Candid Color Systems’ focus is different than most Pro Photo Labs.  Most labs focus on creating lab products and providing those in high quality at a reasonable price and a reasonable amount of time to their customers.  Those are noble goals and we certainly aspire to them.

However, CCS has always been about marketing.  Marketing is providing the mechanisms and materials to attract customers and to convert them into buyers of your products.   We are one of the few professional labs that have a marketing department in house.  We are also one of the few labs that operate a full blown retail operation which is also a marketing laboratory in which to test and refine our products and processes.

Hence, we are constantly thinking about how our customers can obtain permission from an event gatekeeper to photograph that event as well as how to market the pictures to the event attendees. We also strive to provide the methods and products to achieve the highest participation and sales average per order from each kind of event.

We have our own Software Development department which allows us to swiftly innovate and implement new products, which allows our customers to be more competitive.

The software we develop allows our customers to match names with pictures and email links to those pictures, which has proven to be twice as effective as simply throwing the images up on line and passing out webcards.

The overriding focus is to help our customers book more business and to make that business profitable. 

All of these advantages are available in all of the markets which Candid Color Systems supports. These include sports, graduations, races, groups, party pictures, portraits and weddings, and Glamour Shots^®.  So, don’t think of CCS as a Sports Lab but as your source of information for marketing and support to help you grow your business.

Dan Hays

Chief Operations Officer

These signs provide a map—via email addresses, websites, and telephone numbers—expanding your reach and exposing more sports teams to the ever-increasing arsenal of sports products at your disposal via Candid Color Systems.  League registration signs are a call to action whether you’re new to sports photography, or are interested in escalating your business to the next level.

To ignore such signs would be a mistake.  Of course, you won’t know until you make contact whether or not these organizations are contracted with a photographer, or are looking for your assistance.  Either way it will give you the opportunity to initiate relationships, build your business credibility, and get the word out about the sports products and services you want to offer.  Don’t ignore the signs of Spring.  Any one of these signs might lead you to your own pot of gold.

Brian Speers

Customer Development Specialist

Presentation when booking the shoot

You will need to adapt your dress and presentation for different situations.

If you’re approaching a coach before a practice, you’ll want to dress more casually (khaki pants or shorts and polo shirts) than you would if you were meeting with league or school officials.

It’s also a necessity that you have professional looking business cards on hand to leave with the person/people that you’re meeting.

Business cards should look professional, not printed at home on card stock, and have a simple layout with all your relevant information clearly visible (address, phone number, email address).

Also, try putting your picture, preferably a nice business portrait, on your business cards. It’s much harder for someone to throw away a business card with a picture on it and it also reminds that person of you.

One mistake that youth sports photographers make when trying to book new business is that they put down their competition. Never be negative about a competitor. This makes you look unprofessional and can cost you the shoot in the end.

Don’t assume that the coach/organization is unhappy with their current photographer. You want to expand upon what your competition is doing and present yourself as a better solution to their needs.

Some other important things to consider:

- Continuity is important. Everything should be branded with your company name and logo.

- No tobacco use in or around school property or the meeting area. Also, no visible tattoos or unacceptable piercings should be showing.

- Smile! Be a cheerleader for your business.

- Have a professional way to show samples. Presenting your samples electronically, on an iPad or Laptop, perhaps even with projector, will help you save money on physical samples. However, you will want to have physical samples of any specialty products that you offer.

- When making your presentation to a group of people, be sure to have copies of your presentation to pass out. For a one on one meeting, having a single page flyer that outlines your services will suffice.

- Know your products and offers thoroughly. Have pricing available that will fit people and areas from all walks of life.

- Have a calendar and scheduling agreements with you, in case they want to book with you on the spot.

- Everything is about expectations. Make sure that your expectations regarding a shoot line up with theirs. Do what you say you’re going to do when you’re going to do it.

Your professional image says a lot about you and your business and it can mean the difference between booking a shoot or watching your competition collect the sales.

Market to the customers that are currently satisfied with your services

While a growing business needs to constantly gain new customers, the focus and priority should be on satisfying your existing customer base. Businesses spend 80% of their marketing dollars going after new customers and clients rather than maintaining the customer relationships they already have. Before you spend your time and money searching for new clients you do not have a relationship with, consider the following statistics:

-   Repeat customers spend 33% more than new customers.

