What's happening at Barrett & Coe

New Courses

2012-01-31T07:50:00.000-08:00

Sunday Option 1 students

Early Friday we picked up two of the students from Stanstead: Sam Herron from Belfast, and Martina Mcarthy from Cork in Southern Ireland. Martina is doing the Wedding course on Friday and Saturday, and the Portrait course on the Sunday!

A great weekend meeting new students from so many different backgrounds all with different aims and objectives. Listed below are some of their comments:

"Such an inspiring day! I have had so many questions which were answered superbly. I feel so uplifted and excited about Seminar 2!!" Martin Bell - Wedding Course

"Excellent Course!! Should have done this years ago if I had known. Now very inspired and very informed. Awesome work Andrew!!!" Clem Heriman - Portrait Course

"The course, service and experience has been second to none throughout. Thoroughly enjoying courses and amazed at how quickly it has enabled me to progress" Mark Adams - Wedding Course

"Information packed two days covering many of the topics in a practicle hands on way. Lots of homework now to develop the skills. Many thanks for informative and fun course start"
Bernie Ramsay - Wedding Course

"Confirmed what I did already know. Identified what I did not know. Gives me what I should know. Thanks, it's been fun and educational" Sam Herron - Portrait Course

Now looking forward to seeing everyones homework and meeting up next time.

Studio in Bahrain

2012-01-25T04:50:00.000-08:00

We have had students on our courses from all over the world including Russia, Norway, and Bahrain. Congratulations to Jennifer Davis, who came on our portrait course, who has recently opened a thriving studio in Bahrain. Her Facebook site makes interesting reading.

Four new courses start this weekend 39 of the 40 places booked. Our most succesful start to a year yet. Added to this our B and C studios increased sales last week by 300% on last year, with one taking over £5000 in the week!

Click the link below to view facebook site:
http://www.facebook.com/pages/Jennifer-Davis-Photography/145539682168139

Photographer of the year

2012-01-20T01:23:00.000-08:00

The first day of last week’s SWPP convention was our first National Franchisee Day of this year.

Last weeks SWPP Convention gave us the opportunity to hold our first National Franchisee Day of the year. With a great turn out of ex students who now run their own Barrett & Coe Franchise, the day included a presentation of a new digital photo product, Photoshop workshop with David MacDonald and the annual Barrett & Coe Photographer of the Year awards.

Paul Milsom, who runs a Barrett & Coe studio in Kingston was awarded first place, second place went to Brian Ellwood (who runs a studio in County Durham but was unable to attend the event) and third place was given to Ian Wilson who runs a studio in Caversham.

Presentations of the certificates are shown below.

Left to right: David MacDonald, Paul Milsom and Andrew Coe

Left to right: David MacDonald, Ian Wilson and Andrew Coe

Portrait competition winners

2012-01-19T05:14:00.000-08:00

The portraits featured below were taken in December 2011 by past students who are now making money from their photography skills.

Our January 2012 photography courses are filling up fast, to book and for more information please call 01603 629 739 or visit our website www.barrettandcoe.co.uk

1st - photographed by ex student Brian Ellwood

2nd - photographed by ex student Caroline Brocklehurst

3rd - photographed by ex student Paul Milsom

Highly commended - photographed by Brenda Wooldridge

Highly commended - photographed by ex student Jonathan Holt

Highly commended - photographed by ex student Caroline Brocklehurst

SWPP Convention

2012-01-17T07:35:00.001-08:00

The SWPP convention, whilst being extremely hard work, maintained its position as the exhibition to be at, rather than Focus. Such a diverse attendance from the past, present and future.All the different spheres of photography were represented.

For example I had a long an interesting chat with Max Warwick, who few will know today, but back in the 60's and 70's was easily the best wedding and portrait photographer in the UK, and also created the the first and best pro lab. One of today's best, David Macdonald, is shown on the Friday when we had to turn some away because the room was already full.

On the same day we held a well attended franchise meeting at which Alex from Activity Superstore emphasised how pleased AS are to work with B and C as an exclusive partner. In the evening many stayed on for a fun dinner at Latimers also shown above.

Following the the exhibition only 3 places out of 40 are left for the four courses starting at the end of January. Special thanks to Marisa Taylor and Ian Wilson for helping out on the stand.

One of the packed David MacDonald Seminars

Franchisee dinner on Friday evening

Barrett & Coe exhibition stand

SWPP

2012-01-12T07:57:00.001-08:00

At the convention tomorrow we are holding two meetings one for members, and David MacDonald's seminar on the way to create high sales.

The results of sharing his expertise was illustrated by the 62 orders ex students achieved of over £1000's in 2011.Activity Superstore and NCT will be attending to contribute and answer any queries. Activity Superstore enable us to receive portrait sittings from many major retailers including Boots, W.H.Smith, Debenhams, Clintons, Marks and Spencer online and several others.

NCT have over 300 branches around the UK.Our stand is at the top of the escalator so we can't be missed!

Baby of the month winner

2012-01-12T04:37:00.000-08:00

November Baby of the Month has been chosen. A selection of images and winning photo, taken by ex student Caroline Brocklehurst (who runs a Barrett & Coe studio in South Devon) are shown below:

November Baby of the Month

Photographed by Brenda Wooldridge

Photographed by ex student Jonathan Holt

Photographed by ex student Caroline Brocklehurst

Photographed by ex student Paul Jones

Profiling

2012-01-11T13:48:00.001-08:00

In difficult times the fittest will survive. It is so important to stay ahead of the game and use every business tool available.In marketing circles profiling of customers is one of the leading trends that can prove a very powerful driver of a portrait business. Done well it can transform your bottom line. Different products and offers for different categories of customers, even different time slots in the studio.Without doubt the most successful studios in the UK in 2012 will use some form of profiling. This subject will be fully covered on future courses.

Grade 1's

2012-01-10T06:49:00.000-08:00

On Friday our Portrait and Wedding course 2 finished with four students (pictured below) achieving Grade 1's. For more information on our course call 01603 629 739 or visit www.barrettandcoe.co.uk

Bernie Ramsay

Clare Morgan-Hare

Gill Alexander

Sue Rollason

2012

2012-01-08T22:33:00.001-08:00

All the forecasts are for a tough financial year with "austerity" being the buzz word and yet.....This morning on the Radio 5 money programme the CEO of Rolls Royce was interviewed and he announced record profits and order books across the world.

Sales of this luxury top end car are booming world wide and in the UK. He said that sales were primarily to successful entrepreneurs that own their own companies and wished to reward themselves.David Macdonald reported his first sale for this year being in excess of £3000. For those that remain positive, resourceful, and efficient, 2012 can be a great year. To that end B and C have two products for photographers: Our BIS system which is a complete management tool for remaining in control of your business.

We have also sourced a financial package which gives a complete accountancy/bookkeeping service including supplying profit and loss accounts each month. Many small business owners focus too much on sales figures and not enough on profit and loss. "Sales are vanity ... Profit is Sanity."

Busiest Time of The Year

2012-01-05T20:25:00.001-08:00

Returning to work on Wednesday it soon became Clear that the Christmas and New Year break was the lull before the storm!

Four new studios are nearing completion, the remaing places for the courses beginning at the end of January are being rapidly filled, the final seminar of our current course two takes place today, and everything has to be ready early next week for our visit to the SWPP convention.

Six of us will be attending, assisted most days by franchisees and David MacDonald will be giving a seminar on each day. We are looking forward to meeting all the readers of this blog. Also anyone may book a personal consultancy for free with Elaine, Glenn or myself. To book an appointment just call the office on 01603 629 739.

What a year!

2011-12-24T08:45:00.001-08:00

2011 proved to be an amazing year at Barrett and Coe.

Thanks to all who contributed to making it such a special year.Achievements and records included:More Grade ones from our students than ever before.

Highest ever sales by ex students.We were able to donate a total of £7500 split between our two chosen charities: Bliss and Love a Child.All four franchisees with contracts up for renewal signed for a further five years.Overall sales by franchisees increased by more than 100%.

There were 62 portrait sales of over £1000.More people did Barrett and Coe training courses than ever before.Contracts or agreements were made with three major Partners Activity Superstore, National Childbirth Trust and Parent Teacher Assciation UK.

We launched a nationwide Platinum Network for the best studios in the UK.We moved to premises four times the size of our previous ones.Eight new studios have been scheduled to open early in 2012.Two franchisees in their first year have just taken a further area each.

2012 promises to be even more exciting. Posts on this site will now stop until 2012 but thanks to all for following this blog.Happy Christmas and a prosperous New Year to everyone.

