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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!

The holidays are here! And arriving with them is a surge of time-sensitive orders.

It's not news that supply chain issues, labor obstacles, and shipping delays are affecting almost every business these days. While we hope none of your customers will experience a delayed order—especially one intended to be a gift—we also want to help you handle any situations that arise!‍

We created totally free, printable resources for PhotoDay users and non-users!

‍Simply download the files below and share them with any customers that are affected this holiday season. Customers can print the design and "gift it" in place of the belated order.

While widespread delays are completely out of everyone's control, we understand it can be frustrating for studios and customers alike. We hope these resources help you brighten this holiday season ✨

Click the links below to download each design ⤵️

Click Here to Download High-Resolution File 1

Click Here to Download High-Resolution File 2

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Tip: Want to customize the files to include your brand? You can always add text/your logo to the back of the postcard!

Are you ready to make your gallery sales soar? Taking your volume photography business online will save you countless hours of tedious paperwork, but it still requires some work. Our goal at PhotoDay is to help streamline your workflow so you can focus more on what you love—taking photos—and let us handle the rest.

Here are 5 tips to boost your gallery sales and provide an amazing customer experience!

1. Customer Opt-Ins

Communication is key when it comes to online selling! Simply put, customers must know how to access their gallery before they can order their photos—making opt-ins the most important part of boosting your gallery sales.PhotoDay’s smart text marketing feature is the perfect way to ensure your customers have access to their gallery, know exactly when the photos are published, and are reminded to place their order. The best part? It’s a totally free, automatic feature. All you have to do is instruct your customers on how to opt-in. We make this easy with our built-in email and printable marketing flyers, video templates, and numerous resources for creating your own branded banners, postcards, and more. Customers can opt-in to a gallery by texting their access code to 90738 and/or by clicking “Subscribe” in the gallery when viewing on a mobile or desktop web browser. We recommend creating a QR code for your posters so customers can snap and go! Once you publish the gallery, customers receive a text message with a link to view their photos and order products.

2. Creating Urgency

One of the more familiar ways to increase sales is through offers and promotions. Think about the last time you swiped up on an Instagram story ad or bought strawberries at the grocery store simply because they were on sale. Before you create and advertise an offer, think about the end goal—offers are used to incentivize your customers to spend more, sooner. You can create urgency by offering early bird specials, expiring offers, using our Custom Promos feature for flash sales, and more! PhotoDay also supports custom gallery-wide promotions and launch sales like “Get a FREE Social Sharing Download with any package purchase for 48 hours only.” Learn more about how to offer this effective incentive in our blog post How to Transition to Online Sales.

3. Image is Everything

Transitioning from paper order forms to online selling requires a mindset shift and the recognition that image truly is everything. One of the biggest changes is that now images sell first, and the products are secondary. With image-first-selling, customers have the option to see before they buy and purchase only what they love. That means your images should be WOW-worthy!It also means that you can offer a wider range of options and poses for your customers. Decide how many images you want to create for each individual and group. The options are endless: smiling, serious, full-body, headshot, black and white, vertical and horizontal crops, buddy photos, etc. More quality options equal more products purchased.

4. Price Sheets Matter

Forget everything you know about creating packages and products on paper forms! For the past 3 years, we have gained valuable insight into what customers are looking for when it comes to professional volume photography. With traditional paper forms, products and packages were chosen based on savings and the assumption that the photos would be worth ordering. With online selling, customers no longer have to hope the poses turn out well or try to imagine what their final graphic products will look like.When it’s time to design your price sheet, start by pricing all of your items in a la carte, then begin adding different products into packages for extra savings—no coupons needed! We recommend stating the savings in dollar amounts or percentages as part of your package descriptions so customers can clearly see what the overall value is for each package.

5. AdvancePay

Well, what if you still want to qualify your serious buyers and collect pre-payment before picture day? Enter: AdvancePay. AdvancePay (or AP for short) gives photographers the benefit of getting paid before picture day without limiting sales after picture day. We’ve also found that AP significantly boosts your Average Order Value (AOV).Here’s how it works:

       
• The studio sets up AdvancePay credits and special offers that make purchasing an AP credit simply irresistible. Here’s an example: Hey early birds! Get free shipping on your order when you purchase a $35 AdvancePay credit before picture day.
       
• Customers opt-in to the gallery and purchase the credit to use when the photos are published. It’s like buying a gift card for themselves to use in the future.
       
