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This is the blog for professional photographers, and those who aspire to be. Our aim is to help professional photographers build long-term, sustainable careers.
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I'm going to drop two shoes in this post. First shoe: Some time ago Johannes wrote a post he called Crikey ("that's a lot of money for an album"). It made me feel a little fidgety. I thought, we care too much about the quality of our products and services to compromise them, and maybe that's a problem. Clients often say they love what we do, but can we do it cheaper? Sometimes we try. We go about looking at how we could adapt a product, system or idea … but we don't do cheap well. We're as proud of our work as you are of yours, and compromising feels like we're shooting for the moon with an airplane, not a rocket. Let's face it, that makes us an unviable option for some people. But here's the second shoe: It's not how much an album costs, it's how much it's worth. Yes, ordinary albums cost. But the right albums add value to your images (the wrong albums cheapen them). Great presentation is money in the bank. From a business point of view, the question is, what value could your albums add, and are you realising it? Your albums are a key part of what makes you, and your clients, stand out from the crowd. Or not. As Johannes also said, "We pay for what we get, and we charge for what we give." It frees the mind to think of your albums as profit centres, not costs. Don't offer the same album to a $2k client as a $20k client. It's a wasted opportunity and they won't want it. Ask, what's the outcome I'm after? An album that's worth $1k, $4k or $10k?
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Tamás Millok
on
March 24, 2012, 12:25 pm
said:
You really care! I realised when I 'd received my first sample album from you.
 
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dan
on
March 9, 2011, 11:11 am
said:
A timely blog post. Just as I dip my toes into the album arena. Just wanting to clarify the last paragraph, in particular the last two sentences. Were you referring to 'worth' as opposed to cost? For most, it is unimaginable to put a monetary value on an object until it is unfortunately gone.
 
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Ian Baugh
on
March 24, 2012, 9:52 am
said:
Thank you, TAMÁS
 
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Ian Baugh
on
March 9, 2011, 11:31 am
said:
Hi Dan, excellent point. I could joke about you buying albums that cost $10k, but Nigel meant "worth $10k" so I edited the post on his behalf. Hope that's clearer. Good luck with the toe dipping.
 
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How to design a Musee | Queensberry Connects
on
March 10, 2011, 4:11 am
said:
[...] « Caring versus compromise [...]
 
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