Portrait competition winners 2011

2011-12-23T07:07:00.002-08:00

Below are the best monthly entries for the Barrett & Coe Portrait competition 2011.

Each image has been taken by past students who are now making money from their photography skills gained from our Wedding and Portrait courses.

Photographed by ex student Paul Milsom

Photographed by ex student Jonathan Holt

Photographed by ex student Paul Milsom

Photographed by ex student Peter Evans

Photographed by ex student Loraine Mallon

Photographed by ex student Paul Milsom

Photographed by ex student Ian Wilson

Photographed by ex student Caroline Brocklehurst

Portrait competition

2011-12-22T06:31:00.000-08:00

The portraits featured below are from past students who are now making money from their photography skills.

Our January 2012 photography courses are filling up fast, to book and for more information please call 01603 629 739 or visit our website www.barrettandcoe.co.uk

1st - Photographed by ex-student Marisa Taylor

2nd - Photographed by Ian Wilson

3rd Photographed by Brenda Wooldridge

Partnership

2011-12-20T04:00:00.000-08:00

The National Childbirth Trust (NCT) have just made the following nationalpress release:

NCT partnered with Barrett & Coe

NCT, theUK’s largest charity for parents, has partnered up with Barrett & Coe, oneof the longest running photography companies in the country, to trial afantastic new offer.

Thepartnership gives NCT supporters the chance to raise valuable funding as eachphotography session sold will contribute 50% revenue to NCT. The contract withBarrett & Coe has provided the charity with an effective opportunity toengage with expectant and new mums and dads at a key point in their life.

The extrarevenue generated from this joint venture will enable NCT to continue providingresearch, information, training and support that focus’ on the needs ofparents.

Belinda Phipps, Chief Executive at NCT said: “NCT is delighted to bepartnering with Barrett and Coe as our official photography agents. We believethe professionalism and ethical approach taken by the company will result in agreat experience for families, whilst also raising much needed funds to supportthe charity’s work with expectant and new parents across the UK.”

Andrew Coe, CEO of Barrett & Coe said: “Barrett & Coe arevery proud and excited to be able to provide NCT families with an exclusiveopportunity to capture their memories, at the same time enabling us to supportthe fantastic work that NCT does within local communities. Thepartnership of NCT and Barrett & Coe unites a charity and company where ourbrand values complement each other perfectly.”

Barrett& Coe will ensure NCT supporters a friendly service combined with beautiful,modern, relaxed photographs. They use talented, experienced photographers whoexcel at capturing the true essence of babies and families in both traditionaland contemporary styles.

Ends

New Studios

2011-12-19T01:19:00.001-08:00

Following the finish of our December photography courses eight graduates will be opening studios of their own early in the new year.

Elaine is visiting three this week who, have already earmarked premises, to advise on suitability and layout. Studios do not have to be large, neither do they have to have a high street presence.About 500 to 750 square feet is about right with rents in the region of £6,000 to £7,000.

It is usually possible to negotiate a rent free period, and a break clause after one year. As a start up business there should be no rates to pay in the first year.To start a business always requires much more preparation than originally envisaged, but with Elaine and David on hand to help the whole process can be streamlined and made easier.

A further ten studios are scheduled for 2012.

Portrait image competition

2011-12-15T06:54:00.000-08:00

Barrett and Coe franchisees (all ex students from our Wedding and Portrait courses) benefit extrodinarily from continuous and ongoing tuition from one of the UK's leading Wedding and Portrait photographers David MacDonald.

The following images caught his eye whilst judging the October Portrait Competition

1st - photographed by ex student Caroline Brocklehurst

2nd - photographed by ex student Peter Evans

3rd - photographed by ex student Caroline Brocklehurst

Highly commended - photographed by ex student Loraine Mallon

Highly commended - photographed by ex student Peter Evans

Highly commended - photographed by ex student Carl Reeve

www.barrettandcoeportraits.co.uk

2011-12-14T14:08:00.001-08:00

Finally the new site went live at 10.15 pm last night.

Thanks to Alec and Dominic who have managed a complete rebuild in less than 10days. This site is likely to become the most frequented Portrait site in the UK expecting to book approx 10,000 portrait appointments in 2012. The site will evolve as we have several bells and whistles to add.

All our studios have been flat out for weeks and the checking and monitoring of all orders for customers is making long hours essential. Chris Kay at Loxleys has informed us that the spend by Barrett and Coe franchisees has doubled from this time last year.

Yesterday, when negotiating a new contract with BT they were amazed at the vast increase in our calls, the biggest increase they have seen in the region this year.

New web site

2011-12-13T13:52:00.001-08:00

Well, they did not make it! Fingers crossed for tomorrow!

New Portrait Site

2011-12-12T23:07:00.001-08:00

Our new Portrait site www.barrettandcoeportraits.co.uk launches today.

Where we do not have a Barrett and Coe studio we will be appointing Barrett and Coe approved and recommended Studios to take Portrait bookings from our partner companies: Activity Superstore, National Childbirth Trust and Parent Teacher Association UK.

We are selecting these studios very carefully. Only the very best studios in the UK will be appointed thus ensuring that all our Partners customers/members receive the highest standard of photography and service. Each selected studio will have a presence on the new site and a link to their own website.

We pre launched to a few selected studios last week and already ten have joined. There will only be one approved studio in any location so that the whole of the UK is covered with first class studios. Appointments will come from WHSmith, Marks and Spencer online, Boots, Argos, Debenhams, Menkind, Clintons, Birthdays, Superdrug, Activity Superstore online, National Childbirth Trust, and The Parent Teacher Association UK.

The full national launch will take place at The SWPP convention in January at the Novotel Hammersmith. David MacDonald will be giving a seminar on each day of the trade exhibition and you may also book a free consultation with any of our experts during those days.

Spaces are limited so call now on 01603 629739 to book your place

Course Costs

2011-12-12T03:20:00.001-08:00

We are often asked about the cost of our Wedding and Portrait courses. Below is a list of last weeks sales achieved by some of our ex students.

Week 49 - Total sales

Studio £5,620

Studio 18 £3,790

Studio 1 £3,766

Studio 19 £3,570

Studio 6 £2,755

Studio 3 £2,412

Studio 20 £1,830

Studio 10 £1,575

Studio 13 £1,535

Studio 2 £1,419

Studio 8 £1,010
This illustrates how quickly it is possible to cover the cost of a Barrett and Coe photography course and the level of income that can be achieved after graduating from our courses.

September Portrait Competition

2011-12-09T08:14:00.001-08:00

1st - photographed by ex-student Ian Wilson

2nd - photographed by ex-student Ian Wilson

3rd - photographed by ex-student Marisa Taylor

Highly commended - photographed by ex-student Marisa Taylor

Highly commended - photographed by ex-student Paul Milsom

Highly commended - photographed by ex-student Loraine Mallon

Olympic Torch

2011-12-08T11:33:00.001-08:00

Apologies to blog readers for sharing my excitement. Have just been told that I have been chosen to be one of the people to carry the Olympic torch. Amazing!!!

Course costs

2011-12-08T04:09:00.001-08:00

We are often asked about the cost of our Wedding and Portrait courses. Below is a list of last weeks sales achieved by some of our ex students.

Week 48 - Total sales
Studio 1      £3,904
Studio 2      £3,640
Studio 3      £3,500
Studio 4      £3,130
Studio 5      £2,845
Studio 6      £2,100
Studio 7      £1,810
Studio 8      £1,603
Studio 9      £1,455
Studio 10     £1,380
Studio 11     £1,378
Studio 12     £1,260
Studio 13     £1,175
Studio 14     £1,110
Studio 15     £1,095
Studio 16     £1,095
Studio 15     £1,042

This illustrates how quickly it is possible to cover the cost of a Barrett and Coe photography course and the level of income that can be achieved after graduating from our courses.

For more information on our courses starting in January 2012 call 01603 629 739 or visit www.barrettandcoe.co.uk

Course practical day

2011-12-07T06:51:00.001-08:00

Saturday 3rd December Practical day

Below are pictures of three of our successful students who achieved a Grade 1 Barrett & Coe Diploma, together with an available light image they took on the day.