• When the photos are uploaded and the gallery is published, the customer receives a notification that it’s time to redeem their credit and take advantage of their special offer.

All of PhotoDay’s features are designed to work together beautifully and easily. From the simple versatility of our text and email communication to the ease of creating offers and selling AdvancePay credits—it’s a winning combination that will not only qualify potential buyers, but also incentivize them to spend more, sooner.

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‍PhotoDay is totally free to get started, so what are you waiting for? Sign up and see what it’s all about.

Meet Zeke

Zeke Moreno of Chalkboard Photography has always had a passion for giving back to the community. Through volume photography, he aims to engage and broaden students’ experiences beyond the typical classroom setting. Inspired by the people who made a similar impact on him growing up, Zeke went on to play professional football for 9 years and spent 4 of those years with the San Diego Chargers. “Football has been a blessing that’s opened many doors for me and allowed me to build relationships—in doing so, I’ve met many people in this industry of photography because of it. Where I’m at now is where I’m meant to be.”

Getting Started

After his football days and with an already flourishing construction company, Zeke started looking to diversify his business. Although volume photography was always in the back of his mind, a couple of years ago he and his brother finally went to SPAC; after a few courses, they decided to give it a try, thinking “if we get one school, we’ll see how it goes—and that first school we got, we still have today.” It was a trial and error process, but they enjoyed the experience, became more organized and dialed in, and Chalkboard Photography was created in 2014.

A Reason to Smile

From the beginning, Zeke wanted to approach volume photography a little differently by providing something unique to the schools and the kids that could have an actual impact. He wanted to get involved, incorporate motivational assemblies, bring in past and current athletes to talk to and engage with the students, and truly give back to those around him. His mission became “we’ll give you a reason to smile” beyond just saying “cheese.”

Growing with PhotoDay

Upon hearing about PhotoDay at MVP in San Diego, Zeke said, “it was an eye-opener—I need that!” At the time PhotoDay didn’t have every tool they needed, so they tested it out with some of their sports teams and smaller projects, and realized it was an instant time saver. As PhotoDay kept developing, so did Chalkboard.

“Being a business owner, one of the main things we value is time—time with family, at the schools, and in the office.” Once they saw how they could save time by eliminating some of the tedious tasks, they were all in. “And that’s PhotoDay. It’s for the everyday user, the high-volume user, the user with multiple jobs, and the user wearing many hats.”

How Things Changed

Like a lot of studios making the transition to online sales, Zeke was a little nervous at first. “I think I had Lisa on standby before I used the Capture app for the first time…‘I have a photo shoot tomorrow, and I’m going to call you!’ But once I got over that fear and began trusting the system, it was perfect. We didn’t have to use QR cards anymore, there was less room for user error, and no more asking the school to help us identify a subject.”

The key to trusting the system? Repetition. By using Capture over and over, their process became seamless and gave Zeke a leg up when COVID hit: “We were already paperless, direct-to-home, and remotely checking in students.” Chalkboard Photography had a successful “curbside picture day” where they used Capture to check in students from the backseats of their cars, had them hop out when it was their turn to smile, then hop right back into their car. Easy, fast, and zero contact.

A bonus? Once you have the data and reference images from one semester, you have them for the whole school year, making the process even easier as time goes on.

The Results

Sales have gone up! "Even with COVID, our average AOV jumped from $33 to $39. The PD100 cha-ching is heaven throughout the day, and I can't wait to get a full season in for the next school year.”

3 Ways PD Has Helped

       
• Time management. “PD saves me from printing countless flyers and cards. When you’re the owner and the photographer doing all of the tasks involved, those seemingly simple tasks are easily overlooked.”
       
• Better means of communication. “The way we communicate is changing—the younger you are, the more you’re going to want support on-demand, and giving parents control is a game-changer. Now they can opt-in and receive their flyers digitally. Additionally, being able to use the apps while on the go gives me better control of my studio and allows me to respond more quickly to customers.”
       
• PhotoDay’s quick response time in the bubble and on social media for both studios and customers has been crucial. “It’s a new era of photography, and change is hard—it’s even harder if you’re not tech-savvy or are pressed for time during the transition. But PhotoDay helped us make that change.”

