Wedding Photobook - DIY or Client?

[samplestars]

Hi everyone.


Hoping to start shooting weddings in the next 6 months, but need to set up a robust workflow and website system before taking on any clients.


I've been building up my portfolio and doing a bit of research, and the single biggest roadblock so far is the issue of album printing.


Although USB is becoming a popular option, I would like to offer the option of album printing to customers.
After some research, I decided to explore Smugmug. I was disappointed to learn later that you cannot have album design/printing built into your website with Smugmug. Zenfolio apparently has that option, and is next on my list to explore.


I'm seeking any advice on the importance of an album printing feature on a wedding photographers website?
Perhaps album design/printing is better handled by the photographer, and for that reason, Smugmug may be plenty powerful for my needs.


OTOH, I've read some great things about Zenfolio.


Ideally, I would like to be able to offer customers a very simple price plan, which puts the power of print options in their hands, while earning commission from subsequent prints.


Thanks for any advice on this matter.

 

[KmH]

Selling in person yields substantially larger average sales.

I recommend DIY, sell products in person, and just use Zenfolio as your portfolio.

Are you in Dublin, Ireland, or Dublin, Ohio, or Dublin. Georgia? Because the album issue will vary by market.
(Apparently, there are 9 states in the US that have a town named Dublin.)

 

[samplestars]

Selling in person yields substantially larger average sales.

I recommend DIY, sell products in person, and just use Zenfolio as your portfolio.

Thanks for the tip.
Whatever I decide to do later regarding products, I'm leaning more and more towards Zenfolio. Just a couple of days into my trial now and so far, exploring it has been a piece of cake.

 

[Robin Usagani]

Design it your own (with no input from your clients). Then once you designed it, let them review it and revise.

 

[Robin Usagani]

Selling in person yields substantially larger average sales.

I recommend DIY, sell products in person, and just use Zenfolio as your portfolio.

Thanks for the tip.
Whatever I decide to do later regarding products, I'm leaning more and more towards Zenfolio. Just a couple of days into my trial now and so far, exploring it has been a piece of cake.

My website is 100% zenfolio.

If you decide to go with them, use this code CGU-X2C-TBR

Both of us will safe some $ .

 

[samplestars]

Another snag. Looks like the "create a book" option is only currently available for USA/CAN customers (I'm in Europe)
I guess I'll probably follow the advice here and design books myself. Might even explore print websites such as blurb for album proofing, but that's another days work.

Robin, you're the first person to offer me a code personally so I'll use that if I go with Zen in the end. TYVM.

 

[samplestars]

Are you in Dublin, Ireland, or Dublin, Ohio, or Dublin. Georgia? Because the album issue will vary by market.
(Apparently, there are 9 states in the US that have a town named Dublin.)

Sorry, just saw that question now. I'm in Ireland. Most of the wedding photographers here seem to use Blurb, Photobox, and a few use GraphiStudio.

I was hoping for an all-in-one solution but it seems I can't have that with SmugMug or Zen, but apparently it's not the end of the world either. :/

 

[tirediron]

Don't get too caught up in 'all in one' solutions. A custom album application might take a little longer, but it will be a much better product in the long run (and sell for a higher price), and as Keith (KmH) mentioned, in-person, in-home proofing is the single best way to increase product sales. I just had a session where two free digital 8x10s turned into a $500 print order simply because I brought the digital proofs to client's home and they were able to see them 'up close and personal'.

 

[samplestars]

That's impressive!

Everyone has been really helpful here. I think I'll be sticking around
Hopefully I can pass on some tips to another shooter down the line.

Thanks again

 

[12sndsgood]

Keep the album design in your hands, add your design time into the cost of the album. Places like Blurb are good for low end solutions, It's nice an easy to design a book In Lightroom and upload it right to blurb from there. super simple. Leave it up to the clients to try and design on there own and it wouldn't surprise me if half or more just never wind up doing them. I have been using Zenfolio for my business and have been quite happy with it, but still keep album design separate.

 

[fokker]

I'm not really sure what zenfolio even is, but if you use lightroom for editing there is a book design module built in that makes it pretty easy to have your own books printed.