IPS Photography: How To Profit BIG When Shoot and Share Isn’t Working
The Shoot and Share method may be simple, but is it limiting your profits? Photographer Alison Winterroth reveals her successful transition from Shoot and Share to IPS Photography business. And she DIDN’T have to become a hardcore salesperson to do it!
Photographers – like most artists – hate selling.
“I don’t want to sell, I just want to make beautiful pictures!” you’ll hear us say. It’s the business side of our businesses that overwhelms us, so we neglect the very practices that could help us thrive. But just like learning Lightroom or figuring out your flash, even the most intimidating methods can be learned. And, with practice, what once seemed scary soon becomes second nature.
Photo by ALISON WINTERROTH
If you’re ready to:
- stop limiting your profits, and
- be a true advocate for your clients’ photo session success
…you’ll love revolutionizing your business with In Person Sales IPS Photography!
Shoot and Share
With the Shoot and Share approach, you charge your client one flat rate to shoot the photographs, then share the digital files with them at no additional cost.
Pros: You book the shoot, complete the session, and upload the wall art gallery of images. You’re done! You receive a larger up-front fee for your customer service and aren’t obligated to conduct any post-shoot selling.
Cons: Shoot and Share clients are less likely to purchase prints and products from you, opting to make their own prints through consumer-friendly labs – foregoing products altogether. Client-created products are often sub-par, and may not showcase your work in its best light. (Drugstore prints, anyone?)
Photo by ALISON WINTERROTH | Prints by MILLERS LAB
IPS Photography
With the IPS photography business approach, you charge a low up-front session fee, but don’t include any products. Your client must make additional purchases after their session if they wish to receive any digital files, prints, albums, etc.
Pros: Your clients’ up-front costs are lower, reducing the barrier to booking. Many clients are also reassured knowing they’ll only spend more money if they love their images. (Of course they will!) And when you personally guide your clients through viewing and ordering their photographs, you’ll enjoy sales that greatly exceed the Shoot and Share photographer’s average per-session yield.
Cons: In Person Sales (IPS) requires more client interaction, and at least a small up-front investment in tools and/or sample products. We’re convinced that the return on your investment is well-worth it!
Photo by ALISON WINTERROTH
IPS: “4x the profits!”
Let’s use some nice, round numbers, and say that right now you’re charging a $500 flat rate for a one-hour Shoot and Share portrait session – all high-resolution digital files included. If you transition to an In Person Sales method, you’ll change your pricing structure. Now you charge a $150 session fee that covers only the shoot itself – no prints or products. That probably feels really scary, right? What if you do the shoot, and your client never orders a thing?
“Yes: a client could purchase nothing. Or only a single print. ‘Buy what you love,’ I tell my clients. ‘I’m going to do my best to make you love ALL your photographs!’ And most of the time, they do!” – ALISON WINTERROTH
Photo by ALISON WINTERROTH
There is a level of risk with In Person Sales. But that risk also opens the door to huge rewards! The $500 Shoot and Share client will only ever spend $500. But the In Person Sales client has the potential to invest much, much more! Need proof? Within one year of transitioning from Shoot and Share to In-Person Sales, Alison’s sales average had nearly quadrupled.
“You’re GOING to have those low sales. But then you’ll also have HUGE sales – sales so big they make your knees shake. When you’re Shoot and Share, you can’t grow. You’ve closed the door on any additional money. With In-Person Sales, there’s less of a safety net, but the gains are so much greater. And your clients are so much happier! Your clients come to you because they want photos – and not just on a flash drive. They want them printed!” – ALISON WINTERROTH
Photo by ALISON WINTERROTH
“I don’t want to be a pushy salesperson!”
You understand why and how In-Person Sales work. But you’re still nervous. Not about the end result, but about the process itself. After all, you’re an artist, not a salesperson! You like to connect with your clients, you don’t want to sell nor convince them to spend money with you! The good news? An IPS photography business isn’t really about sales at all. It’s about the very thing you love. It’s about connection.
IPS: Connection & Connecting the Dots
Your clients aren’t photographers. Nor are they professional photo clients! They’re just people – moms and dads, couples in love, new parents, ambitious professionals. They don’t “do photography” day in and day out like you do. So when you email them an online wall art gallery link and say “GO!” how do you think they feel? They probably smile and shed a few happy tears and share their pictures with their friends… then they feel really, really confused about what’s next.
Photo by ALISON WINTERROTH | Products by MILLERS LAB
What should they buy? Does an album make sense? What size canvas should hang above their sofa? That’s where you come in – not to sell, but to guide. You know your photographs and products like the back of your hand, and can determine what makes an album perfect for one client, and a wall art gallery ideal for another. As a professional, you are equipped to take care of your client’s photography needs like no one else. Don’t abandon them now!
