animal friendly, smooth black or white leatherette album.  To go with the sleek look, inner pages are set on 1.5 mm thick core with smooth finish.

The stark edges of the acrylic cover make for a striking juxtaposition to the rounded corner finish of the album with its curved spine. 

Image courtesy of Heidi Hope Photography

We think of this design as the edgier cousin to our classic Dream Album. Like the Dream Album, it's customizable in terms of number of pages and size. Plus, it's  available in 10x10, 12x8 or 8x12.

The acrylic cover enhances the clarity of the cover image and is durable and can be easily wiped clean with a dust cloth. 

Image courtesy of Heidi Hope Photography

You can add your own branding to the album with our metal logo die debossing touch. This sophisticated debossing can also be added to the upgraded Luxury Presentation Box. 

Sales Tip: This cool looking product is an excellent choice for albums featuring high school seniors. Offer the leatherette album as a basic package and Glee as an upgrade. 

Can't wait to hear your thoughts! What do you think about Glee? 

Our popular Hope Series Boxes AVAILABLE IN MORE SIZES!

We love when our product lines grow as the result of your requests!  

After hearing about your interest in having more sizes available for the Hope Series Proof Boxes, we decided to expand our offerings! You can now order the Hope Series Boxes in 4x6, 5x7 and 8x10 sizes and in multiple depths.

image courtesy of sugar shots photography

These boxes offer a beautiful way to present your proofs or print orders with your clients. A loop shaped ribbon enables your clients to lift their proofs easily out of the box. 

The presentation mirrors the quality of our Luxury Album Boxes, which we offer as an upgrade to house the albums you create for your clients.  The result — seamless branding! These proof boxes are made from the same material as the Luxury Album Boxes and also come in black and white. 

You can add your company name or logo to the Hope Series Boxes with our customized Metal Logo Dies, which we handcraft and then add a sophisticated debossing touch with an impression of your logo or business name. Click here to learn more about this process. We like to refer to it as branding without screaming.  

We know that your work is precious, unique and truly an art form. We believe that it's criticlally important that the presentation of your work matches the quality of your images. When the images themselves carry as much meaning as ones from a family portrait session or wedding do, we feel that the vessel used to deliver your work must also be of the highest quality.

We would love to hear from you. What do you think about our Hope Series Boxes? 

Are there any particular kinds of products on your own wish list? Please let us know. Your ideas often spark new Dream Album products.   

Add your own unique branding touch to our products!

Did you know that there is a way to turn the Dream Albums you put together for your clients into a unique branding tool — thanks to our customized Metal Logo Dies and debossing process?

Our handcrafted metal die enables you to add a signature, luxe debossing touch to each album by stamping a deep, sharp, edged impression of your company name and/or logo on our leatherette album covers and luxury presentation boxes. The result is sophisticated and clean. With debossing, also known as "blind printing," the image is pressed into the surface. Unlike embossing, it does not leave a raised imprint.  

Debossing creates an instant custom look to a simple, black leatherette album cover or a luxury presentaition box without adding additional colors. It's branding without screaming. 

Once our talented team creates your unique metal die, the heated metal die can then be positioned and applied anywhere on the cover or box  — front, back, top, botom, right or left — and pressed.  It starts at $45 to have your own unique metal die made. The price varies depending on the size of the stamp.

Once the die is made, you will only pay $10 per use. Each time we stamp your album with the metal die, it takes extreme precision to get the stamp in just the right place.  

We added this service to our offerings with the hope of providing you with a subtle yet strong branding tool that will set you apart from other photographers.  While Dream Album products sell themselves, you want to make sure that your potential clients and current ones see YOU in the beautiful product that they are experiencing.  

We would love to hear from you and welcome your feedback. Tell us what you think about this branding tool... 

Dream Product Launch: Twin Mini Sets with FREE Cover CAMEO Image Offer!

Announcing — Twins!
Twin Mini Sets that is...

When your clients fall in love with your images chronicling their baby's first year, ones that capture the essence of their older children's personalities or the magic of a wedding day and order a main album from you, it's the perfect timing to introduce our NEW Twin Mini Set!

The Twin Mini Sets make sophisticated and sentimental gifts for the parents of brides and grooms or grandparents after family portrait sessions. These twin mini albums are sized proportionally to the main album and feature the same designs and number of pages. The size of the minis ranges from 5.5x5.5 to 5x7, depending on the size and shape of the main album. They are large enough to display on a table and small enough to tote in a bag. The Twin Mini Sets' covers are made of our signature black leatherette and the inside presents the same high quality photographic prints flush mounted on 1mm thin core. Your album design is already done — why not take advantage and maximize the profits from your work! The Twin Mini Sets are so well priced; it is like getting two albums for one price.

The Twin Mini Set must be purchased at the same time as the main album (9x9 or larger Dream Albums).

When you order your Twin Mini Set, which includes a pair of identical mini albums, you also have the option of adding a CAMEO (an image sized 2x2 or 2x3 depending on the shape of the main album) on the front cover. To celebrate this new product launch, we are offering COMPLIMENTARY CAMEO images for all Twin Mini Set orders through June 30, 2013.* 

We will offer some more sales tips on the Twin Mini Sets later this month and will introduce you to another hot new Dream Abum product that you and your clients will love! 

Be sure to follow us on Facebook for more product tips and special promotions. 

Is there a topic you want to see featured in a future blog post here? Please leave us a comment. We love to hear from you!

