why pictage?
02.11.08 | bridal-resources
- photo-resources
we like to do what we do best (photography) and delegate the rest. yes, at times, it is difficult to let things go. however, as a small-buisness owners, we realize the importance of maintaining a sustainable work-life balance. we love to shoot and would rather avoid the stuff that makes us grow old and weary like color correction, building online galleries, printing, billing, order processing, and shipping (pictage does these things well).
customer service is and will always be our #1 priority and we encourage clients to call and speak with us about questions. we promise your call won't be routed to india and you won't have to press # to speak with an operator :)
for brides and photographers interested in learning more, we've compiled a list of ten things we value about pictage (followed by five things we'd improve):
10. accounting made easy.
after pictage prints and ships products to our clients, they handle all the sales taxes and billing, take their commission, and send us a check in the mail each month. the simplicity of this is HUGE. we're no accountants and are glad pictage deals directly with the states, counties, and cities that collect sales tax. they follow-up with invalid credit cards numbers and so on. this is a big weight off our shoulders.
9. free color-correction.
brides know the color of their dress ('white' versus 'pristine champagne') and we want to ensure they remember that in their wedding photographs. same goes with facial complexion. subtle differences in color are important. which is why we ensure proper camera settings, monitor calibration, and print profiles deliver the most accurate color in the final print. the final print matters. we work with pictage to ensure the final print exceeds expectations, guaranteed.
8. archival printing with great products.
all photos are printed on kodak's finest endura professional papers, the industry standard for print longevity. clients can order prints in a range of sizes and paper surfaces. since pictage functions as our primary photo lab, we do not have to worry about print fulfillment, which can eat up an entire weekend sitting in front of the computer. we also offer clients products such as save-the-date cards, thank you notes, and dvds.
the monthly pictage user groups are a great way to meet and greet other photographers and get our learning on. our monthly fee nearly justifies this single networking event. getting questions answered by people who have 'been there, done that' is critically valuable and helps us avoid re-inventing the wheel. each meeting is informal and focuses on a business practice discussion and a studio spotlight presentation, which is usually very inspirational. katie van buren is the denver pug organizer and does a good job of organizing the events. we usually meet at the blake street tavern on a wednesday night at 6:00 pm. best of all, the PUGs are free to attend! there are online community forums, live chats, training videos... but we usually opt out of those to minimize computer brain drain.
our senior albums, engagement albums, and proof books are all designed by pictage designers. clients can go online, swap out pictures or entire page designs and order them directly. we still design our wedding albums because we give them the extra special kern-photo touch.
5. secure online purchasing.
knock on wood, we've never been burned by a hacker tapping into our website and stealing privacy information.... mainly because we do not offer an online storefront on our website. we cringe at the thought of explaining to someone that a devious cyber-hacker broke into a credit card system and stole private information. while it has happened to other photographers (remember those paypal?), we refuse to let it happen to us and our clients.
4. hands-free marketing.
pictage handles our online marketing for us, including event announcements, gift credits, 2-for-1 print sales, and friendly reminders about sales and event expirations. friends & family that pre-register to view the event before it is released will receive a special gift credit up to $20 with no strings attached. this is another way a bride can share her images without burdened by print fulfillment and dozens of trips to the lab (or.... gulp... walmart).
3. slick online proofing.
this is way easier and quicker than the 'old-skool' 4x6s in an album. hard proofs get mixed up, lost, and can be difficult to share with out-of-town family. now, family and friends all over the world can view your wedding photos at home (but only if you want them too!). for clients who want a tangible proof, we do offer offer hard and soft cover proof books.
2. online galleries, the easy way.
once we ftp the high-resolution
digital negatives to pictage and the bride/groom
release the event to friends & family, the
mechanics of image processing is complete and
ready to run smooth. pictage has an streamlined
back-end workflow to build web-resized image
galleries, check out carts, and the works. that
means less time sitting in front of the computer
and more time shooting (or playing).
we have never paid a single credit card merchant fee with pictage! nada. zilch. with P3, pictage handles all of our credit card transactions online. that means we're not paying 3% to a credit card merchant for each transaction, which can add up when clients book a wedding for thousands of dollars. we can afford to pass the savings on to clients by offering lower priced packages :)
nothing is perfect. here are a few things we'd change about pictage:
1. apple's safari browsers not fully supported. what?!?! (fyi: it works fine on firefox and internet explorer)
2. slow ftp upload speeds. 50K/ second forces us into overnight uploading.
3. 'trusted by the world's happiest brides' .... not sure if we dig the slogan.
4. the P3 logo belongs in a chemistry text book.
5. the pictage training curve for brides & family can be steep. however, familiarizing clients with the process after the engagement session usually answers most questions.