Although a lot of you love our albums (us too!) we operate on the simple principle that you're running a business, and if you can't make money selling them you shouldn't buy them. But there's no doubt many photographers do struggle. Partly that's because they sell a la carte, and have persuaded themselves that their clients don't want albums. I don't buy it. A la carte is often shorthand for having a cheap headline price, and no levers you can pull to make a better sale. (I'm not saying a la carte's a bad idea, but it needs close thought). As for people not wanting albums, it was the same story in the bad old pre-internet days. People didn't want albums then because they'd never seen one! At least not one without plastic pages, a white vinyl cover and wedding bells. And it's no different today. But beyond that, most photographers don't show what they sell. Take a look at photographers' websites and count how many make a feature of their albums. Of course they can't sell them … which is good news for the 3 percenters! Here are 14 suggestions for showing what you sell 1. Shake their preconceptions. What pops into people's minds when they think "wedding albums" is probably what their parents had. Maybe not white vinyl with wedding bells, but products made by companies that no longer exist, and which even at the time were old-fashioned. What they do think they want these days is a cheap "photo book" with no differentiating value to you at all. Or better yet, just gimme the digital files! 2. Don't wait until you meet them to show your samples. Instead feature some "album porn" on your website while they're still making their decisions. 3. Don't just post the page layouts, photograph the actual album. Show people the physical product and the sexy details ... something they can almost touch and smell. 4. Don't just photograph the cover. Pick some of your favourite pages/images and feature those. Remember, it's not about the album, it's about the photos. And it's not about the photos either, it's about them. Show how fabulous they'll look in their gorgeous album. 5. Show all your clients' albums. Get 'em up on your blog. It's great social proof, gives your customers something to share with family and friends, and helps generate the next customer and the next album sale. 6. Share the entire album as a slideshow of the page layouts (very easily done in Workspace). 7. Share the album on Facebook and Pinterest etc, since that's where people are hanging out these days. But send them back to your place to view it, so they can find out more about you. 8. Find an interesting angle to blog about. What aspects of the day, album, couple, venue etc might be interesting to other people? Try building your post around that idea. 9. Get it published as soon as possible (don't let the event - or the sale - go cold). 10. Link to the venues, florists, dressmakers and other vendors who were connected to the event - another Workspace feature. They'll love you for it, and linking is great for SEO. 11. Ask people to like and share, and make it easy. Not just your customers, but also the vendors you've mentioned. 12. Don't "post and ditch". Keep an eye on comments and reply if people leave them. Remember there will be potential clients coming to look. 13. Monitor your site traffic and client interactions. Which albums get the most attention? What did you differently with those ones? As you get to know your audience, refine what you do. 14. Above all, remember you're doing this to make a profit, and that you profit two ways - by extra revenue from the gig you've already shot, and by attracting future customers to do the same again. Cheers, Ian