third time’s a charm

The Internet is full of photography-related forums now, both free and paid, private and public, new and old. Sometimes it gets pretty overwhelming to figure out what to choose—not only from the sheer volume of groups out there, but also deciding which ones will benefit your business and be the best investment of your time. On the 17th of last month, I gave one recommendation. Now I’m proud to feature the only other paid-forum that I’m a member of – Pinkle Toes 4 Photographers (PT4P). I have been a member of PT4P since day one of v1, and immediately renewed my membership for v2 and v3. I’ve always found it more than worth the expense for the member forum alone—nevermind the business and marketing materials, templates, card designs, website expansion tools, etc. So it is with great excitement that I introduce Michele, a.k.a. Pinkletoes, to explain more.

Spring your photography business into action with Pinkle Toes 4 Photographers! Now in its third year, PT4P is the original ever-evolving, all-in-one design, marketing, and resource center for photographers. Whether you’re just starting out or even if you’ve been in the business for years, PT4P has materials to help save you time and money and keep your business fresh and moving forward. New materials are released quarterly, but here is just a small sample of the kinds of templates created just for PT4P members:

Be sure to check out ALL of the offerings in PT4P including webinars (topics chosen by the members), album and framing actions, contract and brochure templates, and so much more.

Special Limited Time Offer: Purchase your v3 membership by March 7th and mention “Paperie Boutique” in your payment message and you’ll receive a bonus Senior Save the Date postcard template.

Thank you so much for doing a guest post, Michele! I look forward to seeing some of you at PT4P soon!

If you’re interested in having your own business packaging, marketing ideas, or photography-related products featured please contact me (my e-mail is in the sidebar and is robyn @ this domain – or you can leave a comment).

vert classique

Last fall I put out the call for photographers who had “gone green” with their packaging, but unfortunately received no response. Since then I’ve had multiple viewer requests to feature a guest post by a “green” photographer. The problem was finding one, or them finding me. Until now.

Green or not, this packaging leaves me saying “WOW!” It’s simply perfection. So sit back and enjoy the eco-friendly packaging of Caroline Ghetes Photography.

Inside the photo proof box. The box is 100% biodegradable.

Another look at the outside of the photo proof box all wrapped up.

I hand-stamped my logo on this really neat handmade paper. Then I hand-stamped the word “photos” on these recycled chip-board hang tags. I’ve attached all tags & wrapped the boxes in 100% natural raffia ribbon.

Here’s a look at the CD my brides get. A photo is printed on a label and then adhered to the CD.

I use these natural hemp CD cases from Loktah. I LOVE their stuff!

The CD’s are placed on a bed of Natural Coarse Wood Excelsior, inside this 100% biodegradable black box.

Then the CD box is wrapped with Raffia ribbon and more hang tags are attached.

And there you go!

A little peek at the envelope which contains the reproduction release & lab recommendations.

An overall look of the finished product. The shopping bag is a 100% recycled Euro Tote.

Because of her extensive research into green boutique packaging, Caroline sells her vendor and product list rather than sharing it online. The cost for this collected information is $25.00 USD. You can read more of the details at her blog.

“100% of every transaction will be donated to support my missions trip to Romania in 2010, in support of my father’s evangelistic travels. It will involve church revivals, visiting & helping orphanages, remodeling for poor families, photography for the needy & of course some documentary photography as well…In addition to telling you the resources I used to make my own packaging, I will include some more names in there that I did not use, but may work for you.“

Thank you, Caroline, for proving it can be done—and that it can be done to perfection!

There’s much more in store for this week and we’re only half-way through. Don’t forget to check in daily!

If you’re interested in having your own business packaging, marketing ideas, or photography-related products featured please contact me (my e-mail is in the sidebar and is robyn @ this domain – or you can leave a comment).

totally sweet

Since The Album Cafe did their last feature here at Paperie, I get multiple hits in my stats daily looking for their products and coupon codes. So I contacted them again to see if they’d be interested in doing another guest post / promo. Luckily we all win because they said “yes!” Read on…


Hi everyone! We just wanted to share with you a SUPER CUTE new product we recently announced – Accordion Mini Book templates! These little books are the hottest thing out right now, and I can certainly see why – they are adorable! Our mini book templates are designed for printing at White House Custom Color, and we’re offering 20% off the entire store until Valentine’s Day so that you can try them out!

