Joyce Smith has taken from her own personal experience with successful sells and shares with us how her sales maintain [...]]]> I recently had the pleasure of reviewing Wordsmiths {how to sell} the complete online sales workflow by Joyce Smith.  I must admit that I have been waiting for someone to do this for quite some time.

Joyce Smith has taken from her own personal experience with successful sells and shares with us how her sales maintain a consistent average of $2200.  She takes you through her step by step process, including the psychology of her thinking, and even recaps it all into a helpful quick glance guide at the end for you.

I know that for whatever reasons some of us do not want to give up online sales.  Every where we turn all we hear is that we will never have high sales if we do not.  Joyce shows us how it is possible to do one without sacrificing the other.

One thing I did especially appreciate was how Joyce taught me the importance of the step-by-step process and the psychology of a sale.  I had definitely dropped the ball in “the details” and will definitely be making some changes. As someone who has been connected to the photographer community for many years, some of the things Joyce mentioned in her guide I “knew” already.  Some I did not know, though. It was also nice to see it all in one place and in order.  It saves a lot of time in trying to pull this information together from many different sources and putting it all together. I have to admit even though I had heard some of these things, the importance of every little detail had not clicked for me until I read the guide.  It all made sense.  I can see why Joyce gets the high sales!

The only thing that I think could make this even better is a photo cart that helped sell for us.  I agree with Joyce here.  If I were a techie, I would not be sitting here writing this….I would be making the perfect  photo cart for us.  It would have incorporated wall designs and with ease clients could see any images in any wall design, and it would suggestive sell.

I LOVE products like this because for a nominal fee someone has put together a complete package (information and templates) that can make me a lot more money.  They just make good business sense. It has the potential to earn you a lot more on every sale.  Will I be making some changes in my online sales workflow after reading this?  Absolutely.

Thanks again, Joyce, for seeing a need for online sales help and creating and product to meet that need.  I love that you even included templates for us!

Click here to see for yourself.

This was my wish list:

This has got to be one of the most well put together projects I have ever seen and a great way to keep yourself in front of clients all year long. I was not quite sure what to expect at first. You get a little skeptical about what you will get for [...]]]>

This has got to be one of the most well put together projects I have ever seen and a great way to keep yourself in front of clients all year long. I was not quite sure what to expect at first. You get a little skeptical about what you will get for the money after a while. lol I can assure that you will get MORE than your money’s worth with the Charitable Marketing Template Kit. Debi’s experience with using this both as a way to give back to the community and a way to market her business is worth the cost of the kit alone (yes, she includes tips and advice for everything), but I can assure you the list of what is included seemed endless…even down to website pages and a press release sample. I could go on and on about all that she includes….model application, model call website page, sponsorship letters, agreement and announcements, sponsorship tracking and more.

I really do love the way she uses this to market with more of a back door approach. The opportunities and press exposure that she has received from this are quite impressive. She has been on the front page of 5 newspaper articles, plus she has her work and name in many local businesses who are sponsoring and/or selling the calendar.

Debi shows you how to use this project to get your name out there and network with other business leaders in your community and how to make the most of this as a marketing tool. As photographers, we are always looking for ways to get our name out there. Debi’s results with this speak for themselves. Her clientele increased over 400% using this. Now she has put it together in a marketing kit for others wanting to market their businesses and give back to the community but not knowing where to start.

And the best part….you get to help your favorite charity.

I am seeing this type of marketing more and more. As a matter of fact, I just noticed it on Extreme Makeovers last night with Homes for Heroes. It really is just a great way to give back and a positive way to get your name out there.

Debi is a member here with us at 411marketsource and wanted to do something special for us in addition to sponsoring our January contest. Debi is offering us a $20 discount through the end of February.

Coupon code: 411january

Debi, thank you so much for taking the time to put this all together for us, sharing it with us this month for our contest prize, our special discount, and your wonderful support of 411marketsource.

Click here to find out more about Charitable Marketing Template Kit for Photographers

After viewing the tutorials, it is obvious that John Hartman has thought of everything.  I am very impressed with how customizable the [...]]]> I am so excited to be reviewing QuickMats4!  As someone who is in the middle of painting and completely changing the colors in my home, I can see the possibilities with Quickmats4 are ENDLESS.

