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Managing a volume photography business can often feel like a balancing act—juggling clients, gear, editing, employees, orders, sales, etc. while also trying to grow, foster creativity, and maintain daily sanity. PhotoDay is here to help photographers modernize and simplify their workflows so they can focus more on what makes them happiest.

In this interview, photographer Jake Carr shares how he got into photography, started J7 Images with his wife Jill, and how PhotoDay’s technology has helped grow their volume photography business. Based in Illinois, Jake and Jill specialize in sports photography and have expanded into the school market thanks to the time-saving tools of PhotoDay including Capture, FaceFind, online galleries, and direct shipping.

‍Keep reading to learn more about Jake and his advice to other photography studios!

PhotoDay: Tell us a little bit about yourself and your business. How did you get started in the world of volume photography?

Jake: I grew up in a photography studio household; my dad was a part-time photographer, and every science project I did was about film and ISO. But I really didn’t catch the photography bug until I was in my 30s.

I was a sports guy and wanted to work in sports. My dad gave me a DSLR when I was about 32, and I took it to a basketball game where I suddenly figured out that I could put sports and photography together—all the things he had taught me for a bunch of years started to click.

So I started taking pictures, posting them on Facebook, and the next thing you know you get the, “Hey can you take my family pictures? Senior pictures?” We started out as generalists for a while.

I used to referee the youth football league, and my buddies knew I was starting to take pictures, [so when their photographer bailed on a Saturday, they asked me to capture it.]  I called up Miller’s, figured out how to use their ordering software, did my first football league…and made more money than in all of the shoots that we’d done up to that point combined.

We figured there was something there, so that’s where our volume sports photography business started. Over the past 10 years, we’ve grown and gotten to where all we do is volume photography.

I met Lisa and the PhotoDay crew this past March at the SYNC conference, where I had a chance to speak. We found PhotoDay, realized they work with Miller’s (which was fantastic, because we love them), and it’s been absolutely amazing. We just finished a “September to remember”—we started doing some school pictures, and we couldn’t do it without PhotoDay. We don’t have a large staff or a big crew, but it’s been amazing.

PhotoDay: So you primarily do sports, and you just started getting into the school market this past year. Do you cover any other markets?

Jake: It’s pretty much an 80:20 ratio of sports to seniors. We’re getting into senior season now, and with the sports work that we do, we get a lot of family inquiries. It feels like every time a family orders pictures around here, they’re getting on PhotoDay and ordering from J7. So we look for ways to give back—if they want family pictures, too, we’re more than happy to take care of our good customers.

For the most part, we love doing football leagues, baseball leagues, high school sports, and banners. We produce banners for the seniors, but then we take those banner images and put them on PhotoDay so they can order them as 8x10s, metal prints, buttons, etc. so we can get residual sales from it.

PhotoDay: What volume do you typically photograph annually with all of your different jobs combined?

Jake: (laughs) I’m not a very good data guy, and that’s what I love about PhotoDay; I can start comparing things year over year. We were using paper order forms—there are boxes of paper order forms in my basement from 10 years of doing this. Typically, our sales are in the six figures, and we’re on track to have a record year—I finally feel like we bounced back after COVID.

It’s hard for me to put a number on, but I think with the data we get from PhotoDay we’ll be able to get a better look at year-over-year and month-over-month. PhotoDay is definitely helping us grow. The technology has helped us create awareness for our leagues and allowed us to say yes to leagues that maybe we wouldn’t have in the past, just because we can do everything online and send it right to their homes. The only time we have to travel is the day we do the shoot; we don’t have to work back and forth to deliver things.

PhotoDay: That’s great. PhotoDay really does take care of keeping track of the hard numbers for you and allows you to let go. Moving onto PhotoDay itself, how did the transition go for you? Was it a smooth switch from paper to digital or was it more of a learning process?

Jake: [A big draw to what PhotoDay] allows us to do is the sale after the fact. All the time we get compliments on our pictures, “Oh those are so great”—but with paper order forms, you limit yourself to basically that initial order, and it’s really hard for parents to go back and order more.

So what if grandma wants a picture or they really want another magnet or button? When we do deliver a bulk shipment, we put a label on there with the PhotoDay code saying, “Hey if you want to order more, go here.” And it really helps— I mean we’re getting sales that we were always missing out on before because people love what we do, they love those pictures, and they want to order more. That’s one way that PhotoDay has completely complimented us.

We do all of our school pictures through PhotoDay. [The private galleries] where each person has a personal code and is only seeing their images are amazing. Last year when I did my first school, I used a different platform and had to create each gallery individually without the Capture app [and all of the PhotoDay tools], so it was really labor intensive. We would not be doing school if we didn’t have the technology of PhotoDay and Capture.

PhotoDay: How has your experience been with Capture? We’re very excited about the work we’re doing to make it even better and more efficient.

Jake:I absolutely love the Capture app. It is a savior for schools. And now we’re working on our workflow to figure out how we can use it for sports. We’re getting rosters for sports, creating memory mates, and [want to explore how we can streamline and improve the process using some of Brian Derenski’s composite workflows]. I can count on one hand out of hundreds of kids the times that the facial recognition didn’t match correctly—it even matches up twins. It’s been a lifesaver. And all of the export tools for yearbook files and student IDs are such a time-saver.

PhotoDay: We love to hear that. Brian has some wonderful workflows that he’s devised, and we introduced a whole new feature based on it. For your own marketing, how do you communicate the PhotoDay process to your customers?

Jake: We use a QR code generator to create codes that we display at the event. That QR code pulls up the short code and access code in a text message so that all they have to do is hit “send” to subscribe. We try to get everyone subscribed to the gallery through text which has worked really well. For schools, we try to get their email addresses, as well.

‍Everyone’s familiar with QR codes and really embraces that technology. We have a handful of people that still want to do paper envelopes for schools and we’ll make accommodations, but out of 500 people maybe 10 of them want to do something on paper versus the computer or their phone.

PhotoDay: That’s wonderful to know that the vast majority of people are open to the process. Going into your daily life, how has the PhotoDay workflow saved you time? And what are you doing with that extra time?

Jake: It’s amazing. J7 Images is still a side hustle for me (that’s really a full-time job). The way we have grown this year, I never would have been able to do that without PhotoDay. Typically we hire a lot of part-time staff to help with ordering, but we’ve been able to spend less time, money, and resources on that. The errors and customer service end of things are also less now that everything goes through PhotoDay. We pre-make and put a lot of our memory mates on PhotoDay, and if there’s something wrong like a spelling error or an unmatched team, people will catch that before they place their order now which saves us a lot of time and energy.

For school pictures, being able to have those orders come in as people want to is amazing. We no longer have to wait for all of the orders to come in, then deliver them in a bulk shipment. Everyone has the freedom to order when they want.

Over time as you keep adding galleries, it creates a steady income for your business—which we never saw before. It’s a nice bonus, and I think we’re getting sales that we totally would have missed out on.

PhotoDay: Regarding getting into photography, if you had to start over again, what would you do differently?

Jake: I probably would have done it a lot sooner! I would have gotten into volume a lot quicker than we did, too. I love my sports stuff. I love being out there with the kids, and we have a ton of fun. One of the things we’ll talk about at PhotoDay Experience is how PhotoDay takes a lot of the personal experience out of it by making it convenient for parents by being online. So what you do at the session, what you do to set the stage, and the images you create become much more important now because once you take and publish the images, all of the interaction happens in PhotoDay. So you do the work on the front end and set the image and approach on picture day, so they know the photos are going to be good before they ever see them just by the way you interacted with people. That’s the part that I love about sports. From the payday standpoint: school pictures. There’s nothing that beats going into a school and spending 5 hours trying to get kids to smile (that maybe don’t want to smile), but if you have fun with it and make a good day of it, it’s going to pay off—especially through PhotoDay, with minimal effort on your side once you get the images edited and uploaded.

PhotoDay: Do you have any specific advice for those who are on the fence about using PhotoDay?

Jake: (laughing) What are you waiting for? Don’t be scared. The customer service and onboarding are amazing. Yes, there are things you need to learn. It is a change. My markets are relatively small in north-central Illinois, but the parents embrace this technology. People are blown away by FaceFind when they learn about it.

‍It improves the image of your brand and allows you to do so much more with your time. You can focus on your images, you can focus on editing, you can focus on creating new looks and items. There’s no reason to wait. I was a little nervous at first, as well, and eased into it. But it’s definitely the way to go.

