Simon Whitten is a long-standing and valued Queensberry client from Yorkshire in England. His association with the luxury castle hotel Swinton Park is very important to him, and for years his Queensberry sample album has rested on the piano in the drawing room. When the time came to update it, the question was “with what?” Having covered many great weddings at Swinton Park, he decided on an 18x12 Duo “best of” album, featuring three couples/weddings that reflected both his own best work and Swinton Park at various times of the year. • Sarah and Paul had “a glorious summer wedding in To View More >>

Listen to people talk and you'd think only two people are involved in buying an album—the bride and her mother. But what happens if the person making the decisions is the guy? How do you sell to him? Well it's been a while since I got married but I'm a guy … let me think: If the first time you think about me is when you finally realise that I'm blocking your sale, too late! You needed to start paying attention a lot earlier. But let's start at that point anyway, and work backwards… 1. If you ignore me while doing that sales job on my girl I'm probably not going to be happy. There's been To View More >>

Yesterday we packed for a tradeshow we're about to attend in Australia. One of the things I enjoy about packing is browsing through our sample albums as we work. Not often are there so many in one place. Looking through them all yesterday got me pretty excited about my own album. I was reminded that there's something quite special about seeing something you're buying in the flesh. Just as you may use a crafted slideshow online, to show off your work to prospective clients in the hope they'll come in to book, a (real) sample album has some serious pull when you're face to face. Sending clients To View More >>

Every now and then we see a sample album with images from several weddings in it. We call them "Greatest Hits" albums. Even after discounts a sample album can be a big investment – we know that, especially when you're starting out – but this is not a good idea for at least three reasons. 1. Because it's not what your clients will be buying, it's hard for them to relate to. A bit of a puzzle. 2. Even worse, it's not convincing evidence that you're up to the job. Couldn't you find enough good images from one wedding, they'll be thinking... 3. What an album does is tell a story – of their day, To View More >>

I am so proud of this from Ross Grieve (a UK-based Kiwi photographer) because it's Queensberry to the core. I'm sure Jo is too. When Ross's photos arrive we'll feature the album on our consumer blog. - Ian [caption id="attachment_7424" align="alignleft" width="150" caption="Ross & his idea guru"][/caption] Last year our Queensberry Account Manager, Jo (or our idea guru as I like to call her), suggested we get a Duo sample to have something unique in the studio. Now the thing I like about Jo: she is not a sales person, she is someone who is there to help you and your business. With that in To View More >>