Advice

We asked Zeke if he started all over again, what would he do differently? He said that at the beginning, they were a bit redundant by doing things the old way as well as the new way with PD. “It was time-consuming, but we were still dating, and I wasn’t sure if I wanted to propose at that time! I’d tell myself to just buy in and trust the system from the start. Everything worked out great. The Capture app was our biggest concern, but once we got the hang of it, it was easy and consistent for us. We even have our volunteers doing it now.”

At PhotoDay, we’re always going through the “what if” scenarios before we even write a single line of code. We want you to feel confident in your workflow and able to tackle any shoot using our system.

So how easy is it to resolve when something doesn’t match up right in private galleries? Zeke answered, “With any software or system, there’s always someone or something that can go wrong. The system makes it easy to manually identify, match, move, and correct any issues when that happens.”

Words of Wisdom to Anyone on the Fence

“Do it! Well...if you’re in San Diego, don’t do it—it’s the worst system to use. Just kidding, we can take the competition!” Zeke suggests that the best way to try something new and see if it works for you and your business is to try it with a smaller job. “The minutes it saves you on that job will be hours saved on a large job. You won’t be the only one to notice the new simplicity...the staff and school will notice it, too.”

Always Giving Back

Zeke is always giving back to the community—through education, youth sports, photography, and now PhotoDay as our newest trailblazer.

“I’m excited to be a part of this community now, too. We’re here because we believe in the system. It’s helped us, and we want to help others. We’re building a community. And by saving time, hopefully, they’ll also give back to their communities. Even if it’s just by making picture day better.

PhotoDay wants to make the process easier so you can focus on making it a good experience for the kids. They’re excited for picture day, they want to have a good smile, and make their parents proud without feeling rushed. By saving time with the pre-picture day tasks, you can spend a little more time with each subject. The quality enhances, as well as the experience.”

Innovators, game-changers, movers, shakers… trailblazers. Meet more trailblazing photographers who have embraced PhotoDay and are seeing results.

"Once you have glimpsed the world as it might be, it is impossible to live anymore complacent in the world as it is."- Anonymous

PhotoDay’s Capture App continues to shape the future of the volume photography workflow —and we just upped the game for the entire photographic industry. The Capture App uses FaceFind, PhotoDay’s shockingly accurate facial recognition technology (even with masks and sunglasses!), to match and group photos together faster than you can say “picture day.”

Marrying data and images has never been more fun. That’s right, fun! Putting Capture to the test and watching FaceFind work its magic is curiously satisfying.

The innovative and not yet emulated PhotoDay Capture App also paves the way for photographers to create more images without the worry of tethering equipment, focusing on QR codes, scanning barcodes, or jotting down image numbers. Capture doesn’t need cellular data or a wifi connection on picture day, and adding additional users (like for assistants on larger event days) is not only easy-peasy, but it’s also totally free. The data for each person is completely agile—it can be added or manipulated before, during, and after picture day with ease and directly from your mobile device.

A workflow that allows photographers to focus on the subject, rather than getting bogged down by tethers and codes, allows for an improved and satisfying experience for customers, organizations, and photographers alike.

‍Sign up, dive in, and start using Capture today!

Download the PhotoDay Capture app for use on any mobile device—phones or tablets.

Download on the Apple App Store

Download on the Google Play Store

Going 100% online is exciting! But it might also feel like there are many unknowns —what will sales look like? It can be daunting to completely change your sales method, then sit and wait for orders to roll in. As you add more jobs to PhotoDay, the scarier this all becomes, but soon enough orders are flowing in consistently, and parents are happier than ever. You even have more time on your hands!

Then it hits you—you start digging into the Job Insights and your job performance. You start thinking of ways to reach more customers and wondering why every single image is not yet purchased.

To help you better understand when to expect orders, we did some research and prepared the data for you. Keep in mind that each studio uses a different marketing strategy, but the key factors include the following:

‍Communication: Getting the word out about picture day is a necessity. We make it easy with email marketing flyers and automatic texts, but it’s important to communicate your information clearly and concisely with multiple points of contact.

‍Gallery Opt-ins: By connecting your customers to the gallery before and during picture day, you can take advantage of PhotoDay’s automatic text marketing that drives sales sooner.

‍Buyer Qualification: AdvancePay is the only way to qualify your potential buyers. Customers who purchase an AdvancePay gift card have committed to purchasing photos when they are ready to view.

‍Incentives + Offers: By rewarding customers for purchasing before a specific date, you can better control your sales cycle and keep customers happy.  