Thank you for sharing your story and motivating us to continue growing and exploring, Jake! You can connect with J7 Images on Instagram and Facebook. If you’re headed to The PhotoDay Experience, don’t miss his session all about booking more business.

Are you ready to take Jake’s advice and take the next step? See what PhotoDay can do for you by learning more about our features and tools and sign up to get started for free! Our customer success team will help you every step of the way.

With over 20 years of experience in the industry, Rose and Tim Coleman of Center Stage Photos are known for their high-quality cheer and dance portraits. Based in Oklahoma, the Colemans travel around the U.S. photographing sports teams and clubs. They've also spoken at SPAC, SYNC, and Pas de Deux.

We sat down with Rose and Tim to discuss how they balance running their successful studio, making time for family, traveling, and taking care of their cows, chickens, and goats.

While the search for the perfect balance between working hard and enjoying life can feel like a never-ending journey, the Colemans are proof that it’s not impossible!

‍In this video interview, you’ll get to know them, hear their stories, and hopefully feel inspired to seek your own work-life balance.

The History of Center Stage

Rose and Tim discuss how they got started in 2016—broke, raising kids, and photographing one All-Star Cheer account. With weddings and seniors being the biggest categories in the industry (and thus the most saturated), the Colemans knew they wanted to do something different. High-quality volume photography was still “an untapped territory” in their area of Oklahoma.  

Rose says, “We knew that we could make something beautiful. We could take what we knew with the portrait world and join that into a volume sports world—and be able to work from home and have more flexibility and time and not have the overhead of that kind of building and staff and all the requirements that went along with it. So we were like…we're gonna go volume.”

In their first year of business, one of the gym owners promoted the Colemans on Facebook, and in the next week, they had booked seven out-of-state accounts and became a national company.

Tim says, “And that was the beginning of what we now have—over 70 All-Star Cheer accounts, roughly 25 local dance accounts that we work with; we were able to create something that we both work full time without any assistance from…other side jobs or anything like that. And we've been able to raise three kids, buy a twelve-acre ranch, and pretend to be farmers—and love on the baby goats.”[divider line_type="No Line"]

Getting Online with PhotoDay

At that time, Rose and Tim weren’t selling online, but they used a “shoot and show” technique that allowed customers to view and choose their photos on-site on an iPad. Multiple poses and image-first selling were always a part of their strategy. “We wanted parents to get to see the image, choose what they want, and then check out at the end.”

They knew moving online was inevitable, but they wanted to find the best solution for their business. They learned about PhotoDay at SYNC, met co-founder and SVP Lisa Mallis, and admired the fun PhotoDay brand—including our team baseball tees. COVID was another factor that pushed them to make the transition from paper order forms to online selling. Tim says, “It was a scary transition, but I had faith in the transition.”

How PhotoDay Has Changed Their Workflow

PhotoDay has always strived to be more than just software—we are a community dedicated to bringing picture day into the hands of today’s parents, influencing and improving creativity, and leveraging technology every step of the way.

Tim says, “Being a part of the community has been super beneficial. Getting to meet just really great, authentic people within the industry is wonderful. That has nothing to do with the amazing software” and all the time it has saved. All of those hours of manually inputting orders, deciphering handwriting, whittling away at stacks of paper…It’s all taken care of now.

“Honestly, [PhotoDay] gave us the hope to scale. It gave us the opportunity and ability to do a lot more.” Now they can photograph four accounts over a weekend in a different state and post the galleries as quickly as humanly possible. That means one day (or two for compositing groups). With their competition sitting on images for two weeks or more, they were able to leverage the power of PhotoDay’s time-saving technology to improve their turnaround time.

“It's part of our strategy: beautiful images, dynamic lighting, get to them as fast as possible, and make it convenient for parents.”

Let’s Talk About Capture

Rose starts with, “Let’s talk about Capture. It’s my favorite thing. Part of our strategy is taking a large amount of friend photos (we call them buddy shots), and we encourage it.” Once a subject has gotten their six to eight individual photos, Rose and Tim ask if they want to take a picture with a buddy—and the answer is always yes.

In the realm of paper order forms, buddy photos can be difficult and time-consuming. Enter: the Capture app. With Capture, all you have to do is upload subject data before or at picture day, snap reference photos directly in the app on picture day, and watch FaceFind sync the reference photos and data to your professional images upon upload.

What might take a typical photographer a whole weekend to photograph takes the Colemans around three hours—without compromising any quality or creativity.

“That's why we love the Capture app. That has been my absolute favorite thing about PhotoDay. Being able to take reference photos of them and not have to touch that later. And so when we upload images after we process things out, they immediately get sorted into the correct places.”

Rose and Tim exclusively use private galleries in PhotoDay, so they use Capture to “keep the photo shoot going” smoothly with their allotted one-minute per athlete average. “They get their own individual access just to their files only. We’ve found that the best way to sell to them and it's the best way that works with our system.”

Rose shares that she was getting to a point with their previous system where she didn't want to do buddy shots anymore due to how time-consuming they were on the back end. “So I would say that was probably the biggest thing of change was working with the Capture app on the workflow side of things…It’s magical. It's Disney magic."

Making Marketing Easy

The Colemans agree that PhotoDay helped ease their marketing woes. From automatic email and text communication to flash sales to targeted holiday promos—“It made it easy…We brought in so much more money.”

“I don't blast emails…I want to only talk to the people that haven't made a purchase, and that option is available now. And I love that.”

Work-Life Balance

Rose and Tim have three children: twelve, ten, and soon to be eight. “It's so crazy. We have such a different lifestyle than most of our friends that, you know, go in at eight, they come home at five” and struggle to juggle pick-ups, drop-offs, practices, making dinner, etc. “But we get all of those opportunities, for the most part, unless we're traveling, and then we bring them with us.”

‍“We have so much more free time for a lifestyle that we love…We kind of like create/mold to whatever we actually want to do.” Whether that’s vacationing or buying more cows and chickens.

Accomplishing Goals with PhotoDay

“I just love that we're able to accomplish our short-term goals so quickly. I think that literally, we've been able to accomplish every single goal that we've set out for. [Rose chimes in: “You're bragging”]. And we're in the stage of figuring out what our long-term does look like.”

“Financial freedom has been our biggest goal ever,” Rose says, which can feel unattainable for a lot of people in the photography industry. “Most people feel like it's just a part-time gig or part-time job…but with the back end of what PhotoDay offers, you really can make a great living off it. And I just didn't think that that was possible five years ago.”

“A lot of the workflow has been able to allow us to position ourselves in a pattern of growth in order to be able to do more because the workflow things of our lives have been simplified.”

“If you're not up to your head in workflow, and you have automated things on the backend that help reduce that workflow—you can dream about things. You have the moments and the opportunity to actually create or ideate about something that's bigger than just taking a photo.”

Having PhotoDay as a workflow and marketing solution allows photographers to focus on their work to the best of their ability. “And then at like midnight, you hear that cha-ching.”

Thank you, Rose and Tim, for sharing your fantastic success story! You can connect with Center Stage Photos on Facebook and Instagram.

Rose and Tim recently hosted a webinar with us all about staying balanced—check out the replay.

If you’re interested in simplifying your workflow and transforming your work-life balance like the Colemans, explore our features and sign up for a free PhotoDay account to get started!

Based in Kingman, AZ, just outside of Las Vegas, NV, Jo and Jason Marino are a wife and husband photography duo that began their career capturing countless weddings and portraits, before opening a second brand for schools and sports leagues. They are established educators that have presented at ImagingUSA, WPPI, and several other conferences and workshops numerous times over the years. They’re also avid PhotoDay users.

After taking a step back from hustle culture, the Marinos now pride themselves on providing quality, creative images with an elevated customer experience. With the help of PhotoDay, they’ve doubled their AOV in just a few months and are able to spend more time with their family, traveling, and away from their desks. Jason says, “It’s like a lifestyle company. For us, it’s huge.”

How Strada Studios Started

Jason and Jo founded Strada Studios in 2017, but Jo was capturing portraits and weddings long before the two met in 2005. Coming from a background in art and graphic design, Jason began assisting Jo and helping as a second photographer until 2009 when they officially joined forces to start their wedding company. They quickly grew to capturing 20-25 high-end weddings a year. The Marinos traveled the world focusing on luxe and international weddings and portrait work.

Changing Markets

“In 2016, we just realized we were going to miss a lot of what was going on with our kids and with their sports. So we decided we needed to switch things up to be home more. At the time, we were going to conferences and educating [while photographing weddings]. We decided to go into portrait and in-person sales with portraiture.”