-   Referrals among repeat customers are 107% greater than non-customers.

-   It costs six times more to sell something to a prospect than to sell that same thing to a customer.

As you can see, increasing sales to this group of customers is easier because they already believe in you. It is crucial that this group is constantly aware of how much you appreciate them. Customers can detect indifference and insincerity and they simply will not tolerate it. Build long term relationships by treating your customers as if they truly are your business lifeline and show them that you truly care about them. Keep this group of customers informed and stay in front of them as much as possible. Update them on special offers, product improvements, and policy changes. Stay consistent with tracking phone calls and emails, making sure this group of customers is never ignored. Ask these customers if they know anyone that needs your service. These customers can be an excellent advertising tool for you. Word of mouth is one of, if not the best, form of advertising. Remember them so they remember you.

Focus on the parts of your business that bring you the most profits

To get ahead and to continue to grow your business, focus on the parts of your business that bring you the most profit. Of course making sales is always necessary, but determine which accounts are the most profitable and what the characteristics of these accounts are. Review the demographics of these accounts. What steps have been taken to have such great participation for their events? What marketing tools such as advertising, product samples or email campaigns have been used? Determine how the high dollar amount spent per participant was achieved. Was it because of posting the pictures quickly after the event? Fair pricing representing a good value? A user friendly website with a well designed offer? Were there up-sells attached to certain products that contributed to the success? These are the areas to concentrate on to duplicate success. Make it a goal to increase this part of your business. Try to service and maintain every profitable customer again this year. Discover your cash cow and feed it.

Review your business plan and make adjustments

As they say, failing to plan is planning to fail. Reviewing your business plan will allow you to see what is working and what is not. This can be the single most important contribution to your company’s survival and success. There are several areas to concentrate on when reviewing your plan. Here are a few ideas of where to start.

Evaluate your staff

Communicate with your staff and let them know the company goals for the year. Examine your photographers and their work. Determine which ones are performing and which ones need improvement. How is their personality when dealing with customers? Are they shooting good quality pictures? Are they taking enough pictures? Upgrading and coordinating your staff is crucial. You are only as strong as your weakest link. Having your entire staff moving in the same direction with a clear vision of the company’s goals is necessary for success.

Out with old; in with new

With this being a slower time of year for most, take inventory of your equipment. Retire old equipment, repair broken equipment and purchase what needs to be replaced.

Read your reports

Analyze your data and reports through CCS software. Which products are the most popular? Which products are the most profitable? Which events are worth booking and which ones are robbing time, money and energy? What steps can be taken to improve these events and make them profitable to shoot?

This review will reveal great opportunities and ideas for improving your business. Adjustments to your business plan will also allow for better decision making and goal setting.

Create a contact quota

Establish a realistic number of new prospects to contact per week. Prepare a list of the top prospects and develop a sales strategy to reach them. Build stronger relationships with the use of an effective CRM (Customer Relationship Management) program. Keep track of your efforts and record the information you discuss with each prospect. Review this information each time before contacting the prospect again, so you are up to date on your last conversation. Get your marketing materials updated and organized. Feature unique or creative client solutions on your website and newsletter to showcase your company’s talent to the marketplace. You only get one chance to make a first impression; make it as positive as possible. Discover ways to differentiate yourself from your competition with over the top service, unique products and competitive pricing. Organize a referral list and testimonials of satisfied customers. Stay in touch with your prospects and of course follow up, follow up, follow up. Here are some interesting facts about the power of follow up:

-  48% of sales people never follow up with a prospect

-  25% of sales people make a second contact and stop

-  12% of sales people make more than three contacts

-  2% of sales are made on the first contact

-  3% of sales are made on the second contact

-  5% of sales are made on the third contact

-  10% of sales are made on the fourth contact

-  80% of sales are made on the fifth to twelfth contact

Creating and using a follow up system is a guaranteed way to grow your business.  In fact less than 52% of all sales people follow up with their prospects. Following up will not only grow your business but will make your company stand out amongst your competitors.  Remember 80% of sales are made in the fifth to twelfth contact. If you are in a market with heavy competition, you can eliminate your competitors by simply following up.

