As told to Cate Scaglione In the photography world they’re sometimes referred to as the Texas Royalty for their dramatic aesthetic, their long-term success and their A List clientele … but spend five minutes with David and Luke Edmonson and you’ll discover they are anything but elitist. I was fortunate enough to spend time with Luke, who generously revealed the Edmonson sales ethos. With over $100k in album sales alone, their rather emotionally charged sales approach might come as a surprise, often counterintuitive to our industry’s professed sales strategies. To View More >>

By Megan DiPiero   Frustrated with this situation? You’re talking with a hot lead. Conversation is going smoothly. She loves your work! She’s excited about the possibilities for her shoot! And then her biggest question arrives: “How much will this cost?” You tell her your “starting at” prices and then… crickets. Hmmmm… maybe she didn’t love your work as much as she thought. The convo quickly wraps up and you have this pit in your stomach knowing that another one just bit the dust. : ( What to do? Here’s a sales adage for ya. “If To View More >>

CHOICE, TRUST AND TECHNOLOGY Has your lab stopped offering traditional silver halide printing? It’s sad to see such a gloriously refined technology abandoned. With forty years pro lab experience, and chemicals in our veins, we aren’t ready to turn our backs on traditional photographic printing just yet. In fact we think it retains an important place, and we’re committed to the technology. But here’s why the Big Boy Labs are selling the line that silver halide is finished. Their top priority is, and must be, internal efficiency. They have expensive, high-volume machines to To View More >>

WPPI 2014 was an exciting time for Queensberry, not least because it was there that Sonya and I first met Gregory Georges. Greg is an award-winning master photographer, and the bestselling author of ten books on digital photography and image editing. He's featured in The New York Times Magazine, Sports Illustrated and many other magazines. Greg spent several years in software marketing and sales, including five years in England. He has a B.S. degree in business, double majoring in marketing and management. For the last few years he's been in partnership with Jonathon Penney, master print maker To View More >>

Remember the little domestic drama about how my briefcase and laptop were stolen? And how, to judge from my own buying behaviour, not everyone is going to downgrade to cheap and nasty just because of the recession? Well, yes, I bought the most expensive laptop bag I came across, but... I asked for a discount. You're not to know this but I'm a shrug-and-pay guy. It's my role in life to pay full retail, so for me to ask for, let alone get, 10% off is unusual. But what struck me was how the store projected itself. There wasn't a sale sign anywhere. Nothing to suggest times are tough, or please make To View More >>

Interesting question from Sergey on my Opportunities post. What do you do if people want this cool album that they've never seen before – but they want to postpone the purchase, maybe until their first anniversary. Here's what we think. As they say, a bird in the hand is worth two in the bush. I'd look for a way to sweeten the deal and get a commitment now. OK, we hate the D word, but maybe a discount would do the trick. Or arrange monthly payments via credit card, preferably with a deposit to cover your costs. Anyway, try hard for a commitment now, and get the album out there working for you. To View More >>

As soon as November comes around things get pretty crazy here at Queensberry! We always set an early cut-off date because we get a flood of orders at this time of year, and want to be able to guarantee delivery, but also because it's summer down under and we close down for three weeks. The last thing we want to happen is for one of your customers to be disappointed!  We know our job is to look after your brand as well as to delight your customers. Fortunately, you're in good hands. Our customer support team and production staff are truly awesome!  They arrive to work in the early hours (often To View More >>

Since our re-branding last year the front flyleaf of every Queensberry album has been embossed with the new Q-mark. Why's it there? It’s simple really: to sign our work with pride and to acknowledge the craftsmanship and detailing that goes into every album we build. We're doing the same thing that you do as a photographer when you sign your work. We're branding it. Let me explain in detail what we're doing and why, because our goal is to build a brand that will support you as our clients. § Branding is primarily about getting recognised - not a "camera" but a Leica, not a "wedding album" but To View More >>

Well, it's a sad day. Kodak has been felled by exactly what it espoused: universal access to cameras. – The Washington Post. That's true, but it's not the whole story. Kodak was also felled by its commitment to its legacy film business … even though it was a digital pioneer too. To be clear, Kodak says it isn't closing the doors, it's continuing to restructure, but still, it's sad to see a company (and technology) decline that brought so much good into the world - art created, memories conserved and stories told. Three things are certain: 1. Our world is changing, and we have to change with To View More >>

Click here to watch the video on Vimeo. I remember someone in the graphic design industry (quite well known actually) posting a tweet saying, "Colour management is bullshit!" The picture that flashed through my mind was of graphic designers and brand managers hanging out at the printers, tweaking colours on the machine before they sign off on a job… And yet here we are at Queensberry, printing for very fussy photographers (often on the far side of the world), putting the prints into really pricey albums (sight unseen) and flying them at great expense to Europe, or North America, or Hong Kong. To View More >>