5 Tips on Selling Photography Products, Even If Everyone Wants the Digitals
One of the most frustrating questions a photographer who wants to sell products may get from her clients is:
"Can I just get the digitals?"
If you are, or want to transition into selling prints, albums, canvases and wall art for your photography clients, you know that it may be a challenge to convince your clients to spend more for products. Another layer of complexity is added if your clients are used to getting all the digitals or if every other photographer in your area offers digitals.
Despite that challenge, here are 5 strategies can help you sell more photography products, increase your average sale and create happier clients!
1: Take the time to explain the benefits of having tangible printed portraits that were printed professionally verses only digital files. Digital files can be lost or damaged and when that happens, it's impossible to print those precious moments. However, prints, albums and wall art will last for generations and can be passed down.
2: Consider including a digital file with the products you offer. We live in a digital age so it's completely understandable that clients will also want a digital version to post on social media. But there is no reason for that to hurt your product sales. Personally, I provide a complimentary websharable file that corresponds to the image that my clients selected for their products. This satisfies their desire to share their images socially and, because that digital file is watermarked, it helps promote my work on social media.
3: Create unique products that your clients are unable to get anywhere else. By offering customization, you increase the value you offer your clients and thereby, they may be more willing to purchase the physical products. Through the years, I have created unique wall art collages as well as offered clients products with the added touch of personalized sayings and quotes that means a lot to them. This allows my clients to purchase one of a kind artwork that they are unable to print through any other consumer lab.
4: Provide a lifetime guarantee for your products. In my studio, every product that is purchased comes with a lifetime guarantee. This means that if one of the products is damaged through a fire or a flood, I will happily replace that product for my clients. In my 12 years a professional photographer, I have never once had to do that, however, this guarantee reassures my clients that when they invest in products, they are also investing in the longevity of those products.
5: Show off the products you would like to sell! Give your clients plenty of opportunity to see, touch and feel the products that you offer through your social media feeds, your website and as they are prepping for their session and ordering appointment. This will allow them to better visualize how that particular product will look in their home, making them more inclined to purchase.
Regardless of what you are doing now: whether you include all the digitals in your sessions fee, whether or not your products sales are in the gutter and despite what the competition is doing or charging, I believe that you can achieve consistent sales of over $1000 through offering your clients products. I have done this and hundreds of my students have as well!
These 5 tips have gotten you started on that process, but if you would like the exact game plan, a little extra hand holding and accountability to experience a fully booked calendar with clients who are happy and willing to invest in products, apply for a spot inside The Booked Photographer Mentorship.
Cheering you on!
Heather