How many of you don't offer portrait or wedding albums because you either don't know how to design them or you believe they are too cumbersome to lay out?
This is what I believe: You aren't truly serving your clients if you simply photograph their event and hand them their digital files (don't do that, do this instead)
You can easily overcome your fear of designing and printing your album because there are new tools today, like Fundy Album Designer, that make it super simple to do so. Yes, design and send the files to your favorite album manufacturer.
Look, years ago, I stumbled upon a free option. I was new. I like the sound of free like the next guy and so I dove in. I created a 56 page wedding album from scratch. The software was buggy, the support was spotty at best and my client was PISSED.
To top it off, some alignment had shifted and a bunch of images were somehow sent off-kilter on a bunch of pages. Yikes! Green behind my years, I was panicked and frustrated of course. I didn't want to lose the confidence of the client even though the emails back from the groom (the bride had given up on me) sounded angrier and angrier.
So, the album arrived and yes, it was full of errors and mistakes – some caused by me but some also caused by software that simply did not work. As I held the errant album in hand, I learned a lesson that day. Trusting a free app to do your work is extremely dangerous. While the buck stops with you, the photographer, seeking out an album design company that will stand by its product was paramount.
This was about the time that I heard Andrew Funderburg was going to launch a new product that would solve the very problem I was having. That product was of course version 1.0 of Fundy Album Designer. Since then, the app has morphed into something truly fantastic. In addition to designing albums, it is now closely integrated with a bunch of labs and album manufacturing companies. Anytime something is “off” and I am notified right there on the screen.
For a portrait or wedding photographer, this is truly a wonderful time to get into quickly designing and printing your client's family heirloom. Let that sink in a bit. You are responsible for creating a piece of art that will remain with your clients for ages and will likely get passed on from generation to generation. Wow! Doesn't that create the warm and fuzzies inside of you? I think of my clients as grandparents showing off their albums to their grandchildren. An awesome responsibility but the work it takes to put those albums together should not stress you out.
I spoke with Fundy (as he is known to his friends) about this and other topics dear to our hearts:
Now, I didn't speak with Fundy about stress-free album designing because our connections run deep or because I am being compensated (I am not, except for receiving a copy of his program to review).
I spoke with him because I believe Fundy Designer can radically change your business, giving you more free time to spend with your family and making your clients genuinely happy with your service.
Want to learn more about easy-as-apple-pie album designing? Check out this free webinar on November 4th, thanks to ShootDotEdit. Register for it now. Even if you can't make the live call, the recording will be made available to you.
Be sure to bookmark ShootDotEdit‘s free content page where you can find guides, webinars and case-studies that are extremely useful for photographers just like you.
