One of the biggest mistakes I see portrait photographers around the world making today is this: They put a huge amount of time & effort into creating the photographs - making them the best they can possibly be - and then they simply post the images online for the client to go there and place their order.

This is a tragedy! If you want to earn a great income without working yourself to death, you need to present the images to your clients in person - or have a well trained staff member do it for you!

One of the "rules" of my success is to spend at least as much time presenting & selling the photos as I have put into their creation in the first place. Why? Because that way I can be positively sure the client is investing in exactly what they really want - instead of just going to a website, looking at their monitor, and picking a few images and thinking they are going to be happy in the long run with a few 8x10's or 4/6's.

You see, people can't visualize what their photographs will look like in larger sizes - you and I can - because we deal in this every day - but our clients can't.

Also, with so much rampant copying of images going on everywhere, it's very important you get the maximum possible sale in the first place - because that's the only chance you're going to get in these times!

So if your clients see small images on their monitors - that's what they're going to invest in. And who's loses when they do this? The CLIENT does!

You see, the only time she will enjoy an 8x10 is when she's dusting it. The rest of the time, that 8x10 is WAY too small for her to be able to see it and enjoy it as she's living and moving throughout her home.

Now, I know what you're thinking: "But Chuck, I don't like selling, and I don't have enough time to spend showing the photos to my clients. I create them, and then post them and let the sale or order take care of itself."

I understand exactly how you feel. But this is a major mistake that is costing you a huge amount of money as well as short-changing your clients.

And another important point - when I say "selling" - I do NOT mean pressure or trickery. That's not selling. Selling is finding out what people want, and helping them to get it. So stop thinking that selling is bad - it's not.

One of my favorite sayings is this: "The first impression a client receives of her images is the lasting image." If that first image is on her computer monitor, that will be the lasting image, and she'll never even think of investing in a beautiful wall-sized image for her home. And she loses all the enjoyment & pride she could have had if that image you created for her would have been proudly displayed on her wall in her home. Yes, you lose some money, too - but the real loser is your client.

So from this moment on - vow to yourself that you are NOT going to "cop out" and just post your beautiful photographs online & hope the client invests in something really nice.. No. Instead you will take the time to show the images to your clients, learn from their feedback, and help them see how wonderful their images will look in their home as appropriate wall décor sizes.

All the best,

Charles J. Lewis