weekly wrap-up

When I saw the “Nate Berkus™ 26-piece Gift Wrap Kit” at Apartment Therapy recently, I knew it would make the perfect prize here at Paperie.

It’s minimalist and classic, so if you’re just starting out or haven’t quite settled on a look yet, youy’re not tied down by a color scheme or print – but can still present your clients with something expensive looking and stylish. The kit includes:

•  6 – gift bags 12½” x 10″ x 5″ (3 black stripe, 3 gold stripe, die-cut handles)
•  4 – 10′ x 30″ wrapping paper rolls – 25 square feet of each (4 designs)
•  12 – 3″ x 3″ gift cards with envelopes (4 designs)
•  2 – black raffia 20′ rolls
•  2 – natural raffia 20′ rolls
•  storage box

To win just go to your blog, Facebook account, Flickr account, or Twitter account and post the following:

Win a Nate Berkus™ 26-piece Gift Wrap Kit at Paperie Boutique / paperieboutique.com by @shutterblog and get a FREE Mother’s Day template!

Post the URL(s) to your link(s) in the comments for THIS ENTRY. Comment(s) must be posted here by 11:59 p.m. EDT on Monday, May 10th.

Please note: If you have won a prize within the last 30 days, please sit this one out and give someone else a chance to win please! The link you post must direct to a public account. We cannot verify links on private, friends & family only, or passworded accounts and they will not be eligible to win this item. If we have to subscribe to your feed or page or request permission to see it, you will automatically be disqualified.

You can enter up to four times total – one entry each per public, non-private blog URL / Facebook / Flickr / Twitter account.

You have four chances to win but only one chance PER LINK – please do not post the same link multiple times – duplicate links will be removed. And post your 1-4 separate links in separate comments to have multiple chances to win!

Comments on this entry will be numbered in order of posting. The winning number will be chosen by Random.org, and the winner will be contacted within 24 hours of contest’s end to claim their prize. Good luck!

UPDATE: The winner has been announced! See the announcement here!

Recently I put up a download for a 10×5 inch “mom” storyboard. This morning, I put up a link to download the following 8×8 inch story-art on my Flickr account.

The editing instructions for the 8×8 are the same as for the 10×5.

I hope everyone has a wonderful Mother’s Day weekend!
-Robyn

ATTENTION VENDORS: We tuck business cards, coupon inserts, and promo pieces inside of our prize packages. If you are interested in having yours included, please contact me (my e-mail is in the sidebar and is robyn @ this domain – or you can leave a comment). Also contact me if you are interested in having your business packaging, marketing ideas, or photography-related products featured on Paperie Boutique.

ATTENTION PHOTOGRAPHERS: Show us your packaging! If the features here have helped you pull together your own look, please share with the class and pay it forward. Contact Robyn (e-mail link in the sidebar / robyn @ this domain) to be added to the posting schedule.

If you are interested in advertising with Paperie Boutique, please contact todd @ this domain.

The 10×5″ and 8×8″ templates are ©Robyn Pollman, 2010. All rights reserved. They may not be copied, resold, made available for download or given away elsewhere, or redistributed without my written permission.

it’s a nice day for a white wedding

It’s been a great week at Paperie and I’m very excited to wrap things up on a high note with one of my favorite things — the packaging features. Not only is Gail Werner Photography’s work and presentation absolutely stunning, there’s a double-bonus because I learned about a couple of new vendors myself! So grab a Coke and a smile, kick your feet up because it’s almost the weekend, and enjoy today’s guest post!

(P.S. Don’t forget there’s a contest going on — there’s just over 12 hours left to win a slot in the “503 Photography Workshops for Kids & Teens“!)

Like everyone else here on this site, I’m a big believer in the power of a positive brand experience. But it wasn’t until I felt comfortable with the brand I’d developed for myself late last year that I began to want to invest in marketing materials that reflected it.

When I started researching online to find resources on where to go for those materials, ooh boy, was I confused! Then a photographer I follow, Heather Garland, blogged about being featured here on Paperie Boutique and I couldn’t believe how awesome both Heather’s marketing products were – but also what a resource there was to be found here on this site!

First I wanted to make sure that when my clients opened their package from me they had a second, more beautiful package waiting for them inside.

I ordered these boxes from The Container Store, with each ranging in cost from $4-$10, depending on size. They are heavy and glossy white.

The ribbon is from from Hobby Lobby. The stickers are from Zazzle.

[Note from Robyn: Paperie has a free template for Zazzle stickers available for download here.]