After viewing the tutorials, it is obvious that John Hartman has thought of everything.  I am very impressed with how customizable the mats are.  The tutorials are very simple to follow along with and are short enough that it is quick and easy to sit down, view one and try out what you learned.

Once I viewed several of the tutorial videos, I found it easy to be up and running making and customizing my own mats. A mat can actually be designed in moments. Of course, it takes me much longer because I love playing and trying different colors.

I have to admit that my initial reaction to the videos was that I wanted a manual. I am one of those people who likes to do and then ask questions (My husband loves to watch me try to put something together first, and then ask questions when I am stuck because I didn’t read the directions. lol) , so I usually like a quick and handy reference guide more than tutorials or videos.  This could be why I am not photoshop savvy. lol  After reviewing the video tutorials, I have changed my mind.  The tutorials were really short, and it was nice watching John show me step-by-step.

I even got a few unexpected surprises while reviewing the QuickMats4 video tutorials.  There were several photoshop tips mentioned in the tutorials that I did not know. I will admit that I am not the most photoshop savvy person in the world, which I think makes me a great person to review it, but how easy to learn a quick little skill in the context of a bigger project.

I love the idea of a mat being so customizable to the image itself and the decor of the home.  John shows you how easy it is to sample a color from your image and use that color for your mat, liner, or even your signature . I could not even imagine how difficult this would be if you have to find a mat the exact color you need.  This also makes it easy to try different colors to see what actually looks best.

This would be a great service to offer your clients. It could be an artistic service or even something extra to offer with your biggest collection.  Imagine being able to show a client how a mat can be customized especially for their portrait and home decor.

The possibilities are endless what you can actually do with these.  Many beautiful overlays, textures and templates are included.  I was actually surprised at the number of extras that you have to use that come with QuickMats4.  Extras that can be adapted and used for many projects. I can easily see how these could be used for custom cards, custom collages, fine art prints, advertisements, promo cards, senior folios, or could even be used to design an image for a splash page!  I’m giddy at the thought of what I can do with these!

Here are a couple of my tries for an image that I would like to use in my home with my new colors.  The flower image actually has our new colors.  We used the creamy beige color in the background of the flower image, and we also used the orange tone in the flower in another room. I’ve always had large black and white portraits and wanted to go with a few art prints along with those and wanted to use this image with these words.  I had so much fun exploring the possibilities!

Don’t just just love this overlay!!!  I can see that I will be using this a lot!  It is one of the favorites I’ve seen anywhere, and will go great in my home!

Because this can be used for so many projects and comes with so many extras, I have to say it is a really good value!  I can easily see where this could increase your sales and give you an extra edge in today’s market.

Be sure to check out our photo contest for October!  John Hartman is sponsoring the prize with the newly released Quickmats4 Plus Bonus Disk for our winner! For your chance to win, click here for how to enter!

Click here to learn more:  QuickMats4 by John Hartman

I think one of my favorite aspects of the guide was [...]]]> The WordSmith {what to wear} guide is all that I heard about it and more!  I love that it goes beyond dressing everyone alike!  I was quite impressed with the professional wording and attention to details. The clothing advice was well thought out and illustrated.

I think one of my favorite aspects of the guide was that it allowed for different styles. Our clients do not all have the same style. They do not always even want the same style for all their portrait sessions. Joyce covers that by going over a variety of styles in detail.

So many clients really do want the amazing portraits they see, but they do not always know how to do their part. Well, this guide will have your clients on the right path to portrait success!

We all include a blurb or two in our client information about what to wear, but this takes client information to a whole new level. Now there is no need to take the time to try and create the perfect handout, Joyce Smith of Wordsmith has done it for you.  To me, photography is a gift and knowing how to word something is a gift, too.  Sometimes it is so great to have someone with a gift for something do it for us. Now, you can just shoot…your gift!

I also wanted to add one more thing. While I had heard many favorable thoughts on the Wordsmith {what to wear} guide, I had not heard about the “where to shop” resource in the back of the guide. There are actually some of us who are shopping impaired (I know the mind reels. lol), and it is so nice to have a list of great resources to share with our clients so they know where to shop, too. For someone like me, the “where to shop” resource alone is worth the price of everything all by itself! Clients are going to love this!

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