New Preview Options | Updates

We’ve added a new feature to our Photo Gift Registry platform. This was our top feature request from Beta users in the pilot program. You wanted to be able to preview the registry before it was sent to guests. Along with providing a custom url, we now provide a preview of the registry. Now the photographer can preview the gift pages that the guest views from the dashboard as well as the couples view of the wishlist approval. Basically, we are opening everything up and giving you the full control over the registry. Photographers can even approve the registry themselves. Let us know what you think.

– Jesse

The Sales Process | Updates

The Sales Process

Step 1. Add “Custom Gift Registry” right next to “Online Gallery” in all of your wedding collections. Then print your new collections for all the couples who will be soon be coming for your service.

Step 2. Mention your Gift Registry in your first appointment. Bride’s and grooms love the option and usually embrace it if it’s communicated the right way. It’s not a charity service for people who can’t afford you. It’s a way to get better gifts and awesome photography products instead of unwanted items they already have. And it’s included. Why not use it? Because it’s in the collection, most clients feel obligated to take advantage of that value that’s built in. I usually mention it with my collections, but only use it as a tool to qualify leads if a budget resistance arises during the meeting. I then will say something like this, “Even though your budget is lower than our entry collection, we would still love to work with you. What we can do is give you our 6 hour coverage to make sure we capture these moments. We can then add all of the products you want to the gift registry and make sure you get a nice album that way.” While you may make less on the front end, the gift registry will often bring in more on the back-end.

Step 3. Setup the Event in the Dashboard and Send the Custom URL. Setup that unique URL and send it out via email within 24 hours of your meeting, while they remember.

Step 4. Call your couple. Guide them to the website to check out your catalog and approve the items over the phone. Otherwise, if you have approved it for them. Call them to inquire about what they are doing for a wedding website. Yes, done. Happy couple, happy you – almost…

Step 5. Ask your couple to put the link to the registry on their wedding invitations, shower invitations and especially the wedding website. If you are a ShowIt user or website builder, you can build the +Site yourself. Even better. Getting it on the wedding website is the key. If you get your link on the invites and wedding website in a prominent placement, you will see a dramatic sales increase. You can even offer to do it for them. It’s simple to add the registry link in most free wedding site builders.

Update | Simplified Wishlist Approval

We just finished up with our biggest update in quite sometime and I’m super happy to release it to you all today.

We’ve seriously upgraded the one of the most important areas of our platform.

With our initial version of the photo gift registry you would:

1) Create an event.

2) Choose the products for the wishlist based on your conversations with your couple.

3) Send the registry invite through our system to the bride and groom.

4) They would create an account and login (hopefully).

5) They would fine-tune the product selections.

6) They would approve the wishlist.

7) They would share the wishlist. (hopefully by publishing it on the wedding website).

When we analyzed the data from our original members and interviewed them we came to some easy conclusions.

1. Even when a couple loved the concept, many of the registries were not seeing a login from them.  This could be due to deliverability, overall busyness, or just confusion with how it works.
2. Only 6% of these registries were making it all the way to the finish line: The Wedding Website
3. The active link on the wedding website was by far the most successful point of sales, with save-the-dates being a distant #2.

Of course, we did something about it.  It was a lot of work, but now with the new version 2 update, all the power is in the hands of you, the photographer.
You can create and approve the wishlist!  The bride and groom no longer have to log in.  You can setup the whole registry and either send them their custom URL or HTML snippet – or – even better, put the link on their wedding website for them.

I can't emphasize enough how that link being published on the wedding website is the difference between big funding and no funding at all.

Even better, you can now send those invites right through your own preferred mail client.  You no longer are forced into our invite message.  We believe this change is going to make a huge difference for you.

So please, Log In to your account and let me know what you think about this change.  You’ll notice it right away when you create a new event.

If you have existing events in your dashboard that are pre-funded, I would recommend starting over and creating a new one for each client.  We’ve made the setup process twice as fast, and with the new features, your new event will take about a minute and your results will increase exponentially.

We have a bundle of sweet updates coming out this booking season. I’ll keep you posted.

– Jesse