Anyway…I am getting off topic. There are still plenty of people left in our lives to get married. Not as many as there used to be. But plenty. And thankfully, some of them are wise enough to come to us for advice about the photography. I recently helped my brother find a photographer in San Diego. They did not want an album at all and were fairly adamant about that, so while I included it in my search, it wasn’t the prime factor. But let me tell you. Finding a photographer cross country is surprisingly difficult. A close friend moved back home to Seattle. We’re *hoping* she is engaged soon. And while there are a TON of well known people in Seattle, there are even more incredible people who aren’t “famous”. This friend works in fashion, so I know she will want an incredibly stylish, beautiful, timeless album that she can make “her”. Now, I have a great way to point her in the direction of some photographers that I at least know use amazing albums.

Queensberry just did a “soft launch” of a directory to find photographers that use their albums worldwide. If you are a bride who happened to find this, give it a go. If you are a photographer, check it out and send Queensberry some feedback. And if you don’t carry their albums but you are looking for something to make you stand out, definitely check them out!

Since I was posting our card, I also wanted to talk about Bay Photo, which is the lab I chose for our printing this year. Previously, like many others, I used WHCC. I am beyond happy with WHCC’s customer service. They are always quick with printing and delivery is ALWAYS on time. What I have always liked even more, is that in a pack of 25 cards, you usually end up with at least 2 extra. This is great if you want to be able to sell to your clients in packs of 25 and still keep a few for studio samples. The only thing I wasn’t crazy about with WHCC was the digital printing quality. The trim lines are HUGE and never accurate. If you were hoping to have something centered on your card….good luck. And the dots from the printing! It is almost as if you were looking at a newspaper.

So, as I said, this year, after searching the pricing of everyone else, I chose Bay Photo. And hey – it didn’t hurt that they offer 25% off your first ROES order! SWEET! My primary reason for choosing Bay Photo besides the discount though….their premium 6 color printing. And that ends up about the same price as WHCC’s standard printing! The printing turned out absolutely gorgeous! And while I was shocked by their templates having such tiny “safe area” guides, I am happy to say, it seems as though exactly what I uploaded is what printed and came back to me! Almost no loss to trim. Well done Bay Photo. And the pearl paper with an outer UV coat….beautiful. I am hoping the UV coat protected my pearl paper in the mail. I have seen cards by WHCC absolutely destroyed because the envelopes actually wear the pearl off the paper in a pattern.

But I must be honest….the whole experience was not peachy keen. My order seemed to have gotten lost. I uploaded and paid for express shipping. I wanted my envelopes before I went away so that I could address them while traveling. I kept checking on the order and checking again…I emailed customer service…Nothing. Finally I used live support. They were able to see my order was 2 days behind. Apologized, but blamed it on the holiday rush. I flipped out slightly, but my cards were printed and overnighted to arrive the day before we got on the plane. Issue one resolved. Next…as I am addressing my envelopes, I realize that pile is shrinking far faster than my pile of cards! In an order of 100 cards, it seems I only received 80 envelopes. Yes, I counted. A quick email to customer service…..this time I complained about not receiving my few extra cards too….what can I say – I was stressed about not having the envelopes….I counted the cards too – there was exactly 100. I just wanted to tell them I had been happier with results from WHCC before… I got an apology email less than a few hours later (at around Midnight), and in two days had extra cards and a bunch of extra envelopes. So yes, I had some bad times with Bay Photo. Everyone has bad experiences with every company sometimes. But overall I am beyond happy with our cards and the results of choosing Bay Photo for our printing. If anyone out there at Bay Photo is listening however…I do have one suggestion…in Roes, I would love to be able to have a separate front file, back file, and Inside Spread. I do not want it to be 4 separate or 2 spreads as my only choices. Thanks

And now that everyone has read my rant, enjoy our 2009 holiday card, and have a safe and happy new years celebration tonight!

Thank you to Kamila Harris for the FABULOUS outer photo on our card & Jana Bannan for the photos inside!  Everyone told us it was AMAZING!

I do however need days off just like everyone else. Weekdays that will not be counting towards turnaround times thru the end of the year are: 11/26, 11/27, 12/4, 12/9, 12/24, 12/25, 12/31.

I am also still holding to 7 business days for processing weddings! Have any 2009 clients outstanding? Get them their images soon so they can get you all those glorious holiday orders! Prints, Holiday Cards, Thank You’s, Oh My!

Last! Tweet this post and receive 10% off ALL your orders from now through 5pm EST November 25, 2009 (day before Thanksgiving).

I personally can’t stand that there is stores are holidafied before Halloween, but what are you going to do….we have deadlines!

**UPDATE** The last day to upload to ensure 12/24 delivery of layout to your client is FRIDAY DECEMBER 18!!

From the marketing side of things, I can’t disagree with negotiating more. When you are running your own business, yes, you need to figure out where you stand in terms of pricing. Especially when most of what you need to charge for is your time. But the problem many photographers don’t realize ahead of time, is the slippery slope that negotiation starts. Once you drop your price for one thing, why would they not ask you to do it again. And who are we kidding, they ALWAYS do. Once a client asked for a refund for an engagement shoot that was included in their package.

The most important thing I want to tell anyone out there who is doing anything creative…”believe in yourself”. You have to believe in yourself to eliminate negotiation. If you are willing to negotiate just for the sake of negotiating, in many cases, you are telling the client that you don’t feel like you are worth what you are asking. And if you don’t think you are worth what you are asking, drop your prices. And then stick to the price you set.

Please don’t misunderstand my message. This doesn’t mean that everything has to be completely written in stone. Removing negotiating from your client interactions will save you more in the long-term (time, energy, money, advil…the list goes on). And then reward the clients you love (which will probably end up being most of them). The clients that you are able to go above and beyond for, who will appreciate everything you do. That is who we want to work with, right? The reason they think you are going above and beyond? Because you didn’t just throw it in to begin with. Because they didn’t make you feel worthless, as though you had to give them something to make up for something.

That’s my rant for the day, and I am sticking to it! I also heard a lot about album design which made me think of my post last night… but more on that later. I don’t want to bore you all week!