Course tutor Andrew Coe and student Andrew Ginger

Course tutor Andrew Coe and student Gregg Smith

Course tutor Andrew Coe and student Yolanda Frost

October Baby of the Month

2011-12-06T06:17:00.001-08:00

October Baby of the Month has been chosen. A selection of images and winning photo, taken by Brenda Wooldridge (who runs a Barrett & Coe studio in Bagshot) are shown below:

Baby of the Month October

Photographed by ex student Ian Wilson

Photographed by Astra Richardson

Photographed by ex student Carl Reeve

Course Comments

2011-12-05T03:52:00.001-08:00

On Saturday and Sunday we finished our Option One courses. Everyone did well with a record number of six students achieving a Grade 1 Diploma. Here are some of the comments made about the courses:

"The course provided me a very comprehensive introduction to portrait photography which was inspirational. The balance between practical and business advice was just right and has left me feeling very confident about my future options." Hazel Faint - Portrait Course

"Another very enjoyable, positive and relevant learning experience which has provided a good balance between practical portrait photogrpahy, theory and business management. I shall miss Sunday meetings in Ware each month. Thank You." Sue Maisfield - Portrait Course

"Whether or not you intend to make money out of photography, if you are taking photos of people you'll love this course! Thanks very much." Simon Brice - Portrait Course.

"It was very enjoyable and I learnt so much. I'm looking forward to attending the Portrait course." Alex Manciani - Wedding Course

"The course was excellent. I now have the knowledge to be comfortable shooting a wedding." Paul Brooks - Wedding Course

"Having never used a camera before the day I arrived to start my course, I feel having completed my exam, excited at the potential in photography before me. I felt on the day of taking my exam that everything started to click together and I can really start to enjoy taking pictures. The most important bit for me was on the practical side - taking the practice photos. Plus critique of homework was invaluable."
Amanda Bates - Wedding Course

"Greatly informative - learnt a huge amount." Russell Pieters - Wedding Course

"A great course, I've learnt so much about photography, my camera and setting up a business. I'm really pleased with my results. My advice to future candidates would be keep practising the homework shots." Kim Wright - Portrait Course

"I will be taking the next step in becoming a professional photographer and joining the Barrett & Coe franchise. They have provided the support and advice complete with confidence building training to help fully support the set up and successful running of a fully running studio. The two words of advice I can give if you're looking for a career in wedding or portrait photography is DO IT." Gregg Smith - Portrait Course

"Enjoyable, informative, inspirational." Toni Banerjea - Portrait Course

Mentoring

2011-12-03T01:58:00.001-08:00

Our courses are structured so that it is possible to come on a course and following completion to immediately earn money from your camera. It also enables someone to find out just what is involved if someone is considering becoming professional - the upsides and the downsides!

It is also a possible way for someone considering a franchise to find out about us, and the potential of a photographic business, without making a commitment. Either way, with what is learnt on the course, it is possible to earn back the cost of the course and equipment very quickly.

If we accept someone for a franchise (there is absolutely no pressure to become one, but not everyone is accepted), we provide an exhaustive, and comprehensive, support programme. No stone is left unturned.

A key element of that support involves a mentoring programme. Gregg Smith wrote the following re a visit to Marisa:
"Marisa has been a huge help to me. It is so valuable to see the set up of a studio which I can see working and will be pretty much the same size as the one I am looking to open. Marisa also let me sit in on two viewings (NCT and 3 adults) and to watch it all happen from the intro to the shoot to the viewing was really useful, and given me alot to think about. I have thanked her but please also do pass on my gratitude because nothing was too much trouble and she really does go the extra mile. I'm sure she won't have got out on time on Saturday due to me asking so many questions, but also thank you for putting me in touch with such a good mentor and setting the mentor programme up."

Marisa had sales of over £6,000 last week from just one week of viewings.

Wedding Course

2011-12-01T02:30:00.001-08:00

Quite often we hear from students about how they are progressing.

Victoria Cook and Robert Jackson finished their wedding course with us in June achieving high results with their Barrett and Coe Diploma. Yesterday we received an email from Robert updating us on their progress:

"We have weddings booked in for next year, and my employer has actually made me their official corporate photographer so I will be doing the staff photos and events.
We have taken on seperate projects too, and secured work doing lifestyle portraits."

This year Barrett and Coe have raised nearly £7,500 for two charities. £2,200 for Love a Child which helps children in Burma, Tibet and Equador. Yesterday I was able to present their principal, John Margetson, with a cheque for £1,500, pictured below.

We have also given £5,239 to Bliss which is a special baby care charity.

Andrew Coe with John Margetson from Love a Child Foundation

New Websites

2011-11-29T10:42:00.001-08:00

We currently have five different websites. www.barrettandcoe.co.uk for Wedding and Portrait Courses, for the Barrett and Coe franchise www.barrettandcoefranchise.co.uk www.barrettandcoeweddings.co.uk for weddings, www.barrettandcoeportraits.co.uk for portraits, and www.portraitleads.co.uk for independent photographers wishing to use our portrait booking and leads service.

We are busy completely revamping the wedding and the portrait sites. The portrait site should go live at the end of next week. Over the next couple of months we will be using this site to advertise national coverage of the UK through our franchisees and elite Barrett and Coe recommended and approved studios. These studios will fill the areas where we do not have a franchisee. Only those independent studios attaining our exacting requirements for quality and service will become 'recommended and approved'.

A small number of select studios will be invited to join next week prior to the official launch at the SWPP Conventions 2012 in January where David MacDonald will be giving a presentation/seminar on each of the three days. It is possible to call now on 01603 629 739 to book your place on any of the three days.

Places are limited to 40 each day so it would be wise to reserve your place for the most exciting photographic event in 2012. At the show Elaine Shephard (marketing), Glenn Hoy (telemarketing) and myself (career and business consultation) will be available to book for 30 minute free sessions. These sessions can also be booked in advance by calling 01603 629 739.

Ex-student success

2011-11-24T02:45:00.001-08:00

Posted this morning on the Barrett & Coe Facebook group by one of our ex students:

"Two family viewings this evening, first one mum, dad and livewire 4 year old - at the start of the shoot the mum was adamant she wanted to be in as few pictures as possible. £870 spent :) Second one, 3 generations, only 3 of the family came back for the viewing but couldn't stop spending... £2910 spent :) :) Just blown my highest order value and highest monthly totals completely out of the water!!"

For more information on our Photography courses please call 01603 629 739 or visit our website

Winners

2011-11-22T07:22:00.001-08:00

At our last course weekend students were shown how to select images for qualifications and awards by reference to the CLEPS scoring system. Images are assessed seperately in the five categories:

Composition
Lighting
Expression
Posing
Space

During this session a number of images are judged after animated discussion and exchange of opinions. Students scoring closest to our tutors win Loxleys vouchers! This makes for a competitive enjoyable couple of hours.

Joint 1st - Maggie Clothier - Winner of £50 voucher

Joint 1st - Bernie Ramsay - Winner of £50 of voucher

3rd - Mark Adams - Winner of £30 voucher

Next courses

2011-11-21T12:06:00.001-08:00

Our next courses begin in January and places are filling up fast. We are getting as many as four/five enquiries a day and in many instances I speak to the people enquiring on the phone, or some come and visit and look around our extensive facilities. It is always interesting listening to the many different reasons that people give to begin professional portrait/wedding photography. Today I had a call from a lady who owns a dog grooming parlour and is often asked for portraits of the dogs! She has the space to take pictures on her premises and to add family portraits as well. What a good combination!Last week was another record sales week for those of our ex-students with studios. One achieved sales in excess of £7000 in just one week! There seems to be no shortage of customers with many continuing to make large orders.

Super Group

2011-11-16T02:01:00.001-08:00

Last Friday and Saturday were our Seminars 3 and 4 for the Portrait and Wedding course 2 and on Sunday Seminar 5 for our Course 1.

Before the Saturday seminar began the Portrait course were given a tour round David Macdonald's studio by David before he started a very busy schedule of family sittings. Course members found this hour inspirational.

Below is a picture of some of the students from this group which is proving to be one of the best and most receptive we have ever had! I am sure many of this group will be running their own succesful wedding and portrait studios by this time next year.

Quadruple sales

2011-11-15T05:53:00.001-08:00

This email was received from one of our part time studios yesterday:
"Dear Elaine & David

I just wanted to write and say a massive thankyou to you both for all the help and advice you have given me over the last couple of months, especially when I was struggling with sales and viewings in October. I have changed a few things around in the studio and adjusted my viewing process and things really feel like they are working well at the moment (I'm waiting for the bubble to burst but hoping that it won't). This has resulted in a couple of really great weeks in the studio and in the fact this week alone I have had sales over £4k (which is more than I took in some entire months in 2010!)."

