A change to School ID card layout
In the past Candid defaulted the word ‘Grade’ in
the layouts, this caused some issues for customers as
not all customers required ‘Grade’ on the
ID cards, sometimes the year was the requirement.
Previous Layout
New Layout
As
a result we have removed ‘Grade’ from the
card and now customers can place any text in this node.
Text can be uploaded through Core, in an excel spreadsheet,
or can be keyed in order entry.
Hello from your new CCS Customer Development
representative. by Blake
Johnson
Hello CCS customers, I am Blake Johnson. I am new
to the Candid Color Systems’ Customer Development
department and am very excited to get to know all of
you. I recently graduated from the University of Central
Oklahoma with a Bachelor of Arts in Business Administration.
While at UCO, I completed an internship with the Oklahoma
City Yard Dawgz arena football team focusing specifically
on marketing and customer service. I worked in several
different areas including, sales, promotions, and ticket
operations. I am very privileged to be working at Candid.
I look forward to getting to know each of you and helping
you and your business succeed. Email me
or call 1.800.336.4550 ext: 168.
PhotoMatch vs. Time Stamping/ Sorting
by Morgan Fenn
The easier it is for your customers to locate their
images online, the better your sales will be. CCS
has developed and tested two unique systems to improve
the way you display your images and make the process
easier for your customers.
PhotoMatch Barcode Scanning and Time Stamping are
the systems we have found successful. These two methods/
systems will differentiate you from competitors by
making the viewing and ordering process easier.
Time Stamping and PhotoMatch Barcode Scanning can
both be used at, big events with hundreds or thousands
of photos, events where people don’t know each
other, private parties, Proms/Dances, Greek events
and sporting events.
PhotoMatch System, as discussed in previous articles,
provides an easy and reliable method for roving photographers
to match customers to their photographs. Photomatch
works with almost any digital camera by using a non-tethered
bar code scanner to tag the images. It is a simple
and easy process.
At the event, you:
Take the photo
Scan a perforated card with a locator number- you
can scan the same card multiple times and you can
have multiple cards per each image.
Collect an email from
the subject on the red half of the perforated card
Give the other blue half to the customer for them
to locate their picture when they get home
Once you are back in the office:
The emails are entered into a spreadsheet exported
from PhotoMatch that includes the unique locator
codes and roll/frame data. The emails are then broadcast
using Group Mailer ($130) or QEMS (Quicpics Event
Management Software - Free) programs. With the use
of one of our editable templates, the email will
contain a direct link to their images.
The PhotoMatch system consists of scanners, software
and synch cords. The scanner costs $240.00 and includes
a scanner/camera synchronization cables and the software.
This synch cord allows you to synch any digital camera
with a synch port or hot shoe adaptor to the software,
thus eliminating the need to tether to a computer.
The second option CCS has established is Time Stamping
and sorting. CCS has found the Dymo DateMark timestamp
machine. It prints any combination of date, time
and seven different messages: Stamper prints four
or six digit date/time/message. Programmable security
code prevents tampering and ensures stamping accuracy.
The timestamp operates on one 3 volt lithium battery
(included) and four AA batteries (not included).
The least expensive stamp Candid has found is on
www.business-supply.com for $84.49 or at Sams Club
for $80. This machine can be modified by the lab
with a belt clip and card guide for ease in using.
This timestamp can stamp
on a website card up to 8 times per card. This allows
you to shoot multiple images throughout the night
of one person and they will only have to keep track
of one or a few cards.
The time stamp machine should be used in conjuction
with the new Time Sorting option in the QP2 Quicpics
Market. Use the QPPlus enhanced retail site and select “Image
Time” when setting up your event.
Selecting this will sort and display your images
from all rolls/folders by the time they were taken.
When customers go to view their images, they can
look at their website card to see exactly when their
images were taken. They then can choose to sort the
images by time and will easily find their images
in order.
