DigiLabs Pro Blog

In June we celebrated the first anniversary of our blog (read our first epic post). We’ve come a long way and have seen our little blog grow into something amazing…  Our posts aren’t just read by our customers but are being shared through social networks and published in some of the leading industry publications.

Our hope for the next year is to continue to bring you the most up to date information about DigiLabs Pro, business tips/ideas and industry news.  We want to share ways to help you become more efficient in your workflow and  learn something new for your business.

We want to hear from YOU

We’ve got some of the most talented and successful studios working with us, and we want to share your success with our readers.  That’s right, we wanna hear from YOU!  DigiLabs Pro is looking for guest bloggers who are passionate about photography and have something to share about this amazing industry (i.e. what makes your business successful or something new you have learned).  Oh, and you don’t need to be selling out workshops to contribute – we are looking for all types of photographers!

Count me in!  Now what?

If you’re interested in being a guest blogger and/or becoming internet famous email me at kate@digilabspro.com with your contact information and what you’d like to talk about in your blog post.  We can’t wait to hear your ideas!

This year DigiLabs Pro hosted it’s first  webinar and virtual tradeshow featuring our new DigiLabs Pro software.  In both cases, the use of video was a vital part of our presentations allowing us to share the incredible features of our software.  The sales & support teams found that sharing the past recordings from these events with  new DigiLabs Pro visitors, as well as current DigiLabs Pro customers, has been quite helpful.

That got us to thinking…  We are proud to introduce DigiTUBE.  DigiTUBE is our own video tutorial channel where new, current and potential clients can view all of our videos and tutorials.  We have some great videos up now on ordering, uploading and other cool things… Check it out for yourself!

We’ve had a lot of fun creating and coming up with NEW ideas for these tutorials and now we’d love to hear from you!  What type of tutorials would you like to see?  Are the tutorials helpful?  Your feedback is OH SO important to us so share away!  Post your ideas and/or comments in the comments section below.

Heather Waraksa is a wedding photographer in Brooklyn, NY.  One look at her work and it is clear that Heather is an artist, capturing the bride and groom in their most joyous moment. Most recently featured in Style me Pretty and the Knot, Heather’s experience in fashion and editorial photography is easily visible through her weddings.

I am addicted to my Google reader and I read a lot of wedding inspired blogs.  Not only is it FUN but it’s also my way to see new styles in wedding photography.  I knew Heather as a customer so it’s really amazing to see your customer blog featured while doing some personal reading.     This type of exposure is a perfect example of how blogs can be a great (free) marketing tool for photographers . That is just the tip of the iceberg.  Check out Heather’s website and awesome blog.  Feel free to visit her sample gallery to see how she uses DigiLabs.  Now time for our feature presentation:

Describe your personal style. Intimate, fashion and sometimes cinematic inspired.

What inspires you when shooting wedding after wedding? What keeps me going is knowing the gravity of my position. I’m motivated knowing that the day is a special milestone for my couples and that I’ve been entrusted as their photographer. I’m inspired by working in beautiful and new locations… a great dress or pair of shoes… but mostly my couples. I like to get to know my couples.  I’m a sucker for a good story and I want to know how they met, etc.  Each couple is unique and their weddings reflect that. I want to bring that personality out in the images…this keeps me going.

I’ve also found that taking the time out for myself and my life has been very beneficial for my business.  By not being so work centered, I am allowed to stay creatively fresh. I’ve set a max number of weddings per year, spaced them out and will not take more than one event per weekend.  This prevents any form of burn out.

What photographers inspire you? Paolo Roversi, Sally Mann, Peter Lindbergh, Stiechen, Helmut Newton, Sarah Moon, Ellen von Unwerth, and Meisel.

What gear or gadgets can you not live without? Of course my Canon 5D Mark 2.  I also love my iPhone, Wacom Tablet, and my GPS.  My sense of direction is terrible.

Name a person, place or thing you can’t live without? Penny (my frenchie), travel, morning coffee, family and friends.  Oh, and having a side projects.  Right now I’m building a teepee with my boyfriend in Virgnia.