After being frustrated with the quality of their own kids' school sports photos, they decided to dip their toes into the volume photography industry. They went straight to the local schools in their town, showed them what they could do better—and were quickly able to convince almost every local school to get on board.

Jason reflects, “I still had a [separate career], even though we were doing all that other stuff, and I said, ‘You know what, let's see if we can get a couple more schools, and I'll just stop working [the day job]. And that's what we did. Our portrait business blew up right around the same time.” They have since expanded their volume business to neighboring cities, including several schools in Las Vegas.

Shifting Focus

After the Marinos transitioned out of weddings and into portrait and volume work, they realized it didn’t always have to be about working harder and harder to “get bigger and bigger.” Jason says, “We try to work when we want. For many, many years, in the education space, we talked a lot about making money, but through the client experience—how you can elevate your revenue and elevate your client experience and how it all goes hand in hand.

Within the past year or so, Jo and I both started thinking, ‘Hey, let's stop trying to get bigger and bigger. Let's kind of just cruise and kick back and be happy with where we're at.’ So now I talk a lot about mental health and wellness and how important that is for a successful company.”

This mental shift was a big turning point for them and their company and is ultimately what led them to PhotoDay.

Saving Time (and money) with PhotoDay

Jason and Jo’s renewed focus on responsible growth and mental health aligns with PhotoDay’s mission to streamline workflows, save time, and improve customer experience. They first heard about PhotoDay through one of our partner labs, Bay Photo. It began with a simple conversation with their lab, which led to a consultation call, and a quick sign-up.

Jason shares, “I wanted to be able to grow a little bit, but I was sick of entering orders, QR codes, and all the [frustrations] that go with it. So when I realized that PhotoDay could get rid of all that, we decided to try it out. So we just jumped in and did it.”

How have PhotoDay’s tools helped them on their mission to streamline and save time? “We have our time [back] and don’t have to pay someone to enter orders and do everything that comes along with it. So we're actually saving money by [using PhotoDay].”

“It's incredible what we're able to do, and we're not working any harder. We're working less hard, and providing a slightly better experience than your average volume photographer probably does.”

Historically, volume photography has a bad reputation: clunky workflows, tiring days, and creative restrictions. "Coming from the luxe wedding and portraiture side of things, exceptional lighting and composition are important to us. There isn't a ton of storytelling in sports portraits, but we always want to light them in a really unique, technical way that pushes us creatively and blows parents' minds.”

Before PhotoDay they didn't have the time to do these types of creative things on-site, since they were more concerned about ensuring the correct data was captured, order forms were turned in, and money was collected. “It was a massive bummer just going through the motions. Most of our time was spent on administrative duties, and not being creatives. Ultimately we want to have fun doing what we love, and we want our clients to say 'Wow, how did they do this?' PhotoDay has given us that."

All About the Experience

Volume photographers not selling online have to stay focused on being efficient on location at picture day, leaving the rest of their tasks stagnant and frustrating. This leads to education in the volume space often centering around “How many leagues and schools can you get? How many heads can you shoot a year? How many photographers can you hire? How fast can you photograph one subject?” But none of these goals directly translate into a positive customer experience.

‍“I think that's almost how we've found a way to find a balance between our portrait business—which is very client-centric and upscale—but still be able to have speed and efficiency. PhotoDay allows us to do that. So we are taking a little more time with the kids, doing a few more poses, and letting them have fun. And it’s costing us very little…we’re actually going faster now because we’re not dealing with paperwork and QR codes.”

Growing Responsibly

“Our revenue per person practically doubled.”

‍With PhotoDay, Strada Studios made $52,000 in August from 5 schools. In September, between schools and leagues, they made over $60,000. They are excited to share that the Dashboard app has been chiming and the PD100s have been flowing.

Since modern technology and trends are always evolving, selling online means maintaining flexibility to change with new tech and rules to make sure your strategy will always get you out in front. Using an image-first selling platform like PhotoDay encourages photographers to improve season over season, which is made easier than ever with the analytics and data at your fingertips.

Jason says their next steps are to work on better communication and connection with their customers. Since the online sales cycle differs drastically from offline, paper form sales, we’ve done the research, prepared the data, and are always available to help our studios one-on-one.

‍PhotoDay’s customer success team helps analyze your galleries and sales, offers strategic suggestions, and helps you implement them. Our team is also always working on updates to streamline the process, optimize our tools, and ultimately improve customer conversion rates.

Jason Marino’s Favorite PhotoDay Features

       
• “My favorite part is what we don’t have to do. Order entry. I love that we get to set it and forget it (who wants a PhotoDay-branded slow cooker?). Basically, Jo and I upload the pictures and go live our life. We get to go on the road, see our kids play sports, take trips—whatever we’re doing. We’re not strapped to our desks at all. We can just move about the world and work from anywhere. The best part? We're making money, all while we are doing everyday fun things, not even thinking about work.”
       
• Speaking of money…“My Dashboard App just chimed during this interview! You get trained to hear that cha-ching go off. I used to stare at it every time, but now I look at it once every couple of hours. It’s only because we’re already used to making such great money with PhotoDay. We got used to it!”
       
• “[PhotoDay] gives us more time to implement better customer service directly one-on-one with our clients because we’re not spending all of our time strapped to a desk. Every time a customer calls with a question, we’re able to give them our full attention—and people are thrilled because of it. We’re freeing up our time from data entry to give it to the customer service side.

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Many thanks to Jason for sharing their story and PhotoDay experience! You can connect with Jason and Jo on Facebook—Strada Studios and Imagine Photography— and on Instagram—@imaginephotoaz.

To learn more about how PhotoDay’s game-changing features can transform your own business, browse our website and sign up to get started for free!

From the beginning, PhotoDay’s mission has always been to use innovative tech to modernize and simplify volume photographers’ workflows. Our team celebrates each and every time our platform and features save your valuable time. Hearing first-hand accounts of how these tools and systems impact a business is like that first sip of coffee in the morning—it keeps us going every day.

Established in 2001, Freed Photography is a prominent photography studio based in Washington, DC, and run by Neal Freed, his wife Carla, and their partner Bryan Blanken. Together they take pride in bringing a fresh perspective to school photography while capturing tens and tens of thousands of subjects each year. When Freed Photography discovered the magic of the PhotoDay Capture App, it was transformative for their workflow—both during and after picture day.

We interviewed Neal and Bryan to learn why they started their volume photography business, what led them to PhotoDay, and how Capture has made “a huge, monumental change” in the way they run their business.

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Lisa:
Thank you for joining me today! We’re going to talk about the experience you’ve had so far with PhotoDay and our Capture app. First, why don’t you tell us about yourself—your studio, what you do, and what you specialize in.

Bryan:
We have a business in the DC area that we started by doing weddings and corporate portraits for a long time starting in the late 1990s and early 2000s. Then in 2009, one of our clients asked us to do school pictures, and we said, “No, because we don’t do school pictures.” When she asked again, Neal, of course, who always leads with “Yes,” said, “Yes, we’ll do it.”

So we marched down there with our blue backgrounds for traditional yearbook photos. We had zero systems in place—we had two reams of copy paper and two Sharpies because you always need backups. And that was our system: a kid would come up, write their name, hold it up, take a picture, and then we’d do the [professional] pictures. Ten minutes into this very sophisticated process, we looked at each other and said, “What are we doing here? This isn’t what we do. We take beautiful pictures—portrait sessions, environmental portraits.” So we took the kids outside. But then we had all of these pictures without preorders and had to figure out how to get them online.

That was the first school we did. We realized that if we were really going to be in the school business, we needed to figure out how to do the school business. [So over the next 10 years, we did.] We flipped our business totally to now being 90% schools.

But we do things a little differently. We take traditional yearbook pictures, as well as beautiful, environmental portraits outside. We like to say that we don’t do school portraits. We do portraits that happen to be done at school.

Neal:
I’ll add briefly that we have hundreds of schools now and 95% of our sales are online. They’re all multiple pictures—we’ll take anywhere from 6 to 20 pictures of a student. It’s not the traditional, “One picture: put your feet on the mat, smile, click, next.” We do it in a much nicer way, and we think that our sales indicate that we have the right approach in our market.

Bryan:
It’s a simple formula: if you have more to sell then you’ll sell more.

