January 26, 2010 : Written by NPL staff : Comments (12)
So, our team has been buzzing while putting our initiatives together for 2010, including new product lines, which is where you come in.
Sure, we’ve gotten some requests in 2009 which has gotten our wheels turning, but we want to know exactly what YOU want.
Submit your wishes and dreams here and we’ll do our very best to make them happen!
November 4, 2009 : Written by NPL staff : Comments (3)
We delivered on our promise to wow attendees of the International PDN PhotoPlus Expo, which took place in NY, NY from October 22nd to the 24th. Our booth was a buzz all weekend with current customers, new customers learning about all of our offerings, and thousands of $25 order giveaways getting handed out like candy. Some PhotoPlus attendees were stunned to receive the free $25 orders from our lab, but we assured them that it is our way of letting potential customers try our lab with no-strings attached. So… we came, we saw and we left satisfied! Hope it was the same for you.
To give those of you who were unable to attend a glimpse of what we just spoke about, we have inserted some great photos of our team, hard at work!
Have questions for us, want to drop us a line? Then click on the comments box below and let her rip!
November 3, 2009 : Written by jonathan : Comments (1)
Competition among photographers has grown exponentially in the last few years. With the advent of digital, lower pricing and a wealth of information on the Internet, there are more professional photographers than ever. And with this comes stiff competition.
One strategy is to just give your clients a disk of the high resolution images and send them on their way. Sure, it’s the easy way out; shoot, burn and move on to the next client. While this approach simple and neat, it may not be in the professional photographer’s best interest. Once you give that disc out, it’s like handing over your artwork and letting the consumer paint whatever they want on your finished canvas. There is no telling where the images will get printed and what you intended to shoot could become misrepresented. The pictures will likely be passed around to family and friends (who could also be potential clients) and your name is associated with prints that you had no chance to approve. The moral of this story: the perception of your prints is as important as anything in your business model.
On the other hand, I think that the client has the right to a disc of the high resolution files. I do not think there is anything wrong with burning a disc, especially because of the high demand for that service.
That being said, I think the best approach is a combination- one that offers professional prints, albums and products combined with a high resolution disc. This approach will satisfy your clients, keep you competitive and ensure that you have provided them with high quality prints that will be passed down for generations to come.
February 3, 2009 : Written by chris : Comments (3)
When deciding whether to launch a blog my CEO and I spoke at length about the purpose our BLOG would serve. We asked all of the necessary questions, including what would we talk about? Would anyone want to read it? And one of the most important questions of all…What wouldn’t we BLOG about? Would there be specific information that we just wouldn’t touch? Would we talk about financials, or the overall state of the company? Honestly, those answers are still up in the air, but we know one thing, we launched this BLOG for the sole purpose of letting our customers into the daily life of the Nations Photo Lab Family. We want to let our clients see us on a more human level, a level that EVERY company should eventually get on with their customer base.
Ryan Millman, our founder and CEO (and another blogger that you will soon get to know), started this business with ONE GOAL in mind…building long term relationships with our customers based on quality products, low prices and MOST IMPORTANTLY, the highest level of customer service. We have an internal motto at Nations Photo Lab and unless you were a fly on the wall in our weekly operations meetings you may not know it, but this motto keeps everything in perspective for us, the motto is…”Every Customer, Every Order, Every Day”. It is this motto that everyone who works at Nations Photo Lab adheres too and tries to emulate with every action. This is why we recently re-designed our website, this is why we consistently are adding new products, this is the reason that our customer service staff is top-notch and this is the main reason that we are not afraid of trying new things, this motto keeps us grounded, keeps us pointed in the right direction and keeps our customers as the number one most important aspect of our business!
Now that I have stated the reason for this blog, or better yet, stated the intention of this blog I want to officially introduce myself. My name is Chris and I am the Marketing Director here at Nations and will be one of the prominent bloggers you will be hearing from, but don’t worry we will be introducing you too many more of the characters that work at Nations Photo Lab. As for how I came to Nations Photo Lab, well it was a road that started with a Marketing undergrad degree and a Masters degree from an amazing university in Eastern Carolina, aptly named East Carolina University. After a stint with a large advertising agency in Baltimore, MD, I was lucky enough to meet Ryan (through my future wife) and score that ever important interview…the rest is history.
I hope you enjoyed the inaugural blog of Nations Photo Lab and I will speak to you soon.