How does your studio set itself apart from the multitude of NEW photographers out there that keep popping up? I try not to look so much at what new photographers are doing, or what’s hot right now. I’m just trying to do what feels right to me. This really comes across when couples meet with me and I think it makes me valuable.  I am not trying to be like everyone else, I am just me.

How are you changing your business to incorporate things like selling the high-resolution images? I actually have always included the hi-res jpeg images in my package. If it were me getting married, I would want the hi-res files, and I’ve worked it into my overall package.  Of course, I edit and process the images before I give them to the couple.

How are you changing your business to incorporate social networking? As of now, the only way I’ve incorporated social networking is through my blog. It’s a way for me to show current work (wedding and personal projects), updates…  Not only do I include recent weddings, but I make sure to add what’s going on with me – this way I allow visitors to see who I am.

I see where Twitter and Facebook could be beneficial but I find I’m in front of the computer a lot as it is. I prefer to keep things simple with the blog, face to face networking and word of mouth.

How does Digilabs Pro help your business? My favorite thing about DigiLabs Pro are the web galleries. Couples, friends and family can view the whole wedding and order images as they wish. I like that I have the option of setting my own prices and it’s super easy to use. Also, their customer service is top notch.

Tell me one of your biggest disaster from an event you shot? I am lucky enough to say that things have gone pretty smoothly.  I can’t think of anything in particular but I have been getting really good at putting on the boutonnieres for the guys.

Best advice to give to other photographers? If you’re looking to break into weddings, I recommend finding a photographer you admire who needs a second shooter. I worked for another photographer for a year and the experience was invaluable.  I was able to learn on the job while building my portfolio.

And there it is, another educational and informational Photographer of the Month.

Many people want to hire “high end” photographers as they are seen as experts in the industry.  These photographers are the people that other photographers turn to when they have questions.  Basically they are experts, not only to their clients, but to their peers as well.  There are even quite a few folks out there making great money becoming their ‘brand’ and hardly ever have time to do photography anymore.

Everybody has a bit of expertise in a certain area.  What if you have expertise in a certain area and you want to share it with the world and help grow your business?  How can you become an expert in the industry?  When we see the popular bloggers, speakers and other icons out there in professional photography it makes you wonder, how did they build this brand?

We all must put work into our interests in order to help them grow but to make them grow for your business takes a bit more effort. Here are a few ways to position yourself as an expert and grow your brand:

• Know what you are talking about: Great, you have a topic you have a lot of expertise on, but make sure you keep your eyes and ears open for new ideas, thoughts, etc on the topic.  I have seen many people I worked with become “experts” in certain areas of online marketing, that have since become obsolete.  Keep your skills fresh and be on top of any new developments.
• Start writing: Start writing a blog or articles for your website about your topic of interest.  Not only does this help you grow your content, give you something to share with people interested in learning more, but this also helps your organic search (SEO) rankings on this topic.  Don’t forget to add your personality to the blog.
• Stay connected: Using the social networking tools of your business (Facebook, Twitter, My Space, etc), share articles on the topic, post things you learned and show samples.  Basically share your knowledge with those interested in you and your brand.  The best blogs and posts I have seen infuse a lot of personality into them.  Get out there and show people who you  are and gain some personality.    Want to see some great examples?  Take a look at Ben Chrisman’s Blog and Jasmine Stars Blog and become her fan (or should I say “like” her now…) on Facebook.  They do a great job showcasing their great skills while doing it in a fun and inspiring way.  If you do this, you will see that over time your contact list and interactions will grow.
• Join online communities: Join online pro communities and interact with people, post and LEARN.  Many people online just want to share but very few actually really “listen” (read) to what others are saying.  Look at what others are saying and post on things relevant to your topic.  Make sure you are pleasant and do not attack or put anybody down.  If you want to be seen as an expert, your main marketing message is around what you know.  In the end, how you treat people can hurt your brand.
• Network in person: Get out there and join local organizations, national organizations, tradeshows and workshops.  Not only will you gain valuable connections, stay informed and learn a lot, but you can also become a resource for others.
• Have a great presentation: Nothing is worse than hearing a speaker that has great content but their delivery is dull.  Don’t even get me started on those with a presentation full of spelling errors and inconsistencies.  Make sure you look at your presentation in detail, check for spelling errors, inconsistencies and errors.  I worked in marketing sales support at one of my first jobs and I did all of the presentations.  One person in particular was very picky (probably because he wasn’t doing the work…).  Everything had to be perfect and I am now obsessed presentations and spotting errors.  What it taught me is an intense attention to detail.  Make sure you do the same, as you may have someone as picky as me watching your presentation… and you don’t want me distracted by your errors.
• Be a people person: Just as important as the presentation,  is the delivery.  Make sure you are warm, welcoming and you capture people’s attention.  Recently we had Catherine Hall present at our PDN virtual tradeshow session, and I can’t tell you how many people complimented her on how warm and welcoming she is when she presents and meets with people.  Something about her presentation style makes you feel comfortable.  Practice in front of friends, family and/or colleagues (people who will be honest with you) until you feel like you have it down.  Which brings me to my last point…
• Speech….Speech: I personally don’t really enjoy public speaking but once I am out there doing it regularly, it becomes second nature.  Try speaking at a few local organizations about a specific topic and gradually grow your presentation and speaking skills to larger opportunities.

