Mark’s Remarks: Are You Ready for a Make Over?

January 12th, 2011

At the start of every New Year, I always ask myself: “If I was starting this business today, what would I do differently”? You’d be amazed at how quickly this gets you to focus on what’s working in your business and more importantly what’s not working. It can lead to some gutsy changes and prevent the dreaded “same old, same old” dead-end. So what would you do differently if you were starting over today? Better yet, ask your clients what THEY would like you to do differently. If you’re really serious about improving your business, you’ll get all the feedback you need.

Last year, we started surveying brides to find out what they like and don’t like about working with professional photographers and thought you’d like to hear the feedback. In an industry where almost 80% of the brides are contracting for a disk only, we were pleasantly surprised to learn that the majority of brides still do want an album. They just don’t want to have to work too hard to get it.

Brides told us they don’t want to wait weeks to see their images for the first time; and that when they do see them, they are overwhelmed by the number of images (in most cases more than 1000) they see. Lastly, they told us that the album process takes too long and is too painful – they want it to be easier and quicker. Have you heard similar feedback? Interestingly enough, the average album we ship is completed 9 months after the wedding! And since it takes us less than 2 weeks to complete any album; that means it takes 8.5 months to get it to us! No wonder why clients are so frustrated with so many photographers and are opting to go the “shoot and burn” route.

So we set out to help solve this problem. We know that if we can help you make the bride happier, then the groom be happy and if your clients are happy, then you as the photographer will also be happy. We then asked ourselves: “Why shouldn’t newlyweds have their albums 30 days after the wedding?” This jump-started the creation of an operating system to help make this happen; we call it zookie pro.

You may think that having a high quality, hand made album in a clients hands in 30 days seems impossible, but it’s actually quite easy. Here’s how: For starters show fewer images. We’ve been creating albums for over 15 years, and in the days before digital, most albums had 80-100 images and photographers showed 400-600 images. Today, most photographers show over 1000 images….yet most albums still have 80-100 images. All of this overshooting is overwhelming your clients with more images that will not go into their album, while creating unnecessary work for you and your staff.

Photography is like perishable fruit – the sooner your client sees the images, the more likely they are to place an order. So help them out and pre-select your favorites and have us design the album before they even see any of the images! You are the artist and the pro, and you were hired because they trusted you. Take charge and finish the job! Simply select your favorite images and upload them to our new service called zookie pro. We’ll color correct the files and create a ‘simple and elegant’ design that best tells the story. We’ll need 1 week to design it, and then we’ll send back an electronic layout that includes a personalized cover that will blow your client away! We’ll provide a shopping cart that you can forward to your client that will allow them to buy additional products….like parent albums and frames. We’ll even give you the ability to set pricing so that your client sees the price you want to charge! Once the order is finalized, we’ll need 2 weeks or less to complete the album.

Add up all the time involved and the newlyweds will have their albums less than 30 days after her wedding! See how easy that was. Imagine the buzz that you’ll create? Imagine the hugs you’ll get from your clients? Imagine how much bigger your orders will be since the bride is still on a ‘wedding high’! Now compare this workflow with your current workflow. Which better serves your client? Which better serves you? With zookie pro, we’ve solved every workflow problem AND given you a solution that is actually less work for you. It leads to Happy Brides, Happy Grooms and Happy Photographers. So ask yourself, “What would I do differently if I were starting my business over?” If you want your business to grow, let us help you with zookie pro!

Keepin’ It Simple

January 6th, 2011

Digital photography has opened so many creative avenues for photographers. It has also made photography much more complex. You have to download, back up, color correct, edit and retouch. It really isn’t a simple process, and if you do it all yourself it’s very time consuming.

This is where Zookbinders new design-print-bind service, zookie pro, comes in. zookie pro is designed to simplify photographers’ lives. All you need to do is select your favorite images and upload them at zookiepro.com. We then take care of the rest. We’ll color correct, design, let you preview your layout, and then print and bind a beautiful album for you. Simple!

From a design standpoint, simplicity rules the day. zookie pro offers only square format albums with our popular Leather Spine cover in our Lustre Book construction. Each page spread is designed with a simple and elegant layout that will feature a single panomramic image or collection of images that tell one little chapter in the story of your clients’ big day. We then forward a digital version of the album for your review and approval. Simple!