David and Elaine meet with all photographers once every two months in small groups at Ware covering everything from photography, to sales and increasing profits. Probably the best team in the UK giving support and assistance to photographers.

Kodak

2011-11-13T02:48:00.001-08:00

Once Kodak was one of the biggest companies in the world. They are now reported to be close to going into the American version of administration Their success was built on global sales of film, but in the early nineties they did not put their resources behind research and development of digital technology, preferring instead to please their shareholders with increasing short term profits.

Typical of our western culture.

In the mid eighties they paid us £450,000 for less than 40% of our company which had 35 wedding and portrait studios, all with one hour mini labs attached. We were in some prime high street locations including Nottingham, Cambridge, Leeds etc. When we sold the remaining shares a few years later most locations became the first Kodak Express or Snappy Snaps shops.

Unwisely all the studios were dropped as one hour processing became the fashion. Moral of the story: Build slowly and surely and beware of short term strategies. The Chinese plan ahead for thirty years whilst Europe can't see further than the next month!

Busy studios

2011-11-11T21:58:00.001-08:00

Most of our studios are fully booked through to Christmas which has been the case for a couple of weeks. As we appear to be in the midst of a recession this is very encouraging.Our new partnerships with The National Childbirth Trust and Parent Teacher Associations UK are proving very succesful and marvelous organisations. A proportion of any monies spent with a studio goes back to them.

They have not appointed National Partners before so this is a very exciting new initiative for the photography Market.

We began working with NCT in July and have received some amazing feedback from their members.'Very impressed with the quality of experience, professionalism, and Ian took time and effort to make sure we were totally happy with our photos. We were delighted with the final selections.

We have no hesitation in recommending to any of our friends or contacts.'this is the true Barret and Coe experience:'Fantastic photography... By Very Nice People'

September Baby of the Month

2011-11-07T01:23:00.000-08:00

September Baby of the Month has been chosen. A selection of images and winning photo, taken by ex student Jenny Baxter (who runs a Barrett & Coe studio in Oxford) are shown below:

Baby of the Month - Winner

Portrait Sittings

2011-11-03T01:36:00.000-07:00

We are currently booking more than 100 Family Portrait appointments for photographers per week! Most are for past students who have reached the required standard, some are franchisees, some are not.

From those that are franchisees we are able to monitor order values achieved and which products sell best. We are able to try different approaches i.e. doing the viewing immediately after the sitting rather than bring the customer in at a later date, to see which works best.

All of this gives us a unique insight into the Portrait Market and we are able to share this invaluable information with students on our courses. No one else in the UK has such detailed and accurate information about Family Portrait and Baby Portrait sittings.

We have created several new partnerships for 2012 and it is likely that this time next year we will making more than 700 appointments a week! We will need more photographers.....but they must be good and able to supply a complete and very professional service.

Charity support

2011-11-01T06:46:00.001-07:00

Barrett & Coe support two charities for children.

Bliss, which is a baby charity in the UK and Love a Child which supports older children in Burma, Ecuador and Tibet.

Custopmers pay £2 to Bliss for a baby sitting and £2 to Love a Child for a family sitting in order to receive a 5% discount on our portrait price lists.

The most recent newsletter from Love a Child makes interesting reading and illustrates exactly how the money collected is used.

Click here to view the newsletter

New Courses

2011-10-22T04:07:00.000-07:00

Last weekend our new Wedding Course 2 and Portrait Course 2 began in Ware. It is always exciting and interesting to meet so many new people wanting to earn money from photography, and helping them to achieve their objectives.

During the first two sessions on Friday and Saturday the Portrait Course students attain a level which enables them to start to earn some money immediately. Wedding students have a good grasp of fundamentals which would enable them to tackle two thirds of a wedding. During the next three weeks they will complete various homework tasks sending in their images by email for critique. This is the only way to progress at photography: take some images...get a critique...take some more. It is not an academic subject, so you can't learn it out of a book!

Students made the following comments after the first two days:

"Course far exceeded expectations. I arrived as someone with a very good understanding of the technology(camera's etc.) but knew so little about performing a professional shoot." Gerard Dawson.

"After just two days the course has imparted a great deal of knowledge. The method is simple (relatively) and is obviously tried and tested. The pace of the course is fast and the practical sessions invaluable. Thank you for all the expert tips." Mike Haberfield.

"Informative, challenging and exciting - can't believe that in only two days I have been able to generate excellent portrait images." Bernie Ramsay.

"Excellent! Even better than the wedding course - would definitely recommend both to others. I enjoyed it so much I have bought a franchise and can't wait to open my studio." Kevin Timmons.

One Day Seminar

2011-10-18T04:59:00.000-07:00

The One Day Seminar which we held in Birmingham at the Arden Hotel on Sunday October 9th was a great success.

27 people attended and received an in-depth overview of the wedding and portrait photography market, information about our courses and franchise, and lots of advice, and knowledge, about how to set up as a full, or part time, professional photographer.

Questions came thick and fast to the six franchisees and past students who came to explain their own individual experiences on the courses, and subsequently with starting up and operating a full, or part time business.

They included Martin Wise who mainly does weddings but also runs digital courses for Barrett and Coe, Peter Evans who operates from two studios (both in their second five year term as franchisees) , Marisa Taylor who started off going to customers homes for Emmas Diary baby sittings, but now has a part time studio, Luke Fisher who is currently completeing his second course, Chris Cole who has a full time job outside photography but makes additional money from portraits, and Ian Wilson who opened a studio in Reading in March.

Comments received from attendees were really appreciative:

"Very good flavour of both the business opportunity, and the ethics of B and C, and it's people. Thank you, see you again soon." Steve Wood.

"It was all brilliant, very inspiring, down to earth presentation, couldn't have been better. Thanks." Maggie Clothier.

"Very good day, very informative." Rob and Fiona Turner.

Studio Sales

2011-10-14T10:35:00.001-07:00

Amazingly the Barrett & Coe studios recorded sales in Portraits of nearly £140,000 for September.

Many of these studios have been opened recently with owners having completed courses and training in the last couple of years.

The increase in sales month on month is spectacular and sales of £250,000 per month are confidently forecast for 2012. The service and quality of photography is the driving force behind these sales and have been achieved through the inspirational efforts of David MacDonald and Elaine Shepherd.

David will be giving three seminars at the SWPP show in January 2012 when he will explain the secrets behind the Barrett & Coe success. Places for these seminars are limited so to reserve your place call 01603 629739.

It will be possible at the seminars to apply for areas for Portrait bookings from The National Childbirth Trust, Parent Teacher Associations, Clintons, Debenhams, W.H.Smith, Argos, Marks and Spencer (online), Emma's Diary and many others if you already have a studio.

We are looking for only the very best studios in the UK to fulfill these commitments. Alternatively join one of our January courses and become a Barrett & Coe franchisee or recommended photographer.

Quality of bookings

2011-10-12T02:54:00.000-07:00

Following a Barrett and Coe wedding or portrait course, for those who attain a higher enough grade, we will supply wedding leads and portrait bookings.

A succesful independent photographer kindly wrote to us last week:
"The quality of the bookings from national retailers including Clintons we are receiving from you is extremely good. The average is significantly higher than other comparable leads and I can only put that down to the way the prospect is handled and their expectations raised when they call in to activate their voucher.
Thanks a bundle - keep it up!!"

Fun photography

2011-10-11T04:19:00.000-07:00

The following image has just been posted on our Barrett & Coe Franchise Facebook group and it illustrates that Portrait Photography is fun!!

August Baby of the Month

2011-10-07T07:27:00.000-07:00

August Baby of the Month has been chosen. A selection of images and winning photo, taken by ex student Paul Jones (who runs a Barrett & Coe studio in Staffordshire) are shown below:

August Baby of the month

Franchise Show

2011-10-04T10:04:00.001-07:00

Unexpectedly, this was probably our most successful show ever. The quality of enquiries was extraordinary, and a number of visitors will be coming to our One Day seminar in Birmingham on Sunday.This seminar will provide a great incite to B and C for anyone considering either a course or franchise. Several students and franchisees will be coming to answer questions.

They will explain how they are are able to achieve Portrait sales of more than £1,000 for a single sitting!Added to this four of our tutors will be giving presentations. If you are seriously considering making money from wedding or portrait photography this is a day not to missed.

To book call 01603 629 739 now!

Franchise Show

2011-09-29T03:14:00.000-07:00

The National Franchise Show is taking place at the NEC in Birmingham this Friday and Saturday.

