Welcome to Tyndell Photographic's "Expert Forum."
Our goal is to create an educational online forum where professional photographers are invited to share ideas, ask questions and receive answers about photo packaging as well as marketing and promoting their studios from people who work in the industry.
                                                      

January 2011 question for discussion

     "Should photographer's gift wrap an 8x10 or larger portrait for their customers when it is being given as a gift?"
 

1. Yes, most fine retailers offer this service for their clients as a way to enhance the overall perceived value of the item. Another way to look at it; a dollars worth of packaging is worth more than a dollar in the perceived value of the total package.
   
   Have you ever been in a situation where you have been up-sold to a bigger, better item? You might find similar results with your customers when they decide to upgrade their ordinary 5x7 package to a beautifully gift wrapped 8x10 package.

Allan Tyndell
Tyndell Photographic | President

Please join our Discussion, we would love to hear from you. Please email us with your solutions, ideas, questions or stories.
 

Previous Discussions Arhive       

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October 2010 question for discussion

     "What type of business do you consider photography to be?"

“What type of business is photography? When you are in the photographic business, you are in the photo marketing business first and the artistic business second. That having been said, there are three important parts to the photo marketing business which photographers must understand in order to be successful:

1. The vanity aspect
2. Posterity
3. The discretionary purchase

Vanity

Customers go into your camera room with all their imperfections and they expect an image of themselves that makes them look younger, thinner, more attractive with all their imperfections gone.

Posterity

Photography got its start as an affordable way for people to preserve their images for loved ones and posterity. Photography took off when people could get an enhanced image of themselves.

Discretionary Purchase

No one has ever died or been harmed because they did not get their picture taken. Like all discretionary purchases, a photograph has to look special.

Allan Tyndell
President, Tyndell Photographic & Art Supply

Discussion Archive        

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Rules of Packaging
 by Allan Tyndell
 

• Packaging must enhance the product appearance

• Packaging must increase the perceived value to the customer

• Packaging must protect the product and make it easy to transport

• Packaging of luxury products (purchased as a gift) must always enhance the perceived value of the gift.

• Packaging should NEVER lessen a products value or force as gift giver to make enhancements before it is given.

Luxury items According to Webster
Anything contributing to one's enjoyment, usually something considered unnecessary to life and health.

Something to Think About...
The vast majority of photographs are purchased for someone else.
 

Good Packaging vs. Bad Packaging
 by Allan Tyndell
 

Bad Packaging
Improper packaging can diminish and/or lessen the perceived value of the product which can lead to buyer's remorse.

If the cost of the packaging is greater than 5% of the products retail price, the packaging will diminish a studio's profitability..............................more

Presell for success

Posted on April 1, 2010
by (Guest Contributor) Allen Brooks

What do your customers say about you after you do a sitting? Do they say things like, "Well the guy had me bend this way and that way and put me in weird poses? I told them I didn't want to smile but he made me laugh and I know they are going to be terrible!" If they say that about you then you are doing something terribly wrong.

I'll walk my subject into the camera room and have them sit on the posing stool and many times I'll pull up a stool and spend the next couple of minutes talking with them. It gives them the opportunity to get comfortable..................more
 

I am often asked, "What is the best way to package a framed print?" Packaging a framed print is a two-step process. First, you must properly present the framed portrait to the customer. Second, you must provide a package for the portrait which will allow for safe transport.

Proper presentation of your framed print is an important aspect of your portrait packaging. Your customers have spent a great deal of money for their.....more
 

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