As graduation season approaches, ensuring your photography services are streamlined and optimized can significantly impact your sales and client satisfaction.

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At NowCandid, we're dedicated to helping you maximize your graduation ceremony photography with efficient tools and strategies. Let's dive into how you can enhance your approach this grad season.

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Schedule Your Pre-Grad Strategy Session 📅

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Kick off the season right by booking a pre-grad chat with Jack (https://calendly.com/nowcandid-training). In this meeting, we'll cover:

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• Event Setup: Make sure you setup your GradPics Now Event correctly, and know what to expect.
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• Equipment Review: Ensure you have all the necessary gear for what you want to accomplish.
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• Best Practices: Tips and tricks to boost your confidence and readiness.

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This session is crucial for tackling your events with the expertise needed to capture every memorable moment.

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Jack has even doubled his usual Calendly availability for grad season! Take advantage!

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Mastering Selfie Check-In 🤳

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Selfie Check-In revolutionizes how you capture and associate images with graduates:

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• Ensure Participation: Encourage every graduate to use the Selfie Check-In upon arrival. Consider assigning assistants to facilitate this process.
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• Visibility: Utilize multiple QR code placements—signs, lanyards, and handheld QR code signs (https://www.teamphotonetwork.com/QP...) to ensure no one misses out.
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• Extended Reach: Gather information not just from graduates, but also their families, expanding your marketing reach.

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Benefits of Live-Uploading 🌐

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Connect your camera to an iPhone, iPad, or Windows device for real-time image uploading and instant gallery updates:

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• Immediate Availability: Images are uploaded during the ceremony, speeding up delivery and increasing sales potential.
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• Seamless Integration: Use either direct camera tethering or post-event uploading through the NowCandid Web Dashboard for continuous marketing and matching.
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• Less Work: Once you and your photographers leave a ceremony, you're done! Walk away and watch the sales roll in.

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Comprehensive Photo Coverage 📸

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Go beyond the traditional shots to truly capture the spirit of graduation. More photos mean higher chances of sales. Capture a broad range of moments to provide ample choices for your clients.

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• Processionals
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• Buddy Shots
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• Pre-Stage Portraits
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• Post-Stage Portraits
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• Handshake Shots
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• Recessionals
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• Friends & Family Shots

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Why Choose NowCandid for Graduations? 🎓

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GradPics Now isn't just about taking photos; it's about enhancing the entire experience:

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• Background Removal: Currently free! Background removal can add a professional touch, allowing subjects to choose from selectable, default backgrounds.
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• Full Support: Our support team handles customer inquiries related to orders and ordering, so you can focus on shooting.
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• Cost-Effective: No subscriptions; we only profit when you do, only taking a small commission on orders, ensuring our goals align with your success.
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• User-Friendly: Designed for ease of use, robust against mistakes, and backed by reliable recovery options.
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• Residual Sales: We keep images hosted and online for at least 15 years, helping you get residual sales as the years go by.
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• Successful: Graduation photographers find it incredibly easy compared to their past workflows, and find themselves earning 20%+ more (or in some cases, much more than that!) than what they previously made in sales, with a fraction of the effort.

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Ready to take your graduation photography to the next level?

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Don't wait—schedule your session with Jack today (https://calendly.com/nowcandid-training) and ensure you're fully prepared to make this grad season your most successful yet!

For those who are new to NowCandid, let me tell you that NowCandid does a lot to help you continue to make sales on the images that you put through our system!

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Things such as:

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• Long-Term Hosting: We keep galleries online for at least 15 years.
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• Ongoing Marketing: Annual Event reminders & occasional consolidated Event marketing.
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• Sales Reinforcement: "Order More" QR codes on print products to encourage reorders.

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So, if you're using NowCandid for your current and future Events, those Events are all set to generate plenty of residual sales as the years go by!

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However, did you know that NowCandid can be used to easily remarket images from your past, pre-NowCandid Events?

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As a photographer, you have probably used other software and sales solutions in the past. That's okay! NowCandid is not a jealous business partner, and we are just happy you're here for us to help you now.

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So let's talk about how we can help you get more sales out of those past Events of yours.

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The Power of Remarketing 🔄

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First off, let me say that this will only work in situations where you have:

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• Pictures of Individuals: Such as headshots or portraits.
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• Corresponding Contact Information: You need to know which contact info goes with which image files.

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If you have past Events with those two things readily available, then you can use our oft overlooked FaceMatch Import Workflow to create what we often call a FaceGroup in your NowCandid Dashboard.

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You can then use that FaceGroup (pictures of individuals corresponding to an uploaded set of contact information) in any of your NowCandid Events!

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Meaning... you could create a NowCandid Event, utilize a FaceGroup of some school picture headshots you did, and then upload to that Event that class's graduation pictures, school pictures, dance pictures, or anything else you'd like to remarket!