While you’re over checking out the new mini books, why don’t you grab our newest freebies!!

Don’t forget to grab the code at the bottom of each image to receive your “20% off entire order” through Valentine’s Day! And huge thanks to The Album Cafe for this promotion!

If you’re interested in having your own business packaging, marketing ideas, or photography-related products featured please contact me (my e-mail is in the sidebar and is robyn @ this domain – or you can leave a comment).

P.S. Paperie Boutique was featured in the latest moo.com February 3rd “Photography special: Ideas to fall in love with!” Moosletter. Did you catch it?

an apple a day

This has been a week of giving and freebies here at Paperie Boutique. Now with the next gift, in that spirit, it’s time to pay it forward and lend a hand. Please welcome Stacey Duncan of Goldapple Photography and La Pomme Design for today’s guest post.

It’s so great to be back on Paperie Boutique! I loved showcasing my boudoir packaging a few months ago, and its such an honor to get to introduce my new venture to Robyn’s loyal blogstalkers!

I started La Pomme Design a couple months ago when I was designing lots of cards and storyboards for my photography clients. I had photographer friends ask me to share my templates, I had a couple photogs ask me to design a logo for them, and I was developing new papers and my own textures to use to enhance my images. So I decided a great way to use these templates and things I was spending so much time designing would be to share them with others!

I simply can’t decide what type of design I love the most – simple and elegant, grungy and urban, fresh and modern, bright and colorful, or the so many other fabulous types of design. It is a curse and a blessing, because I don’t have a cohesive look that defines me, but that means I get to play all over the design spectrum, and I don’t feel backed into a design corner!

I am constantly working on new designs and templates, and I am still in portfolio-building mode in terms of custom design, but I am loving it! I offer card templates, album templates, storyboards, textures, digital papers, premade logos, and I am working on releasing more templates and expanding my offerings.

Until January 23, I am donating and matching all sales from La Pomme Design to the Red Cross to benefit the victims of the Haiti earthquake. Also, I designed a digital paper set based on and inspired by the Haiti flag colors, and I am offering it for free to all the Paperie Boutique readers. I hope you enjoy the papers (view here larger), and thank you so much for helping me save lives in Haiti by shopping in my shoppe!

Thanks for reading, and Robyn, thanks for taking the time to do this blog – I adore it, and am such a blogstalker! Thank you letting me be a guest!

{much love} stacey

Thank you so much, Stacey! There’s no better excuse to shop ’til you drop while getting an awesome freebie in the process! Please drop by Stacey’s blog and show your appreciation.

Just seen on The Savvy Photographer…..Photographers for Haiti: “Photographers for Haiti is a collaboration of photographers across the United States who are pledging to donate proceeds from one day of mini-sessions to one of four relief organizations to help with the destruction in Haiti.”

Also, if you haven’t heard about it yet – switchcities.com has photographic prints up for auction – the proceeds will go toward the relief efforts in Haiti. Word was just posted on their Twitter account that they’ve broken the 2K barrier!

More new guest post features are currently in the works! If you’re interested in having your own business packaging, marketing ideas, or photography-related products featured please contact me (my e-mail is in the sidebar and is robyn @ this domain – or you can leave a comment).

P.S. In case you missed it, Paperie Boutique made the PPA / Imaging USA “What a great show!” newsletter this week – click here to see!

café d’album

When I ran across The Album Cafe website online, I knew I had to feature it here. It was instant-love. I put off an entire morning full of work just combing through the site. Thankfully they offered to do a guest post so now you can see what all the fuss is about, too!

Hi there, we are The Album Cafe!

We were so excited to be contacted by Robyn about doing this guest post! Be sure to read to the end for a great coupon! There is so much to talk about, so let’s get started…

The Album Cafe provides professionally designed Photoshop templates exclusively for photographers. As the name implies, we of course have tons of Album templates…oh, but there’s so much more!

