Tag Archive for playbook

| May 20, 2013
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Price Adjustments

Pricing has always been extremely important here at Finao.  We keep our profit margins low in order to provide high-quality products to more people at a fair price all the time; and with that fair price you also get the added value of choice that is custom tailored to you and each of your clients.  Recently, we’ve taken an intensive look at our costs and have found that, although some things were under-priced due to rising costs of raw materials, we have become more efficient in many areas, and we can actually lower some costs! In light of this, we will be making some slight adjustments to a few categories that will take effect on July 1st, 2013.

Flush Mount ONE and artONE albums will see a 3% DECREASE on the base price in the following sizes:

20×8
16×8
10×15
14×14

12×16 and 12×18 will remain unchanged.

Other sizes will increase 3% on the base price only.  Additional leaves and upgrades will not be affected.

playBOOK base prices will remain the same.

The price per additional leaf will see a small increase:

was $2.00, now $2.50
was $2.50, now $3.00
was $3.00, now $3.75
was $3.50, now $4.25
was $4.00, now $5.00

Photo Wrap covers for playBOOK, Elements and Rave will now be $10.

Photo Wrap covers for sets of playPALS will now add $10 to the total price for the set of 3 or 6; it will not add $10 to each individual playPAL in the set.

Jamie Westman

Jamie Westman

Jamie is Finao's resident Guidance Guru and Marketing Assistant to the Queen of All Things Finabulous, Christine Perry-burke.

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Category: Updates | Tags: , , , , , , ,
| May 14, 2013
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Showing Sample Albums

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Having enough samples in your studio to show a client the real depth and breadth of all the products you can offer them can be a challenge.  For many, adequate display space, portability and expense can play against us here.  Studio sample albums, for a realistic feel of the quality of construction of an item, and swatches, for a firsthand experience of textures and finishes, are a must in any successful photography studio.  Debi and Amanda Tipton of Kokoro Photography in Littleton, Colorado have expanded on that standard and shared their fantastic idea for showing even more sample albums to their clients for inspiration!

Now every time a couple orders a different album cover design we photograph the book before delivering it to them. We then lay out a 10×10″ image with photographs of that book, add them to our website here, and then get the layout printed. We have a Finao Elements peel-and-stick album that we can then add each cover option to as the layouts arrive! Now when you sit down with us to design your wedding album you have a lookbook of full album covers to help you with your design.

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They use a self-mount Elements album which has adhesive on the pages so you can easily mount your own prints, or add-to over time as you take new photos.

 

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The last page is blank and ready for new covers! We are almost ready for a whole new album.

Other similar options would be to design sample images and descriptions into layouts for a Finao playBOOK, or create sample images and/or pricing and package menus that can be displayed in frame mounts on an easel and kept organized in a Portfolio Box with a custom designed image cover that features your branding and logo.  Not into design?  Check out Design Aglow for a great selection of templates!

Jamie Westman

Jamie Westman

Jamie is Finao's resident Guidance Guru and Marketing Assistant to the Queen of All Things Finabulous, Christine Perry-burke.

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Category: Design, Guest Blogger, How-to, New Customer, Product Recommendations, Sales & Marketing, Uncategorized | Tags: , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , ,
| September 4, 2012
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Finao’s Fast Turnaround

Some exciting changes have been going on in Finao Land!  As you may have already heard, we had recently moved into a brand new production facility and during that move we did some workflow revamping and rearranging that has really paid off!  We know that time and deadlines are important to you in making your clients happy, so we’re thrilled that we can say that turnaround times are speeding along!

Production time for the vast majority of ONE albums is 2-3 weeks. (Specialty covers like Erotika and print partner orders will add time to this.)

Elements albums/guestbooks and the new playBOOK photo books only take about a week also!!! (Photo Wrap covers may add 3-4 days)

*Remember: these albums are made in NY so if you need something on a rush and are outside the NE region, choose an appropriate expedited shipping method.

We also have some more time-saving, streamlining, sale-driving, money-making announcements coming up over the next few months that you DEFINITELY won’t want to miss!  So keep an eye on your email and our social media sites for more to come!


Jamie Westman

Jamie Westman

Jamie is Finao's resident Guidance Guru and Marketing Assistant to the Queen of All Things Finabulous, Christine Perry-burke.

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Category: New Customer, New Products, Sales & Marketing, Uncategorized, Updates | Tags: , , , , , , , , , , ,
| August 2, 2012
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Boudie-licious!

A lot of people think that we pretty much just work with wedding photographers to make wedding albums, and although that is a big portion of what we do, it’s definitely not the only thing we’re into.  Boudoir photography has really been growing in recent years and many of the photographers that work with us sell a wide range of Finao and Seldex products to their boudoir clients.  Nothing sexier than a little book of secrets….maybe a BIG book of not-so-secrets >=)

Here’s a selection of our steamiest albums and boxes that could really give a rise to your boudoir business ;)

 

Elements

Finao Elements self mount albums are perfect for portraits and boudoir.

