Start the New Year with a Bang!

Did you know that 55% of all Americans make New Year's Resolutions? If your like me, hopefully you've made the resolution to spend less time working in Photoshop and spend more time marketing!

ACI's Calendar Sale is the perfect way to start your 2012 marketing off with a bang! Not only are the calendars perfect gifts for your top clients, but also for your strategic partners. Imagine giving a florist a calendar full of their beautiful work or a hot reception venue a year's worth of room shots from their facility...the possibilities are endless!

I can't think of a better way to say 'thanks' to the clients and strategic partners that make your business a success...plus, you'll be marketing all year long!

Happy Marketing Everyone!

Jennifer Gilman, M. Photog., Cr., CPP co-owner Mark Garber Photograpy, markgarber.com

Round and Round.

Twas the week before Christmas and besides trying to get this order done and these cards uploaded, in the back of your mind you're probably thinking about how nice it would be to have one day of peace and quiet in the studio.

Nice?

One day might be good, but who is looking forward to January when a good portion of the country freezes up and takes their wallets with them. Now is definitely the time to be thinking about how you're going to counteract the January freeze with a winter thaw. That thaw could come in the form of circle frames!

The newest in the ACI line of framing, circle frames not only give you the option of a different shape, but also have the option of being customized on the inside and out. Simply upload whatever print, color, pattern, etc., you want when uploading your image and you'll have the complete package of print and frame that only your customer can display on their wall.

Combine the circle frame with our upcoming ACI Adorables Children's Program and it might just feel like July and not January in your studio.


Circle frames start at just $59 and can be found under the framing tab in ACI onPrint. For more information, contact Customer Service at 800-728-2722, or stop by and see us at Imaging USA in New Orleans in January 2012.

Have a great holiday!

Kalen Henderson, M.Photog., Cr., MEI, CEI, CPP, API, EA-ASP, is the owner of StudioK, a full service portrait studio in Danville, Iowa.

A Storybook Christmas.

Black Friday is just around the corner and we all know that there's an opportunity for our studios to enjoy some "in the black" that day as well.

This is the perfect opportunity to showcase the new Storybook Ornaments to your studio collection. An artistry-cut cover of tough plastic surrounding the best accordion book in the industry, even a special tree-hanger added. What could be a better add-on to any family holiday sale?

Tempt your families by making the Storybook Ornament a "gift-with-purchase" item that can be added for free with a qualifying purchase of X-dollars with their order. This allows your sale to grow and the family the opportunity to have a great, new product that could become a yearly item. A collection of Storybook Ornaments could easily be shown in your studio on a small Christmas tree to encourage moms (especially new moms) to have a story for each year in the life of the family or child.

Check out the Storybook Ornaments today in ACI onPrint and get in the BLACK next Friday!

It's In The Cards.

 The very moment that Halloween ends, Christmas appears automatically. And when our clients wake up on November 1st, they immediately begin to think about Christmas.

Christmas shopping. Christmas decorations. Christmas cards.

Now you can think about a great deal on Christmas cards with ACI’s BOGO card sale currently in effect. This is the opportunity to market to all those clients who had sessions over the past year and show them how personalized press cards from you really ARE a good deal.

First off - pass on the savings. Offer the first set at your regular price and the second set either free or half off. This, in itself, will be an attractive offer to your clients. Secondly, market directly to them by creating a card from an image you already have on file and emailing them a sample. More often than not, people cannot resist an image of themselves that is already created and ready to go. Don’t just take out an ad in the paper and cross your fingers, hoping they will call. Go directly to their doorstep via the Internet and display what you have to offer.

And thirdly, contact them all. Just because someone had a quick session of their dog last January, doesn’t mean that they won’t be interested in Christmas cards today. Sending them this idea might spur them to come for a new session next week and to take advantage of your card special.

One last opportunity this card sale presents is the opportunity to get next year’s marketing materials at big savings. Cards for bridal fairs, thank-you cards from the studio, samples for senior announcements - the opportunities are endless if you can plan ahead. You might also consider using the sale to create gift cards that you can offer for this shopping season - encouraging and planting business for next year.

Remember, it’s in the cards.

Getting Creative with Canvas!