‍Expiring Galleries: While this is an option within PhotoDay, we don’t recommend it as your first call to action. Instead, try expiring your packages (create a price sheet of individual items only, with no package savings) and letting customers know that they can purchase by a specific date to get the best price + package savings.

So what can you expect? We’ve broken it down for you:

These galleries are still on sale. AdvancePay credit purchases will be higher than order sales when sold at a high dollar amount and have not all been redeemed

At PhotoDay, we want to help your business run efficiently and effectively so you can focus on what you do best—take photos, be creative, and create happy customers! We understand moving to online selling can be new and scary, but we’re here to help you have a smooth transition, set up your jobs, make sense of your reports, and communicate clearly with your customers.

Interested in making the jump? Check out PhotoDay here—it’s free to get started!

Ready to read some more tips and sales advice? Our blog has it all.

A frictionless workflow for photographers that enables more poses, faster turnaround time, and brings picture day right to customer’s mobile devices.

Winter Park, Florida (6-30-21): Today, PhotoDay, a platform revolutionizing volume photography, announced Capture 2.0 App. The app is one of many components that updates and modernizes the picture day process for preschools, elementary schools, and underclass in the United States. Capture uses FaceFind—advanced facial recognition technology—to identify students quickly and group photos together, like sibling, friend, and class photos. Robin Janson of Sock Monkey Photography says, “Using QR codes allows a lot of room for error, whereas FaceFind is foolproof with its facial recognition; 99.9% of the images match.”

The process also simplifies digital data collection and requires no additional equipment for photographers, saving both time and costs. Families connect to their private gallery using text marketing (shortcode 90738), and the gallery automatically notifies them when photos are ready to view and purchase—sending customers directly to the mobile-friendly site or Galleries app.

Meanwhile, the photographer captures multiple poses without any creative limits. Families now have more options, can purchase their favorites, mix and match packages, and ship orders directly to their doorsteps—all from their mobile phones. There is also a wider variety of products from which to choose since orders ship directly to the customer and no longer need to be sent home in a student’s backpack.

Photographers using PhotoDay spend more time engaging with their customers and less time behind their desks. Trailblazer Zeke Moreno of Chalkboard Photography says, “Being a business owner, one of the main things we value is time—time with family, at the schools, and in the office. And if I can save time by eliminating tedious tasks, then I’m all for it. And that’s PhotoDay. It’s for the everyday user, the high-volume user, the user with multiple jobs, and the user wearing many hats.”

The results are premium images and an optimal experience for all. The numbers speak for themselves: PhotoDay has a 72% Net Promoter Score, over 700,000 families served, 4.1 million texts sent YTD in 2021, and tens of millions of photos requested. See Capture 2.0 and PhotoDay in action here or watch the event replay.

‍About PhotoDayPhotoDay is a forward-thinking platform that simplifies the image management process for photographers, enhances the image searching and purchasing capabilities for consumers, and streamlines the direct to print gateway for photo labs. PhotoDay was established in 2018 and is headquartered in Winter Park, FL. For more information, visit www.photoday.com

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‍Lisa Mallis

PhotoDay

407-543-1986

‍lisa@photoday.io

Meet the Jansons

Robin and Jennifer Janson started Sock Monkey Photography in 2006. Jennifer had just left her corporate job in software sales and decided to be a stay-at-home mom; but while her kids were having their preschool pictures taken, she thought, “I can do this!” Although she didn’t have any photography experience, the difference between Jennifer and every other parent that may think this phrase is that she put in the work and made it happen! At the time, they had young kids, a small Kodak digital camera, and didn’t know the first thing about settings: “Best Buy told us to get a better SD card to ‘freeze the action,’ and we listened!” They’ve come a long way since those early days.

Learning & Growing

Robin is also a DJ with a successful company called Rockin’ Robin, so he connected Jennifer to a few wedding photographer friends who helped her learn the basics. She caught on quickly, kept practicing, started going to Texas School, and Sock Monkey Photography was born. At the height of Robin’s business, he and his employees were doing 15 events a week, but as he got more involved with Jennifer in 2007, he naturally started downsizing Rockin’ Robin. By then, their daughter was out of preschool and playing volleyball, so Robin focused on building the sports side of Sock Monkey.