Well worth a visit for anyone interested in starting up their own business. We shall be leaving shortly to set up our stand. This will be the 16th. time we have exhibited but it maybe our last, depending on how this year goes. As with many other activities the web has largely taken the place of other forms of advertising or marketing. However we have some meetings booked with a number of interested people and this saves them a trip to Norwich.

A start up business is far more likely to succeed if part of an established franchise. If you live nearby drop in and see us.

Portrait Sales

2011-09-28T07:12:00.000-07:00

Each week our passed students achieve ever increasing sales which is largely due to the fantastic standard of photography. Following their Portrait and Wedding courses they continue to improve on a continuous basis through training and hard work. It is this quality of product and service that has attracted major companies to request partnerships with Barrett & Coe.

In the last two weeks there have been three £2000 Portrait sales!!

The actual numbers for last week were as follows:

Total Sales

Paul Milsom £4,336
Caroline Brocklehurst £3,570
Paul & Denise Jones £3,540
Ian Wilson £2,930
Peter Evans £2,925
Phil Cole £2,815
Marisa Taylor £1,690
Jonathan Griffiths £1,595
Brenda Wooldridge £1,430
Mhari-Clare Green £1,285
John Prater £1,257
Mark Hopwood £1,105
Loraine Mallon £1,040
Julia Taylor £1,030

Average Sales - these include a mix of baby and family sessions

Peter Evans £585
Caroline Brocklehurst £446
Ian Wilson £419
Jonathan Griffiths £399
Paul & Denise Jones £354
Anne Haslam £326
Jonathan Holt £285

Total sales for an individual sitting:

Caroline Brocklehurst £2,000
Paul Milsom £1,320
Paul & Denise Jones £1,125

Wedding marketing

2011-09-27T04:21:00.000-07:00

Now is the time to start wedding marketing with wedding fairs, and creating relationships with other wedding suppliers. Although booking later than in some previous years, many brides will be in full flow with organising their wedding for next year, and collecting information about photographers, florists, car hire etc! If you are thinking of starting weddings and want to learn how to book them and take pictures like these featured above join our wedding course starting October 14th. Call 01603 629 739 to book your place now.

Portrait Sales

2011-09-21T03:38:00.001-07:00

According to the Media no-one is spending money at the moment.

This is not the case with regard to Wedding and Portrait photography.

Last week two of our past students had portrait sales of circa £2,000 from individual family sittings. There were also a number of £1000 plus sittings:

Jonathan Holt £2,015

Mhari-clare Green £1,980

Paul Milsom £1,507

Peter Evans £1,305

Mark Hopwood £1,270

Peter Evans £1,080

Peter Evans £1,000

Peter Evans £955

To learn how to achieve sales like this from your portrait sittings book now on our Portrait course.

These is one place left for the Portrait course starting in October.

Wedding course judging competition

2011-09-19T06:42:00.000-07:00

During a recent Wedding portrait course (option two, seminar three) the agenda included an in-depth session on how images are judged by the MPA, BIPP and SWPP for awards and qualifications.

After extensive explanation and in-depth analysis students were invited to score various wedding ad portrait images. Three of our tutors also scored the same images and students scoring closest to the tutors won prizes of vouchers for processing and printing with Loxley Colour.

Loxley's were winners of a recent survey of pro labs by the Cannon magazine. They came out top for both quality and value. Barrett & Coe use Loxley's exclusively for their colour printing requirements.

Pictures below show the lucky winners of the vouchers:

Winner of £100 voucher - Alex Manciani

Winner of £30 voucher - Amanda Bates

Winner of £30 voucher - Sarah Harding

August portrait competition results

2011-09-14T05:13:00.000-07:00

The portraits featured below are from past students who are now making money from their photography skills. Our October photography courses are filling up fast, to book or for more information please call 01603 629 739 or visit our website

1st - Photographed by ex student Paul Milsom

2nd - Photographed by ex student Ian Wilson

3rd - Photographed by ex student Heather Neudecker

Highly commended - Photographed by ex student Ian Wilson

Highly commended - Photographed by ex student Jenny Baxter

Highly commended - Photographed by ex student Mhari-Clare Green

Highly commended - Photographed by ex student Paul Milsom

Records Tumble

2011-09-12T05:04:00.000-07:00

Peter Evans who has a Barrett and Coe studio near Cochester achieved sales of £9000 last week which included a sale of £1500 from a pet shoot!!

In fact it was another record week with our Glasgow studio doing a £1980 sale from a Groupon voucher.

Our Bristol franchisee reports a really buoyant year for weddings with no decrease in volume, or the sale per wedding. He does, however, report that brides to be are leaving booking until much later than in the past.

You will be able to meet, ask questions of these guys, and find out how they have gone from nil experience to being highly succesful photographers on our one day seminar at the Arden Hotel in Birmingham on Sunday, October 9th. Places are going quickly so give us a call to book your place for £25 including buffet lunch.

Portrait Bonanza!

2011-09-10T01:14:00.001-07:00

Whilst many well established portrait photographers are struggling to make ends meet in the current financial climate Barrett and Coe photographers are achieving ever increasing sales. Following recent agreements for next year we have ensured that this exciting trend will continue.In 2012 Barrett and Coe family portrait sittings will be on offer in Boots, Clintons, Menkind, Debenhams, Argos and W H Smith. We will also be featured in the Marks and Spencers online site.The above, together with our contracts with The Parent Teacher Association, Emma's Diary and the National Child Birth Trust give Barrett and Coe photographers unprecedented advantages over their competitors. This also underlines the strength and reputation of the brand.In areas where we do not have a franchisee in place all the above is available to graduates from our courses who obtain our diploma grade 2 or above.

Baby of the Month July 2011

2011-09-07T07:37:00.000-07:00

July Baby of the Month has been chosen. A selection of images and winning photo, taken by ex student Caroline Brocklehurst (who runs our South Devon studio) are shown below:

July Baby of the Month 2011

For more information on our photography courses please call 01603 629 739 or visit our website

Record Portrait Sales

2011-09-05T02:37:00.000-07:00

Our studios continue to beat the recession with our best ever sales week ending yesterday.

Those that were operating this time last year doubled or even tripled sales from a year ago.

Ian Wilson (Reading), who did not start a course until October last year had sales of £3,455 in the week. He did not finish his course until May!!

This illustrates just how quickly it is possible to become financially successful after a Barret & Coe course.

Sales last week:

Studio 1	£3,455
Studio 2	£3,170
Studio 3	£2,571
Studio 4	£2,565
Studio 5	£2,545
Studio 6	£2,510
Studio 7	£1,825
Studio 8	£1,565
Studio 9	£1,469
Studio 10	£1,135
Studio 11	£1,115
Studio 12	£1,065

Portrait Bookings

2011-09-02T06:20:00.000-07:00

We recently agreed a partnership with the National organisation of The Parent Teacher Associations.

They publish a planner that goes out to 22,000 PTA's. The following offer is featured on every planner:

"FREE raffle prize for all PTAs

Barrett & Coe are offering a FREE Family Portrait Experience voucher WORTH £160 for all PTAs.
Kick off your serach for raffle prizes bt applying for this great offer from the lovely people at Barrett & Coe. A family portrait makes a great gift for your granparents, so this is sure to be a popular prize, and will guarantee plenty of raffle taicket sales!

Family Portrait Experience voucher entitles the recipient to:

A one-hour family photography session (worth £75)
A viewing appointment showcasing the images taken
One 8in x 6in framed portrait of their choice (worth £85)

To apply, please call Barrett & Coe on 0845 643 2819, quoting code: PTA Raffle. A pack will be sent out to PTAs to hand to the raffle winner. Packs need to be ordered bt 14 December 2011.

Your Barrett & Coe Family Portrait Experience will need to be redeemed by 31 March 2012, For more details and for full terms and conditions please go to www.ptalocal.co.uk."

Wedding Photography

2011-08-31T03:43:00.000-07:00

One of our students that graduated from our Wedding Course earlier this year Jeff Sham has been kind enough to send another email regarding his progress since finishing the course.

"Just to let you know that I got a questionnaire back from my second wedding and got perfect 10/10 scores in every category again. On how I could improve on the service before the wedding, the couple wrote "Nothing else, we had a great service before hand - the planning was very detailed". And on the closing comments, they wrote "We were really happy with the service received from Jeff and the photos were outstanding. We would recommend him to anyone that wants to capture those magic moments".

Thanks to you all again. I couldn't have done it without you.

Also, I'm please to tell you that last month I won a couple of Natioanl Wedding Photograph awards with The Guild of Wedding Photographers. I'll be entering more National competitions in the future and will keep you updated.

