Christmas Cards… It is seriously one of my favorite things to do all year long. Our society constantly has evolving forms of communication but something that never goes away is a classic holiday card in the mailbox. To me hand written notes and holiday cards are traditions that are here to stay. I literally start thinking about my own Christmas card for my family right after Christmas ends! I LOVEEEEE sending and receiving Holiday cards. Nothing gives me more joy than displaying my closest family and friends during the month of December in my home and of course my favorite are the one that has images! So I can see how much they have changed/grown over the past year!
What has changed is the process of ordering Holiday Cards. Now there are so many different ways, websites, and processes that you can now order a personalized Christmas Card. So being the photographer, how do you set yourself apart? How do you allow clients to see the value of ordering from you? How do you show them that you can make something not just ordinary but spectacular through custom design vs drag and drop templates?!? Here are three ways you can show your clients how their card can be a hit.
First get creative. Clients typically have limited design ability and creative thinking. Getting creative with the shoot allows for the images to be amazing and allows to be the base of an amazing card.
Second: Show them! You will not sell what you don’t show. Again people are visual. I practice what I preach. I am a consumer of my own tactics so I typically predesign cards for clients that show interest. The lab I use, Black River imaging, also has an option to order a sample of 6 cards. If a client saw the cards with their faces on it and they felt the quality difference with the paper… it is a game changer people.
Third but not last… Cardstock: I also only order my cards on high end professional thick cardstock paper that I love and that is in line with my brand. It is professional paper and sure, it costs more but in my opinion a nice cardstock it was sets your brand apart and why you get turned to for ordering custom cards. If you don’t have a sample kit to see for yourself all the premium papers I would totally recommend ordering one!
That last line is my biggest point. “Custom cards”. You don’t want to position yourself for doing collages of images that is not a market you want to compete in. You should position yourself to be able to do an out-of-the-box creative idea to make a custom, quality, amazing holiday card combining amazing creative images and a design that they could not do themselves. Taking the steps above just makes it easy for your clients to see, visualize, and check it off their list.
Start Kickin Booty has (Jenny and I… okay Jenny makes everything look pretty) created some Holiday card templates that saves time and money when creating custom designs for your clients. All of these templates come with:
• 5×7 front and Back Postcard (template using Black River Imaging you can order directly through them HERE )
• 5×7 folded card (front, inside spread, and back)
• Return Address Labels (template using Black River Imaging you can order directly through them HERE )
• How to directions, sample for inspiration, and how/where to print
Photoshop files for photographers/creatives to customize for their clients or if you are wanting to use it for your Christmas card, at checkout their is an option to allow us to customize the card for you with your own images for a fee if you are like “photoshop what”? 🙂
Here are our three designs. And if you want to print with Black River Imaging use promo card startkickin for 20% off your first order!
BE JOYFUL Template
HAPPY EVERYTHING Template
VERY MERRY TemplateI know I know… It is crazy to already be thinking Christmas! But there are not to many weekends left before holiday cards start going in the mailbox!