ACI's Gallery Wrapped Canvas Sale has us thinking BIG! With 25% Off all Gallery Wrapped Canvases, including Clusters, now is the perfect time to go for a BIG statement. You can download/view a PDF ACI's Canvas Clusters to see all the possible combinations. Go one step further with your collage and mix the 1.5 inch depth with the 2.5 inch depth to create a three dimensional look on your walls.

This collage incorporates one 10x10 Cube Gallery Wrap Cluster with two 36x26 single Gallery Wrapped Canvases.
This collage allows for you to infinately add on extra canvases for added width. If you need some extra highth, try swapping the 10x8's for 10x10's or even 10x15's.

This collage would be perfect for any staircase or hallway. It combines two Paw Clusters along with two single 20x20 Gallery Wrapped Canvases.

We just ordered this collage for our studio. We have a stairway that clients use to reach the upstairs camera rooms and dressing rooms. What better way to showcase a collage of our work!? We combined two Mosaic Clusters along with one Step Cluster. This did give us an extra 20x32 that didn't fit into this collage, but who couldn't use an extra 20x32 somewhere? We used ours to decorate the landing at the top of the staircase completing the new look.

Don't miss out! Order your canvases by October 30th!
Use the promo code WRAP25 at checkout.

About the Author: Jennifer Gilman, M. Photog., Cr., CPP co-owns Mark Garber Photography in Dayton, Ohio. Jennifer has a BA in Business Management and has established herself as one of the leading marketers in our industry. To learn more about Mark and Jennifer's work or products for photographers, you can visit markgarber.com or redhautedesigns.com.

Artistry Goes Accordion.

Just in time for the holidays, here’s a great new product that is bound to capture the hearts of all those moms on your list.

In the footsteps of Artistry cards, comes Artistry Accordion books and the new Artistry Storybook Ornament series. The same great shapes as our Artistry card collection, brought in a perfect match with the best-selling accordion books and at a price that will make them a hot-selling gift item for the holidays.

Found in “books and albums” in ACI OnPrint Pro, the Artistry Accordions come in eight different cover shapes in the square format and eight different cover shapes in the rectangle format and give you the option of the hole and hanger to create the Storybook Ornament. (You can upgrade to the ornament at no extra charge!) Begin a collection for  your newborn clients and add to it each year, for a Christmas tree that tells the story of a child or a family.

Both the books and ornaments have the magnet closure and the covers are made of a sturdy plastic which makes them perfect for a mom’s purse or dad’s desk drawer. At just $31.53 for three books (and each one can be unique), you have a price point that you can use for markup or to sell at a low markup as an add-on item.

However you choose to use them, they’re sure to be a hit this holiday season!

They Lived Happily Ever After.

Chips from Iowa, candy from PA, tied wit ACI cards.

You never really know how much you like a product until you actually use it yourself.

My oldest daughter was married this past weekend and ACI’s vast array of press printed products played a vital role in all the arrangements, from the invitations to the favors to the thank-you cards.

We began by developing a “logo” for the couple, which consisted of their names and date, then incorporating that on their save the date cards - a press printed postcard that was placed in an envelope along with an ACI press printed round sticker that could be used for guests calendars.

The invitations were artistry cards, along with small press-printed postcards for the guest RSVP cards. The artistry cards were placed into a folder that was obtained online and the RSVP cards into a pocket in that folder.

While the programs for the ceremony were printed at a local printer, they were attached to the black folders with an ACI artistry sticker and the guest book was a hard-cover, press-printed memory book by ACI.

When it came to the favors for the reception - a bag of potato chips from Iowa and a chocolate bar from Pennsylvania (homes of the respective bride and groom) - they were tied with ribbon and bound with a two-sided press printed business card that told the story of the favors and also bore the logo of the couple.

Last, but not least, single-sided press printed cards with the couple’s logo will be used as thank-you cards by the couple and a press-printed album awaits the couple once their photos are selected.

From engagement to honeymoon, ACI has the products to help this couple live happily ever after.

 Mother of the bride, Kalen Henderson, M.Photog.,Cr.,MEI,CEI,CPP,API, EA-ASP, owns StudioK in Danville, Iowa.