Doing IPS Right
There’s more than one way to “do” IPS Photography business. As you get comfortable with the method, you’ll find tweaks and modifications that make the method your own! Alison uses a “hybrid” approach, supporting her In-Person Sales sessions through ShootProof, with designs built through Fundy Software, and products printed by her favorite lab, Millers.
Photo by ALISON WINTERROTH
“I call my In-Person Sales session a Viewing and Ordering Session. I never say ‘in-person sales’ to my client, because I’m not trying to sell them something. I’m just providing a service: helping them decide what THEY want.” – ALISON WINTERROTH
Alison prepares for a Viewing and Ordering Session by uploading images to a private ShootProof gallery she will reveal to her clients at the Session. Each client’s ShootProof gallery contains three albums:
- #1 Album: All Photos
- #2 Album: Album/Book Predesign
- #3 Album: Wall Art Galleries Predesigns
Photo by ALISON WINTERROTH
Step 1.) Gallery
When Alison’s client arrive at her studio, she accesses her client’s ShootProof gallery using the client’s email address. (This allows her clients to receive a direct email copy of their order once it’s placed!)
Vendor Partner: ShootProof
Step 2.) Slideshow
She then connects her laptop to her television, and plays a slideshow of the gallery. This is her clients’ first time seeing their photographs!
Pro Tip: Alison mirrors her laptop on her TV using Google Chromecast!
Step 3.) Printed Reveal
Alison doesn’t stop with digital! She prints all of her sessions as a series of Miller’s Lab 8×10 deep matte prints matted to 11×14, and presents the prints to her clients.
“People love going home with their prints! They go home that day with something to show from their Viewing and Ordering Session!” – Alison Winterroth
Vendor Partner: Miller’s Lab
Photo by ALISON WINTERROTH | Canvas by MILLERS LAB
Step 4.) PreDesign
Now that her clients have seen their images, Alison opens their ShootProof wall art gallery and reveals their Wall Art Gallery and Album predesigns.
“I use Fundy for my Wall Art Gallery and Album predesigns. Fundy makes it so simple and quick! I upload the designs into my clients’ ShootProof gallery and place their orders directly from there!” – ALISON WINTERROTH
Vendor Partner: Fundy Software
Step 5.) Guided Order
“I ask, ‘What would you like to do with your images?’ I look at this as helping my clients. They’re busy people, with a lot going on. They don’t want to sit in front of a computer contemplating, ‘Maybe this image would look good here, or maybe this image would look better there…’ My clients want me to take care of it; I’m the expert!” – ALISON WINTERROTH
With numerous product samples in Alison’s studio, her clients can touch and feel and fall in love with albums, canvases, prints, and more!
Photo by ALISON WINTERROTH | Album by MILLERS LAB
Galleries
If Alison’s client loves a particular album style or wall art gallery, she simply clicks “Buy” on the predesign in their ShootProof shopping cart! She can make any requested changes to the design in Fundy before sending the final layout to Millers for printing and binding.
Prints
Clients’ print orders are added quickly and easily to their ShootProof cart!
Step 6.) Checkout
When the order is complete, Alison checks out through the ShootProof shopping cart. Her clients enter their contact and payment information, submit their order, and receive email confirmation within minutes! If Alison’s clients purchase their Print Reveal images, she wraps them up, and her clients take matted prints home with them that same day!
“The average Viewing and Ordering Session only lasts 30 minutes to one hour!” – ALISON WINTERROTH
Photo by ALISON WINTERROTH
“What if I don’t have a studio?”
Maybe you dream of having your own studio; or maybe you prefer the flexibility of a studio-free life. Whatever your situation, there’s an In-Person Sales solution that’s right for you!
Meet In Your Clients’ Home
Pros: Your clients are most comfortable in their own environment. Bonus: access to your clients’ space enables you to make custom recommendations for wall art galleries, coffee table books, large canvases, and other home decor products!
Cons: Your clients may be too comfortable in their own home! Distractions from pets, kids, or a ringing doorbell or phone, are more likely to draw your clients’ attention when they’re in a familiar environment.
Pro Tip: Schedule your clients’ Viewing and Ordering Session with both a start and end time. Request that they clear their schedule from all distractions during that time frame, and command their full attention during this time. Arriving with a well-prepared “script” can help you stay on track!