When our company first began, we added a Suggestion Box to our website so that photographers could suggest products that they felt would be useful to them and their businesses. All the following products are a direct result of those suggestions…

Need a business card for your business? It can be so expensive to have a card designed for you, and all the “pre-made” cards out there are so generic – why not create your own card, with YOUR OWN IMAGES… our business card templates range from $3 to $7!

One of my favorite suggestions we’ve ever gotten was for blog photo templates. Most of you have a blog already that you like, but what fun to spice it up by adding fun borders and collage style layouts to the photos you upload? Check out a few of our super fun “Blog It” templates… they even include automating actions that place all your pictures in the layouts for you. Sweet!

Okay, I realize it’s only October, but the holidays will be here before you know it! How about offering your clients the option of ordering their holiday cards through you – with photos from your shoot?

We want you to have fun with your templates and maybe even learn some new cool things about Photoshop, so we have OUTSTANDING customer support! There are tutorials on our “Learn” page to help you out and free actions on our “Free Actions” page to speed you along. We are always available to answer any questions you may have (and we won’t make you wait days for an answer!) – if you’ve got a question, no matter how big or small, please ask! That’s why we’re here. That’s what we love to do.

Also, don’t forget to check out our “Free Stuff” page for totally free templates available for immediate download!

See something here you like? Want to save some $$$? Just use the code Paperie20 at checkout to receive 20% off your entire order! This code is good through December 31, 2009.

Huge thanks to The Album Cafe for an amazing guest feature and coupon code! What are you still reading here for…go…now!

If you’re interested in having your own business packaging, marketing ideas, or photography-related products featured please contact me (my e-mail is in the sidebar and is robyn @ this domain – or you can leave a comment).

blush and bashful

I am not ashamed to say that I begged and pleaded to do the following feature. I’ve been wanting to highlight boudoir photography packaging for quite awhile, and when I saw Stacey’s presentation for Goldapple Photography and Denton Boudoir Photography, I was simply blown away. I think you will be, too!

When my boudoir clients book, they receive (either in the mail or in person) a large presentation envelope from Paper Source that has their contracts, info form, and price sheets (all printed from my home on white cardstock). I always include a couple business cards (printed square at ProDPI on pearl paper), and an appointment card (printed as a folded business card on pear paper at WHCC) with their session date on it.

Generally I include a sample invitation or card (depending on the client’s plan for the final images). I have brides use their images to create bachelorette party invitations, lingerie shower invitations, or bridal shower invitations. Here is one I created recently.

I am a member of PT4P, and I used the wall design catalog to create my accordion wall design guide (inspired by Jen of Mesmerizing Moments Photography!).

Some girls aren’t too keen on purchasing large prints for themselves, but I always explain that prints are great for bathrooms (because that is where a woman generally feels the most vulnerable!) and for “man” rooms. My husband has a “man room” that has his guitars, drums, cigars and pipes stuff, books, etc., and that would be a great place for boudoir photos of me (if I ever found the time to do them!).

I also own Goldapple Photography, my portrait business, so I always throw some business cards for it into my booking envelope and offer $50 off their portrait session fee if they book a separate portrait session at the same time as their boudoir session.

My packaging for final prints is from Paper Source. I love their boxes, and they are the only place I can find solid pink boxes! But I also use DNL for black boxes for anything bigger than 8×10. I get shredded pink paper for filler in the boxes from Target, and ribbon from wherever I can find it! Mostly Hobby Lobby and Michael’s, but sometimes I’ll find something online. I don’t use one particular ribbon, but I always use pink and black.

I use clear bags from clearbags.com to protect prints, and my small round stickers of my logo are printed at zazzle.com. I also have stickers printed from Moo, but I don’t have pictures of them yet!

With my delivery of their order, I include a petal envelope in black from Paper Source with a 5×5 referral card (printed at WHCC on standard paper) and their 8 die-cut wallets (printed wherever I print their pictures at – usually ProDPI or Miller’s) tied with a ribbon. When I took these photos, I didn’t have any wallets printed so I just used a mini envelope from Paper Source. But I do have a photo of my Goldapple Photography referral card!

I got this idea from Robyn’s referral cards, and I love it!

