Editors Note: Photographers Bling and Simply Color Lab are hosting a Giveaway this weekend and we’re announcing a big sale. In the meantime, the amazing people over at Photographers Bling recently wrote an article about why your choice of Print Lab matters with some great info every photographer should know. They included an interview with Adam Fried, Owner of Simply Color Lab. And this Friday they are doing another article on the Simply Studio System…complete with the cool giveaway. Photographers Bling is going to PRINT soon! To get on their announcement list be sure to sign up for their newsletter by clicking here.
Read this Article & find out Why your choice in a LAB IS SO IMPORTANT !
Established professional photographers understand that capturing & editing the images from your session is only a part of being a successful photographer. You must be able to deliver quality products that fully represent your artistic ability and reflect in PRINT the beauty of the images as they were meant to be seen during the creation process.
The lab you choose is a marriage between what you see when you click your shutter and how that vision comes to life on paper. Literally the printed form of your work is your legacy, it’s one of the most important things in regards to how your work is represented to the world.
If you have ever taken the time to experiment with comparing prints from a chain store to those of a professional lab you already know what I am referring to. If you’re reading this and you’ve never worked with a professional lab, it’s important to run those experiments yourself to fully appreciate just how important a professional lab is going to be to the longevity of your photography business.
When you deliver high quality products with proper color saturation and exposure to your clients your work will truly shine and will be a true representation of how you intended it to look when you took the photo. This is extremely important because your artistic style is being represented every time that photograph is seen by another prospective client.
Finding the right lab is important. Some questions to consider when looking for a lab:
- What is the reputation of the lab I am considering work with? Have they been around for a while ?
- Does the lab offer full color correction. will they work for me & my style to color correct my images for optimal printing without losing my artistic edits in the process
- Does the lab offer a diversity of productions ? both fine prints, gallery wraps, boutique packaging and other items I wish to offer my clients? Can they drop ship ?
- Is their user software easy to manage or do I need to learn another program to get started?
- How fast is their turn around time?
- Are they cost-effective?
We recently had the opportunity to interview Adam Fried, CEO & Founder of Simply Color Lab and we feel confident that you will find his answers to our questions informative and compelling. We are sure you will love their product line and find their software to be easy to use and efficient, allowing you to set up a new account in just minutes.
Simply Color Lab is a full-service lab with small lab quality and customer care. They offer several products, starting with their Paper Prints and Canvas Gallery Wraps–both of which are available with custom framing at any size up to 40×60″…So go ahead, think outside the 16×20″ box and create your own custom products that customers can’t get anywhere else.
Also check out their amazing Canvas Clusters…groupings of canvases that help you sell more. They also recently started their press- printed division and offer custom die-cutting in any size or shape, fine art books.
And they recently launched their amazing super mini album…at 3×3″ with 42 images, it’s like an entire album in the palm of your hand. In the past few months they have introduced several new and unique products for their customers including the recently introduced Roundouts and Canvas Backdrops.
Simply Color Lab started as Simply Canvas and they quickly learned that quality and customer service are the two things every new and established photographer agrees they MUST HAVE.
Simply Color Lab strives to be more than just a vendor for small businesses and take their cue from two great companies they admire… Simply Color will always deliver the “Wow Factor” and find a way to say “Yes” as often as possible.
BLING- “Adam, how did you get into your line creativity ? How did your business first form ?”
Adam- “I must say that I love Photography, but my first love was for entrepreneurship. Something I learned working weekends for my Mom when I was a young boy while she ran her own small business as she tried to support two children by herself. So, I combined those two loves and created Simply Canvas, which quickly turned into Simply Color Lab. I enjoy running my own business, but also enjoy helping other small businesses grow. Which is why I strive to create unique and custom items so a photographer can set themselves apart from their competition.”
BLING– “What aspect of your business do you find the most challenging and how did you overcome your challenge?”
Adam- “Growth, fast growth. When a company grows quickly, you have to become a master of all trades very quickly. From production to marketing, to accounting. It did take up nearly all my time the first 4 years. I believe I overcame it the way my Mom showed me…hard work. Don’t wait for someone else to do the work for you. Work as hard as every employee you hire. They say overnight success takes 15 years and I believe that is true. “
BLING– “What aspect of your business do you find the most rewarding ? Why?”
Adam- “The photographers we work with. As I mentioned we recognize that we are a vendor for them but we strive to be their partner as well. Every product we send out is something the photographer is going to put their name on. They provide the art and we create the product that showcases it. So what we do needs to be up to their high standards. When we meet a new photographer and watch their business grow with us, it tells me we’re doing something right.”
BLING– “What sparks your creativity ? Where do you get your passion from?”
Adam- “One of the things I’ve been truly enjoying lately is creating new products. The process of research and development can be very rewarding…and when you create a new product no one has ever seen before and find that your customers love it, it encourages all of us at Simply Color Lab to keep coming up with more.”
BLING– “What do you feel sets your business & products apart from other similar vendors?”
Adam- “I would have to say quality, Customer Service and Custom Products. We open each and every file before it’s printed and will contact the photographer if we see any issues and even offer suggestions on how to fix the problem. We are not just a supplier, we are your partner.
Our customer service team does not just answer the phones…they are empowered to fix concerns you have without having to go through their managers to get approval on most issues.
And finally, we are constantly developing new products that we know our customers can resell. And of course we don’t just copy other labs, we make sure our new products are custom and unique and still available at a price photographers can afford. We’ve found that there is a way to create beautiful, custom products and still make them accessible to even the smallest of small photography businesses.”
BLING– “Who do you look up to for inspiration ? Whose work do you admire the most ?”
Adam- “I believe I mentioned my Mom earlier, but it never hurts to mention her again She was a great Mom and a great business person. Watching her make something from nothing has continued to inspire me to this day. I can only imagine the hard work and sleepless night she must have had when starting out and how she never, ever gave up. And how she never let on to us how hard it must have been. Her commitment to her customers was something that has stuck with me over the years and that’s why we always treat our customers like family. If they have any issues, my team will stop at nothing to make it right.”
BLING– “If you could be someone else for a day who would you choose and why ?”
Adam- “I won’t mention names, but there is a photographer who uses us that I admire. I would just love to spend a day behind the lens as her and take photographs the way she does.”
BLING– “Being self employed is time-consuming, How to you bring balance into your work space & into your life?”
Adam- “Wow, you can have a work/life balance?…if anyone knows how, please contact me!”
BLING– “Tell us about your customer service, your quality disclaimer and explain to our readers why they can feel confident in purchasing from you.”
Adam- “Plain and simple, if you’re not happy with your product…contact us, we’ll find a way to make you happy”.
BLING– “Have you networked with other designers to enhance your product offerings? If so, who ?”
Adam- “When we launched press printed products we wanted to find the best designers to create design templates to offer our customers. And we FINALLY did…We have some of the best in the business and one of them is Ashe Design. Sonja Ashe designs templates that fit most of our press printed products and offers them on her website. She even has a few Freebies on our website (Currently all Press Cards, Stickers and Magnets are Buy One Get One Free…you can get details on the sale here.)
To view more information on Simply Color Lab & Ashe Design you can do so here: Click Here to Check ‘em Out.
If you haven’t checked out Photographers BLING or it if it’s been a while…Visit their website They’ve made some exciting new changes and have more big surprises in store for Pros.
Photographers Bling is an online resource devoted to aligning photographers with the resources they need to take their photography to the next level. BLING offers: Photography Education, Trending Vendors and free tips & tricks.