One of my latest inspirations for my business is sharing my clients’ stories in a new and unique way that reflects my past as a journalist, so with each order, I’m including a copy of their story with their digital files / prints, etc. Here is the story of Michele and Eric. (Theirs is the story you can see pictured here in a frame — also bought at Hobby Lobby.) These frames are $4 each, and perfect for this little personalized touch to their package (I wrap everything up in black tissue paper before it goes in one of my Container Store boxes).

My thank you cards feature a quote I found online about giving thanks. Simple and, in a way, a reflection of me, because I am a quote NUT. My copyright releases were printed up on 5×7 cards from WHCC. My letterpress business cards were made by a letterpress / design company called The Mandate Press. At Mandate, if you are making black and white letterpress cards only, it’s $95 for 250 cards. They are gorgeous! My DVD cases come from DNL Photo and my DVDs (which I love because they have such a great polished look to them that’s so professional) were printed by Discmakers. I cannot say enough wonderful things about Discmakers‘ customer service. Every time I emailed them with a question, I had a response within hours. SUPER company to work with!

My Post-It notes are from 123Print and I LOVE them. Who doesn’t want personalized Post-Its for their business, right?

[Note from Robyn: Paperie has a free template for Post-It notes from VistaPrint available for download here.]

I made my initial client packets using folders and envelopes from Paper Presentation. On the outside of the white folders, I adhered a custom-designed branded sticker, printed by WHCC. This was more cost-effective for me than getting something custom made but still a nice personalized touch! The black mailing envelopes have my branded mailing sticker on them as well. These stickers were also printed by WHCC and custom designed by me. Inside each of the presentation packets, I include my pricing information, sheets with tip information (varies for portrait or wedding client) and a copy of the contract / model release. I wanted to keep these packets as print-outs for now as I’m at a point in my business where my prices will continue to change in the months to come and I didn’t want to invest in printed pricing booklets for that reason.

I hope you all were able to take away a few ideas for your own marketing from this post. Once I finally decided on what I needed and what companies I’d order from, it was a pretty quick process (a few hours) to get all the items you see here ordered and taken care of. So if I can do this, I promise you anyone can!

Thank you so much for sharing your beautiful packaging and resources Gail! Everything looks amazing! You can also catch Gail at her blog, on Facebook, and on Twitter.

You have until 11:59 p.m. EDT tonight Friday, April 30th to win a spot in the 503 Photography Workshops for kids and teens! Check out Wednesday’s post for more details!

ATTENTION VENDORS: We tuck business cards, coupon inserts, and promo pieces inside of our prize packages. If you are interested in having yours included, please contact me (my e-mail is in the sidebar and is robyn @ this domain – or you can leave a comment). Also contact me if you are interested in having your business packaging, marketing ideas, or photography-related products featured on Paperie Boutique.

ATTENTION PHOTOGRAPHERS: Show us your packaging! If the features here have helped you pull together your own look, please share with the class and pay it forward. Contact Robyn (e-mail link in the sidebar / robyn @ this domain) to be added to the posting schedule.

If you are interested in advertising with Paperie Boutique, please contact todd @ this domain.

fine art

I’m so excited to share this guest post by Ana Brandt. In addition to being an amazing maternity and newborn / baby photographer, she runs the theartofpregnancyandnewborn.com website, myLIFE workshops, and TAoPaN Magazine. (Oh and by the way, there’s a free download at the end so don’t just skim!) Now without further adieu…

I love this site. The eye candy is so great and it’s fun to be featured on here!

As photographers we all know how important it is to develop your niche and create your brand. That’s what theartofpregnancyandnewborn.com is all about.

As we speak I am revamping many of my websites but even as is, they still mark who I am. One of my main passions is pregnancy aand newborn photography. I LOVE newborns! Don’t we all? But I LOVE pregnant women even more. I know many photographers just shoot the maternity session in anticipation for the newborn session, but I love pregnancy and capturing it is a must.

I created a separate site for my pregnancy and newborn titled Belly Baby Love. It has a classic signature black and white look. My standard color palette is browns for studio work, but for the pregnancy and newborn sessions I wanted to keep it simple.

This year I joined a company that delivers gift baskets to celebrity clients each month. I am the sole photographer in their “BUMP basket”, and when they get the call that a celebrity or their spouse is pregnant, my information is included in that basket. I teamed up with a client of mine that creates cards for Envelopments and they helped me come up with something cute and simple to put in the “BUMP basket”. Since we are already a part of the Envelopments dealer program I knew what pieces would work so we developed a promo piece with relative ease.