Finao’s seductive collection of tantalizing textures.

Elements albums are fantastic books by Finao that fall under the category of “self-mount” which means exactly what it sounds like (hey, get your mind out of the gutter!) – there is adhesive on the pages so you can mount your own prints to the page.  It’s super easy to do, we’ve even got video instructions, but we also offer a Print & Assembly option if you’re of the “do it for me” mindset.

Elements come in super sexy silks, linens, fabrics and fauxs, or upgrade to incorporate sultry leathers and suedes.  Guest book “TXT” versions are also available.  Studio samples are 25% off and available through the Sample Order Form.

 

playBOOK

Finao playBOOK photo books in new fabric cover materials.

Finao’s photographically printed playBOOK is the ultimate in a luxury album feel at a press-book price.

playBOOK is the hottest new photo book on the market and will make you kiss press-books goodbye!  playBOOK features photographic prints, skinny page styling, and seamless, lay-flat binding for breathtaking panoramic spreads.  The playBOOK comes in TONS of gorgeous fabric, silk and vegan leather cover options as well as image covers at no additional cost.  This is THE book for the boudoir client who wants a higher-end, magazine style, designed book without going all the way for a flush mount.

Get some more play with a playBOOK! Studio samples are 25% off and available through the Sample Order Form.

 

Seldex Gallery and Twin Sets

Seldex Gallery matted album available in US at Finao. Perfect album for portraits - seniors, boudoir, babies and families as well as guest books.

Gallery albums come with tons of cover options and make gorgeous portrait albums and guest books.

Gallery albums are gorgeous matted albums that are perfect for portraits and guest books.  They come in either a 9″ or 12″ square, have TONS of cover options from linens to fauxs to fine leathers and even image wraps, capacity of up to 30 mats in your choice of 4 styles and numerous mat configurations.

Gallery albums are a breeze to assemble yourself with your own prints – here’s a short video so you can see how it’s done – but if you don’t want to, we offer a print & assembly service as well for a low price per page (software required for P&A).

 

Portrait Suite

Portrait Suite by Seldex available in US at www.finao.com

Seldex’s Portrait Suite is the total package!

If it’s the total package you’re looking for, the Portrait Suite by Seldex provides you with an all-around presentation to your clients. A matted album wrapped in a photo cover is nestled inside a matching photo-covered box.  Hide a little CD button and coordinating printed disk on the inside of the lid, and you’ve got yourself a “suite” deal!

Just like the Gallery albums on the inside, the Portrait Suite albums are easy to assemble yourself with your own prints – here’s a short video so you can see how it’s done – but if you don’t want to, we offer a print & assembly service as well for a low price per page (software required for P&A).

 

Portfolio and Preview Boxes

Seldex Portfolio and Preview Boxes shown in "Boudie Call" templates by Design Aglow.

Design Aglow provides “Boudie Call” boudoir themed templates for albums, boxes and more. Visit www.designaglow.com. Image courtesy of Design Aglow.

For those who are into something a little different, a Portfolio Box or Image Preview Box by Seldex may be the remedy.  The Portfolio Box has been made popular lately by revered portrait photographer Sue Bryce, and with their simple sophistication, it’s easy to see why she sells so many!  Try a custom image cover, black buckram fabric or “Black Pearl” silk brocade.  A Natural Blend Linen is also available and quite popular for child & family sessions.  Simple white or black frame-mounts showcase your prints inside the box and make for the perfect way to add-to over time, or highlight various prints on an easel.  Styrene mounted prints are also available for both box types instead.

The Seldex Image Preview Boxes are smaller boxes that keep loose prints (or styrene mounted). Available in a variety of sizes to accommodate many needs, the Image Preview Box is perfect for anything from a sneak peek to the full Monty!

A 25% Studio sample discount is available for the Portfolio Box when you order through the Sample Order Form.

Like what you see?  Want more?  We’re happy to please!  Just ask and we’ll make sure all your needs are satisfied… ;p

Jamie Westman

Jamie Westman

Jamie is Finao's resident Guidance Guru and Marketing Assistant to the Queen of All Things Finabulous, Christine Perry-burke.

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Category: Boudoir, New Customer, New Products, Product Comparison, Product Recommendations | Tags: , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , ,
| July 19, 2012
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playPAL around: mini duplicate books

Finao playPAL covers

You know those little books that photographers keep telling us their clients can’t live without?  The ones that cause them to stay with an album company they really don’t like and doesn’t have the service, options or products that Finao has?