Neal:
And better pictures are going to get better sales. We want to think that we could do it a little better and charge a little more and come out ahead versus being in what I call “the race to the bottom” of “do it quicker, do less, give them less, and charge less.” We’d rather do the opposite. Do a little more, give them a little more, and charge a little more. We think that everyone ends up happier that way.

Lisa:
Back in 2018 at Imaging USA in Nashville, we made our announcement into the industry as PhotoDay. We invited 50 industry leaders to show what we were building. It wasn’t until later when I saw some pictures floating around, that I realized you, Neal, were actually at our launch event back then. So at the time, our Capture app didn’t exist yet, but we were showing how we planned to use and introduce facial clustering into the industry. What were your initial thoughts on that?

Neal:
I mean, I thought it would be great. I thought it would work. There’s no question that facial recognition was going to get there. I’m just amazed at how well yours works. It’s mind-boggling to me. We all knew it was coming, but anybody who thinks that it’s still coming is wrong. It’s here.

Lisa:
I did pull some quick stats. So far, your studio has uploaded over 140,000 photos to 68 unique jobs or schools into PhotoDay. I’m curious—what were your initial thoughts about the process when you were first trying it out?

Bryan:
Before PhotoDay, we were doing QR captures on tablets. We started out on paper, then we graduated to the tablets on our own system that we created. So we were a little bit familiar with using that type of system, but when we first [tried Capture], I found that the speed at which you could capture and go through and get kids identified was really amazing.

It took so much pressure off our photographers to identify each student because with Capture you don’t have to take the reference photo, then immediately take the kid’s [professional] picture—you can just take the pictures [at any point in the picture day]. Whereas with our old system, you had to take the QR photo, then you immediately had to take the student’s portrait.  

With Capture, it’s like boom, boom, boom, boom, boom. We figured out a system that really works for us. In fact, our production manager came in to tell me today that the school we just did matched up 100%. I don’t think we ever had that with our QR code system.

Neal:
Bryan really handles what’s happening at the picture day at the school, while my experience is more in the back end office side of things. And Bryan’s head was exploding at PhotoDay. One photographer can go through the whole class and photograph everybody so quickly, and all they have to worry about is taking pictures—which is the part they like. We’ll do the hard part of “What’s your name? How do you spell it? Which Smith are you?”

On the back end, QR codes are great, but they’re not 100%. And we even had a very sophisticated system…It was a live database that if somebody came up and they weren’t in the system, we could add them on the tablet. So we were probably as advanced as anybody using QR codes, but when the system had to read the QR codes, sometimes you had glare blocking the code or somebody’s finger was over it or it was out of focus or the QR code was perfect, and the system just didn’t read it. So we never ever got anywhere close to [matching] 100%.

Our success rate with Capture and PhotoDay is probably at 99.9%, with the biggest problem being making sure that we get a reference photo of everybody. But if we get the reference photo, it just works. I mean, it’s breathtaking and fast. It’s fast at the picture day, and it’s fast back in the office. And when you’re done and you’ve got 500 kids matched, you might have one or two that aren’t identified. The amount of time saved in the whole process is almost incalculable. With hundreds of schools, it’s an absolute game-changer for us.

Bryan:
What I’ve also figured out is that since there’s less work for each photographer, my staffing is going to change. Since it’s so much faster, I’m going to save on labor by probably having one less photographer per job.

Lisa:
To backtrack just a little bit, I really want to know—why did you finally decide to give it a try? What made you decide to dive in and test out Capture?

Neal:
You know, that’s a great question. I don’t even remember where it came from, but I was talking to somebody, and they mentioned you. I remembered what you were working on and [the announcement in Nashville]…And I said, you know, maybe it’s time to touch base again. And I am beyond thrilled that I did.

Lisa:
So you’re around 140,000 images in, but you only started using it a few months ago in the spring season, right?

Neal:
Yes, in the fall it’s gonna be a lot of pictures.

Lisa:
Based on your experience so far, do you feel comfortable enough going into a busy fall season with two or three times the amount of images?

Bryan:
I’m feeling pretty good. Like I said, I do the front end [the actual capture of the Capture). I feel really confident that this is going to give us a huge advantage—to be able to spend more time actually photographing. We’ll be able to do a better job, we’ll have more variety—which means we’re going to sell more—and then you get accuracy.

Lisa:
You mentioned how it’s helped speed up the events and how the staff is happier because they don’t have that stress on them about the QR codes. Are there any other details you want to share about how Capture and PhotoDay have helped your studio this spring?

Bryan:
A couple of things that are really interesting. Now kids can come at different times during the day. We can get their [reference photo], we can look through the Capture app and confirm who wasn’t there, and if we missed somebody, we can check with the school. When you have someone that isn’t on your student data list, adding a student is really easy to do [on site on the app].

What’s also been really, really fantastic is that we’ve been pre-loading for our spring shoots. So when the students come in, we’ll just call the names, and whoever’s left, either I needed a reference photo or already have it. Then they get their pictures taken. It’s super fast and super accurate. Having those reference photos already pre-loaded…my head was definitely exploding. I felt like I was cheating.

We always say that, ultimately, if you don’t have the kid’s name, then don’t bother taking the picture. Because you can have the most beautiful pictures and the perfect lighting and everything is great, but if we don’t know who that kid is, it doesn’t matter. So it all starts with making sure you know who the student is. Without that you have nothing.

Lisa:
Speaking of that, I heard you came up with a pretty creative workflow to make sure that you do have every kid checked in on picture day. Can you share that process?

Bryan:
We do! It’s a bit of a secret, but we’re going to share it. The magic of knowing if everyone has a reference photo is really the trick. We bought these poker chips, and when we have the student’s reference photo, we give the chip to the student who then gives the chip to the photographer when it’s their turn to be photographed. It’s pretty simple, but it gives everyone a way to make sure that we’ve got them captured in our system; and it lets the photographer know, they’re good to go.

Neal:
So it’s no chippy, no clicky. The photographers are the ultimate kind of safety net because they know that if a kid comes up without a chip, they have to go back and get their reference photo taken. If they have the chip, then we know we have the reference photo. And that’s how we address knowing that we have a reference photo for everybody.

Lisa:
That’s an amazing idea. On picture days, are you working mainly offline or are you using Wi-Fi/cellular connection at the schools?

Bryan:
We’re doing both. Most of our schools have Wi-Fi, but sometimes when we’re shooting outside, we’re too far away from the school and don’t have a connection. When that’s the case, we try to make sure whoever was taking the reference photos lets their app sync as soon as they get back home to make sure that all those things are getting uploaded [to the studio panel].

Neal:
We’re always tweaking our business, and most tweaks are little tweaks. Rarely do we get to do a tweak that’s a game-changer. We thought that our QR workflow was pretty slick, but the total student identification aspect of Capture versus the way we were doing it…The impact on the photographers, the photo data, the speed, the accuracy—this is a huge, huge game-changer for us. It’s almost as big as going from Sharpies on copy paper to QRs. With how much more accurate, quicker, and easier it is for the photographers and for our back office people—It’s a huge, monumental change, and we don’t get to come across changes that big that often. We are huge PhotoDay fans.

Lisa:
Our team loves to hear this. I mean, that’s why we do what we do, why we work so hard, challenge the technology, and try to build new processes. We’re always asking, “How can we really build something truly unique and use different technology to accomplish something better?”

Bryan:
We also like being innovative, and we like doing something that’s going to change the way things are being done in a positive way. We’re always in favor of that and work really hard at that. That’s kind of what brought us into what we do. Neal tells the story a million times of how [people would say], “You can’t take pictures outside, that will never work. You can’t put pictures on the internet, that will never work.” But fortunately, Neal doesn’t listen, and here we are. We came up with a method of doing what we do in a very efficient way that produces creative and beautiful imagery with the throughput velocity—featuring Capture. It’s gotten us to where we are today.

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A huge thank you to Neal and Bryan for sitting down with us and sharing their experience! We love hearing how impactful PhotoDay’s features can be. You can connect with Freed Photography on Facebook and LinkedIn.

To learn more about Capture, FaceFind, and the rest of PhotoDay’s features, browse our website and sign up to get started for free!

Want to read more first-hand accounts of how Capture can change your volume school photography workflow? Check out our interview with PhotoDay Trailblazer Zeke Moreno of Chalkboard Photography.

Here at PhotoDay, we’ve had the pleasure of watching countless studios transition from years of paper order forms into the future of online selling. We’ve interviewed volume photographers at all stages of their businesses, but we’re particularly excited to start hearing from photographers who are using PhotoDay from the very beginning of their journey into volume photography.