Hopefully you found some inspirational ideas to help grow your brand and expertise.  Follow some of these simple steps and it can help you gain knowledge, get connected and grow your brand in your area of expertise.  Have more ideas or questions?  Make sure to post in the comments section below.

I was just sitting at my desk debating on a topic for my next blog post, when the phone rang.  It was a photographer interested in learning some tips and tricks about DigiLabs Pro online hosting.  During our conversation she asked me, with some trepidation, “Do you think that having my images online actually discourages clients from purchasing?”

I love this question! No really, I do.  As our world goes digital, how does that affect our packages, product offering, and pricing? As with every economic change, we have the chance to turn seemingly bad news into opportunity.

To answer her question, online display of images increases clients access to them. In some ways this causes clients to feel less pressure to purchase.  On the other hand, online access offers unmatched exposure and growth opportunities that any studio can’t pass up.   Online access enables your clients to market your services to their friends and family FOR FREE. (Companies spend millions on viral marketing every year.)  Taking advantage of the visual value of a photograph enables professional photographers to benefit from online communities and viral activity at a very minimal cost.

The best of both worlds would be to get your work out there to as many people as possible while building incentives for your current clients to purchase.  Here are some ideas that I have seen my customers use successfully at DigiLabs Pro:

Limit the time your gallery is available for viewing: Some photographers seem to think that their clients will be happier if they have a year to visit their online galleries. While that might be true, why should a client purchase prints when they know that they can just look at them whenever they want to? Clients will always procrastinate, that is just how we are built.

Another thing to consider is that as time passes your clients are less emotionally attached to the images, therefore less likely to purchase. Even when they, do the price they are willing to pay for them will significantly drop.  So create a sense of urgency by making the galleries available for 15, 30 or 60 days. Your client wants to extend gallery viewing? Charge them a nominal amount, introducing an incentive for them to place their orders ASAP.

Introduce discounts during the initial gallery release: Earlier we established that individuals value images that they are emotionally attached to.  That is why I suggest introducing incentives.  A few years ago I attended a cocktail party and had a great time on a boat with all my friends. The next morning I had an email from the photographer with a link to the images from the party.  I couldn’t wait to see them… and 10 minutes later I had spent over $200 with that photographer.  Two weeks later, when I received those images, I realized I didn’t need every pose in color, black and white and sepia. At the time I was excited and reliving the event but two weeks later, it was just a few pictures of my friends.  Flash forward to today…now I understand why I bought them. When I was viewing them, I was reliving how great that party was. Two weeks later, I couldn’t care less about the event.

Sell more by uploading your images quickly and offer an incentive for immediate purchasing. Many of our clients run specials offering 20% off all orders placed on the first 3 days OR 30% off all orders over $100 during the first week.

