Back in 1996 Heather and I walked into the beautiful Hotel Metropole in Hanoi for lunch, and I don't think the staff were pleased to see us. We'd been back-packing around Vietnam for two weeks, we looked the part, and we'd brought our packs with us! Not normal for fine dining, even at lunchtime. But the staff very nicely gave us a table, and waited for us to order the (very affordable) lunchtime special. Instead, we proceeded to make up for two weeks of roughing it. We ate everything we could fit in, and then some. It was fantastic. Meantime the suits and the frocks around us looked mildly disapproving, To View More >>

I don't like long posts, and I'm always at Ian and Nigel to keep 'em brief so I apologize. This recent post prompted Ken to comment and me to respond with this, my longest ever... Ken asked whether our industry's main challenge wasn't "crap photography" but competitors with stupid pricing, for example, "2 photographers, hi-res images and Queensberry with 60 images for £1500." Ken suggested that people like that shouldn't last in business but they keep coming back... So I presume that if in fact they're surviving, they're probably a high volume, low margin outfit - possibly with healthy post-event To View More >>

I'm looking forward to David Ziser dropping the other shoe in a couple of days. On scottkelby.com last week, in the first of two parts, he blogged about the "perfect storm" that he says has impacted wedding photography over the last few years. If you haven't read it you should. Factors David mentions include the Great Recession, the "Walmart Effect" – everything from consumers' ingrained cut-price mentality to the fact that "wedding photography has come to Walmart" (via the acquisition of Bella Photography by CPI Corporation). Plus of course the growth of digital photography (not just digital To View More >>

More from Mark Miller: Press books - I agree with everything you say. At Focus I had a great conversation with Danny who suggested that 'everyone' did digital, ie it was commonplace with suppliers but that Duos were the really unique albums. I agree. Aren't QBY digital albums really just a fancier, more expensive press-book? Again, that's not meant to be insulting, I'm just trying to add to the conversation. FWIW, I've stopped offering digital albums (other than mini copies) and will move to a Duo only offering for next season. No offence taken. I love our digital albums, and so do many of our To View More >>

.... and we do! Our clients look at the covers on our album samples and make judgements on what is inside. It's true! We help them do it. We want them to look at the cover and suspect that there is something very special inside. It was rewarding to know that when the New Zealand album award judges saw our 2009 award album in the first Musee cover they were wowed into silence. This cover demands respect. Working through the range of covers available to us we have made a studio decision to display a specific look for our albums. This makes them recognisable in the wild and it is our aim to earn those To View More >>

Darlene Hildebrandt was running a very successful Edmonton (Canada) studio with her first husband when we first met in 2000. She'd come from nowhere to become one of our best clients in spectacular fashion - spectacular because it happened so quickly! Often we find new clients "convert" their business to Queensberry quite slowly. In many cases they have contracts with their customers to deliver a Brand X album, and feel obligated to do so. But having made the emotional commitment to move on, Darlene wasn't prepared to be that passive. Every single one of her upcoming wedding clients upgraded to To View More >>

Yesterday we packed for a tradeshow we're about to attend in Australia. One of the things I enjoy about packing is browsing through our sample albums as we work. Not often are there so many in one place. Looking through them all yesterday got me pretty excited about my own album. I was reminded that there's something quite special about seeing something you're buying in the flesh. Just as you may use a crafted slideshow online, to show off your work to prospective clients in the hope they'll come in to book, a (real) sample album has some serious pull when you're face to face. Sending clients To View More >>

Customer service edicts state that the customer is always right. Sometimes we disagree ... out of self defense. We don't like the implication that because the customer is right then we must be wrong. We defend our innocence and integrity!  Step back for a moment. There is a principle in Tai Chi that states that you can use your adversary's energy on themselves. Imagine saying the customer is always right. If you stop defending yourself and ask the client for a realistic solution to their own problem (a solution that, if they were you, they would see as fair)  you move away from being wrong To View More >>

"Previously we were offering albums we knew our competitors were also offering, but we’ve realised we can use the album to separate us from our competitors." That quote from Nigel's interview with the Youngrens reflects Queensberry's key message to photographers and it got me thinking... A while ago I posted about album companies in trouble – and not hitching your own wagon to dying stars. Today I'm suggesting you be wary of the latest and greatest too ;) In the US and UK markets of 2000, Queensberry albums were revolutionary because we hand-made every album to order. That meant photographers, To View More >>

I posted the other day about this being a great time to consider whether any of your business policies and touch points aggravate your customers, and if so fix them. I included a PS saying we know we’re not perfect, and "if you reckon this is the pot calling the kettle black, please leave a comment or email us". I was glad I did because Mark went to some trouble to leave a lengthy comment detailing his frustration with us. My point here is not so much to talk about his particular issues (we've been in touch, of course, and we  pretty much have to take what he says on the chin, and fix the To View More >>