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 >>

Gary Vaynerchuk said something about the worst thing you can do in business is to be romantic about how you make your money. But show me a photographer who doesn't love taking pictures.  In fact I just wrote two rather emotional posts myself about professional photography. So I thought I'd set out the unromantic business reasons to sell products. Not how to sell or what to sell, but why.  And yes, we make the products, so of course we’d love you to sell them, but this is what's in it for you. We call them the three Ps. 1. You benefit from the sale of the To View More >>

Hello to our USA friends! A quick update to confirm that we intend to absorb the additional cost of the tariffs, to support our valued clients. We’re grateful for your business, and we want the relationship to continue long into the future!  I hesitated to provide an update earlier because the situation is still changing. In fact a 90-day pause on “reciprocal” tariffs has just been announced on all countries except China. However the situation as it affects us has not changed since the original announcement. We have never taken sides in political matters. As small business To View More >>

Previous |  Contents | Next Download the eBook Model yourselves on people who’ve built long, profitable careers — those who get as much fun out of making a sale as taking a picture. Predictions Here are some predictions for you: Over the course of your career new cameras and technology will continue to make it ever easier for anyone to take a half-decent picture and share it with their friends and family. Even so, many people will continue to make a good living using skills that they share with most people on the planet (not just photography — writing, cooking, To View More >>

Previous |  Contents | Next Download the eBook There’s no room in this business for cynics. Ambassadors of Love Sure you love photography … but then this whole business is about love. Love and other emotional drivers — like the desire for connection, significance, family pride, and the human need to remember and be remembered. My Dad wanted a photo of my mother to fit in the breast pocket of his battle tunic in North Africa. Eighty years later I still have it. They married after the war. We have a few formal group photos. All us kids can do is try and judge what To View More >>

Previous |  Contents | Next Download the eBook "...There are those who serve the high end and those who serve the budget end of the market. And like most industries, if you don’t choose the high end, the low end will probably choose you." What I mean by " professional" When I talk about professional photographers I mean people who aim to make a living from their photography — pay the bills, buy a home, raise kids, enjoy a good life and save for retirement. We all do it differently, but you get the picture. I think people for whom it’s a side hustle — To View More >>

|  Contents | Next Download the eBook A guide to building a profitable photography business Is this for you?  These pages are for professional photographers, primarily social photographers, by which I mean those who’re paid entirely by the people in their viewfinders. Think family portraits, weddings, babies, kids, pets, events, glamour, boudoir, schools, graduations and so on. This is not the official Queensberry view of the world, just my own. But it lays out the lessons I believe we’ve learned from 50 years listening to successful photographers. ~ Ian To View More >>

Queensberry and COVID-19 Update: Wednesday March 25th 2020 Hello everyone, In response to the COVID-19 pandemic the New Zealand Government has put the country on an “Alert Level 4” lockdown for at least four weeks effective tonight (details below). As a result we can now confirm that as of this afternoon the Queensberry Print Lab and Bindery will be on hold for that time. Many of our staff are already working from home, and today the rest of the team are busy sending out as much work as possible before they too self-isolate at home. Please continue to send in your orders, which we will To View More >>

Should you focus all your marketing energy on finding new customers? Maybe not! Generating extra revenue from the clients you already have can be simple, effective and very satisfying. This excellent article by Ago Cluytens explains a few ways to go about it, and in this post we're going to look at how to apply his ideas to your photography business.  As you're reading, ask yourself, "How can I add value for my clients using these strategies?" It's not about taking, it's about giving more than people expect. 1. Cross-selling "...the ability To View More >>

If you build your business on In-Person Sales, you have a huge advantage over competitors who can't — or won't — do the same. Online is great to get your name out there, great to sell prints to friends and family, fantastic for high volume, low price print sales … but, for high-end sales, getting face-to-face with your clients, in your studio, is best. In future posts, we'll talk more about sales strategies. This post is just about the benefits of buying Studio Boxes in bulk, by which we mean carrying your own stock of mats and boxes in To View More >>