Meghan Goering of Meghan Goering Photography is a fine art photographer based in Cedar Falls, IA, who has done this very thing. Although she’s been photographing professionally since 2017, Meghan decided to dive into the volume photography industry in 2021. Using PhotoDay from the start, her sales have increased over five times in the past year. We sat down with Meghan to hear her story and advice for photographers looking to do the same.

PhotoDay: Tell us a little bit about your business.

Meghan: My background is actually in mechanical engineering, but I had dabbled in photography as a high school senior working for a wedding photographer. It had always kind of been in the background, but I really brought it to fruition in 2017.

That’s when I started serving [high school] seniors. I had a harder time penetrating other markets; I had no concept of how to be a business owner. I just knew, “Hey I love taking pictures,” and then just over time my business evolved. For my portrait business, I am using an in person sales model that’s very boutique. I have a studio in town that’s about a thousand square feet, and my average sale for a portrait session is between $2000 and $4000. I photograph seniors, families, maternity, newborn, milestone, business headshots…everything but weddings and boudoir. For volume work, I photograph two dance studios and two preschools. My average sales are much different there.

PD: What type of volume do you typically do in terms of subjects photographed (for your volume markets)?

M: The current dance school volume I’m at right now is somewhere between 400 to 500 subjects, which relates to about 2000-2500 spaces (each costume is almost like another subject).

I was doing shoot and burn, but was not satisfied by it. In 2021 I committed, “I’m going to switch back to IPS (in person sales) no matter how many little clients I have because that’s where my heart is.” I love serving people. I’m from the South, and my mom ingrained in me the importance of tangible custom-framed portraits. She custom-framed everything, including our artwork from when we were terrible in elementary school. As a child, this taught me that I was valued and that was reflected on the walls in our home.

In 2021 I photographed maybe 25 families…I was focused on building and establishing my name in the community. I think I might do around 24 portrait sessions again this year. This might not sound like much, but I am committed to working a part-time schedule to be available to our three girls on my off days. Motherhood is my priority first. Could I take my business and blow it up and work a whole lot more? Yes, but that’s not my priority right now—it’s to slowly grow and build while also being present as our girls’ mom.

PD: How did you first hear about PhotoDay?

M: My daughters were attending a dance studio when I was exposed to Katherine Marie on Instagram. Her fine art approach to dance photography is absolutely breathtaking. And I thought, “What if I could recreate [this]?” What I love about dance is that there’s a very artistic element in spite of it being volume work. It feels like I can create something beautiful while still serving the masses.

As I said, I’m an engineer, and even though I am a photographer, I think like an engineer. I’m all about problem-solving, efficiency, and streamlining workflow…that’s just how I’m wired. And that’s when I started to dream and think, “If I’m going to do this, I need some sort of process to handle all of the backend processes,” like the orders—I had no desire to do QR codes.

So I started joining dance volume groups and asking if something like this existed to be like my team. I always tell people that PhotoDay allows me to be a one-woman show. It’s as though I’ve hired you to be my back-end team. So I think it was truly from searching through Facebook Groups that I found PhotoDay.

PD: Word of mouth is typically how we’ve spread through the community, so it’s great to hear that first-hand! You’ve become known in the PhotoDay Users Group for specializing in collages. Tell me how that process/workflow includes PhotoDay.

M: The dance studio that I took over for said, “Our families are used to collages.” I hate Photoshop for making design stuff, so I needed to find something that was easy. I landed on Canva for the ease of drag & drop. I can make a collage in less than 5 minutes from start to finish. I integrated with WHCC as my lab, and I think they stand out by offering 10×13, 10×20, and 10×30 prints—for me, that’s a small, medium, and large collage. The beauty of those sizes is that parents can’t order that collage photo as a cheaper 8×10 version due to the aspect ratios.

After a gallery goes live, I send an email talking about the collages and include a marketing flyer that shows the different sizes and prices. Then when parents view the gallery, all they have to do is send me the file names of all of the images that they want with the name they want at the top. Then I go into Canva, design the collage, and upload it to PhotoDay like any other photo, but tag it as “collage.” When I email parents, I tell them to go to the collages tag. When they do, it says the subject’s name and clearly explains which size to order. I write out every single step so there are no questions and to reduce mistakes when they order.

And my parents that buy collages end up spending a whole lot of money. Most of my highest sales are due to the collage; even though it’s only $120, people end up placing $300-$700 orders.

If you’re interested in integrating collages into your business model, Meghan offers her templates for purchasing here.

PD: How do you communicate PhotoDay to your volume clients?

M: In 2021, my business grew five and a half times. I tell people PhotoDay was the tipping point for me. What it allowed me to do was to show people in the community that I could create an amazing experience for their dancers—and even preschoolers—beyond your typical crappy volume experience.

How has PhotoDay affected the way I do business? To me, it changed my business. PhotoDay allowed me to open my first commercial space because I finally had cash flow that I could count on and forecast for and know that I’m going to meet operating expenses every year.

I have learned that there’s so much power in relationship marketing. I didn’t print fancy pamphlets; I sold them on Meghan. People choose volume with me because they love me. I’m not saying that to be prideful. I’m truly grateful for the relationships I’ve built with other business owners. They know me first before they know I’m a photographer because my kids go to dance at their studio and attend these preschools. The directors know me and like me as a person before I ever make a pitch to them. Because of this existing relationship, I’m able to come and say, “Hey, I’d really like to serve you and your families, and I think I can do it better.”

For our dance studio, it was all paper order forms—the owner was having to hand out everything, and she didn’t have time to do all of that paperwork. I was solving her problem, but also her parents’ problems. Now they can buy what they love and create a package with lots of different poses. Whereas before, you could only get one pose. I used to hate that as a parent!

Even with my preschool photos, I was able to come at it as a parent: “I’m a parent of a preschooler. I’ve been there. I think I can do this better, and I think your parents will love it.”

I didn’t have pretty pamphlets or a nice marketing video. I had a relationship first. I sold them on me and I told them, “This is how I how I can make your life better and your families’ lives better.” That’s why they chose me.

PD: That’s wonderful. Leveraging relationships is the best way to add that human touch you just can’t beat with marketing materials.

How has PhotoDay streamlined your workflow specifically? Some studios went from using paper order forms, were able to downsize a large team of employees, etc. but you are coming from a different starting point.

M: Because I never had that “before,” all I’ve ever known is PhotoDay. The pain point I was trying to solve when I chose PhotoDay was because I didn’t want to have to deal with paper order forms, remember names, or make QR codes. I wanted an online sales platform—I didn’t want to have shipments come to my house and deliver orders. I wanted amazing customer service so I could delight parents every time there was an error. So instead of PhotoDay streamlining my workflow, I chose PhotoDay because of what it could do for my workflow.

PD: That’s a very unique perspective, especially because we typically deal with a lot of older studios that have been in business for decades, already have their process, and have had to shift and go through a transformation. With you, you chose this right off the bat.

M: I’m trying to help other portrait photographers like myself bring in additional, reliable revenue, that will ultimately then funnel future clients into their portrait businesses. People like myself have never had any experience with volume.

PD: What are 3 specific ways PhotoDay has helped you and your studio grow? You already mentioned opening your space. Tell me more about that.

M: That was the hugest thing—PhotoDay has helped me open my first commercial studio. Before this, I was operating out of our basement (which is probably true for a lot of portrait photographers). Specifically during COVID, having a client come into the home was difficult. I had to clean before and after, and what if my kids were sick? It affected our daily lives tremendously. The studio brought freedom and allowed me to grow my business due to having a better space to serve people and show legitimacy.

Another way PhotoDay has helped me grow is by encouraging me to develop these resources for other photographers to use. I have collage and email templates for sale and share my process and workflow. I also developed a dance banner for posing. I’ve had 48 people buy that banner for this dance season alone (which can be purchased here).  That extra, unexpected revenue enabled me to buy a new mirrorless system. I never would have done these collage templates or dance pose banners if it wasn’t for getting into PhotoDay and dance photography and seeing a need that will help other photographers grow.

PD: You already touched on this concerning photographing in your home during COVID, but how has your daily life been changed?

M: PhotoDay has been an enabler to my success. I couldn’t have done this without PhotoDay. Yes, I take great pictures, but what good is it if you can’t sell them? So it’s a joint partnership.