So that is my Denton Boudoir Photography packaging! Thank you Robyn, for allowing me to share with your readers!

Lotsa Love,
Stacey

Stacey’s Client Booking Envelope:
★ Envelope – Paper Source
★ Wall Design Guide – Miller’s accordion 10 panel & linen finish
★ Sample Folded Card (specific to type of session) – ProDPI, Moo, WHCC
★ Business Cards – square & pearl finish/ProDPI, regular & linen finish/WHCC
★ Gift card promotion for friends – 5×7 flat card & linen finish/WHCC, pearl finish business cards/WHCC
★ Full Price List – printed at home on cardstock
★ Album Price List – 5×5 trifold & linen finish/Miller’s
★ Client info form – printed at home
★ Client model release – printed at home
★ Client contract & receipt form – printed at home
★ Round sticker to seal – Zazzle

Stacey’s Client Packaging Contents:
★ 4×6 & 5×7 boxes – Paper Source
★ 8×10 and larger boxes – DNL Photo Packaging
★ Photo bags – Clearbags
★ Canvas packaging – Paper Source
★ Round Stickers – Zazzle
★ Rounded Square Stickers – Moo
★ Ribbon – Hobby Lobby
★ Champagne & Chocolate bags – Clearbags
★ Petal Envelopes – Paper Source
★ Referral Insert Cards – 5×5 flat cards WHCC
★ Wallet Referral Cards – Depends on where I am placing the client’s print order, I order them through that printer
★ Small business card envelopes – Paper Source

Drop by and see Stacey’s work at Denton Boudoir Photography and Goldapple Photography—and thank her for sharing her amazing marketing and presentation “guest post” with the class!

If you’re interested in having your own business packaging, marketing ideas, or photography-related products featured please contact me (my e-mail is in the sidebar and is robyn @ this domain – or you can leave a comment).

put a ring on it

(Originally posted to Flickr forums in June 2009. Announcement template design shown below is by Diana Hall.)

Since I’m only taking packages at this time, most include either a holiday card or birth announcement selection. I have online galleries of the designs I offer, and each "client welcome kit" includes a paper sample packet. I use this card design to print on five different paper types (when my lab runs its annual press-printed sales, I stock up in bulk):

I’ve found that red changes the most between the paper types (because not all paper is “true white” before printing). This gives them a pretty good example of the color-shifts between their available choices. Two envelope paper selections are included as well. The back of each sample has the paper type listed:

I bring accordion albums along with me to the newborn (or holiday) sessions – they are filled with samples of previous clients’ flat and folded press items so they can see paper types and styles with the other designs I offer for their own birth announcements and Christmas cards:

Quick tip if you’re on a limited budget to start… Design your sample template with 3-4 identical “strips” either horizontally or vertically. Like basically fitting 3-4 bookmarks on a card — instead of designing an announcement or card here, you’d be designing a bookmark and then printing multiple ones uncut on one flat postcard. When they arrive, take a paper cutter and slice into your bookmark-sized strips. Voilà! Paper sample pack for clients, with 3-4 more times the samples for you to give out. (If you don’t know where to begin, I now offer a template for this at “Fit to Print“!)

P.S. Don’t forget the Moo.com code exclusive to Paperie Boutique viewers expires on August 25th, 2009!

it’s a Small world

It’s time for another guest post! Everyone say “hi” to Carrie Small of Carrie Small Photography in Fayetteville, NC. She has one of the cutest logos I’ve ever seen, and some of her ideas have really inspired me to step up my game!

This is the folder that clients get when they book with me. Right now it includes a price info sheet, business card, trifold brochure with the contract on it, and a client info sheet/model release/contract signing.

I bought the folders from paperpresentation.com.

UPDATE: My amazing logo and marketing design are by Tiffany at OTSS (onthespotstudio.com).

This is the Trifold brochure. I print this myself.

This is the price sheet and the client info sheet.

Here is a photo of all the things used in my packaging. The boxes are from WHCC, stickers from WHCC. I include a CD with web sized images, referral cards, a print care/copyright card, and a folded business card in each order.

On top is a 5×5 Pano Album from Millers.

Referral cards, copyright / print care, and business cards – all printed from WHCC.