Jeff.

This confirms our promise that following our wedding course you will produce wedding images that make you look like you have been taking weddings for ten years.

Increasing sales

2011-08-25T01:19:00.000-07:00

Over the last few weeks some of our Franchisees, all past graduates from our Training Courses, have been achieving amazing increases in sales. This has been done in spite of the recession and holidays.

There is no point in attaining a good standard of photography, and having a good portfolio, if you can't earn an income from the expertise and skills you have learnt. No other training company can show such outstanding success in helping past students to have sales of over £2,000 a week! Last week one did over £6,000!!

Below are the total sales from last week for nine of our Franchisees
Franchisee a. £6,180
Franchisee b. £2,651
Franchisee c. £2,618
Franchisee d. £2,445
Franchisee e. £2,260
Franchisee f. £1,340
Franchisee g. £1,170
Franchisee h. £1,150
Franchisee i. £1,035

Several of our most successful do not feature because they were away on holiday. Each week these figures go higher and higher, a tribute to their hard work and commitment to their business.

For more information on our photography courses please call 01603 629 739 or click here to visit our website

Wedding Bookings

2011-08-19T03:46:00.000-07:00

Unlike portraits, where it is possible to turn on sittings/income easily and quickly, weddings have a long lead in time. Couples on average book their wedding photographer 6 to 9 months prior to the wedding. The wedding booking season for 2012 will start soon and marketing for weddings should be planned. September to Christmas is the time when most brides are looking round, getting quotes etc. with the majority of bookings taking place in January and February.

The marketing of weddings will be covered on our first day of our new course in October, so that anyone on the course will be in able to book weddings for their first season in 2012. Booking weddings at a viable cost to the photographer requires a great deal of knowledge and expertise. Conventional methods that work in other fields do not work. Wedding photography is a specialist area.

Wedding results

2011-08-17T03:57:00.001-07:00

The wedding featured here was taken in July 2011 and was the third wedding this ex student has taken since completing the Barrett & Coe wedding course.

The proof of the effectiveness of a course is not images posed by the tutor with models whilst on the course but what the student can actually do, on their own, at a real wedding with 150 guests.

For more information on our photography courses please call 01603 629 739 or visit our website

Baby of the month

2011-08-16T08:36:00.000-07:00

June Baby of the Month has been chosen. A selection of images and winning photo, taken by ex student Paul Milsom (who runs our Kingston studio) are shown below:

Baby of the Month June 2011

Emma's Diary

2011-08-10T06:18:00.000-07:00

This publication is produced for The Royal College of Medical Practioners. It is the largest membership organisation in the UK solely for GP's.

Barrett & Coe is their photographic partner. Through them we receive exclusive data re young mums in order to make a photographic offer. Where we don't have a franchisee B and C recommended photographers are able to purchase data.

One of these, Mark Cornwall, contacted us recently:
"In the next week we shall be going through our business plan doing a half year review and planning session. (I am a bit obsessive about operations management.) As part of that I have been pulling statistics out of my own systems so that I know how many mail back replies we have had, average sales from them as opposed to telephone contacts and a whole lot of other things beside.
Now that I have done that I have proved that since we started taking ED leads we have turned over a good profit that is actually a significant marker on our bottom line.
Many Thanks."

These leads normally enable us to fill a franchisee studio with bookings from the first month. Where we don't have a franchisee these leads are available to past students that graduate successfully from our Portrait Course.

New Portrait Contracts

2011-08-09T06:38:00.000-07:00

During the last month Barrett & Coe have become the photography partner to both The National Childbirth Trust (NCT) and The Parent Teacher Association (PTA) thus underlining the strength and trust in the Barrett & Coe brand.

There are 22,000 PTA's throughout the UK. The partnership is being launched in the latest quaterly magazine due out in October. We are being featured in the editorial and have a whole page ad with a portrait offer. Initially all PTA committee members are being offered a complimentary B and C portrait sitting as a 'thank you' for all the hard work they put in. We are also donating a portrait voucher to be auctioned to raise money for the schools this Christmas.

This initiative is UK wide including Scotland.

Where we do not have a franchisee past students who obtain a higher enough qualification with us can be appointed as the PTA recommended photographer thus creating access to many family portrait bookings. No other course can offer benefits like this at the completion of a course.

July portrait competition results

2011-08-08T08:18:00.000-07:00

The portraits featured below are from past students who are now making money from their photography skills. For more information on our photography courses please call 01603 629 739 or visit our website

Financials

2011-08-03T07:16:00.000-07:00

Following on from the last post it is interesting to note how the progress outlined translates into sales.

Marisa sent the following email a couple of days ago:
"This month I have photographed one wedding, 16 babies, one bump, 11 families and one engaged couple. I have done 16 family viewings, 13 baby viewings one engagement viewing and also had a couple of re-orders from parents of couples who have been in the family shoot! My sales range from £0 to £1,075. Total baby sales are £2,900 and total family/couple sales are £5,116. £8016 in total!"

This illustrates very clearly what is possible, even in a recession. I am quite sure that these sales will continue to increase at a rapid rate as the business gets sronger and stronger.

This is a clear illustration of the commercial advantage gained through Barrett & Coe courses and franchise.

Student Success

2011-07-29T03:50:00.000-07:00

Four years ago Marisa Taylor completed the Barrett and Coe Wedding and Portrait courses and decided to take a franchise near Bath. Initially she worked from home doing mostly baby photography using the leads from our Emma's Diary scheme. This entailed going around to peoples houses and photographing the babies and Mums at their home.

Eventually she opened a small studio and worked part time having two small children. Recently we received a customer feedback form as follows:

"Marisa is an excellent photographer and a wonderful hostess and our experience couldn’t have been improved. We have used Marisa for a number of shoots and she has always produced the highest standard photos and I can never wait to find an excuse for the next shoot."

This customer has been to Marisa for 2 baby shoots, a wedding, engagement shoot, family shoot and recommended at least two other customers.

This illustrates the B&C business model of ensuring that a family keeps returning for more photography, will never go to anyone else, and provides many more customers through recomendations.

This is achieved by fulfilling our mantra "Fantastic photography... by very nice people"

Royal Assignment

2011-07-26T07:46:00.001-07:00

One of our franchisees who did a great job at the graduation last week has gone straight into another exciting week. He has been working at a high profile conference in Westminster, since finishing the graduation, including photographing Princess Ann in the Speaker's appartments. Following that he has just done two family portrait viewings taking £1135 on one and £990 on the other!

With the right marketing, products, and sales environment being a portrait photographer brings a rewarding and enjoyable lifestyle.

Graduation photography

2011-07-19T09:02:00.001-07:00

Andrew Coe signing the contract with NCT

Graduation administration team

This week we are in London for a graduation with a team of 13. We have 6 photographers and 6 admin to provide graduation photography for approximately 500 graduates each day for 4 days. Quite an undertaking!!

Many of the graduates come from overseas and have large families with them. This makes it a perfect opportunity to practice taking families quickly and under pressure.

In the midst of all this we signed a contract this morning to be the recommended photographers/ partners for the National Childbirth Trust (NCT). It is a considerable accolade and achievement to be selected by such a respected and excellent organisation. This demonstrates the reputation and trust in the Barrett & Coe brand.

No other company supplying portrait and wedding courses is able to demonstrate such a diversity of activity and background experience at the sharp end of social professional photography.

It is the background that enables us to provide the best, comprehensive, and successful courses available in the UK.

For more information on our photography courses please call 01603 629 739 or visit our website

Baby of the Month - May 2011

2011-07-18T03:48:00.000-07:00

May Baby of the Month has been chosen. A selection of images and winning photo, taken by Astra Richardson (who runs our studio in Norwich) are shown below:

Baby of the month - May 2011

June portrait competition results

2011-07-13T04:15:00.000-07:00

1st - Photographed by ex-student Peter Evans

2nd - Photographed by ex-student Mhari-Clare Green

3rd - Photographed by ex-student Phil Cole

Highly commended - by ex-student Phil Cole

Highly commended - by ex-student Ian Wilson

New Courses

2011-07-12T05:54:00.000-07:00

At the end of the first two days of our Wedding Course 2 which takes place on one Friday and Saturday a month we received this email from Kevin Timmons:

Title: Fantastic Two Days
"Just a quick hello to say I had a fabulous two days on the course and can't wait for the next seminars. Enjoying the challenge, and even the homework is a blast. Thanks to you all for your warm welcome and excellent teaching."