This is really cheesy…but I’m going to say it anyways. I think my confidence as a photographer has increased. My confidence as a businesswoman has increased. Even my own joy in my business has increased.

In 2017 when I started photography, I didn’t know what I was doing. I didn’t know how to be a business owner. I just knew I wanted to take pictures. In 2018, I still wasn’t growing and hadn’t paid myself a single dollar since everything was being reinvested. In 2019, it was still slow. I was doing shoot and burn, we’d just moved to Iowa, and I was re-establishing myself again. It felt like I was working for pennies based on the service I was providing my clients, and I felt like, “Is anybody ever going to value what I do?”

At the end of 2020, I said to myself, “I’m going to give this one more year. I’m going to try in person sales one more time. As much as I love photography, at the end of the day, a business has to be profitable. And if I can’t be profitable, I’m done.” That was really hard to admit to myself that if I’m not successful, I’m not doing this anymore. But, my family had made so many sacrifices for me to launch my business (i.e. late night sessions, years of not being paid, intruding our home with a studio, etc.) that I was unwilling to do this to them any longer if it wasn’t going to pay back.

PhotoDay affected my daily life because it proved to me that I could create a profitable, thriving, and fulfilling business that volume AND portrait clients appreciate. I didn’t have to walk away from photography. I’ve been successful, and I’m continuing to grow my business—and my sales per person. It feels great to say I was on the brink of failure, and now look where I am. That feels awesome.

PD: In terms of Average Order Value (AOV), what are some before and after examples?

M: My first year of doing PhotoDay, my AOV for a particular dance studio was $101. This year, for that same studio and about the same number of people photographed, my AOV is $138. Preschool is a little different since I have less content to provide than with dance, but I think my AOV is still around $75 for preschoolers.

For my in person portrait sales, there is one number I’m really proud of—this year, I had my highest in person sale of $8000. And that’s from their first of three sessions. That was a great way to start my year!

This isn’t to toot my own horn. My goal is to continue to be profitable, sell more of my collages and dance banners, and be able to help other photographers be successful, too. In fact, I really want to help other portrait photographers who are doing in person sales to see that they can use volume photography to help stimulate and support their portrait work.

Even just looking at sales from last year vs this year—this year with PhotoDay my total sales are just shy of $39,000 (as of June). Last year with PhotoDay was a total of $15,000. I’ve already more than doubled last year’s sales.

PD: Knowing what you know now, if you had to do it all over again, what would you do differently?

M: This goes hand in hand with what I’m hoping to help coach people through, but I think there’s a lot of strategy when it comes to picking your studio or preschool that you want to work with. We have to think beyond just the goal of revenue.

Sure, we want to be profitable. But I’m also thinking strategically from a place of being able to re-market to these families. I’ve sold them on loving their preschool and/or dance photos, and now I want to sell them on newborn, family, or senior photos.

If studios only want to do volume photos, that’s great! But if they’re looking for more after, if they want to actually leverage the pool of data and relationships they now have, you must think about the demographic before picking a random daycare or studio.

So what does this practically look like when I’m thinking about adding another dance studio? I’m going to pick one with a really strong rec program and a really strong competition team. If we only pick rec, the reality is that our sales will probably be lower. But if we pick rec and competition, now we’re reaching more potential revenue.

PD: Any advice to those who may still be on the fence about PhotoDay?

M: It’s interesting you ask this question. I recently chimed into a conversation in a Facebook Group about this. I feel like there are lots of things that set you guys apart, but here’s where I feel like there’s no other competition.

       
1. FaceFind. Truly, I would not choose anything else except FaceFind. I don’t have to remember kids’ names or deal with and print out QR codes. The fact that I just know that at the end of the day, if I don’t remember a single name—it’s okay. FaceFind is a game-changer, hands down, worth gold.
2. Customer Service. I know this sounds cheesy, but I have times where the post office mis-delivered something or a package got covered in water and the parents got mad. Not only does PhotoDay have great customer service, but you have very responsive customer service. Almost immediate! And that’s worth gold when my name is on the line. If I have a mad customer, it comes down to me and my reputation; but because of PhotoDay’s customer service, you help me feel confident in responding to my customers’ problems. And I know at the end of the day, we’re going to make them happy no matter what.
3. AdvancePay. I believe part of the reason why I’m so successful is because of the way I leverage the AdvancePay system. That’s a selling feature for PhotoDay. Money spent is money forgotten, and my parents spend so much in AP credits, that by the time they’re checking out, they think “Oh, I got an $80 credit!” Because you offer this as a general credit purchase (instead of pre-purchasing a specific package, like some other systems), it gives the parents freedom to purchase a credit without making a commitment to photos they haven’t seen yet.
4. It’s very simple, but being able to turn off the digital download option for a photo is incredible.
5. Lastly, when parents go to build out a print package, they can combine as many different poses as they want into a single package. As a parent, who needs 20,000 5x7s of one pose? I want a bunch of different 5x7s of different poses.

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We can’t thank Meghan enough for sitting down with us and sharing her experience! You can connect with Meghan on Facebook and Instagram. She welcomes anyone seeking to create a profitable and stress-free dance experience! Additionally, her templates and coaching can be found in her online shop.

To learn more about how PhotoDay’s game-changing features can transform your own business, browse our website and sign up to get started for free!

At PhotoDay, we use innovative technology to modernize and simplify your workflow. This makes running a volume photography business easier and more lucrative—it also provides the opportunity to improve your quality of life while offering high-quality images and products to more customers.With PhotoDay streamlining and automating your mundane daily tasks, you get to choose how to spend your newly saved time: pursue education in the form of workshops and conventions, hone your craft, and expand your client base! We also know it’s not all about work; that precious time can be spent with your family and doing the (non-photography-related) things you love. Photographers Jim and April Alsup of LDS Photography decided to do all of the above and are seeing stellar results! In Part 1 of this series, we learned how Jay and Carinna Boatwright (founders and owners of smaX Photography and Boatwright Bootcamp) use PhotoDay to book more business than ever. Now it’s time to hear how workflow simplification, improved image quality, and unprecedented flexibility have changed the Alsups’ entire lives!

Building a Business

Based in Indiana, Jim and April Alsup have been married for almost 20 years and have been photographing for even longer. When they met, Jim’s photography studio focused on a range of subjects (weddings, babies, sports, etc.), and April saw the potential to take on a much larger volume. So they joined forces and jumped into the volume world. They had already started with YMCA programs when a school they were doing sports for asked them to take over their school portraits. The rest was history as they became the largest family-owned volume photography company in their area.

Overcoming Burnout

However, by 2021, they were burnt out and ready to quit the business. April says, “I was done. We couldn’t find good staff to man the office. We printed everything in-house. We basically did everything ourselves [from booking, shooting, printing, packaging, mailing]...and it was no longer good for our mental health.” They visited a few labs with the hopes of outsourcing just the printing side of their business, but couldn’t find a match. Jim had already been talking to Lisa, “so I told him we’d give PhotoDay a go. I was ready to try anything. And it just worked. Our whole world has changed 100%...I’m not sure we’d still be doing this if we hadn’t found PhotoDay.”

Learning from the Boatwrights

The Alsups’ transformative journey began at a mini version of Boatwright Bootcamp. Jim learned all about the photography side of things from Jay, while April learned how to apply everything on the business side from Carinna, as well as Stevie from PhotoDay.The experience helped them branch outside of what they were already doing. “Everything we learned there made us say oooookay, we’ll just chuck everything we’ve done and start over because if the parent is going to see it before they buy it, it better be good.” They said farewell to flat, boring pictures and hello to well-lit, dynamically edited, multi-pose images. “We can take pictures that really look good and don’t take that much more time—and it’s really changed things.”

Adjusting Their Approach

Change can be difficult, but Jim and April welcomed the challenge. After going to Bootcamp, they bought new equipment and photographed one of their point-of-contact’s son as a free sample of their new quality, approach, and platform. Once he saw the pictures, he instantly secured them a field and the deal. April says, “We’ve had tons of positive feedback.” It was tricky to figure out their new pricing structure—before PhotoDay, they took one picture of every kid and could breeze through a school or league of 1000+ kids easily in a couple of hours. “But with PhotoDay, we are going the content route rather than one-pic-and-go. Our theory is with one picture, that’s the only thing we can sell. If we do two or three poses, not only will they buy one pose, but they might buy all three. It’s been really cool being able to add that content because, without PhotoDay, there’s no way to sell that second or third picture.”More inventory means more sales opportunities—but will the customers really purchase more? April says, “Our numbers are already up from 2019 (pre-COVID)...We’ve had some people say ‘Oh both my wife and I bought an AdvancePay credit, so we need to get one refunded’—but I hadn’t even loaded the photos up yet, so I’d say, ‘Just let me post the pictures, and if you see them and still want your money back, I’ll be happy to refund it to you.’” And they changed their minds!While the struggle to connect with customers is still present, April believes consistency is key. They communicate via email, text marketing, and by creating personalized marketing videos (check out Creating Marketing Videos to Engage Customers to learn more and watch one of Jay’s example videos).