*Dream Album promotions, sales, discounts and special offers cannot be combined with any other promotions, sales, discounts or special offers. Any such offers can not be applied to previous purchases or used after the expiration date. All files must be uploaded before order is placed. Pre-orders are not available.  Fine print policy is subject to change. 

The image courtesy of Kate Jeppson Photography

Share Your Dream and enter for a chance to receive a $75 credit toward a future order!

We are always amazed to see the magical products that you create with our albums and display products.

In fact, seeing your incredible images has inspired us to launch a special new series for our blog called SHARE YOUR DREAM!

We invite you to send in pictures of your favorite finished Dream Album products. If we feature your image(s) on our Facebook page, newsletter or here on the blog, we will reward you with a $75 credit* toward a future order of $150 or more.  

Click here for directions on how to send in your image(s) and here to go to our submission form. Plus, you will be asked to fill out a brief Q&A. We may also include the Q&A in future blog posts or on our newsletter. 

Along with sharing your talents with other photographers, it is our hope that everyone can continue to learn from each other — when it comes to photography, sales tips and creating memorable albums. 

 *The $75 credit must be used by the expiration date provided and is good on a purchase of $150 or more. This discount can not be combined with any other discount or offer. If we select one or more of your images to share, we will email you to let you know that you have been chosen and will provide a discount code and expiration date. 

Cast Your Vote: An Exciting NEW Summer Promotion!

We are excited to roll out a kind of promotion that we've never offered before!  

You will have the opportunity to enjoy special savings on a featured Dream Album Co. product. Now, for the fun part — you also get to play a role in deciding what product we will put on promotion!

Here's how it works.  Head to Facebook and go to our Cast Your Vote Facebook status update. Be sure to tell us what product you want to see on promotion in the comment section.

In order for your vote to count, you will need to also "like" us on Facebook. You have through 5/26/13 to cast your vote and must vote during the designated time period. One vote per person. 

Once the voting period closes, we will tally the votes and reveal the new promotion on the blog and on Facebook.

You'll have a limited window of time to take us up on the promotion. It cannot be combined with any other discount or offer.

We can't wait to see what product you choose! 

NEW Dream Album Co. Product & the Return of a Hot Item!

We’re incredibly excited to introduce the debut of a Dream Album Co. product and the relaunch of one of our favorites!
(images courtesy of Lisa Rostoen)

Our new 8x8 Dream Box, which holds 12 to 18 Dream Mattes, and this sleek, polished aluminum display easel make for a perfect pairing!

Your clients can use the easel to create a striking rotating display, spotlighting different matted prints. It’s an instant conversation piece. The easel was a limited edition offering last spring and is back by popular demand! It measures 6x12.5''.

The Dream Boxes, which also come in 5x7 and 8x10 sizes, are a longtime bestseller and for the first time are available in this unique square shape. With its 1’’ deep inner box, the 8x8 Dream Box can also hold 60 8x8 non-matted prints.  It features a black or milk inner box color and a complimentary CD mount option on the inside top cover for digital files.

Each Dream Matte is 2mm thick and features a bordered image, that is about 4x6 in size. Choose from a black or milk colored core and select from three Dream Matte borders or opt for none. Images are printed on FUJI professional photo paper, matte-coated and embossed. Additional Dream Mats can be ordered in even numbered increments. 

With the square shape of the 8x8 Dream Mattes, the orientation of your logo or any design on the back of the matte will match the front. The back becomes a canvas that you can use for branding with your logo, to print a baby’s vital stats or feature a meaningful quote.

images courtesy of Lisa Rostoen

Here's a gift from us to our members to celebrate our new size Dream Box and Mattes. Use this template to design your first square 8x8 Dream Box and the front and back of your Dream Mattes. Please click HERE to go to the download page. If you're not a member yet, here is a link to our registration page.

With this coupling of products, your clients can utilize the easel as a unique tabletop calendar, switching out the displays each month. It’s a memorable way to chronicle an infant’s first year, to share the story of a couple’s wedding day or to create a special display of the highlights from a family photo session.    

We can’t wait to hear what you think about these products and how your clients will use them! Please leave us a comment.

DREAM TIP: Boost your Product Sales with Video!

We’re launching a NEW series on our blog dedicated to sharing tips on marketing Dream Album Co. products to your clients. Plus, in coming posts, we’ll also feature design ideas to help you put together the album of your client’s dreams!  

Our first tip is from Kyung Jung, our company founder. Along with running Dream Album Co., Kyung also has a family portrait business, Yellowhale Photography.  She has doubled album sales to Yellowhale clients thanks to having product videos on her photography website. Here's Kyung with the details... 

In the days before I had a photography studio with album and product samples on display, I began making videos in order to give my clients a better sense of the final destination for their sessions.  I expected that the videos would be helpful and boost sales, but never imagined the results would be so dramatic. Please click the image below to view the product videos on my Yellowhale website.

When clients watch the Dream Album Co. products come alive in a video, the products sell themselves!  It evokes a far different kind of emotional response than seeing products listed on an order form. Clients not only get to see the quality of the albums from multiple angles, but they begin to imagine having an album of their own.

I use a Cannon S95 camera with camera track slider and Fotomagico editing system to produce my short videos. If you’ve never experimented with video before, it’s easier than you may expect to get the basics down. You don’t have to create a lengthy, complicated video.  A simple, short piece is powerful.

Do you use video as a sales tool? How has it worked for you? Do you have a sales tip to share?  Please leave us a comment below. 

Be sure to follow Dream Album Co. on Facebook for more product tips, special promotions and updates!  

Cheers!

Kyung