Finally, ordering and upselling couldn’t be easier. For those of you who have been long time Zookbinders customers, there is no ROES with zookie pro. You simply select your album size, upload your images, pay by credit card, and your done. When we send you your preview, we’ll show you what a collection of replica books would look like, and lay out your options to make it super simple to offer your clients additional albums for family or guests.

Want to learn more? Check out zookiepro.com for all of the details including our big launch on January 16th, 2011.

Get Your Life Back

January 3rd, 2011

Since digital took over the majority of the wedding photography industry, we’ve heard more and more photographers say they are just overwhelmed with their new workflow. It used to be that all you had to do was drop off your film, order your prints and you were done. Today, you have to edit, color correct, size, retouch, design and the work goes on, and on, and on.  That will all change January 16, 2011, when Zookbinders launches its new design service called zookie prozookie pro is our latest innovation that will simplify the process of ordering albums.

zookie pro is designed to give YOU more time to do what YOU want. Seriously. We’re a one-stop shop for your color correction, design, print and bind services. Simply upload your selected images, choose your products and that’s it. We’ll color correct your images, design your album, let you preview the layout and then print and design a Lustre Book album for your client. We realize that it’s not just about the quality of our albums; it’s also about the quality of your life.

If you prefer to design your own albums and tweak each page, then zookie pro might not be best for you. But if you just don’t like designing albums or don’t have the time then zookie pro can help you get your life back. Take a few minutes and visit zookiepro.com to learn more about the service, see some sample designs and get complete pricing information. Stay tuned to this blog where we will review zookie pro, its many benefits and the things you’ll be able to do with all of your extra time!

zookie pro home page

Holiday Reminder

December 22nd, 2010

Lustre Book Details

December 21st, 2010

The Lustre Book Offers the Perfect Marriage of Quality, Style & Value

The raves we’ve been getting about The Lustre Book by Zookbinders™ have been overwhelming. Our clients love the finish of real photographic paper, the folded rather than split page spreads and the value that The Lustre Book offers. But if you look deeper inside, past the pretty cover, you’ll see many great benefits to this book.

The biggest benefit to this book is its longevity. Photographic paper has been proven to last for decades (if not centuries!). The nature of photographic paper teamed with our new binding methods also ensure a quality lay-flat book.  Before our release, we performed extensive environmental testing to achieve the book’s stability and longevity. The Lustre Books panoramic spreads lie flat thanks to 30 pt. page thickness in the larger books and 24 pt. in the smaller replica books. The pages are lacquer coated for added protection. The corners are square cut instead of rounded like our premium albums. We also use a clean page core so all you see is the white edge of the photo pages rather than the zebra striping common with other ungilded books.

Benefits don’t stop there. As a completely new line for Zookbinders, we decided to break away from tradition and offer some great cover options. Still available are our four popular cover designs for our larger book sizes – Photo Wraparound, Leather Spine, Full Leather and Full Leather with Cameo. What’s different is that with our three leather designs, you can choose a Standard or Glove Leather upgrade for the same price. Distressed and Napa Leathers are also available as an upgrade. 

We’ve also expanded the sizes for which you can order a leather cover. Our standard cover sizes of 12×12, 10×10, 8×12, 9×12, 12×8 and 12×9 are all available. For The Lustre Book Only, we’ve also added an 8×8 leather cover option with your choice of Leather Spine, Full Leather or Full Leather with a 4×4 cameo. The 8×8, with its lower price point, makes a great book for smaller events and portrait sessions.

Did you forget your gift books? We didin’t. We make available to you Digital Replica Books in sets ranging in size from 4×4 up to 9×6. Also printed on photographic paper, these Digital Replica Books make great accompaniments to any PhotoBook Plus, Zook Book, Matted Album or Lustre Book order. These books come with a wraparound cover that you can design or that is a replica of your main book’s cover. 

Great book blocks, great covers, what could be left? How about great value? Pro photographers expressed a strong desire for a product with photographic paper and mid-level pricing; better than a press book, but not a high-end album. Zookbinders responded with the perfect marriage of quality craftsmanship, contemporary style and premium features at a tremendous value.

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