Soaring to New Levels

The ease and presentation of PhotoDay have also enabled them to start expanding into nearby cities and dipping into whole new markets. “We’re so proud of this new way to show [our work] that we’ve started calling on dance schools” which is a new adventure for them. While prospecting, they have organizations text the access code of their demo gallery to 90738 and see their quality of work and the customer experience right from the start. “It’s been a really good sales tool.”For sports, they used to only take on the job if it was for the entire league or the entire school’s program. “But now we’ll go do a team here and a team there” since it doesn’t require so much work—they no longer have to drop off order forms, go back to take pictures, then pick up the order forms, deal with a parent who lost their order form, etc. "I feel like PhotoDay has given us the confidence and the cause of action to go talk to people we wouldn't have otherwise spoken to." Before PhotoDay, we were basically doing what [our competitors] were doing, but with customer service. Now, teachers/administrators/schools are so excited to not have to deal with camera cards, orders, and money. It’s made us really relevant for our schools. Before with sports, parents usually have a kid hanging off their leg, someone forgot a jersey and is driving back to get it, someone’s crying, etc., and I’m telling them they have to fill out an order form or they’re not getting pictures. Not doing that anymore is a big deal.” Now parents can view the photos before they buy their favorites—which will probably be all of them!

Feeling Refreshed and Supported

We asked April what the biggest game-changer has been since joining PhotoDay. She didn’t hesitate: going paperless. They sold their 1,200 square-foot space full of desks, printers, packaging, and more; now they use a spare bedroom with a few desks and a small printer as their office, and they can actually park in their garage. She said partnering with Reedy Photo has been such a pleasant change: “I’ve always been the one taking care of things!” but now, they’re being taken care of. “I don’t have to file paperwork or go through order forms when there’s an issue.”Getting started with a new platform always comes with a learning curve, but “the support of the Bubble has been incredible. They’re always so helpful, upbeat, and never make me feel like a pain.” From the Customer Success team to every PhotoDay user: no question is ever too silly! We’re dedicated to supporting, troubleshooting, educating, and overall helping our studios succeed in every way possible.

Quality of Life Above All Else

The Alsups strongly believe in the importance of their quality of life and mental health. “If it’s not good for us and our mental health, we’re not doing it. Period.” They had always wanted some of their four daughters to step into the business at some point, but none of them were interested after seeing the stress and long hours that their parents were going through. However, now that they’re using PhotoDay, one of their daughters has already started working with them full-time and wants to be a part of the business. "We look at each other at night and say, ‘Can you believe it? We don’t hate our job! We actually like it again!’" The flexibility PhotoDay has introduced into their lives is priceless. “The best thing is that I can take my laptop anywhere, visit my mom in Florida, go on vacation, and I can still deal with whatever needs to be dealt with. 30 minutes in the morning to take care of everything, and I’m done for the day.” Which is a drastic difference from the days of self-fulfillment and paper order forms. April says that while they aren’t particularly artsy people, “We are incredibly proud of the work we’re putting out.” In the past, “We’ve been efficient, really good at customer service, and our images have always been okay. But before, we’d never show people the back of the camera—and now, it’s like ‘Look at this!’ and you just know they’re going to buy it.” Of course, the boosted sales are rewarding, too!

“It’s changed everything—I can’t scream how great it is loud enough.”

With tangible results, a revived sense of pride, and the flexibility to spend more time with their loved ones and building their client base, Jim and April Alsup recommend PhotoDay and Boatwright Bootcamp to everyone they can. "We heard that when we went [to Bootcamp and signed up for PhotoDay] our lives were getting ready to change…But it’s true. Our life changed. It’s a big deal." If the idea of streamlining your business practices, improving the quality of your work, and booking more business while working less appeals to you, create a free account with PhotoDay! Our customer success team is here to walk you through every step. Learn more about PhotoDay’s life-changing features by exploring our website. Be sure to read Part 1 of this series to learn all about how Jay and Carinna Boatwright streamlined their workflow, leveled up their work and sales through image-first selling, and now book more business by working smarter.

Graduation season is almost here! It’s both an exciting time of celebration and a unique opportunity for photographers to reach new potential customers. PhotoDay is the perfect solution for your upcoming commencements. Get photos online faster with a quick and easy setup process. Effortlessly connect families to galleries using our smart text marketing feature. Promote and spread the word with our free design template resources. And if you haven’t already tested out PhotoDay’s amazing FaceFind feature, now is the time! Get ready for the easiest commencement season ever.

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Now, which gallery type do you choose? The options go from easiest to easier to easy (so there’s no wrong choice), but allow us to break it down for you.

The EASIEST Option - Public Gallery

So why a public gallery? Because you get the best of all worlds. Public galleries allow you to provide open access to all of the attendees. A direct link to the gallery is the simplest route. With a direct URL, parents can enter right into the gallery. In the gallery, customers are greeted with the option to enter their phone number and subscribe to receive updates:

Next, they will be able to either make an AdvancePay purchase (if your gallery is in AdvancePay status) or find their photos once the gallery is published. Read more about how and why you should rock AdvancePay on every job here. In addition to the direct link, you can also create an access code that customers can text to 90738 to subscribe to the gallery.

Create posters, program ads, yard signs, and more to collect even more subscribers before and during your event. PhotoDay’s Commencement Resource Kit makes it a breeze and is available for free download to all PhotoDay users!

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When you’re ready to upload your finished photos, we recommend sorting them into folders prior to uploading so PhotoDay can automatically tag them accordingly and thus narrow the data set for customers to find their photos.

Public galleries have three customer-facing search options (pictured below), but for large events with tons of photos, we suggest you turn off “All Photos” and allow customers to use both “FaceFind” and “Tags” to find their images.

When building your price sheet, be sure to offer multi-digital packages, print + digital packages, and plenty of specialty items for photo gifts!

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Ready to see how it looks from a customer's perspective? Check out this sample public gallery.

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The EASIER Option - Group Gallery

Group galleries offer all of the same things as public galleries, except for the direct URL to the gallery. Instead, customers can text the access code you advertise to 90738 to subscribe to the gallery and receive a direct link. Or they can skip the text and go straight to galleries.photoday.io to enter their access code.

Follow the rest of the steps outlined above for public galleries, and you’ll be selling in no time!  Learn more about all of the different ways you can communicate with customers before, during, and after picture day to encourage sales.

The EASY Option - Private Gallery

Ready to experience the magic of Capture + FaceFind? PhotoDay’s private gallery workflow allows you to provide each person with their very own private gallery featuring only their own photos. If you choose to go this route, you have two options:

       
1. Capture photos during the event just like you usually would.

       
• Add subject data — either before picture day or on the go at the event.
       
• Use the Capture App to snap reference photos. You can do this before, during, or even after you take their professional photo.
       
• Let FaceFind work its matching magic. Capture syncs the reference photos and data to PhotoDay, so all you have to do is upload your professional photos and watch FaceFind match the right face to the right data.

       
2. Recycle your fall images and data for graduation!

       
• If you already have subject data and reference photos, add a column to your CSV titled “Image Name.” Then add the reference photo's filename to each subject accordingly.
       
• Upload the CSV and reference photos to the new job, and it will populate and match everyone accordingly.
       
• When it’s time to upload the professional photos, let FaceFind work its matching magic as usual.

Since private gallery jobs require data to create each subject’s private access code, PhotoDay has an additional feature exclusively for private galleries. Automated email campaigns help you clearly connect with customers. Much like the automatic SMS campaigns (for all job types), customers receive varying series of automatic emails based on the status of the gallery, any special offers, upcoming expiration, etc.

While each gallery type is easy to set up, our Customer Success team is here to help you every step of the way. With online galleries, automated marketing, and a streamlined workflow, we know PhotoDay will make your upcoming commencements the best yet! Create a free account and get started  🚀  If you’re already a PhotoDay user, sign in to access our free resources.

