We were checking the Photojunction resources for our new season release, and thought - again – wow, we really like these. The sumptuous new micro leathers, the lovely feel of the new suedes, the gorgeous silks. (Click on the image to enlarge). If you're a regular client you'll get to touch and feel them in your new swatch book, which arrives soon. Meantime, you can check them out here. To View More >>

A huge crowd turned up last week to the first of our two-part webinar series focused on the most critical issue facing professional photographers: how to survive and thrive in today's demanding market. But plenty more people missed it and asked us to post a recording online. So here's part one: How to sell albums (and why) Or click here to watch it full screen on our vimeo channel. Ian (Director and co-founder), Stephen Baugh (Managing Director) and Jo Newman (UK Account Manager) answer some important questions... What can my competitors teach me? How should I choose my sample albums? To View More >>

It's not all about "strategy". When young @stephenbaugh was working at Fuji Xerox a very successful colleague had this advice for him: There are three rules if you want to succeed in sales: 1. Get yourself in plenty of debt - it motivates you to go out the door in the morning ;) 2. Don't let anybody see the fear in your eyes. If you're so scared of losing this piece of business, people will wonder why … are you unsuccessful? 3. Build a relationship with the prospect. Is there a personality fit? Nothing else matters until you do, and a bad relationship doesn't work for you or the prospect. Check To View More >>

Welcome to the second interview in our series featuring clients whose businesses are thriving despite the current economic climate. Click here to read the first interview with Christian Oth. In the same year they had their first child, Chris and Darcie Siiteri started their Austin (Texas) photography business, Innovative Photography. Fifteen years later they’re still at it and doing better than ever. I gave an initially nervous Darcie an early morning call to chat about how they approach their album sales, and what they do to ensure their clients have an amazing experience and to foster relationships To View More >>

It's not all bad out there you know! There are plenty of people doing better than ever, even considering the recession. So over the next few weeks we're bringing you a series of interviews with clients who are doing just great. We'll share their advice, ideas and opinions as they give us some insights into how they're successfully running their businesses. Here's the first. He's been recognised as one of the world's best photographers, serviced clients like the New York Times and Apple Computer, photographed celebrities such as Alec Baldwin, Amanda Peet, Isabella Rosselini and Donald Trump,  regularly To View More >>

I don't like long posts, and I'm always at Ian and Nigel to keep 'em brief so I apologize. This recent post prompted Ken to comment and me to respond with this, my longest ever... Ken asked whether our industry's main challenge wasn't "crap photography" but competitors with stupid pricing, for example, "2 photographers, hi-res images and Queensberry with 60 images for £1500." Ken suggested that people like that shouldn't last in business but they keep coming back... So I presume that if in fact they're surviving, they're probably a high volume, low margin outfit - possibly with healthy post-event To View More >>

Follow the links for "the story so far" in our series on the recession... Yes, times will be tough for a while but you shouldn't assume the sky is falling. It makes no sense to sacrifice your business and market reputation to survive the short term challenge. Instead you may need to pull your horns in and find ways to prosper while others decline. A good place to start is by analysing your budget and business model, and we have a spreadsheet to help with that. Most people react to the threat of declining sales by saying, "I've gotta cut my costs". Everyone needs to work out their own figures, but To View More >>

On a quiet day we get over 50,000 spam emails! One of us alone used to have 3-4000 to deal with. Lucky them. Of course we screen spam in the normal way. In the past we even used to check to see if anything legitimate had been filtered out. It happens occasionally with all filtering systems. But the sheer flood of spam has made this impossible, and forced us to tighten our procedures. If you suspect that your email is not getting through please phone (don't email!) and let us know. We will put your email address on a "white list" to ensure we receive it in future. Best wishes from the Queensberry To View More >>

Gotta love her: Bride by Steve and Cheryl, photography by Johannes, album by Queensberry Why do images look so good in books? I asked myself that question as I walked out of the new Aussie movie, Tomorrow when the war began in which the main character delivers a satiric line, "The book usually is better than the movie"... Take an image accompanied by a line of text in a great print ad. Or a series of images of a bride walking down the aisle in an album. Or a double page spread of a horizon in National Geographic. I reckon it's because the real beauty of the images is only discovered when they're To View More >>

A quick post because that's all it needs... If you're not selling your templates in the Photojunction store, you're leaving money on the table. And easy money at that. Since we launched the store last year, we've been paying out monthly to plenty of users who are skimming an extra level of income off work they've already done. Photojunction makes it 'one-click' easy to start selling your wares in the store, so what's stopping you? Here's a post about how it works and a series of store tips. Go wipe that table clean. Cheers, Nigel To View More >>