As a photographer, your creativity is your super-power. It’s what sets you apart, what draws clients to you, and what fills your work with meaning. But when your days are spent juggling inboxes, invoices, timelines, edits, orders, banking, and endless other to-dos, it’s easy for that creative spark to fizzle out. Here’s the truth: you don’t need less structure to be more creative — you need better systems. Think of systems as the scaffolding that holds your business up — so your creativity can roam freely within it. Strong systems take care of the repetitive To View More >>

Previous |  Contents | Next Download the eBook “Measure results, change activities.” — Keith Cunningham Focused I’ve never met a photographer with a more analytical approach to his business than Craig. He was a wedding photographer whose goal was to clear “100k in 100 Days” from 30 weddings. (The actual figures don’t matter — they just sound snappy — so I’m not going to tell you when, where or in what currency.) Many a photographer has built a profitable business out of shooting 30 or 40 weddings a year, bur Craig’s To View More >>

Previous |  Contents | Next Download the eBook These are conversation starters, not a test. There’s more than one “right answer”. 1. Are there too many photographers? Do you think it’s different now to 10-20 years ago? If so, why? How does it impact your business, and can you do anything about it? 2. What is it that enables people to earn a living cooking, writing or taking pictures when almost everyone can do those things? What’s special about them? 3. How many commissions — weddings, portrait sittings etc — do you need, and how much does To View More >>

As everyone knows, Covid has been very disruptive for business — from product availability to courier services to prices — and it’s starting to feel like the “new normal”. So we’re starting the year with an updated cover material range, and a new strategy to move this forward in the future. We’re excited about it, but we also know that any change can raise questions, which we’ve tried to answer in advance here. We’d love your feedback! Please take a few minutes to read the following, but if you just want to see the updates follow To View More >>

When's the right time for a promotion? Certainly for the holidays — so your clients can have their  beautiful printed products under the tree for Christmas. The ultimate in personal gifts! Or when the wedding season's over — and you have time to chase past clients who're still dilly-dallying about their album. And for what purpose? Maybe to turn your social media audience into paying customers. Or lapsed enquiries into future business. Or past customers into repeat business! But once you've defined your goal, what's involved? This is our take on it, but of course To View More >>

Today’s the day! We’re ready to launch Workspace’s new Print Shop feature.  Conscious of the struggles that photographers and artists face — including our own customers — It’s been a dream of ours for a long time now to build an eCommerce solution for creatives who want to sell their work as decor and works of art online. Sure, there are plenty of eCommerce solutions out there, but while they’re good, as far as they go, they don’t fix specific problems that many photographers and artists face… Do these sound familiar? • Big platforms To View More >>

Here are twenty questions to think about, to help make your business better. It's thought-provoking and worth reviewing regularly, so get a pen and a piece of paper! 1. Are there too many photographers? Do you think it’s different now to 10-20 years ago? If so, why? Does it impact your business, and can you do anything about it? 2. What is it that enables people to earn a living cooking, writing or taking pictures when almost everyone can do those things? What’s special about them? 3. How many jobs do you need, and how much does each one need to pay you? (ie to cover you, your equipment, To View More >>

Before we close the doors for our holiday break we hold team get-togethers at the Bindery and Lab. Every year they're truly inspiring, and I thought I’d try and tell you why, and say thank you. The chart shows Queensberry's work in progress for the last nine months, lifted from yesterday's daily management report. It shows, more clearly than words, how our business trebles every November and December, as it has for more than 40 years. We call this hay-making season, a nod to my farming background. You have to make hay while the sun shines, and when I was a kid our neighbours turned To View More >>

From our little corner of the world, here's wishing all you Americans and Canadians a happy thanksgiving. Sadly we don't celebrate the day in New Zealand, so we spent it at work - it's Friday morning here now - but we wish we could join you. It's a reminder to pause and give thanks for our blessings, so here's a huge heartfelt thank you to ALL our friends, readers, likers and commenters, album customers, Workspace users and PJ geeks, brides and grooms, mums and dads, suppliers and partners - and of course all our bindery, lab, IT, design and support staff, past and present - in fact all who make To View More >>

A little over 6 years ago I returned to my office after a meeting with staff to introduce a design audit and branding project. My phone rang and a man introduced himself and said he was from Apple. At first I thought I was being punked - all through the presentation the consultants had compared us to, and suggested we benchmark ourselves against, not our competitors, but great companies like Apple. This gentleman proceeded to tell me he was from Cupertino and that his boss was Steve Jobs. I tried to act as if I took calls like this everyday. He said they wanted to develop a premium book, and would To View More >>