In the world of volume photography, it’s easy to get swept up in the daily details of running a business. While embracing an online system will certainly streamline your workflow, it will also help you focus on the quality of your work. Now that the photos you take are your inventory, why not make them outstanding?

With PhotoDay taking care of the mundane tasks—goodbye order forms, data matching, manual marketing, and so much more—you can spend that time you save by honing your craft, expanding your client base, and enjoying time with the people dearest to you.

We interviewed two photographer duos seeing great success with this approach! Part 1 of this series is with Jay and Carinna Boatwright: Owners of smaX Photography, Creators of Boatwright Bootcamp, and some of the original PhotoDay Trailblazers. Keep reading to learn how the Boatwrights streamlined their workflow, leveled up their work and sales through image-first selling, and now book more business by working smarter. (Read Part 2 of this series with Jim and April Alsup of LDS Photography)

The Long and Winding Road

Jay and Carinna Boatwright have been in the photography business for 14 years. It wasn’t a smooth road to get smaX to where it is now. After their first 3 years, they were feeling stretched thin and considering giving up photography as a whole, but they decided to jump into the volume world full time and with full force. “We put everything on the line — we had 3 little kids, and we quit our jobs and put it all on the line.” Through persistence, dedication, and consistently trying new methods, products, approaches, and workflows over the years…their risk paid off.

Trying Something New

PhotoDay played an influential role in their pivot and ability to grow — read more about their story here. For many years pre-PhotoDay, they’d been doing full service through a lab, but 70% of their time was still spent doing paperwork. Carinna first heard Lisa present the idea of PhotoDay at a convention and was eager to give it a try. Jay and Carinna became one of the first studios to try out the system. “We tried it out on a small league — and it worked. Then we tried it out on a big league — and it worked!” And that was their turning point.

Image Quality Above All Else

To compete with other photographers’ marketing of huge rebate fundraising and different filler products from varying labs, the Boatwrights decided to compete with their superior image quality — which perfectly aligned with PhotoDay’s image-first selling method. “The only way you’re going to sell is if you have good images,” so it was a natural next step for them.

“You can have mediocre photography and try to scale the business quickly or you can have really nice photography and grow a lot slower with a lot of thought put into the art of the photography. It’s a lot harder of a road…but it’s no fun taking [subpar] photos.”

Starting Boatwright Bootcamp

Finally, with a system and method that works, it was time to share with others in the industry. Enter: Boatwright Bootcamp, a traveling workshop for photographers. What began as an impromptu idea with its own share of obstacles has now developed into eight (and counting) hands-on workshops full of valuable teachings and priceless engagement with other photographers.

“I think Bootcamp has been successful because once people hear our story, they realize we’re authentic, and that we’ve lived what we’re teaching. It’s nothing more than that — it’s exactly what we’ve experienced.”

While business tactics, marketing methods, workflow, and more are discussed, the focus of Boatwright Bootcamp is leveling up your photography game. “Bootcampers will tell you—they spend money on Bootcamp, but they spend way more money on gear afterward. Because if you’re going to be efficient and fast, there are some things you just have to have.”

Advice for Booking More Clients

When asked if they had any tips for PhotoDay users looking to book more business, Jay and Carinna said, “Social media presence is our biggest driver.” They encourage utilizing word-of-mouth references, being active on social media, and prioritizing organic reach over paid reach.

“Up your photography game and have a huge social media presence. Ask parents if they can re-post and tag the parents [in your posts]…We’re now at the point where we have a new program or team reach out almost every week.” This emphasis on word of mouth is a great approach, especially considering how loyal most leagues and parents are to particular photographers.

The next piece of advice they gave is to always have your sales hat on and always look for the decision-makers. “Constantly be selling and networking. Social media is important, but there are so many other ways we’ve gotten business — we’re always looking for it.”

Their final tip was to focus on the relationships. “Being a master of relationships is the thing that will set you apart…If you’re already good at the relationship part and your photography is great, then the photography is like job security.”

How PhotoDay Boosted Business

Next, we asked how PhotoDay has played a role in their overall success and growth as a business. “It saved our marriage,” Jay laughs. Carinna expands on how life-changing it has been to remove all of the post picture day office work and stress of double (sometimes triple and quadruple) checking every single order. “We were handling information, and now it’s in the hands of the parents. PhotoDay has made it so that now all I’m doing is wrangling images and the schedules.”

Another reason switching to an online workflow helps the Boatwrights book more business is being able to “take on leagues even at the end of their season because it gets shipped to the customer. Before, we would have to cram everything into the beginning of the season, try to get everything turned around as fast as possible, and if it was the end of the season, we’d have to say ‘we can’t even get it to you before the season ends.’” Thanks to online galleries and direct-to-customer shipping, booking a league late in the season is no longer an issue.

They added that smaX never would have been able to expand out of Georgia and into Florida without the PhotoDay workflow. With a smaller staff, no paper order forms, and less office work, they can travel and book more than ever before. “PhotoDay changes the way you shoot, changes the gear that you use, allows you to shoot deeper into the season, and allows you to go out of town [without juggling and losing any cash and paper order forms].”

“The only thing that stinks right now is all of the editing. That’s it!”

More picture days naturally lead to more photos to edit, but with images as your inventory, those edits will be more than worth it! If you’re interested in simplifying your workflow and honing your image quality while boosting sales through image-first selling, consider creating a totally free account with PhotoDay. You’re sure to book more of the business you desire!

To learn more about PhotoDay’s time-saving features, browse our website.

To connect with the Boatwrights, follow them on Facebook and Instagram, and be sure to check out Boatwright Bootcamp.

Read How To Book More Business with PhotoDay: Part 2!

Creating a marketing video to share with your organizations is a great way to introduce yourself, explain the PhotoDay process, and gather gallery opt-ins before picture day!

The number one way to boost gallery sales is by getting your customers to opt-in to their gallery, and creating a personable, informative video is an excellent way to do it.

We know getting in front of the camera can be daunting, so we wrote a script to help you get started. This script is a rough outline example of what you may want to include in your video. If you have specific instructions for buddy shots, details for an organization fundraiser, free bulk shipping, early-bird promos, etc. you’ll want to address those as you see fit.

Check out this excellent example of a marketing video from Jay Boatwright of smaX Photography.

We suggest keeping it short and sweet: under 5 minutes long is ideal. The goal is to grab and keep your customer’s attention!

Not super familiar with video editing? We found a great tool that makes the process super easy.

So put on your company shirt, fix up your hair, and get recording! Below is a sample script with which you can get started.

Greeting

Hey there! I’m Your Name with Your Studio Name. I am so excited to take your photos for the first time/again this season, name of organization/league/school. I just wanted to make a quick video to introduce myself and explain the ordering process.

‍If you have any rapport, history, or other relevant connection to the organization, feel free to mention it here to seem even more personable and excited to see them all.

Ordering

Our ordering process might be a little different than what you’re used to. It’s a paperless, contactless system called PhotoDay. You’ll be able to view the photos first and order directly from your phone or your computer. It’s super simple and easy to use!

The first thing you’ll want to do is opt-in to the gallery by texting job access code to 90738. You can also open a web browser on your phone or computer, go to my.photoday.com, and type in job access code. Opting in doesn’t cost or commit you to anything, it just means you’ll get text message updates as soon as your photos are ready to view and purchase.

Once you’ve opted in, you’ll get a message back asking if you would like to purchase an AdvancePay credit. AdvancePay allows you to purchase a credit before picture day that you can apply to your photo order after the pictures are ready. If you purchase a $X credit, you’ll get offer details (e.g. free shipping, 20% off, etc.). So if you think you’ll want to order prints and products—which I think you all definitely will want to—go ahead and purchase at least a $X AdvancePay credit to get offer details when you order your photos.

I think you’re going to love this ordering system because…

       
1. You get to view your photos BEFORE you order. We take a lot of fun poses, so you’ll get to see and choose between pose and pose and pose (e.g. smiling, game face, full body, headshot, goofy, buddy shots, etc.). You’ll love being able to see all of the options and choose your favorites! You can also mix and match poses within a package or a la carte products.
       
2. Shipping is direct to your house. You won’t have to wait for the organization/teacher/team mom/league to pass out your orders! They’ll be shipped directly to your door.

Closer

We can’t wait for picture day! If you have any questions, our staff will be there on the day of to answer them. You can also reach out to us at email if you’d like more information about AdvancePay or anything else!

See you soon!

Ready to record? We'd love to see what you make and hear how it goes!