Aglow Blog

Read industry insights and creative business education for running your professional photography studio.

How to set up a packaging station for under $250

Your tape’s in one drawer, while your scissors are in another. Those cute tags you just ordered? Sitting in a box by the front door. And your boxes and bags are stored all the way in the garage.

No wonder it takes you 30 minutes to wrap a simple order. What you need is a place for everything, and everything in its place. Now that you’ve refreshed your packaging line with products from Design Aglow’s Paper Shop, do yourself a favor and get your supplies organized with a dedicated packaging station. With a trip to IKEA and some imagination, we created ours in an afternoon for less than $250, and we’ll illustrate how you can too.

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How to set up a packaging station for under $250

Your tape’s in one drawer, while your scissors are in another. Those cute tags you just ordered? Sitting in a box by the front door. And your boxes and bags are stored all the way in the garage.

No wonder it takes you 30 minutes to wrap a simple order. What you need is a place for everything, and everything in its place. Now that you’ve refreshed your packaging line with products from Design Aglow’s Paper Shop, do yourself a favor and get your supplies organized with a dedicated packaging station. With a trip to IKEA and some imagination, we created ours in an afternoon for less than $250, and we’ll illustrate how you can too.

Read more

Selling Gift Certificates As Last Minute Holiday Gifts

‘Tis the season...for clients to be harried and forgetful and scrambling for holiday gifts. Needless to say, the fall/winter crush is when we all get, well, crushed. Why not capitalize on that by offering ready-made gift certificates your clients can present as last-minute gifts? Consider printing a stack of 5x7” cards on beautiful stock to have on hand (or in frames) for clients having a “oh my gosh I didn’t get something for them” moment. Promote this service to your clients through your blog and email newsletter, and offer gift certificates as a simple upsell after every photo shoot. Another smart idea: run a holiday promotion enticing clients with cash for cash, where your studio matches the amount of any gift certificate purchase with product credit.

Read more

Selling Gift Certificates As Last Minute Holiday Gifts

‘Tis the season...for clients to be harried and forgetful and scrambling for holiday gifts. Needless to say, the fall/winter crush is when we all get, well, crushed. Why not capitalize on that by offering ready-made gift certificates your clients can present as last-minute gifts? Consider printing a stack of 5x7” cards on beautiful stock to have on hand (or in frames) for clients having a “oh my gosh I didn’t get something for them” moment. Promote this service to your clients through your blog and email newsletter, and offer gift certificates as a simple upsell after every photo shoot. Another smart idea: run a holiday promotion enticing clients with cash for cash, where your studio matches the amount of any gift certificate purchase with product credit.

Read more

The F stops Here: How To Stay Sane in the Insane Holiday Season

For wedding photogs, it’s summer. For portrait photogs, it’s now.That’s right: it’s crazy time. Your inbox explodeth, and your phone doth hellishly ring. Not to get all Shakespearean about it, but an overflow of good converts to bad. So how do you manage it all? When the long view looks bleak (which in photographer terms means from now until late December), what will your coping mechanisms be?

Read more

The F stops Here: How To Stay Sane in the Insane Holiday Season

For wedding photogs, it’s summer. For portrait photogs, it’s now.That’s right: it’s crazy time. Your inbox explodeth, and your phone doth hellishly ring. Not to get all Shakespearean about it, but an overflow of good converts to bad. So how do you manage it all? When the long view looks bleak (which in photographer terms means from now until late December), what will your coping mechanisms be?

Read more

Why Selling Photography Frames Will Increase the Value of Your Art

When you sell your images already packaged in gorgeous frames, you virtually guarantee that they will be displayed in your clients' homes, in a manner that honors the care and craft that went into creating those photographs. You're creating a custom frame solution that elevates your images to gallery status.

Read more

Why Selling Photography Frames Will Increase the Value of Your Art

When you sell your images already packaged in gorgeous frames, you virtually guarantee that they will be displayed in your clients' homes, in a manner that honors the care and craft that went into creating those photographs. You're creating a custom frame solution that elevates your images to gallery status.

Read more

What I Wish I Knew: Small Prints Can Be Priced The Same As Larger Ones

When I first started out as a photographer, I shot film....digital wouldn't be on the mass market for another 10 years or so. I knew that developing a 4x6” image cost just as much--in time, labor, and materials--as an 8x10” (actually more, since I had to cut the paper straight!) but I assumed the value of smaller prints equaled less, just like 99% of photographers out there did, and still do.

Read more

What I Wish I Knew: Small Prints Can Be Priced The Same As Larger Ones

When I first started out as a photographer, I shot film....digital wouldn't be on the mass market for another 10 years or so. I knew that developing a 4x6” image cost just as much--in time, labor, and materials--as an 8x10” (actually more, since I had to cut the paper straight!) but I assumed the value of smaller prints equaled less, just like 99% of photographers out there did, and still do.

Read more