Provide excellent customer service

Make sure doing business with your business is easy. Respond to questions, take orders, and fill orders according to specifications. Maintain the capacity to serve customers. Make sure your capacity fits the lead times and requirements of your customers so that you can deliver when promised, as promised. In some cases, you may need to expand facilities, hire more staff, get more equipment, or outsource production. Quality should be embedded in all of your processes. Poor quality will obviously lead to returns and claims but, more importantly, will result in losing customers forever. Train your staff to interact effectively with customers and to keep up with trends of the industry leaders.

Candid Color Systems can provide you assistance in your marketing and booking efforts. We have training presentations, newsletters and custom marketing materials. If you need advice about booking and shooting any kind of event, Customer Development is here to help! Call 800.336.4550 to receive even more valuable information that will lead you to a successful 2012.  It’s a brand new year, make it a great one!

Bo Krogstad – Customer Development Specialist

Next week, Candid Color Systems will be taking part in one of the largest photography shows in the country- Imaging USA. This event will be hosted in New Orleans for four days, beginning January 15^th.

As an extra incentive to attend, we have included a link that will allow you to sign up for a FREE pass to the trade show only.

https://www.xpressreg.net/register/IMGX012/start.asp?sc=2012TSC

Candid Color will be at booth # 501 the following dates/times:

- Sunday, January 15, 2012 – 11:00am – 4:30pm

- Monday, January 16, 2012 – 11:00am – 4:30pm

- Tuesday, January 17, 2012 – 9:30am – 1:30pm

Manning the CCS booth will be Dan Hays, Brian Speers and Brian Allen from the Customer Development department, Kelli Carder from Candid Color Photography, and Tom Davis, an award winning photographer and CCS customer from Massachusetts. In the past, Tom has been a featured speaker at CCS seminars and brings years of experience, not only as a photographer, but also as a user of CCS products and services.

We hope to see you there!

Like many photographers around the country you’re probably thinking that you’d love to attend the Candid Color Systems Winter Seminar in Las Vegas at the end of January, but your bank account is depleted and you still have bills to pay from the Christmas holidays that just made a hasty exit.

Financial barriers are just that—a barrier; a hurdle; an obstacle that can be overcome in time.  You are not alone, of course, as many feel the same way at this time of year with regard to their financial status. But the question you need to ask yourself is this: Is it better to pass up the meeting and do nothing to move my business forward; or, is there something that I could learn at the winter seminar that, when properly implemented, would pay for my trip?

Here is a perfect example of what I am talking about.  A few years back a CCS customer from Texas attended one of our meetings and discovered the value of an email campaign when properly executed.  Recently, I had the opportunity to check back with this customer to find out how things were working out for his business, specifically related to the use of emails in promoting his business and photo products. This is what he told me.

Around Thanksgiving he sent an email out in late November to 39,000 customers whose email addresses he had collected during 2011 at the many special events that he had shot during the year; and harvested as they entered his website. This email promoted Christmas cards and also the use of photos as gifts.  Additionally, on December 7^th he initiated a second email campaign to 33,000 customers for Valentine’s Day promoting photos for gifts and cards.

Here are his results so far.  For the Christmas campaign he has already collected over $23,400; and for his Valentines Day campaign, which is less than a month old, he has already collected over $8,500!  That’s nearly $32,000 of new income just because he followed our suggestion and had learned the value of an email campaign.

One seminar idea that has more than paid for the educational trip he took to a CCS seminar a few years ago.

The photo industry is changing faster than Oklahoma weather and you need to decide what changes you’ll be making to your business in 2012 that will create new revenue streams, while decreasing your workload.  The CCS Winter Seminar is a great place to kick-off the New Year to plan a path for the next 12 months. Perhaps green screen photography could be an addition to your photographic arsenal. Or, maybe you want to learn more about Virtual Groups.  Do you think that every sports team or league has been uncovered in your area? Maybe you just need to discover new methods for old markets!

Consider reasons why you MUST attend the CCS seminar instead of dwelling on all the reasons why you can’t attend. Think of the payoff down the road and consider all the money you’ll be leaving on the table, if you don’t attend.