This is a bound inspiration guide that I send home with my clients for them to get ideas for wall portraits. They are printed as 3.5×5 proofs and then hole punched and bound together with a ring.

The 5×5 Proof book from WHCC.

And last but not least, all my new baby clients get a gift of a bib, printed at cafepress.com.

Are those bibs seriously not the cutest thing you’ve ever seen? Kudos, Carrie—and thank you so much for sharing with the class! You can see her blog here, and even more of her amazing photography at her website.

Don’t forget to check out the special Moo business card promotion and pre-sale going on now if you missed the last post! And if you’re interested in having your packaging, marketing ideas, or products featured please contact me (my e-mail is in the sidebar and is robyn @ this domain – or you can leave a comment).

bold and the beautiful

This is another “May We See Your Packaging, Please?” guest post. Showing off their amazing packaging today is Kimberly Kyle Photography of Augusta, GA.

Some of the products / vendors Kimberly has used to tie her look together:

♦ Envelopes – Paper Source
♦ Proof box – Paper Source
♦ Ribbon – Michael’s
♦ Natural wrapping paper – Michael’s
♦ Stickers – Moo
♦ Thank you cards – WHCC
♦ Logo – Candy Apple Studios

I’ve invited Kimberly back to discuss how she chose her business colors and overall “look” to brand herself. Make sure you drop by her blog and tell her how great this all looks, and thank her for sharing!

UPDATE: You can view part two (of two) of this guest post here.

As mentioned previously…I’m working with a handful of photographers to add more guest posts to this site so it’s not filled with my ideas and photos/demos only. If you’re interested in having your packaging, marketing ideas, or products featured please contact me (my e-mail is in the sidebar and is robyn @ this domain – or you can leave a comment).

showcase showdown

This is another guest post by Heather James of Heather James Photography in Princeton, NJ. I’m beyond excited that she’s sharing these here. The idea is nothing short of brilliant and the presentation is absolutely fantastic!

I have quite a long price list as most of us do. Typically, I’d email a potential client a few hyperlinks to various web pages that showcased my work, what my sessions are like, and what my pricing is. It has been a great way to get my information out quickly and in an eco-friendly way. Then I had an inquiry from someone who doesn’t have an email address. WHAT? I was completely in shock mostly because the person sounded much younger than my 75 yr old grandmother who ichats on a regular basis. I needed a way to sell myself, my work and get all 5 hyperlinks into 1 envelope without breaking my bank account. So the accordion price guide was born. The following was a must to have on:

1. get all of my pricing in.
2. share a few of my best images.
3. most importantly: share who I am and why I am a lifestyle photographer and get them excited about scheduling a session with us.

Once I set the guidelines in place, designing it was a breeze for me. I just went with my gut and created something I would enjoy looking at every day – and I do look at it just about every day! The entire front side is all about the session. The only pricing is my session fees and each panel discusses who we are and what we’re like. When I say we, I mean my husband and I, as we truly are a team in every sense.

The back is the nitty gritty stuff. All of my print packages, special collections and premium à la carte pricing. There’s a few photos scattered around both sides that showcase most of the types of sessions I offer. Its neatly sealed in a white envelope with a round 1.5″ sticker from zazzle.com with my logo on it.

I find now that I not only send this to potential clients who don’t have access to the internet, but I also give this to my clients with a thank you notecard and a business card at the end of each session. Now that their session is complete, it gets them thinking about the next step in the process and excited about their proofs coming!

Every 3 months, or when I run out, I update the photos on the card based on the season and am always introducing new sessions into my marketing. And I always send along a sample of any marketing piece I use a client’s images on to them. They get super excited and show all of their friends and family their 5 seconds of fame which is instant free marketing for me!

Thank you so much for sharing these Heather! Drop by her blog and say “hi“!

As mentioned previously…I’m working with a handful of photographers to add more guest posts to this site so it’s not filled with my ideas and photos/demos only. If you’re interested in having your packaging, marketing ideas, or products featured please contact me (my e-mail is in the sidebar and is robyn @ this domain – or you can leave a comment). It’s always fun to share and “pay it forward“! Not to mention improve your SEO in the process… Win / win!