Make your client your sales agent: Each event is actually an opportunity to market your photos for that event and to increase your exposure for future jobs – so create a program that would give your clients incentives to share your info with their friends.  Traditional referral programs are either a monetary or service awards for clients who refer new business. This is a great plan but let’s take it a step further. Why not offer your clients an incentive to send friends and family to purchase images from the galleries?  (You know me, always thinking about the deals!) What about offering your clients 25% of the total dollar value of their gallery’s orders as a credit towards an album or any other product? Or get a free coffee table book if online orders exceed $1,000. This is especially important in the case where photographers give the high resolution images in their packages, since this will ensure that your bride isn’t collecting orders from friends and family instead of having them purchase online.

Try some of these ideas and watch your sales grow.  If you need help or would like any feedback feel free to contact me at any time.  Have other ideas on how to grow online sales?  Share them with our community by adding a comment below or by posting it on our Facebook page.

Jacklyn Greenberg approaches photography with a fresh perspective and distinctive style.  She has the ability to capture the true substance in images that make them timeless.  JAGstudios is an environmentally mindful studio, and in fact, have this super DUPER cool off road studio that would blow your mind.  She was most recently published in Martha Stewart Magazine and was a finalist in PDN’s 2010 Top Knots competition.  JAGstudios has also placed in the top ten in WedComp 8 times!  Jacklyn is not only is a successful and talented wedding photographer, but is an amazing boudoir, children, maternity and portrait photographer as well.

And she’s not easy to forget with her amazingly long dreadlocks.  I met her in 2007 at the PDN Photo Expo in NYC.  Besides her great personality, what stood out to me was her name tag – under ‘title’ she entered: kick@ss photographer.  Over the next three years, we built a relationship and she would always tell me how great we were compared to  the “other guys”.  Even better, she takes the time to tell us what she’d like to see.  That feedback has been integral in some incredible changes at DigiLabs Pro.  She has become a great friend of DigiLabs Pro and we are honored to work with her.  Jacklyn was a speaker at our WPPI booth this year and will be our first guest photographer blogger where she is going to discuss boudoir.

Check out some of her work by viewing one of her DigiLabs galleries, see her DigiLabs Pro wedding registry tool and review her amazing boudoir book. Want to learn more about JAGstudios?  Follow her on Twitter, friend her on Facebook and check out her blog.

Describe your personal style.

I would describe JAGstudios as a good mix of fun, edgy, emotional and intimacy.  We love to have a good time, we enjoy pushing the envelope with what we do and we always love to connect with our clients through their emotions.

What inspires you when shooting wedding after wedding?

The dynamics and differences that make every wedding and couple unique. How can I ever get bored?  Each couple has their own beauty, energy, love, light and look.  Each experience is unique to itself and I love finding that uniqueness in each event.

What Photographers inspire you?

Oh that’s easy, Annie Leibovitz, Man Ray,Henri Cartier-Bresson, Edward Weston, Richard Avedon, James Nachtwey, Berenice Abbott, Diane Arbus, the list goes on and on…

What gear or gadgets can you not live without?

Personally I feel like I could work with any equipment.  I love my prime lenses and of course I love our off road studio.   Really, it’s my crew I can’t live without.  I am lucky to have a great team of 2^nd shooters and associates, studio manager, assistants and graphic designers.  Chris (my “partner in crime”) and Tony as my 2^nd shooters/associates, my best friend Laura to manage my studio, Jeremy and Greg to handle my graphic design, Megan for editing and Tim and Heather to assist.  Without this team there wouldn’t be a JAGstudios!

Name a person, place or thing you can’t live without?

A great glass of wine, good friends, a beautiful location and sushi.  That‘s all I need.

How does your studio set itself apart from the multitude of NEW photographers out there?

My studio has ME!  I am definitely one of a kind and so is JAGstudios.  I made a decision when creating my business to use myself as the inspiration for my brand.  That way I could stay true to my beliefs  – as a business person and a human being.  I translate that to the entire customer experience – business cards, website, galleries, and products.  We run a green business and give a one of a kind experience our clients really enjoy.