The main goal was to keep it classic and simple…

• Calendar is by CPQ
• The stickers are by ProDPI
• The trifolds inside are our own design (available on our
  site at theartofpregnancyandnewborn.com)
• Our designer created what we wanted and printed it on
  cardstock from Envelopments and used coordinating
  papers and envelopes – these are great because we
  can change them at will and just print as we need
• The gift card is a two sided wallet from ProDPI (we
  love how sturdy these wallets are!)
• Inside the pocket we have our pregnancy, newborn
  and first-year trifolds printed on pearl paper at WHCC

These have been sent to celebrities such as Bree Turner, Jamie Oliver, Annie Wersching, Mario Lopez, Alicia Coppola, Kevin Costner, and Catherine Bell just to name a few – plus a slew of other celebrities. The baskets usually go out very early, so it takes a bit until we hear from them. But we can’t wait until we get that phone call!

When venturing out and seeking opportunities, make sure you have all of your materials ready. For Pregnancy and Newborn you should always have the following:

• Pregnancy Pricing
• Newborn Pricing
• A package to include both
• A first year plan/option
• Standard pricing

Clients want to know all of their options. Most of our clients choose a package and many come into the plan. The key is to have amazing classic images. In many of our materials we provide stock images for other photographers to use in their material. We also highly recommend you have some very classic pregnancy and newborn images in your hands ready to create material. Our material has information on what to bring for the session, as well as what to wear. We also give clients a list of foods they should not eat before coming in for a newborn session. The more prepared we can make this client the more comfortable they will be.

Remember, you are dealing with the two most sensitive times of a clients life – being pregnant and having a baby. We want our clients to come in and feel they have been prepared for and are being taken care of. They know what clothing we have – we have a large collection of mama dresses from our Thredz line, as well as diaper covers for the baby. Our studio is equipped with water, wipes, snacks, music, a noise machine and a hundred other things that are handy to have around.

To view a list of products to support your efforts and join us in webinars or our online workshop, visit theartofpregnancyandnewborn.com. To view a copy of our free magazine go to taopanmag.com.

Shop for marketing products at the TAoPaN Store. Use the coupon code PAPER to get 15% off everything. The store is being reopened temporarily just for this promotion.

And as a special gift for Paperie readers, you can download a free nursing card from theartofpregnancyandnewborn.com.

→ download link ← (The card is what we give to clients prior to their session. It contains a list of foods to avoid so their baby isn’t fussy and gassy.)

Also visit our Thredz Store for baby, children, and mama.

Thank you so much, Ana! If you don’t subscribe to myLIFE workshops, and TAoPaN Magazine, make sure to do so!

Have a great weekend everyone!
-Robyn

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).

If you are interested in advertising with Paperie Boutique, please contact todd @ this domain. Check the sidebars – several advertisers joined us this week!

Good. Friday!

You might have noticed it’s been a little quiet around here this week. It’s spring break and between my ‘regular’ job, and hurricane advisories and tornado warnings occurring approximately every 15 minutes in my living room, something had to give! But to close off the week I have something to give…you!

Not only a new contest, but also a free download – so everyone wins!

This gift set for today’s contest includes:

• one Martha Stewart Crafts package of 8 champagne-tipped CD labels with 8 matching 5×5″ white and champagne envelopes (“includes handy alignment pad to ensure perfect label application”)
• one Martha Stewart Crafts 4.75×6.75″ photo-corner-accordion (cardstock construction with decorative front label and ribbon-tie – holds eight 4×6 photos)
• one baggie of 40 Paper-Source acid-free photo corners in Pool

How do you win? Easy-pleasey! Go to your blog, Facebook account, Flickr account, or Twitter account and post the following:

Win Martha Stewart Crafts & Paper Source accordion + CD label set – visit Paperie Boutique / paperieboutique.com by @shutterblog for more!

Please note: The link you post must direct to a public account. I cannot verify links on private, friends & family only, or passworded accounts and they will not be eligible to win this item.

You can enter up to four times total – one entry each per public, non-private blog URL / Facebook / Flickr / Twitter account. Post the URL(s) to your link(s) in the comments for THIS ENTRY. Comment(s) must be posted here by 11:59 p.m. EDT on Sunday, April 4th.

You have four chances to win but only one chance PER LINK – please do not post the same link multiple times – duplicate links will be removed. And post your 1-4 separate links in separate comments to have multiple chances to win!