Both PhotoMatch and the Timestamp/sorting feature
are great ways to help your customers to their images
as quickly as possible! If you have any questions
about these two gadgets, contact the Customer Development
department at 1.800.336.4550.
Norman Party Pics uses text messaging
to market to customers.
Norman began using a program called Coupon Zap by
Cellitt Mobile this semester. This program is used
by businesses to create/send text messages to customers.
The text messages are similar to emails in that
the recipient must OPT in. They can either sign up
online or by texting-in and they will automatically
join the system. If at anytime they would like to
unsubscribe they can by replying, STOP.
If the text recipient signs-up in a written form
then you must use a double opt in. This means that
a confirmation message is sent to the recipient and
they must respond to officially join your list. All
of this is handled by the program.
We hope to supplement our weekly email messages
with a reminder text message.
We are sending the text messages on a different day
of the week than our emails to see if we have a spike
in sales.
We collected phone numbers on Bid Day and have our “text-in
to join” message on other materials such as
weekly emails.
We acquired a short code (your text “phone
number”) and a keyword. To see an example of
how the program works you can text the word “greek” to
30364. Then you will receive messages from Norman
Party Pics.
As our text list grows we will let you know about
the progress and success of the program!
Retail Marketing Tools Promote Online Sales
by Jessica
Irvin
Candid Color Systems offers four proprietary
software platforms, QuicPics 2, QEMS (QuicPics Event
Management System), QuicPost, and CORE. Each platform
features a variety of valuable marketing tools to
help you produce higher online sales including Quantity
Discounts, Express Shipping and Tiered Pricing.
Quantity Discounts
CORE’s package builder has an option to give
your customer’s a discounted price when ordering
a quantity of the same product. You control the quantity
of the package they must order and what price they
receive. Simply enter in the quantity and amount
under your package description. This encourages your
customers to order more because they are getting
a price break. Quantity Discounts are available in
all markets and are determined per package.
Express Shipping
This new feature is not only available for you to
use through the Admin Site, but your customers have
the option to choose Express Shipping when placing
their order online. Express Shipping must be setup
through the Admin Setup. You determine what your
customers are charged for this feature, so it can
also be used as a profit center. When this option
is selected the order will not be rushed through
the lab, but it will be delivered Next Day via FedEx.
Your customers could have their order within three
days! Express Shipping is available in both CORE
and QuicPost. To setup Express Shipping go to the
Tax & Shipping Setup and enter in a price.
Tiered Pricing
QEMS allows you to offer your customers “specials” when
ordering early. You can set your packages to be at
a lower price for the first 2 weeks and have your
prices go up on a specific date. Combined with Email
Marketing your customers will be encouraged to act
now and place their order early to take advantage
of the good deals. Tiered Pricing is also available
in QuicPics 2, QuicPost, and CORE, however it is
on a per package basis. Each package must be setup
to expire on a certain date, with the new higher
price package set to activate on the same day.
CORE, the most advanced software platform, offers
Quantity Discounts, Express Shipping, Tired Pricing
and much more!
Using these marketing tools your customers will
be encouraged to order sooner, order more, and have
the option to receive their prints within 3-4 days.
All of these options will set you apart from your
competitors and give you the opportunity to take
advantage of proven marketing tools online retail
stores use to promote sales! To learn more about
setting these options up contact Technical Support
at 800-750-0494 Option 2.
CCP Gets “Good” Result
with National Girls Softball Championship
by Dan Hays
On a recent Tuesday, Candid Color Photography received
a phone call from a representative of the Amateur
Softball Association of America. The ASA had just
received word that their regular photographer was
ill and could not shoot the National Girls Softball
Championship tournament and would like CCP to shoot,
beginning that Friday. CCP had three days to plan
for the 1,200 girls that would be arriving in Oklahoma
City to compete in this elite tournament.
Crystal Woodland, General Manager of CCP, saw this
as an opportunity to test the waters with the new “Attitude” panoramic
pictures pioneered by Bud Stagg about six weeks ago.