Since then Kevin has spent a whole day with our Reading Franchisee and is likely to take the Easy Track franchise.

Our franchisees are posting excellent sales with a record week last week. On average they are 70% up on their sales to the same date last year.

For more information on our Wedding and Portrait photography courses call 01603 629 739 or click here to visit our website

Feedback

2011-07-08T04:20:00.000-07:00

Feedback from a customer of one of our students who has recently finished her Portrait Course:

"Many thanks!! I had my daughters photo taken by Loraine and can honestly say that it was truly fantastic. Loraine took so many amazing photos!! I have recommended her to all my friends with babies and my best mate who is getting married next year." Anna.

Lorraine has a really nice studio in Redditch and is clearly taking images to match.

Well done Loraine.

Copyright

2011-07-05T07:19:00.000-07:00

One of our Portrait Course students took some of their homework into one of the main high street labs and was told they could not allow them to be printed because they were obviously taken by a professional!

This weekend we have the final practical day on Saturday for our courses which started in May and on Sunday 19 new students for our 6 month Wedding and Portrait courses. It is always exciting to meet new people thinking of coming into the industry and helping them towards achieving their goals.

Although we are in the midst of recession good sales are still being made. Mark, one of our franchisees, experienced the following:

" I had a viewing last night at 5 pm which finished at 8 pm with babies , parents and grandparents. My focus is now on our platinum package which I think is great value for the customer. Their total spend on one baby sitting was £1045. Prior to my last training session I could not get beyond a collection 2 but with Elaine pointing out the obvious , a different mindset and taking pictures that sell , there are good sales from Emma's Diary."

Fantastic wedding images

2011-06-30T03:47:00.000-07:00

Featured below are a selection of wedding images taken by an ex Barrett & Coe student earlier this month at Prested Hall, Colchester.

To learn how to book weddings like this and take images like this, join our Wedding photography courses starting on July 10. For more information call 01603 629 739 or visit our website

May Portrait competition results

2011-06-29T04:19:00.000-07:00

1st - Photographed by ex-student Mhari-Clare Green

2nd - Photographed by ex-student Paul Milsom

3rd - Photographed by ex-student Jenny Baxter

Highly commended - Photographed by ex-student Stuart Turner

The portraits featured above are from past students who are now making money from their photography skills. For more information on our photography courses please call 01603 629 739 or visit our website

Complaint

2011-06-28T07:18:00.000-07:00

We very rarely get any customer complaints. However, this one was amazing.

As most know we sell Emma's Diary leads to approved independent photographers who send their own literature. The customer took offence to the wording which included 'shooting' the child!

Sales in the portrait studios that we have assisted past students to open in the last 18 months have increased by 70% on this time last year. Current marketing initiatives are likely to increase this even further, and we are hoping to increase this to 100% by the end of 2011.

A further studio is opening in Egham on August 1st. and we wish Jonathan the best of luck in his new venture.

Baby of the Month - April 2011

2011-06-24T01:19:00.000-07:00

April Baby of the Month has been chosen. A selection of images and winning photo, taken by ex student Paul Jones are shown below:

Baby of the Month - May 2011

July Portrait and Wedding courses

2011-06-22T07:20:00.001-07:00

The Sunday Portrait course is full, and there are just two places left on the Wedding course. These courses take place on one Sunday a month from July until November, finishing with a Saturday and Sunday in early December. This would get you ready to take wedding bookings for 2012.

The last week has been incredibly busy hence the lack of recent posts. We launched our fourth website www.portraitleads.co.uk which enables photographers who require portrait leads or portrait bookings to find out what areas we have available.

On Friday 17th and Saturday 18th June we had two course training days and on Monday 20th June, twenty of our members attended a presentation given by our latest business partner. This was followed by a presentation from two members who have recently had major successes, including a corporate partnership with a Mercedes dealership.

Corporate partnerships play a large part in keeping portrait studios busy. For instance, we have just received this email from one of our ex-students who has recently opened a studio;

“I’ve got a pretty full diary this Saturday (4 family shoots and a viewing, next Saturday 2nd July; 4 babies and a family but might try to squeeze another family in!) Sunday 10th (2 families at the moment). I am busy on the 9th as well with a couple of sittings so far but I’ll also be dashing backward and forward from a school fayre around the corner where I’ve got an exhibition stand.”

This studio has only been open for 3 months!

Becoming more than a photographer

2011-06-14T02:48:00.000-07:00

This is an email received today from Jeff Sham who enrolled on our Wedding Course which finished in May this year. Well done Jeff.

"Please find attached as promised the questionnaires completed by the couple from my first wedding. Needless to say I was delighted with the scores. The father of one of the brides (it was a civil partnership) was so impressed with me, that he's flying me over to Norway this weekend to do some work for him! Thanks again to you all."

Jeff's customer said...

"You basically planned our wedding for us and went above and beyond what was promised"

This is exactly what we teach on our courses. To command sensible fees for a wedding a professional photographer should supply much more comprehensive and professional service than just taking the photographs and providing an album.

For more information on our photography courses please call 01603 629 739 or visit our website

April Portrait competition results

2011-06-13T06:53:00.000-07:00

1st - Photographed by ex student Paul Milsom

2nd - Photographed by ex student Ian Wilson

3rd - Photographed by ex student Brian Ellwood

Highly commended - Photographed by ex student Caroline Brocklehurst

The knowledge to start a Wedding business

2011-06-10T03:02:00.000-07:00

Sue Maisfield, Grade 1

Simon Brice, Grade 1

Andrew Ginger, Grade 1

Fiona Curtlin, Grade 1

Paul Bye, Grade2

All those on our recent Wedding Course should now be in a position to create a successful wedding business.

The first thing to do is decide your price list. Those who have been on our course know to charge the proper amount from the start. Discounting and giving a cheap price is a cycle that is very difficult to get out of. If you need to get a portfolio together do the first two or three weddings free, charging only for lab or album costs. Make sure your customer knows what you normally charge. This way you get portfolio pictures and your customer gets a fantastic deal and will recommend you to friends.

If you can get a couple of weddings in this year you will be ready for the booking season which starts in October and we find most are able to pick up about six full price weddings in their first year. These will usually be £1,350 packages which, with re orders and additional albums, add about £600 to £700. In the second year we expect between 15 and 20 to be booked, and by the third year about 30. A pretty good part-time living!

Shown above are five of last Sundays nine students with their Barrett & Coe diplomas.

Latest Wedding course feedback

2011-06-07T04:51:00.000-07:00

Our latest Wedding photography course graduates give their feedback on what they have learnt:

"I couldn't have done my first wedding without this course. Understanding the timings of a wedding was useful, and being told to have confidence and not to undersell yourself was really beneficial" Victoria Cook

"A confidence building and empowering course. I valued the warmth and friendliness of both fellow students and Barrett & Coe staff. Thank you" Sue Maisfield

"A great stepping stone to learning photography with a business in mind" Robert Jackson

"I have learnt so much and have enjoyed the whole experience, thanks very much" Ryan Law

"Forget what you think you already know, be open minded and prepared to learn!" Andrew Ginger

"I have found the course to be fully supportive in both the business management side of things and the practical tuition of taking photos. All of the members of Barrett & Coe are extremely friendly and helpful" Gregg Smith

Our July courses (starting 10th July) are filling up fast, to book call 01603 629 739

Wedding Course Final Weekend

2011-06-06T03:53:00.000-07:00

There were no less than six grade one's on the Sunday Wedding Course which finished yesterday. This was a record for us and congratulations to all those that achieved such a high standard. It is not easy to do. Apart from assessing images taken at home as course work, overall knowledge of how to run a wedding business, and marketing etc. is assessed. Any student getting a grade one or a grade two has the knowledge and capacity to be a successful wedding photographer.

We try to simulate a real wedding as near as possible with all the associated time pressures and lots of models at a church location. During the day students had to cope with a variety of weather conditions including bright sun alternating with cloud, and in the afternoon a forceful wind. A true test of their ability!

Three of the students have indicated that they wish to take a Barrett & Coe franchise to launch their wedding business and take advantage of all the promotional material and many other benefits.

It was really great to receive an enthusiastic round of applause at the end of yesterday and our best wishes for a successful wedding/portrait photography career go to all.

Photographed by Paul Bye

Weddings

2011-06-01T04:30:00.000-07:00

We are now into the start of the wedding season proper. The season for taking weddings is from May to the beginning of October. The season for enquiries is October to Christmas, and the big booking months are January and February.