How are you changing your business to incorporate things like selling the high-resolution images?

Everything we do here at JAGstudios is completely custom built around our clients’ needs.  Not only does it allow us to be competitive but it makes our customers feel special.  This gives us both versatility and allows for up-sales later.  A customer can always add products at any time.  We also offer the wedding registry so friends and family can give the gift of photography too!   I have found having a unique experience with our studio is something my customers seem to value.

How are you changing your business to incorporate social networking?

It’s all about having a Smart Phone…I personally love my iPhone.  Social networking is easy when you are able to access Twitter and Facebook anytime on your phone.  I can log on whenever or wherever.

I also love tools that allow me (the photographer) and my gallery visitors to share my work with their network.  That is why I love DigiLabs galleries – in one click you can share the gallery with friends and family on Facebook, Twitter and/or their blogs!  It makes it fun for the client to share a gallery and it helps me market my business.

How does Digilabs Pro help your business?

I like to think of DigiLabs Pro as my silent business partner.  The galleries look great and seamlessly promote my brand.  This is something that I really appreciated coming from some “other guys” in the online proofing market.  It’s easy to upload, my customer’s find it easy to use.

I also really like being able to share my albums and books online to proof (View one of JAG’s amazing books).  

Tell me one of the biggest disasters from an event you shot.

We were shooting a wedding for a great couple, Brooke and Margo.  We were taking some shots after their ceremony, while the guests traveled to the reception.  Brooke’s brother, also the chauffeur, was helping the ladies into the car when we heard him start screaming in pain.  We looked up to find his hands filled with a puddle of blood.  He had severed his finger tip in the car door.  Luckily we had medical equipment in our truck/mobile studio and we were able to stop the bleeding, bandage him up, find the fingertip, clean it and get it on ice.  When they ambulance got there, they just looked at us surprisingly and gave him a ride to the hospital.  Thankfully there was no blood on the brides dress!  Chris drove the car with the girls in it, I drove the truck and we headed to the reception.  When we got there we had to do some damage control and were a shoulder to cry on when mom found out her “baby” was injured.  Needless to say, the wedding went on perfectly… minus a guest and a fingertip (which was saved due to our quick reaction).  And, no, I didn’t photograph it (compassion and care took over) but it was SO challenging not to pick up my camera for that.

Best Advice to give to other photographers?

Learn the rules before you break them.  Be aware. Be conscious.  Always shoot with your heart.  It’s worked for me!

I can’t wait to share Jacklyn’s post (right here on the DigiLabs Pro blog) on Boudoir photography.  Make sure to follow us so you don’t miss it!

In a recent group meeting, we were discussing what tools or bells & whistles could be added into the DigiLabs Pro software to make it even more beyond wonderful for our customers. One of the continuing conversations that came up was content. We are excited to share with you what came from the pow-wow; new backgrounds.

Can you say exciting? We’ve added a total of 45 new backgrounds for your designing pleasure. Check out a preview of them HERE and download the newest version of the software here.

Have you noticed?  DigiLabs Pro
has really let loose this summer offering
one of our biggest sales yet!

Order ANY album, get a FREE coffee table book!

Here is how it works:

Read more here!

We’re going Tutorial crazy over here at DigiLabs (well I am at least).  Today we wanted to share with you a really incredible tool available in the DigiLabs Pro Software. The change book tool is a tool designated to allow you to switch from 1 style or size of book or album to another using your same design.  In less than 10 seconds ALACAZAM: you can convert your 12×12 wedding album to a 10×10 Ashbury parent album.

Who needs a graphic designer when you have DigiLabs Pro?  No, seriously…you don’t need one. You should try this tool out today and check out this fun tutorial we made to show you how this works:

As you might remember, I’m working hard on getting some online tutorials up for the new software.  I am really excited to share with you the first of many tutorials to come.  This tutorial is regarding how to upload your first gallery using DigiLabs’ online web services. I would love to get some feedback, what helped?  what was missing?  etc, etc.

So, watch, enjoy & share!