Professional Photo Lab and Photo Printing Blog

Today we turn our customer spotlight on Karen Goforth, of Irresistible Portraits.  Karen started taking photographs for Sears, and was offered an opportunity to shoot part-time for another studio.  She continued with both of these positions for nine years, at which time she launched her own studio in Kannapolis, NC.

See what out Photographic Lab can do for you today!

Wow, were we ever blown away by the response to this contest!  I’ll show all of the images submitted, and announce the winner at the end.  Here we go:

Spring has arrived, and that brings changes in the weather.  Here in Kansas City, we may use the heater of our car in the morning, and the a/c in the evening.  Sometimes we go from sunshine to severe storms in the span of an hour.  This can cause some exciting things to happen in the sky.  Most of my favorite shots from my camera have nothing other than the Missouri sky as the subject.

Marketing tips with Teri Ritter:

We’re hearing it everywhere; times are tough, and discretionary spending has taken a hit.  How do photographers make the most of these times and position our businesses for short term and long term gains?  I have some tips to assist in that effort.

Although I’ve never believed in spending a great deal of money in marketing per se’, I do believe in basic, grass roots marketing.  It takes effort and a little money, but the benefits are many. It also solidifies your business within the community.

What is grass roots marketing?  It is getting involved in community events, providing products, providing services, and displaying your work throughout the community in various venues.  By giving of yourself and your talents, what you get back far outweighs the effort – if you do it strategically.

McDonald’s restaurants built their business on grass roots marketing years ago.  It continues to be a requirement that the franchise owner of each restaurant spend a specific amount of money within the community – giving back.

Here are some thought starters……

Father’s Day is fast approaching. Work with a local nursery school, church or similar venue and have a day where you set up and photograph quick shots of kids at no charge.  Provide them with a 5×7, free of charge.  When you set up for the pick up of the prints, show the others you took that day.  Do this in a way that it is a service, not a sale. Trust me; you will get additional sales out of this.  The word will spread on the quality of your work, and those people that can afford family portraits will look for you because of your efforts within the community.

Seek out a local charity and provide photography services or products for them.  Set up programs that can result in raising money for this charity.  Make certain that your logo and name are always visible in your efforts.  This insures that people make the connection between your good will efforts and your business.

In these times, loyalty is building and people are getting more ingrained at a community level.  Be sure that you become a very active part in the community within which you do business.  The benefits are not only financial, but you’ll feel good too!

Learn more about how our Photo Lab can help you market your work today!

Did you know that you can check on the status of an order, simply by logging in to the studio portion of our website?  Most studios use this tool frequently, but many do not quite understand what all of the status abbreviations are.  I hope to clear that up today!

Below is a list of possible stops for your order, and a brief description about what’s going on at that time.

ORDER EN – This means our order has been received. It is in “order entry” and is being made ready for production.

RET – This is our art and retouching department.  Some orders make a stop there, even if you haven’t ordered art.  For example, if you order a scan from a negative, the order goes to retouching to have any dust spots removed.

DIG – Your order, when the status reads “dig,” is in the digital department. It is usually in transition between order entry and printing, or it’s been sent back into production by customer service.

PRT – At this stop, the order is at the printer and is either ready to be printed, or being printed at that time.

DGTL LRG PRINTG – This is the stop that an order makes for prints larger than 11×14.

PRINT FINISH – The “print finish” status often follows the large printing.  This is when prints, larger than 11×14, get mounted, textured and coated.  Canvas and other specialty finishes are applied to all sizes here.

BILLING – Once in billing, your order is complete, and ready to be invoiced.

INVOICED – If you see this status before 4 pm, you can feel confident that the order is shipping that same day.  If it is after 4 pm CST, you should call customer service to ensure shipment.

SHIPPED – If you are a local customer who picks up orders at the front counter, your order is ready for you.  If we ship your order, this means it is in the hands of FedEx.  If you see this status for an order, you’ll find that the word “shipped” is a hyperlink, which will take you to a manifest page.  Here you’ll find the FedEx tracking number, which is also a hyperlink.  It will direct you to the FedEx tracking page, letting you keep track of your orders even after they’ve left the lab!

SER – This is probably the status that causes the most concern, and it really shouldn’t.  This means your order is in the customer service department, which doesn’t always mean there is a problem.  If there is, we will call you to discuss options.  Often, though, customer service moves orders right back into production without a call being necessary.

If ever you are in doubt, don’t hesitate to call customer service.  We will be happy to discuss your order with you, and give further details about where it is in the process.  This is especially important if you need to guarantee delivery by a certain date.  Customer service can watch an order and make sure that you get it in time to meet your commitment to your client.