Photo by ALISON WINTERROTH
Meet In A Cafe or Workspace
Many public locations are well-suited for Viewing and Ordering Sessions: a clean, quiet coffee shop, the bar or cafe of a luxury hotel, or even an as-needed, shared-use workspace, such as WeWork.com
Pros: Non-studio, non-home environment are neutral territory! You and your clients can both relax, order a coffee or a cocktail, and enjoy the photo experience without the pressures of studio or home demands. Additionally, an outside venue may offer more luxurious surroundings that you might have access to otherwise!
Cons: Anywhere food is served, look out for crumbs or sticky spots that could damage your products or laptop! And remember: if you’re not in a studio, your clients will be limited to viewing their photos on your shared laptop.
Pro Tip: Purchase a tablet that can mirror your laptop’s screen via Bluetooth. This way your clients can comfortably view their photographs on one screen, while you navigate their wall art gallery on another.
Photo by ALISON WINTERROTH
Online Viewing and Ordering Sessions
Use a screen share program such as Join.me or Skype, and walk your clients through their Viewing and Ordering Session online!
Pros: You and your clients can both be in the comfort of your own homes for this Viewing and Ordering Session – or anywhere in the world, for that matter (as long as there’s an internet connection)!
Cons: Your clients won’t be able to touch the products, or enjoy a Printed Reveal (should you choose to implement Alison’s method). Unreliable internet can also throw a kink into your IPS photography business plans.
Pro Tip: If your clients are completely unavailable for any sort of Viewing and Ordering Session, simply send them their ShootProof wall art gallery as a last resort. However, guided sessions are always more fulfilling for your clients.
Photo by ALISON WINTERROTH
Transition from Shoot and Share To IPS
Before switching to an In-Person Sales model, all of Alison’s Shoot and Share packages included the digital files. She worried that her longtime, repeat clients would be put-off if she suddenly implemented a new approach that didn’t include all the digital files. So she transitioned slowly.
During her first year conducting Viewing and Ordering Sessions, Alison’s packages did change – but they still included the digital files! This allowed her clients to grow accustomed to the new viewing and ordering method without suddenly losing access to the options they’d grown to expect.
Photo by ALISON WINTERROTH
Alison’s Shoot and Share Package
One higher flat-rate price included all photography and all digital files.
Sales Average: The occasional product order made Alison’s Shoot and Share average about $200 more than her base price.
Alison’s Transition Package
A lower session fee paid only for the session itself. Packages began at a comfortable mid-range price point, and ALL packages included ALL the digital files. It didn’t matter if her clients purchased the smallest package or the largest. This guaranteed that Alison would always make at least her Shoot and Share average, and her clients would still receive the digital files they’d come to expect.
Sales Average: 3x her Shoot and Share Average – more than Alison ever anticipated!
NOW: Alison’s In-Person Sales Package
A low session fee covers only the session itself. Alison’s clients are never obligated to purchase prints or products, but they always do! Every print is delivered with its accompanying digital file. Larger product packages come with more digital files. And “digitals only” packages are always an option.
Sales Average: 4x her Shoot and Share Average – Alison’s legacy clients are fully integrated into her new In-Person Sales approach. The results speak for themselves!
Photo by ALISON WINTERROTH
When Alison fully transitioned to her In-Person Sales package structure, she did away with the automatic inclusion of all digital files (though she does still make them available for purchase or as part of certain packages). Alison’s new perks are even better: stellar customer service and a highly personalized experience, from her clients’ first email to the final delivery of their beautiful prints and products! The steady increase in Alison’s bookings and profits is proof positive that her approach is working – not just for her, but for her well-loved clients!
“What’s next?”
- Craft your new pricing. Don’t worry if it’s not perfect! You can tweak it as you discover work works best for you and your clients.
- Build your new packages. Don’t feel the need to offer everything. Offer a handful of products you truly believe in! Too many options may overwhelm your clients – and you!
“I provide a digital price sheet when a client inquires. Then, when they arrive for their session, I also give them a hard copy of my pricing, and invite them to see sample prints and products first-hand.” – ALISON WINTERROTH
Photo by ALISON WINTERROTH
- Purchase sample products to enhance your clients ordering experience. If you’ll be meeting your clients on location, choose small, easy-to-transport samples.
- Your clients are busy – just like you! Book your clients’ Viewing and Ordering Session on their session day so it can’t be overlooked. (Allow yourself ample time to complete their post-production!)
- Practice your In-Person Sales conversations, maybe even enlisting a friend to sit in as a practice client. Get comfortable with the full process, from sitting down with your clients, to opening the slideshow, to beginning the ordering process.
- JUST DO IT!
Photo by ALISON WINTERROTH
Written by ANNE SIMONE | Featuring ALISON WINTERROTH
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