2012 CCS Winter Seminar

When: January 29, 30 & 31

Where: Caesars Palace, Las Vegas, Nevada

In order to attend the FREE Winter Seminar, you must first become a Candid Color customer. Create your FREE account online or call Customer Development today at 800-336-4550.

We Support Our Customers

Our company motto recognizes that “We exist solely because of our customers and we are only successful when they are successful.” One thing customers are consistently amazed by is the quality of our one-on-one customer service. We have three departments solely dedicated to customer relations:

1)      Customer Service

-          Free order tracking and order assistance

-          Customer assistance for your end consumers

-          Accounting and lab services

2)      Technical Support

-          After-hours emergency technical support

-          Free, one-on-one software training

3)      Customer Development

-          Free learning opportunities, such as webinars and personal trainings

-          Free consulting on sales and marketing strategies

Guidance on industry trends and products

We are Innovative

One of the strengths of Candid Color Systems is our ability to innovate and inspire. Our staff is coming up with new products and processes constantly that are engineered to excite you and grab the attention of your end customers. Here are just a few of the great things we’ve been up to:

Products

-   Attitude Panos- We were the first in the industry to offer these dynamic team panoramic prints. You shoot, we do the rest!

-  Level Two- The new generation of posed action shots with cutting-edge graphic backgrounds.

-  Virtual Groups­- A brand new concept for large group portraits using green screen.
Processes

-  E-Commerce Solutions­- We have the lowest fees in the industry!

-  Email Campaigns- Choose from over 17 carefully marketed emails and the ability to send single emails to your event’s customers.

-  Green Screen Solutions- We offer a collection of 400+ green screen backgrounds- completely free of charge.

We are Knowledgeable

Our business is to help your business succeed. With over forty year in the photo finishing industry, we have the knowledge to help you grow. As a Candid Color customer, you will have many opportunities to improve your business processes, offer great products that sell and learn from other experienced photographers. Here are just a few of the things Candid Color offers:

-          Marketing support and materials

-          Comprehensive business reports and customer reports

-          Free webinars, training and weekly articles

-          Business development techniques and advice

-          Free annual seminars and workshops

We would love to give you more reasons why Candid Color Systems is a good choice for your pro photo lab. Give us a call at 1-800-336-4550 or visit us at www.candid.com to learn more about our company and what we have planned for the coming year.

Accepting cash is ideal for everyone, but not all parents are going to have enough cash on hand to purchase different packages or products. You could also take checks, but then you risk the chance of checks bouncing and you finding it very hard to collect the money you’re owed.

However, a third option is to collect credit card payments. While it’s not the most popular option, youth sports photographers have been collecting credit card payments at sports shoots for years.

But collecting credit card payments can present a challenge for many photographers.

Most don’t have a credit card reader they can take on site, so many have to write down numbers on pre-pay order forms.

Using this method, parents might feel uneasy about writing their credit card number down and letting a stranger walk off with it, as order forms can be left unsecured around the office for anyone to look at. Plus, this will present extra work for the photographer as they will need to key in each credit card entry by hand after the shoot.

But now, a company called Square has created a safe and easy to use device that plugs directly into your smart phone which allows you to accept credit card payments easier and on-site.

According to the San Francisco Chronicle “The technology is a boon for many fledgling entrepreneurs who found the traditional way of processing credit cards either cost prohibitive or unfeasible.”

With Square it’s easy to get started. The device itself is 100% free and the only cost associated with it is when you actually swipe the customer’s card and the fees are more than reasonable.

For every swipe, Square charges you 2.75% of the total purchase and if you were to input the credit card number manually it would cost you 3.5% of the total purchase plus $0.15 per transaction.

You’ll also need to download their app to your smart phone (it’s available for free for both the iPhone and any Android powered phone). Other than that you simply provide some basic financial information and you’re ready to go.

Also, the device doesn’t just collect payments. It can automatically sends out digital receipts to customers either via email or text message and it can also process refunds among a host of other capabilities.

But probably the best advantage to using Square is that there is greater potential for more sales than any other payment medium. The USA Today reports that the average purchase when using Square is $75. While results vary by business, our own research shows a much higher sales average from people paying with credit cards than with cash or check.