Comments on this entry will be numbered in order of posting. The winning number will be chosen by Random.org, and the winner will be contacted within 24 hours of contest’s end to claim their prize. Good luck everyone!

UPDATE: The winner Susan B. Photography has been announced here!

In case you missed the free download for the 5×7 flat press card “baby girl birth announcement”, I now have a printed example of what they look like. I knew one day it would be the perfect fit for someone!

These announcements were designed for, and printed by, my favorite lab ProDPI.

And I’ve updated the post to include the template for the new card-back as shown in the photograph above. So if you’ve downloaded the front in the past, make sure to go back and grab the back too!

If you’ll scroll down in the right sidebar you’ll see a category called “free product downloads” with several links for more goodies!

To those who celebrate, Happy Easter weekend! See y’all next week!
-Robyn

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).

If you are interested in advertising with Paperie Boutique, please contact todd @ this domain.

just say Julie!

Posts like this make me smile. Not just because the packaging is so fantastic (which it absolutely is), but because all the counteless hours people have poured into this site are really paying off and helping people. What a fantastic way to “pay it forward”! Grab a Coke, a smile, and kick back. Another great packaging feature / guest post coming up…by Julie Rollins Photography…

This past October 2009 is when I decided to move full steam ahead with my photography business. I scoured the Internet daily, trying to soak up everything I possibly could on how to get my business off the ground and running. I constantly read about how important branding is and I knew I had a ton of work ahead of me. I came across the Paperie Boutique website and turned to it almost daily looking for inspiration for the packaging I would eventually come up with.

My New Years Resolution for 2010 was two parts. The first part was to get my blog (julierollinsphotography.com/blog/) up and running. The second part was to design my packaging and Welcome Kit.

All of the colors in my packaging are a direct spinoff of my logo. I wanted to stick to that same color scheme, which made things easy for me.

My bags, tissue, ribbon, raffia, large Kraft boxes and Kraft pillow boxes are all from Gift Box Corp of America.

My large and small round stickers are from Zazzle.

My brown photo boxes are from DNL Photo.

My rounded hangtags are from 48HourPrint.com.

Inside the chocolate boxes you will find clear bags with backing boards, which are from Clear Bags. Also included in the boxes are 5×5 cards with portrait care and copyright information.

When my clients call to book their session, the first thing I do is send them out their Welcome Packet. The packet is full of information about my photography, pricing and session details.

♦ Please see this updated entry for the vendors used. ♦

The Kraft colored presentation folder is from Paper Presentation.

Inside my Welcome Packet you will find a chocolate petal envelope with my referral cards in it and a 5×5 card detailing the program. The envelope is from Paper Source.

Also included in my Welcome Packet are a pen and a sticky note pad. These two items along with my 4×8 rack card are from Vista Print.

The remainders of my press printed products are from local printers. I love being able to have all of this information together in my Welcome Packet, because it’s so nice to mail this right off to my clients when they call to book their session. The last thing I include in the Welcome Packet is a Session Reminder Card, which is also from a local printer.

Designing all of my press printed products took a while and then ordering all of the packaging was also a huge job. That being said, having everything done is such a relief. I felt great today when I had a new client call to book a session for next week and I dropped her Welcome Kit off at the post office this afternoon. Knowing that I have this all finished, I probably would still be trying to figure things out if it hadn’t been for the inspiration from Paperie Boutique! Thank you so much Robyn – I love your site!!!

-Julie

Thank you so much, Julie! Make sure to stop by her blog and say “hi”! (You can also see a lot of the photos above bigger and in greater detail there.) And don’t forget to submit your own packaging photos to the site (instructions at post’s end)!

In case you didn’t see today’s newsletter, Paper Source just announced a new recycled kraft paper collection. Check it out:

Don’t forget there’s just over 24 hours left to enter the “Pink Boutique Packaging Set” from Paperie Boutique and HB Photo Packaging. Go here to enter!

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).

just a splash of color

This guest post is a double-win – it has a packaging feature and a separate vendor-promo at the end! Jamie Brokus of Color Splash Studio LLC recently contacted me to see if I’d like to feature her packaging? Are you kidding, Jamie?!? I almost want to switch my color-scheme after seeing the photos!

I was so inspired by all of the awesome packaging I saw other photographers put together, so I am sending you what I came up with following Heather Garland’s guest post at Paperie.

After hearing Sarah Petty talk about boutique packaging, bringing your brand together and then seeing all of the wonderful things other photographers have been so willing to share on this blog, I was inspired to put together my own. It is so cool to watch people walk out of my studio with bags with my name on them and tissue and have them feel like their money was well spent on the the prints they just bought.

