Do you offer holiday cards?

[AmandaM]

I would like to offer 4" x 8" holiday cards to my clients, but I am not sure the best way to do it.

Do you make your own templates or use templates from the place you print them?

If you use templates from somewhere (like MPix for example), how do you present these templates to your clients?

Any advice would be appreciated. I have people that want to buy Christmas cards and I'd really like to be prepared!

[ohheyseth]

Good question. I'm doing the same thing right now. I order my prints from Mpix, and figure some of their templates would work fine but I don't want to send the client to their site to pick one out, of course. =]

[sevillafox]

I'm in the process of making some of my own templates to go with a holiday special I'm running.

As for Mpix, it looks like you can download a pdf of their holiday templates HERE (http://www.mpix.com/Files/HolidayTemplates.pdf)

[photographerbynite]

i did holiday cards last year and used mpix. I took a gerenal shot of a famikly and placed in temeplate. I ordered one of eah kind. I allow the cutomers to view and choose. Since the website changed it may be a little more difficult. Haven't tried this year though. I found it to work well they liked actually seeing the product.

[photographerbynite]

sorry for the type-o's
:)

[sevillafox]

Welcome to POTN....you can edit the post and fix them if you like. :D

[AmandaM]

I'm in the process of making some of my own templates to go with a holiday special I'm running.

As for Mpix, it looks like you can download a pdf of their holiday templates HERE (http://www.mpix.com/Files/HolidayTemplates.pdf)

Thanks! I saw that earlier today. I swear it wasn't there when I posted this thread! LOL

That's quite helpful. The only dilemma I have now is that I can get the cards printed a bit cheaper somewhere else (and without having to pay shipping). But having these templates would be so helpful it might be worth paying a little more!


photographerbynite... that's a great idea too about getting samples printed. Thanks!

[ohheyseth]

That's quite helpful. The only dilemma I have now is that I can get the cards printed a bit cheaper somewhere else (and without having to pay shipping). But having these templates would be so helpful it might be worth paying a little more!
Amanda, I think if you are pricing them correctly, ordering them from Mpix and paying a bit more will be worth it in the long run. Mpix produces quality stuff. Just work the shipping fee into your pricing structure and you should be good to go. That way you can utilize all of those templates. =]

[AmandaM]

Amanda, I think if you are pricing them correctly, ordering them from Mpix and paying a bit more will be worth it in the long run. Mpix produces quality stuff. Just work the shipping fee into your pricing structure and you should be good to go. That way you can utilize all of those templates. =]

Thanks! I'm quite new to this and concerned about overpricing. But I'm always trying to steer clear of underpricing as well!

[johnstoy]

Try SmugMug.com... they offer 47 different X-Mas card formats...

[lputtbach]

This is my 2nd year doing holiday cards. I do a 20-25 min photo shoot at one location and include 75 cards and envelopes. I design them myself on photoshop elements and print them at costco. It is going well so far this year...

I let the client proof the pictures first and select their favorites. Then I make 2-3 sample cards (with the writing they want) and then usually, one of those cards they end up getting. If not, I can make changes.

[AmandaM]

Cool. Thanks for the info and ideas!

Any other info appreciated! I'm learning a lot from you guys. :)

[ohheyseth]

This is my 2nd year doing holiday cards. I do a 20-25 min photo shoot at one location and include 75 cards and envelopes. I design them myself on photoshop elements and print them at costco. It is going well so far this year...

I let the client proof the pictures first and select their favorites. Then I make 2-3 sample cards (with the writing they want) and then usually, one of those cards they end up getting. If not, I can make changes.

Ah.. a fellow Nikon shooter. =]

How much time do you think you spend on making the sample cards/finalizing the one they choose?

Also, we are all likely in different markets, but it may help the original poster if you mention how much you charge for that 25 min shoot + 75 cards package.

This is my first year doing it so I'm just offering it as an a la carte option for folks who have had their fall pictures taken. $40 for the first set of 25 (w/ envelopes) and $35 for each additional set. I created the templates in Photoshop and offer them about 4-5 different templates to choose from w/ their custom wording, etc.

[MJPhotos24]

Exposure Manager just added 100 designs to have on your site. They are offering tickets and some other stuff next I believe it said. So, after a couple requests added 4x8 cards - you can have them normal with no template or the customer can choose one.