No more excuses!  Finao is introducing playPAL: smaller, duplicate albums for your wedding/portrait clients that play perfectly well with our ONE and artONE albums.  These books come in two size buckets: Itty Bitty and Little.  They are companions (exact duplicates of the main album) and are sold in groups of 3 or 6. (Not to be confused with its big brother the playBOOK, which is a separate product.)

Finao playPAL photo books in hand made paper covers.

Finao playPAL photo books in hand made paper covers.

Photo covers and non-traditional sizes are also available with playPAL at no additional cost.

Finao PlayPAL and small playBOOK packaging bag with heart charm.

Finao PlayPALs and small playBOOKs are packaged in a bag with a heart charm.

PlayPALs are one price regardless of how many sides, pages or spreads.  Should I repeat that?  ONE PRICE* REGARDLESS OF THE NUMBER OF PAGES! Yeah!! (*Link takes you to flush mount ONE pricing where playPAL pricing is near the bottom of page)

Six ITTY BITTY playPALs – try this:  One for the bride and one for each Mother to carry in their purses (playPALs come in cloth bags so they are very easy to carry around), one for your sales table so you have an example of every wedding you photograph, and that leaves two that can be used for  advertising.  Give a playPAL to a venue, a florist, a wedding planner, a cake baker, even a bridal salon.  If you give away two for every wedding, that will be a nice collection and a lot of referrals.

Three LITTLE playPALs – try this:  I’d try not to use these as parent albums.  playBOOKs are much better suited for the task and have a higher perceived value.  But even Little books can be gifts after purchase, grandparent books (with the purchase of parent albums), venue books (love me those vendor books) and photographer keepsakes.  When someone asks if you have ever worked at the botanical garden – “sure, here’s an example of a wedding I shot there”.

You can sell the playPALS to the bride or offer them as an incentive to book, purchase a bigger package, get an album or purchase parent books.  Whatever, doesn’t matter.  It does matter that they have value, so put a price on them and put the price on your price sheet – make it high so when you give it as a reward it makes for a real reward.

playPALS offer 10 handmade paper covers from our special “playGROUND” collection or a custom photo cover (sizing templates available on website). Light weight and portable, they are perfect pursePALs.  So, come on, get your play on and kiss all your excuses goodbye!  Finao offers it all!

Finao Playground collection of swatches

Finao Playground collection of handmade papers are exclusively available with playPALs.

 

 

Christine Perry-Burke

Christine Perry-Burke

Managing Partner and "queen" of Finao. I'm responsible for all the cool materials and products at Finao. A vegetarian and animal lover to my core, we run a dog friendly office. I believe Finao should be a good corporate citizen and tread lightly on our planet.

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Category: New Products, Product Comparison, Product Recommendations, Sales & Marketing | Tags: , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , ,
| July 17, 2012
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Putting more PLAY in your day…

Finao playBOOK: Cover image by Jason Groupp.

Thought we should have another short post on the new playBOOKs.  First, without much publicity and certainly no big roll out, this became a hot product virtually overnight.  We had to hold off on the “announcement stuff” because we had more orders than we were prepared for.  Fast forward a month or two and we are ready!  Play books are moving right along and getting more and more popular every day!

That brings me to a few comments that I want to share:

1.  Delivery time.  Most playBOOKs will have a 1 week turn around!  Photo Wrap covers can add two to three days to the production time due to it’s special protective lamination process.  Although the printer produces an instant dry print, that doesn’t mean it’s really dry.  We find waiting a day before laminating produces better results.  It’s kinda like nail polish: feels dry to the touch, but a pattern can show up later.  Better to wait and make sure you receive the best product we can deliver.

2.  Unlike most books on the market, we do not use standard, pre-made covers.  Finao still makes each cover with a custom fit for each book.  Only 1mm difference sometimes, but that cover will be a perfect match for that album.  No covers are made until the block is complete and measured.  Time, my friends, time.

3.  We offer photo covers at the same price as our many fabric covers.  The fabrics are more expensive to purchase, have some yield issues and require us to hold inventory.  BUT, they are better, and we’ve decided to offer them all at the same low price we offer the photo wrap cover.  Many of the materials we use come from outside the book binding industry and go through some serious wear testing.  They will last.  They can take a bit of abuse.  And in 10 years your client will have an album that looks as new as the day they received it.  Finao likes it that way.

4.  Offering fabric covers just might give you a competitive advantage.  This is not something your client will find at an online album-creation site.  They are unique to you.  The choices are fantastic and the price is all the same.  That means they can select anything we offer and you know you will always pay one low price.  Hint, hint, we have 10 new materials almost ready to go.  The last ones just arrived so we will be working on a new swatch card.  Watch this space, it’s coming soon!