These pictures are taken individually of each player
in an “attitude pose” and then rendered
by CCS Graphic Artists into a 10x30 panoramic group
picture. Crystal met with the ASA, showed them
samples, and instantly struck a deal.
That Friday, CCP dispatched one photographer, one
assistant to pose, and one usher to get the teams
ready to be photographed. Throughout the next two
days CCP sold attitude panoramic 10x30 prints at
a list price of $45.00 with a $5.00 discount if 10
or more pictures per team were sold.
Most of the group images were pre-sold with an additional
opportunity to order online. Since the images are
cut out in order to create the panoramic print, it
is also possible to market individual Level Two™ prints
to the participants online after the shoot. This
proved successful for CCP.
As of Tuesday, September 3rd, CCP had approximately
36 hours of labor hours invested in the photography
and sales were $11,260. $460 of those sales came
from online individual sales. The event is still
active and sales are still coming in!
This seems to validate Bud’s initial finding
that this is a huge opportunity at tournaments and
pre-selling tournaments with a group discount is
the best way to go!
Check out the new Level Two™ samples
online
by Evie
Sibert
Model released Level Two™ samples are available
online at a 50% discount to you, our customer! To
order these samples, go to www.partypics.com and
type in samplesample as the password. The L2™ samples
are organized by style and sport. You can order 8x10’s,
16x20’s, 16x20’s mounted on Double Board
Mount or Gator Foam Mount and, high resolution digital
downloads. The digital downloads will be emailed
to you once the order is placed.
Low resolution downloads are also available on candidnet. These
downloads are a great addition to your website and
ordering page. Showing an example of the Level Two™ is
a great marketing tool and will only lead to increased
sales.
To order custom L2™ prints with your images,
contact your Customer Development representative
at 1.800.336.4550.
New Designs for 2008 4x8 Holiday Cards
by Alison Counts
The new 2008 styles of the 4x8 Holiday Cards will
be in QP2, CORE and Quicpost by October 1st.
Click here to view the flyer illustrating the styles. Six
new styles were introduced this year along with the
six most popular from last year. As you remember,
these are available in sets of 12 ($5.40) and 20
($9.00) and come with envelopes.
Holiday Cards are a great remarketing opportunity!
Offering these products will give you another reason
to send an email communication to your past customers!
To assist in this effort, CCS will be posting HTML
for a Holiday Card email on candidnet soon. Be looking
for this email to arrive by mid September!
Sample images are on candidnet under Marketing>Business
Development>sample images. These images
are suitable to use on order forms and on your website! High
Resolution PDFs of all Holiday Card designs are also
available on candidnet.
Premium Folded 5x7 Holiday Cards
The Premium Folded Holiday Cards are 5x7 (folded)
and sold in sets of 12 for a lab cost from CCS of
$16.20. The cards are printed on high gloss coated
10 pt paper. Each set is packaged with box-flap
envelopes, in a beautiful black box secured with
a silver tie. If more than 7 sets are ordered
of the same image at the same time, then the price
per set is $12.15 (25% discount).
There are 5 border styles – full bleed, white
border, black border, red border and shadow border. There
are 6 greetings from which to choose – Merry
Christmas, Happy Holidays, Season’s Greeting,
Happy Hanukkah, Feliz Navidad and No Greeting. Customers
can also key in up to 3 lines of personalized text. The
No Greeting option makes these cards perfect to include
in your year round product offering. Other non-Christmas
greetings available include Happy Valentine's Day,
Happy Easter and Thank You. Click here to view the
flyer illustrating the premium Holiday Cards.
Sample images are on candidnet under Marketing>Business
Development>sample images. These images are suitable
to use on order forms and on your website. High
Resolution PDFs of all Holiday Card designs are also
available on candidnet. HTML for a remarketing email
promoting these Premium Holiday Cards is coming soon!