My kraft paper shopping bags, tissue and raffia are from Nashville Wraps. I also am using their gourmet food shipping box for a shipping box. It fits up to an 8×10 box.

My shipping labels are from 123print.com.

My photo boxes are from Rice Studio Supplies. I am also using their portrait cases for 11×14 and 16×20 prints.

My logo stamp is from Simon Stamp with the big and juicy stamp pad.

My square thank you sized business card tied on the bags is from prolabexpress.com.

My business cards are from overnightprints.com and then I score them myself.

Gift card is from Miller’s Lab on water color paper and trifold brochure is from WHCC.

Circle Stickers are from Zazzle.

Small orange suitcase is from Paper Source, and costs half the price of a custom proof box.

Note from Robyn: It’s harder and harder to get the retro-suitcases from Paper Source. Land of Nod recently started carrying them, so try there as well!

Thank you so much for sending these along Jamie! (Don’t forget to visit her blog.) It should not only inspire others, but also show how quickly you can pull a look together once you decide on the direction.

And now…the promo! It’s no secret this blog is a big fan of Moo. Not only am I excited to find out I’m in “The Moo Ideas Book” (pages 3 and 33 – see the book here on display at a trade show) — I’m also excited to share a new Moo.com promo just for Paperie readers.

Using the code SHUTTER10 will give you an extra 10% off a 200 pack of Business Cards (classic or green stock) OR a 400 pack of MiniCards.

The code:
• is valid for one pack
• expires midnight PDT on March 31st, 2010
• is only valid for one use per customer
• is an additional 10% off the cost of a bulk pack (Bulk packs are already discounted, so this makes it even better value!)

Please note: the code will not work on 4 separate packs of 100 MiniCards. It must be used on the bulk-pack of 400.

Thank you, Moo! If you haven’t already, check out the sidebar to the right for free Moo template downloads from Paperie…

P.S. Don’t forget the My Funky Camera contest is still running through 11:59 p.m. EST on Thursday, March 4th!

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).

threepeat

I designed these cute 1.5″ circle stickers to add to my holiday correspondence and packaging. (HO)³ – a.k.a. “HO HO HO”. Get it? I had them printed at Zazzle. (They only print ‘glossy’ stickers by the way so if you don’t like ’shiny’ you’re on your own.) Before any coupons, Zazzle charges $5 / sheet of 20 stickers.

→ download link ← (right-click, save as — this is not a layered file so what you see is what you get — I do not provide technical support for this download)

Select the 1.5″ labels from Zazzle: zazzle.com/custom/stickers. Check to make sure everything looks centered and how you want it to appear in their design-generator.

Don’t forget to swing by retailmenot.com before placing your order to see if there are any current coupon codes for Zazzle. If you’d like to create 1.5″ circle stickers with your logo to print at the same time, see this previous free download.

Merry, merry!

This Christmas-themed sticker template is ©Robyn Pollman, 2009. All rights reserved. It may not be copied, resold, made available for download or given away elsewhere, or redistributed without my written permission.

a few of my favorite things

1.   redstamp.com (shop) • stylishcorrespondence.com (blog)
2.   http://www.seejanework.com
3.   http://printpattern.blogspot.com
4.   http://www.spoonsisters.com
5.   http://www.smashingmagazine.com
6.   cardsandpockets.com (shop) • blog.cardsandpockets.com (blog)
7.   http://www.uncommongoods.com
8.   http://jennibick.com
9.   http://www.prettybitter.com
10. rockpaperscissor.com (shop) • rockpaperscissor.com/blog/ (blog)

Have a website you’d like to share with the class? Please post it in the comments!

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).

mocha with cream

Looking ‘expensive’ doesn’t always mean being expensive. In today’s guest post, Chelsea Stirlen of Chelsea Stirlen Photography shows how your packaging can look like a million bucks without breaking the bank (or even the piggy bank).

When I chose my packaging I had one thing in mind – COST. I knew the look I wanted, but as a new business I was, shall we say, poor. Very, very poor. I chose chocolate & ivory for my packaging because not only was it easily available from many different vendors, but frankly I loved the way it looked. I always have. I wanted to keep my branding very simple, inexpensive, and available so I had the option to shop for the best price.

This is everything I use to package (except my glue gun). Avery labels, ivory paper bags, ivory wrapping paper, white tissue paper, 1″ ivory satin ribbon, chocolate boxes, and 1″ chocolate satin ribbon. That’s it. Simpler was easier for me and had the added benefit of being less expensive. It still gives me the rich, special look I want, but it doesn’t break my bank book to package my orders.