With the mantra of working smarter, not harder, they decided to keep things simple without adding any employees. Always striving to keep learning, Robin and Jennifer both continued going to Texas School to be “as trained and knowledgeable as possible” with their new business. At the time, there wasn’t a course for volume photographers, so they were able to learn all about lighting, posing, and shooting, but had to come up with all of their own processes—“I wish we had PhotoDay then!” In true trailblazer fashion, Robin was one of the first photographers to get his Certified Professional Photographer (CPP) credential based on volume photography. They both went on to get more involved, volunteer, and serve on various boards and committees for PPA, SPAC, and Texas School.

"PhotoDay: Saving Relationships"

They first heard about PhotoDay when Robin was on the committee and Lisa was a speaker at Imaging USA. “I was originally anti-PhotoDay,” he remembers, with reasons from “it’s hard to get data from preschools” to “I don’t need anyone’s assistance” to “why would we want to change a system that’s working for us?” Then COVID hit and going paperless was a necessity. The workflow change immediately improved the quality of their relationship, too. They laugh, “It should be called PhotoDay: Saving relationships...or at least minimizing the arguments.”

We asked them to name a few more ways PhotoDay has helped their business:

       
• When COVID happened, they tried to modify their system, but it presented new problems such as privacy concerns and how difficult it was for customers to search for their students. “We decided to shop around, but didn’t have to look long—it was an easy choice, and PhotoDay just felt right.”
       
• Not only is picture day communication easier with the marketing flyers and automatic texting, but PhotoDay’s fast, friendly support for both studios and customers is a game-changer: “We love the bubble people!”
       
• The marketing promos are quick and easy to activate for prior jobs, resulting in residual, passive income.
       
• Everything is “lightning-fast now.” No more passing out proofs (hoping they even make it out of the student’s backpack), waiting to have order forms filled out, gathering them, processing them, and delivering the products. The post-production turnaround time went down from weeks to days.

The Results

So how has PhotoDay helped their sales? Averages have gone up even more, their buy rate is higher, and the whole process is significantly faster. Robin and Jennifer have their process so streamlined that they capture photos, knock them out, build composites, crop with aspect ratios in mind, and have the images uploaded for parents to view the very same day as the shoot. Then all that’s left is “listening for the cha-ching!”

Words of Wisdom to Other Users

       
• “Add yourself to the data, opt-in to the gallery, and experience it as a parent does...How can you support a customer if you don’t know how it works for them?”
       
• If the organization is hesitant to send you all of the data requested for private galleries, at least try to get a roster. “Then you can still send the organization all of the codes and flyers easily.”
       
• “If you hit a wall while pitching to one particular school director, try to get the business of an associated school.” Word will spread about how fast and easy the process was, “and if we can make their jobs easier, they’ll keep us around.”
       
• Try targeting schools that have a particularly high parent-spend. When they were first getting started, they picked an area of town and focused on where they wanted to be shooting. “Then we made cold calls, took marketing pictures, and created pamphlets and flyers.”
       
• “Using QR codes allows a lot of room for error, whereas FaceFind is more foolproof with its facial recognition. 99.9% of images match.” One time they had a couple of silly teenagers pose for their reference photos with their hands over the bottom half of their faces, and it still matched correctly. It’s also worked surprisingly well with identical twin babies and class pictures of infants and toddlers.

Advice to Anyone on the Fence

“I’ve heard people say ‘Why would I want to pay this or pay that when I could just hire somebody to do it?’ but dealing with employees” isn’t always ideal. “We’ve found it to be well worth what PhotoDay is charging due to the quality of life difference. We photograph a school, it’s up the same day, and we’ve blown the minds of our schools and parents. So the next day, they’re coming in, dropping off their kids, and talking all about their kids’ pictures.” Robin and Jennifer are also taking a lot more pictures, and it doesn’t take much more time to add those extra poses to the gallery, unlike when you’re proofing with paper forms. From smiles to goofy faces, “if they’re candid and they’re cute, the parents are going to spend more.”

Robin & Jennifer Janson were also featured in the article 18 Side Hustles That Still Make Money in 2022, According To People Who Do Them Every Day by TIME partner, NextAdvisor. “Through PhotoDay, our sales have gone up, our buy rate is higher, and our workflow is streamlined,” Robin says. “No one ever expects their side hustle to become a career. It’s pretty awesome.”

Innovators, game-changers, movers, shakers… trailblazers. Meet more trailblazing photographers who have embraced PhotoDay and are seeing results.