Digital Publishing
4 mins read

Starting your own personalised photo book business

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The photo revolution is now.

Most of us take pictures because we want to capture our special experiences and events. According to a consumer survey in 2011 by Prophoto GmbH[i] – 93 percent of respondents preserve memories with photos, and 85 percent use photography for documentation purposes.

We enjoy it and want to share it. According to various studies, image communication through social networks and online galleries is very popular. More than 250 billion photos have been uploaded to Facebook, and more than 350 million photos are uploaded every day on average.

But photos stay relevant not only in this digital world. Many people still like to hold printed albums in their hands. This way they can preserve their precious memories, even if they lose all the data from their computers.

Growing market.

Creating photo books and other photo products continues to grow in popularity. According to research by Futuresource Consulting Ltd [ii]  in the USA alone the photo product market was worth $1.5 billion in 2012 and is still growing (to over $1.9 billion by 2015). Launching a business like this can be extremely profitable.

In the digital age it is not easy to stay competitive. Companies from the printing industry must adapt and be innovative in order to continue to play a crucial role in the market. Using a new technology is the solution.

If you are a digital printer starting your own personalized photo book business shouldn’t be very difficult (at least technically – you’ve got high-quality printer and some experience), but there are several things that you should keep in mind.

Get to know your competitors and customers.

Find out what products and services your competition provide and how are they priced. Try to differentiate yourself and stand out by offering unique photo products, like photo books in different dimensions, photo calendars, photo cards, etc.

Know your potential customers and try to find out what they really want and are willing to pay for. Try to define what kind of products would be the most popular or find your niche.

Find a photo book solution for yourself.

One of the most important things in starting and running your own photo book business is finding the most convenient and optimal software, that perfectly fits your needs.

Most customers prefer creating and ordering photo calendars online – it’s simple and intuitive. That’s why the biggest players in the photo calendar market use online editors.

You can find many different options and components: online software, eCommerce, CRM,  PDF file generator, etc. You can also find a complete package that provides an all-in-one solution – like Printbox[iii]. Printbox comes as a complete package, including easy to use online editor, full ecommerce solution with CRM and a product management platform. This is photo products online software, that requires little upfront capital investment so you don’t need to have a large IT team to maintain the system and start selling personalized photo products.

Plan a strategy.

If you haven’t expanded your marketing efforts yet, it’s probably about time. Even the best software and the most beautiful store front won’t sell your photo products without marketing. You need to have a business plan, otherwise you’ll never make money on photo products.

There are some inexpensive ways to increase business, like offering your customers loyalty discounts, vouchers, social media campaigns, and viral marketing like asking your customers and friends to help spread the word.

Fortunately, amongst all the various possibilities, Printbox Photo Product Online Software also offers useful tools to handle campaigns like voucher codes generator or email marketing solution to manage contacts, send emails and track results. You can also set a keyword strategy and improve your site’s ranking (SEO) to drive organic traffic to your pages.

Your business, whatever its size, can attract new customers and convert them into loyal and trusting clients.

Quality matters.

The thing you should also remember is to focus on helping your customers get the most from their own digital photos and let them preserve precious memories.

The quality of the photo books or photo calendars you offer will show your potential customers what they can expect from your company, and give an example of the kinds of services you’re prepared to deliver, so make it your best.

Always provide value for everyone, even those who may not be your customers yet. When they will need your product, you want them to think of you in the first place.

To the end.

Increasing demand for personalized photo books, that are replacing old fashioned photo albums, makes it easier to profit from selling such products. Of course there are a few things you need to remember, before launching your photo product business, but it really isn’t as difficult as you think. A high-quality digital printer and an entrepreneurial spirit are the keys to your success.

I hope these tips will inspire you to get started on your photo product business today.

About Printbox:

Printbox is a global SaaS company from Cracow, Poland, providing a ready to sell Photo Product Online Software, which wins in generating highest sales with minimal effort from partner’s side.

For more information go to:
www.getprintbox.com

or contact the team:
Printbox Sp. z o.o.
Main Square 17
31-008 Cracow, Poland
info@getprintbox.com
+48 12 8812068

[i] http://www.prophoto-online.de/img/ftp/broschueren/Trends-in-the-photo-and-imaging-market-photokina-2012.pdf

[ii] http://www.futuresource-consulting.com/2013-02-photo-merchandise.html

[iii] http://getprintbox.com/