[caption id="attachment_17731" align="alignnone" width="500"] © James Yeats-Brown[/caption] James Yeats-Brown is a leading UK social photographer specialising in children's portraiture and the creation of family albums. He asks why shooting for a fee or commission shouldn't work in the social sector, since it's common in other areas of photography, and thinks a sales model based purely on speculative product upselling is dangerous these days - mainly thanks to new consumer-oriented products from Apple, Blurb, Photobox etc. This began as a comment on Ian's post suggesting the Shoot and Share model To View More >>

Our recent 50% discount offer on sample albums was hugely successful. But if you bought a new sample why wait until next year to get a return on your investment? Here's how to bring in some cash and set yourself up for a good 2014. Send a simple message to last year's customers, the ones who haven't bought an album yet... Hi, I've just received a gorgeous new album from Queensberry, and I'd love you to see it. I think your photographs would look wonderful in an album like this, and I can offer you a special introductory price if you order now. In fact you could have your album for Christmas. Call To View More >>

Last week I wrote about the latest David Jay hate war, and said that if a courtroom attorney asked whether I agreed with his Shoot and Share strategy - and demanded a Yes-No answer - I’d have to say, “Yes I do.” Why? Because social sharing is a reality whether we like it or not, because social sharing is a powerful new form of word of mouth, and because Shoot & Share is a big step up the social scale from Shoot & Burn. Also I don't like hate wars. But this is not a TV courtroom drama, so if you're thinking of building a career in social photography, we believe the typical Shoot and Share To View More >>

Since launching Workspace we've had a lot of requests for an affiliate program, so we're pleased to announce it's finally here! We sell our books and albums around the world. We have customers in countries we’ve never visited, who speak languages we don’t understand. It's no wonder that just like you we depend on the good will and recommendations of our existing customers to generate new business. Our new affiliate program enables you to earn commissions by recommending our products and services to your friends and colleagues. It's a way to encourage our supporters to promote us, and to repay To View More >>

I'm a bit frustrated! We have two new initiatives to launch but we can't get either out until next week, so I thought I'd try and clear up a few misconceptions about SEO... SEO comes to mind for two reasons. First, in Ian's 14 Tips post a while back he said (rather carelessly!), "10. Link to the venues, florists, dressmakers and other vendors who were connected to the event - another Workspace feature. They'll love you for it, and linking is great for SEO." Someone commented, "Yes, linking is great for SEO, but for the [site] you are linking to, not for you… I'm always wary about linking to…vendors' To View More >>

Have you noticed our finely polished "tech tips" get less Likes than the other posts? :( So I thought I'd just remind you that us tech support staff are real people too. I went to our nation's capital over the weekend as a bit of a family outing. I didn't go to look at parliament buildings. Boring, in fact I didn't even see them in the distance. I went to the Weta Cave, where Weta Workshop is based and where they made the props for Peter Jackson's Lord of the Rings, Hobbit etc. I have to be honest, I nearly had a nerdgasm. Not only because of the artistic ability of the teams who do this work To View More >>

Competition isn't the problem, obscurity is. For years now I've watched frustrated at how little most photographic associations do to promote the idea and importance of wedding photography. More often than not these organisations - run by hardworking volunteers who do great things to educate their members and promote standards - can do little to convince couples that they need a professional photographer. But I'm not going to be frustrated by this any more :) We're doing more to promote our customers I said two months ago that I believe in professional photography, and although we obviously aren't To View More >>

A series about storytelling in album design. Highlight the Heroes Every story needs a hero, and so does your album design - probably one on most layouts! The hero image is the focal point, the main attraction, the place you want the viewer's eye drawn to. In graphic design speak it’s called creating visual hierarchy. The supporting characters help the story along and keep things interesting, but it's the heroes you want to shine. I talked about ways to begin and wrap up a story previously, but the middle of the story is where the action is. People dress up and assemble together, the guy finally To View More >>

Katrina and Warren Williams are Auckland-based Williams Photography - and as if that's not enough, Katrina also works part time for Queensberry to support our UK and European professional clients. A few weeks ago Katrina recorded this little video to introduce our Starter Kit to professionals (it's also on our website). She does that very nicely, but what I find really compelling about the video is how she says Queensberry has transformed their business. Thank you Katrina, for being such a good customer and ambassador! We're lucky to have you. Cheers, Ian To View More >>

This is a long post, so I’m starting with the short story! Some people are upset about the terms of trade for our new web-based lab service, Queensberry Print. We want to clarify that, yes, Queensberry Print products are available to both professional photographers and end-consumers. Certainly, “consumer” means “everyone”, but in reality we believe these products will only be of real interest to professionals, serious amateur photographers, and people who received digital files from a professional and who really care how their photos are printed. Our existing range To View More >>