5.  The Paraphernalia Collection is now part of the Non-Leather swatch kit and playBOOKs can be ordered in these deluxe fabrics at NO ADDITION COST.  Try any of these HOT fabrics for an extreme sexy look on your boudoir books.

6.  Try a different size.  The 10×4 is a real hit at shows and if photographers like it that much, well, we figure the client will like it even more.  12×8 and 9×6 are other great size options.  Again, you’re giving yourself a competitive advantage by offering something they can’t get elsewhere.

7.  Think portraits.  Yes, playBOOKS are a great low cost option for parent albums.  However, they are an even better option for portrait sessions.  Lots of great images translate into client “wants” and playBOOKs are the perfect answer.  Low cost books combined with simple designs just means added profits for your business.

So don’t mess around deciding to make albums an integral part of your product line.  playBOOK around!  A little play can make for happy clients and happy wallets!

PS: Take a look at the pics here for a sneak peek at a few of our upcoming material options!  And don’t forget about the playBOOK’s little brother playPAL that is available with the purchase of Finao ONE and artONE flush mount albums!

Finao playBOOK photo books in new fabric cover materials.

Finao playBOOK photo books in new fabric cover materials.

Finao playBOOK photo books in new fabric cover materials "Bookie" and "Narcism".

Finao playBOOK photo books in new fabric cover materials “Bookie” and “Narcism”.

Finao PlayPAL and small playBOOK packaging bag with heart charm.

Finao PlayPALs and small playBOOKs are packaged in a bag with a heart charm.

Finao playPAL photo books in hand made paper covers.

Finao playPAL photo books in hand made paper covers.

Finao playPAL photo books in hand made paper covers.

Finao playPAL photo books in hand made paper covers.

Finao playPAL photo books in handmade paper covers or photo wrap image covers.

Finao playPAL photo books in handmade paper covers or photo wrap image covers.

Christine Perry-Burke

Christine Perry-Burke

Managing Partner and "queen" of Finao. I'm responsible for all the cool materials and products at Finao. A vegetarian and animal lover to my core, we run a dog friendly office. I believe Finao should be a good corporate citizen and tread lightly on our planet.

More Posts - Website - Twitter - Facebook

Category: New Products | Tags: , , , , , , , , , ,
| May 3, 2012
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playBOOKING around

Panoramic spreads in Finao's new playBOOK.

The newest addition to Finao is in the starting line-up for sure! The playBOOK is what I have been looking for since we started this company. Right about that time the word on the street was press-book; Press-book this, press-book that. Everybody has a press book and therefore everybody must want one, right? Even Finao jumped on the bandwagon with the Rave, which has been a success and offered a more upscale version of the industry standard press-book with the many delicious cover options.

But I never liked press-books and never really liked Rave. It was difficult to show as it was so thin; it hardly looked like there was anything on the inside. We think we offer the best printing around, but it didn’t compare with true photographic prints. You want to get top dollar for what you offer your clients and that can’t be done unless the product looks and feels like it’s worth top dollar. I’m tough to please, so to please me it better be GREAT.

I knew what I wanted. It took me a while to find the solution, but we now have it in playBOOK. Follow me guys: Never accept less when you know what you want. I knew exactly what I wanted and I knew how it had to be priced: True photographic prints, the same exact quality you get in a Finao ONE, panoramic spreads with no seam in the middle and skinny pages that are elegantly thin, but never cheap looking. Finish it off with the entire non-leather collection of Finao materials and package it right for the client.  That right there is a pretty good start.

So what if you got all that and I told you the price was less than a press book?

It’s true!  playBOOK offers it all at a price you simply can’t resist. Log in to check it out!

Now, start thinking about how you can put some play in your client offerings:

  • Glamour/Boudior – try Lip Lock, Lady Danger, Black Pearl, Gothika, Sapphire, hot colors for hot ladies all in fabulous silk (why settle for less).
  • Kids, Babies,Newborn – try Glitter Barbi, True Blue, Tickled Pink, Envy, Whiteout – soft, mellow materials for your youngest clients.
  • Seniors – Be hip, be HOT with Purple Haze, Tangerine Dream, Faded Jeans, Candyland and Chocoholic – trend setting looks for teens.
  • Parent Albums – never, ever let your clients’ parents walk away empty-handed. They deserve better and they deserve albums. Affordable, beautiful, upscale playBOOK is what they need (unless, of course, they are getting a ONE).

Game on……playBOOK. A winner. Period.

Christine Perry-Burke

Christine Perry-Burke

Managing Partner and "queen" of Finao. I'm responsible for all the cool materials and products at Finao. A vegetarian and animal lover to my core, we run a dog friendly office. I believe Finao should be a good corporate citizen and tread lightly on our planet.

More Posts - Website - Twitter - Facebook

Category: Product Recommendations, Sales & Marketing | Tags: , , , , , , , , ,