For the youth sports photographer, Square is a great option if you’re collecting money from parents the day of a shoot. With mobile payment transactions expected to double this year to $86.1 billion it also makes sense as more and more people are looking for easier ways to pay for products and services. Square alone has helped small business process $2 billion worth of transactions. How can they help you?

Small gifts

What better way to start the season than by giving festive sculpture ornaments? The ornaments have a traditional ornament shape with a hole in the top for hanging on Christmas trees. Ornaments are made of flat acrylic and come in a set of 2 ($6.50 lab price). The front of the ornament features your customer’s favorite image.

Personalized items like photo mugs ($8.66) and mouse pads ($9.27) make creative gifts for loved ones as well. Photo mugs can be customized with text and color options. Our new t-shirts (starting at $10.95) are another great choice. Customers can choose the image they want to be printed on the shirts, creating a memorable gift.

For stocking stuffers, consider remarketing the year’s Attitude panos in our brand new 5×15 size! At just $3.58 per print, the smaller pano prints will make a nice impression for a great value (for new pano creation, the $35 artwork fee still applies).

Fine Art

CCS just launched a fantastic selection of fine art products for the home. Our acrylic displays are one-of-a-kind art pieces that highlight your box-mounted images in a modular format. The box mounts are nestled between two layers of acrylic and secured with magnets. Customers have the choice of up to four layout designs ($95) and one table top option ($60), all of which allow for the box mounts to be interchangeable. Acrylic displays are also equipped with a unique patent-pending circular wall mount that allows the piece to be balanced in any orientation.

Acrylic mounts are a beautiful product that will catch the attention of your customers. Images are printed on Fuji flex paper and fused to a crystal-clear acrylic sheet. Acrylic mounts are available in two sizes (beginning at $35) and come ready-to-hang with a sturdy mount and wall bumpers. Offer this product as a single unit, or wow your customers with modern wall groupings.

Gallery wraps are very popular right now. Starting at only $56, this product has an incredible value that is hard to pass up. Our wraps are 100% canvas hand-stretched over a sturdy wooden frame that is finished with a picture wire mount. They are available in four sizes.

Finally, framed prints and collages are also sure to please. CCS offers black frames in six sizes (beginning at $3.78 lab price). Collages can either be added to offers by themselves, or customers can use the collage builder to create their own photo art.

Remember, customers will not buy what they cannot see. A great way to bring these products to life is to include emails about holiday gifts in your email campaigns. Grab some samples of these products and bring them to your shoots as well, suggesting the items as great gift ideas. Be excited about these products and your customers will follow suit.

For more advice on holiday product selection, call Customer Development at 1-800-336-4550.

According to the U.S. Youth Soccer Association, since 1990 the number of participants in youth soccer leagues all over the country has almost doubled from 1.6 million to over 3 million in 2010.

But the growing trend in youth soccer isn’t the fact that the overall sport is growing, but the fact that it’s growing in popularity with young women.

In fact we’re almost to the point where, among active players in youth soccer leagues, there are more girls playing soccer than boys.

In 2008, the percentage of girls playing youth soccer, among active players, was 48% up from 45% in 2000 – while the percentage of boys playing soccer was 52%, down from 55% in 2000 according to statistics provided by the U.S Youth Soccer Association.

This kind of growth provides a huge opportunity for sports photographers looking for new business, especially if they’re wanting to branch out into other sports besides the most popular such as little league baseball or pop warner football, because it means an increasing number of subjects to shoot and the more photos you take the higher your overall sales will be.

But the fact that soccer’s popularity is growing among young women is also exciting for sports photographers. Sometimes photographers will get a little too focused on the most popular boys’ sports, thinking that they’re the only ones worth shooting which is completely untrue.

Through several events that we’ve shot, we’ve found that girls’ sports have just as much, and in some cases more, sales potential than boys’. In fact, in some cases sales from girls’ basketball have exceeded boys’ football.

Regardless of what a photographer shoots they need to realize that children are branching out and participating in several different sports like soccer, rugby or lacrosse. That’s not to say that sports photographers should stop shooting the most popular sports, but they need to realize that there are more opportunities for business than just shooting football or basketball and that they can capitalize on the growing popularity of these new sports.

If you want to know how you can grow your youth sports photography business, Candid Color Systems can help! Contact our Customer Development department at 800-336-4550 today.