All but the chocolate print boxes were purchased at Xpedx – a nationwide supply store. Those spools of satin ribbon & the wrapping paper come in 100′ lengths for $10 and $15 each (respectively). Much less expensive than a lot of online outlets and I don’t have to pay shipping. Unfortunately they do not have an online store, but they have retail locations all over.

The chocolate boxes are provided by my lab and my prints come pre-enclosed in clear poly bags according to size. I remove the ecru tissue paper and replace it with white, then seal with one of my thistle flowers. This flower appears behind my logo and I use it for sealing tissue in print boxes, thank you notes to my clients, and the info packets they receive at their sessions.

I’d show my info packet but you’ve probably already seen it… It’s Robyn’s Template #1 from her ‘Fit to Print‘ line. I personalized it with my own colors, included print prices & frequently asked questions. I also created a seperate 5×7 flat insert that contains my referral program and an area for order notes. My model release and photo contract are printed onto simple letterhead and are awaiting my clients the morning of their session – I do not send them ahead of time so they do not need their own packaging.

To cut costs in creating personal touches, like my thistle sticker, I opted to create my own. I created a page full of brown circles the same chocolate tone as my packaging, inserted my purple thistle flower and VOILÀ – an entire sheet of stickers for next to nothing. I print them onto full sheet Avery labels – available at any office supply store or large chain – and punch them out using a scalloped edged craft punch.

When everything is sealed up, I add ribbon. Brown boxes get an ivory ribbon and ivory wrapped items get a chocolate ribbon. Canvases, digital files, keepsake books, etc. are all wrapped in ivory paper to protect them, keep them clean and create that ‘gift’ look.

My ribbons used to be hand tied, but thanks to Robyn I now use the ‘uncrushable’ version! They hold up well, don’t come apart or become indistinguishable in shipping, and they’re quick & easy to make. When everything is sealed, wrapped, and adorned with ribbon I bag it.

I use ivory paper bags in a variety of sizes, each with it’s own Avery label. (I should be an Avery label spokesman!) On my bags I use the 2″ x 4″ labels & just round the corners with a craft punch. It has a chocolate edge, my logo inside, and a space where I can write my client’s name. As I often have more than one order packaged and awaiting pickup in my home, it’s nice to label them so I know I’m giving the correct order to my client. I use more of the white tissue paper in the bags and top it all with a small chocolate ribbon to keep the bag closed.

My vendors are few, but I do love them.
WHCC
Xpedx
Perfection Distributing

I hope this helps other newbie photographers realize that they can do beautiful packaging without bankrupting themselves. It may seem expensive, but if you shop around for the best price you can get an expensive look for a very reasonable price tag.

Thank you so much, Chelsea! Please stop by her website and blog to thank her for her time and recommendations!

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).

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).

eye candy

This is part two (of two) of yesterday’s guest post by Kimberly Kyle Photography of Augusta, GA. You can find yesterday’s entry here.

“Why I chose my business colors…”

That question made me do some thinking. I began KKP using black, white and hot pink which I used for two years. I loved the combination but felt the colors limited me in some way to girls so I began the journey to find what colors really suited me best.

I began looking around in my life, paying attention to what colors caught my eye in stores, and looking at color collections using paint sample cards. I also contacted the fabulous Amy Grace with Candy Apple Studios. She helped pull the “new me” together. I asked her to use red, brown and blue or green when developing logos. I gathered those colors mainly from the colors I have painted our home. We have a red kitchen, brown living room and green dining room. I heart color.

I ended up being drawn to the logos using aqua…I’m guessing my love of the beach caused that. Something about aqua blue is calming yet so fresh.

So there you go… My colors are now red, aqua and brown which I am thoroughly enjoying. I love the “pop” the aqua and red give with my packaging. Choosing to use the two brighter colors for envelopes, ribbon and boxes give the packages a unique look. I use the natural wrapping paper mainly because it is easily found at the local craft store and is great for wrapping large prints. The aqua ribbons I use are found here and there.

Packaging doesn’t really have to be the same each time. It’s fun to make it personal just like we do with our photographs.

I also throw in a lollipop…sometimes three depending on how many kiddos are in the family…on each package to add to the fun. Who doesn’t like candy?!

Please drop by Kimberly’s blog and thank her for the amazing two-part guest entry!

As mentioned over and over and over again now…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).