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Once the "reference images" from your FaceGroup are in the Event as well as your past images of that same group of people - the images will match up using our Face Matching processes and begin a marketing campaign and sales effort that will help you generate some sales on those old images right now, as well as occasional residual sales over the years and years to come.

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Your Portfolio, Forever Profitable 💼

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As an example, a new NowCandid user performed the exact processes we described above to "remarket" graduation pictures from 4 of the graduations they photographed last year.

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Within a month of remarketing those 2023 images, this user generated about $1300 in sales and shipping!

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That $1300 will be in addition to the sales they will be able to make as the years go by, thanks to the residual sales tactics we mentioned earlier.

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Unlocking New Sales with Old Memories 🔑

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So, if you dear reader are in a position to utilize some of the portraits and contact info you've collected in the past, consider using NowCandid to remarket them! Doesn't matter if they're 1, 3, 5, or even 10+ years old.

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NowCandid does not charge you any subscription or hosting fees, so even if you were to make $0 in sales, it won't cost you a thing.

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We only make money when you do, and we only want to help you earn more and work less!

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Get Started Now 🚀

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Ready to give your vintage images a new lease on life? Schedule a walkthrough with our specialist, Darwin, and let's get those images working for you once more. Click here to book your session: NowCandid Training

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NowCandid is committed to helping you earn more with less effort. Let’s turn those archived galleries into a flourishing sales channel, starting now!

Candid Color Photography (CCP) in Oklahoma City recently orchestrated a resounding success at a local medical school's advancement ceremony.

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With only 100 graduates attending the ceremony, CCP generated an impressive average revenue of roughly $49 per person in just 31 days. This achievement underscores the potential of graduation photography when executed well!

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While $49 per graduate is incredible, aiming for $20 per graduate is a more consistent target to aim for and achieve for both high school and college graduations. This benchmark is attainable with proper execution, although many events (such as CCP's) can surpass this figure!

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Candid Color Photography has been a longtime user of NowCandid & GradPics Now, and is able to get the most out of the program thanks to their experience with the platform! But even in the beginning, they were able to see immediate improvements when switching to NowCandid for their graduations. In 2022, CCP transitioned 82 graduation ceremonies to the GradPics Now program, resulting in a significant 22% increase in sales per person on average, compared to their previous year's sales per person at those same ceremonies.

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This switch not only boosted their sales, but it also led to an ~8% discount in their previous production & software costs. NowCandid's Workflows also saved them countless hours in post-event labor compared to their previous workflows.

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While there are many factors that can impact your sales averages, here are some of the most important ones CCP keeps in mind at every graduation ceremony they photograph.

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Key Strategies for Graduation Photography Success

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Quality of Images:

Ensure each photo is properly lit and tightly cropped to create sellable images that appeal to your buyers.

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Efficient Data Collection:

Utilizing Selfie Check-In with high participation rates ensures efficient data collection and marketing opportunities. Positioning staff with QR codes at strategic points, like check-in or holding areas, can streamline the process and enhance participant engagement.

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Selfie Check-In in combination with using our Capture & Upload app will also allow you to sell to parents and graduates during the ceremony! In our experience and research, speed is one of the most underrated factors in increasing your sales.

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Lastly, and perhaps most importantly, using Selfie Check-In facilitates the next item in our list in a huge way.

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Volume of Images:

Using Selfie Check-In frees you from the shackles of sequencing, alignment, and keeping things in order. With it, you can be free to photograph graduates in any order, and add as many extra shots of your subjects as you can.

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Beyond standard portraits and handshake moments, with Selfie Check-In enables capturing dynamic processional shots, candid buddy images before the ceremony, and family celebrations post-event.  Employing multiple photographers can facilitate comprehensive coverage.

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These extra photos can significantly increase sales volume, as more photos translate to more sales opportunities. In addition to more sales opportunities, it also creates bigger personalized galleries to be marketed to your subjects! Bigger personalized galleries means bigger orders from your buyers.

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Preparation is Key:

Having all necessary materials ready, such as your Event's Selfie Check-In QR code, charged batteries and backup equipment, and a clear plan for photo stations, handshake photo timings, and post-ceremony family shots, is essential. Coordination with educational institutions for logistical and promotional support can also yield better outcomes.

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Graduation Success Stories from CCP

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CCP’s methodical approach has been mirrored in the experiences of individuals like Jason J., Eric M., and Bruce H., whose stories of successful graduation photography projects highlight the effectiveness of these strategies.

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Read more about their graduation success stories:

     -     Jason J. - Using Face Matching to its Fullest

     -     Eric M. - School’s Out, Earnings In: A Teacher's GradPics Now Success

     -     Bruce H. - How Bruce H. Used GradPics Now to Increase Sales

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By adopting CCP’s proven methods, photographers can transform any graduation event into an even more lucrative opportunity.