Retouchup Blog

How many pixels does it take to change a lightbulb?

Imagine a growing family looking for a new home.  They find a beautiful home in a great neighborhood, and the price is right.

Can you imagine overlooking this home because of a couple nail holes in the wall, or a burnt out lightbulb?  It wouldn’t make much sense – these things can be fixed so quickly, and at little cost.

Each day, your clients see “holes in the wall” in their own images – imperfections that they don’t want immortalized in their portraits or family pictures.  They may not want to seem hung up on how their neck looks in a certain photo – or how a certain bit of facial shine draws attention to their nose – but often that is what is happening.  This can result in a smaller final sale.

Make sure your clients know that if they see any “burnt out lightbulbs” in their images, that you’re able to switch them out through the power of retouching.

Would it be appropriate to take 30 seconds and show a customer 3-5 examples of before/after of common concerns being edited away prior to reviewing the proof prints?  Could a few simple 8×10 before/after pairs help the customer see past the little fixes, and net you more sales?

Don’t let their ignorance of how easily these things be corrected keep them from purchasing more poses.

Studies show that  forty hours “on the clock” each week equate to less than twenty hours of productive, focused work.  How much more important then is it, then, to choose where we spend those hours of focused time?

When we don’t have time to do critical marketing because we have to spend time retouching blemishes, are we using our hours where they’ll do the most good?

What kind of edge could you get on your competition if they continue spending 10 hours a week on necessary (but routine) edits, and you’re able to spend those hours more productively?

What does it really mean to be in control?

Being in control is very related to choice.  One is in control when one can decide what is going to happen.

When every business function MUST be done by you only, tight deadlines loom and it’s already been a long day – having to stay up late to get blemishes removed from a client’s images – is this being in control?

Sometimes relying on others to be a part of your workflow actually puts you back in control.

On every order you place, and even on each image, you have the ability to give a rating.  Each of these ratings and feedback are reviewed by a member of our staff.  All textual feedback is read personally by our president.  In addition, all textual feedback is available for the artist who did your work to read.  All star ratings are tracked on a per-artist basis.

Or, in other words, your feedback matters!  When you take the time to share your feedback, it has an impact from artist to president.

Consider the brief moments it takes to leave meaningful feedback as sharpening the axe, or oiling the gears – it helps your artists perform their best.