If a wedding photographer gets their packages and sales techniques right it should be possible to add at least 30% to the original package price. This is the reason why our wedding photogrpahers, and those who have been on our wedding course, achieve much higher average wedding sales than most photographers.

Having this knowledge, and how to combat the "I want 500 images on a disc for £350" customer is priceless information for someone contemplating starting out as a wedding photographer.

Learn all of this and much, much more on our new wedding course starting on Sunday July 10th, and be earning substantial fees from wedding photography on a Saturday afternoon by this time next year!

Colour Labs

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Following a recent mention on this blog it is important to highlight that the only lab we recommend is Loxleys in Glasgow. Without doubt the best lab, in our opinion, in the UK. All the work from wedding albums to baby portraits from our franchisees is printed at Loxleys. We also advise all our students on courses to send their work there.

You may pay a little more than some of their competitors but the consistency of quality and level of service is well worth a small increased cost. If you get a chance to visit don't miss the opportunity. You will be amazed!

Portrait Sales

2011-05-25T03:34:00.000-07:00

Last week produced some excellent sales figures from our franchisees studios.

One of our part time franchisees managed £4000 and one of the newest who has only been open a few weeks took more than £3000 in Reading. The first time he came on our courses was last October so it has not taken long to complete both courses and start making good sales.

Today we have a Groupon ad for our Winchmore Hill franchise and 105 Family Portrait sittings have been sold by 11 a.m.!!! There is still 12 hours to go on this offer which costs £30.

On our courses business and marketing are given high priority because no matter how good a photographer it is of no use if you can't create enough sales and profit.

More National Contracts!

2011-05-17T06:05:00.000-07:00

Following on from our agreements with Emma's Diary and Activity Superstore, which provides photographers with family portrait sittings sold exclusively in Boots and Clintons Cards stores, we have added contracts with Groupon and the National Childbirth Trust.

Further contracts with national names are in the process of negotiation in order to provide a continuous flow of leads and studio bookings to compliment a photographer's local marketing.

Leads and bookings from these sources are avaialble for the best students for one year after your course.

What our new course students said...

2011-05-11T06:30:00.000-07:00

We have had a great response from students on the new courses that started last weekend.

Just a snippet of the feedback we have received:

Kevin Timmonds emailed in 'Hi Guys, just a quick hello to say I had a fabulous two days on the course and can't wait for the next seminars. Enjoying the challenge, and even the homework is a blast trying to get people into the correct pose. Thanks to you all for your warm welcome and excellent teaching.'

Clare Morgan-Hare, who is doing the Portrait course told us "Excellent day, Brian's session was mindblowing but very enjoyable & have learnt loads so wouldn't want to change anything".

Chris Morley, who is on the Wedding course emailed in to say "Brilliant course so far, thanks to everyone".

Susan Box, Portrait course "Amazing first day. I have learnt so much, with many "light bulb" moments. Course testimonials are so true - Andrew Coe has definitely 'de-mistified' how to take the best portraits - just can't wait to get started!"

We look forward to seeing the option 2 students again in June.

The next course begins in July and places are booking up fast. Don't delay reserving your place, as the next course starts in October!

Studio opening in Norwich

2011-05-10T03:26:00.000-07:00

Our Barrett & Coe flagship studio at the new Head Office premises in Norwich opens its doors today. We are very pleased and excited to welcome Astra Richardson to the team as our photographer. The new and improved studio is a fantastic opportunity for Barrett & Coe, as it continues to give us a best practice studio which can be visited by students, along with potential, new and existing franchisees for training and observation.

Baby of the month

2011-05-05T08:55:00.000-07:00

The popularity of our Baby of the month competition continues to strengthen. The winning image taken by ex student Jenny Baxter and a selection of entries are shown below:


Baby of the Month - February

Ex-student feedback

2011-04-27T06:50:00.000-07:00

Ex student Heather Neudecker completed both Portrait and Wedding courses and now runs a Barrett & Coe studio in Suffolk. She is one of many students we have helped have set up a studio within two months of completing their course.

"I used to work in Marketing for a software development company, designing websites, literature and organising exhibitions. Having always loved photography I wanted to turn professional but found the prospect daunting. I came across Barrett & Coe which seemed to offer the perfect balance of guided support within a franchise framework and having my own business.

I completed both the Portrait and Wedding courses, and am now working from my own studio a few miles from my home. The training was excellent and provided me with all the tools needed to produce professional and creative images. I have ongoing support through the Barrett & Coe mentoring program providing advanced training and marketing advice. I love the job and can't imagine doing anything else!"

To book your place on our forthcoming courses please call 01603 629 739

Stunning Sales

2011-04-26T08:50:00.000-07:00

First sales by students who have just finished their Portrait Course are outstanding.

Ian Wilson sold £710 from a Baby sitting and Carl Reeve sold £575 from his first family Activity Superstore sitting. Most of the first shoots come from our various national contracts of which Activity Superstore is one.

Marisa Taylor who has been going a while longer, but works part time as she has two young children, achieved sales of £3,345 last week. She also succeeded in signing up her local Mercedes dealer on a corporate partnership with Elaine's help.

No other Portrait course will get you up and running with sales like these as soon as you start!

Latest course feedback

2011-04-21T06:38:00.000-07:00

The latest feedback from our Wedding and Portrait photography courses is shown below. The next round of courses begin in May, places are limited: to book call 01603 629 739

"The course really de-mystifies the wedding to a level that means I can confidently talk to prospective clients. I’m now impatiently eager to do my first wedding rather than being quite apprehensive." Ian Wilson, Wedding course April 2011

"Excellent basics to teach the technical photography skills required to become a professional and the additional benefit of an in-depth insight into marketing and back office workflow." Carl Reeve, Wedding course April 2011

"I am amazed at some of the shots I am producing as I started here without ever touching a camera, I only bought my camera two days before the start of the course."
Natalie Bilston, Portrait course April 2011

"I have found the course a lot of fun. The first day I arrived was daunting, I arrived home saying I would not go back, lots of keen photographers with a lot more knowledge than me.

Boy, am I glad I went back! I have loved it.

I met a tremendous bunch of people, all very different. With each session my confidence grew until I was confident enough to ask friends and family to model for me. As the course progressed so the exam day loomed. When it finally arrived I was so absorbed by what I was doing any nerves I had went unnoticed!"
Debbie Le-Core Portrait Course April 2011

March Portrait competition results

2011-04-15T02:44:00.000-07:00

Our March Portrait competition has taken place, the winning photo and selected images are shown below. Each has been taken by ex students who completed our Portrait and Wedding photography courses with no previous experience in photography before enrolling.

To book your place on our forthcoming courses please call 01603 629 739.

Winner: Photographed by Jonathan Holt

Photographed by Paul Milsom

Photographed by Brian Ellwood

Photographed by Julia Taylor

Baby of the Month February 2011

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February Baby of the Month has been chosen. A selection of images and winning photo, taken by ex student Jenny Baxter are shown below:

Baby of the Month February 2011

Diplomas

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Sarah Carter

Ian Wilson

Jeff Sham

Carl Reeve

Pictured above are the four students who achieved the Grade One Diplomas.

We simulate as near as possible a real wedding. Students are given a limited time to complete all the shots and are limited to how many they can take. Some of the images taken during this session are also shown below.

Congratulations to all, you did really well.

Photographed by Andrew Nolan

Photographed by Ian Wilson

Photographed by Lee Dolby

Photographed by Lynn Margolis

Photographed by Paul Danbury

Photographed by Sarah Carter

Photographed by Carl Reeve

What's happening at Barrett & Coe

New Courses

Studio in Bahrain

Photographer of the year

Portrait competition winners

SWPP Convention

SWPP

Baby of the month winner

Profiling

Grade 1's

2012

Busiest Time of The Year

What a year!

Portrait competition winners 2011

Portrait competition

Partnership

New Studios

Portrait image competition

www.barrettandcoeportraits.co.uk

New web site

New Portrait Site

Course Costs

September Portrait Competition

Olympic Torch

Course costs

Course practical day

October Baby of the Month

Course Comments

Mentoring

Wedding Course

New Websites

Ex-student success

Winners

Next courses

Super Group

Quadruple sales

Kodak

Busy studios

September Baby of the Month

Portrait Sittings

Charity support

New Courses

One Day Seminar

Studio Sales

Quality of bookings

Fun photography

August Baby of the Month

Franchise Show

Franchise Show

Portrait Sales

Wedding marketing

Portrait Sales

Wedding course judging competition

August portrait competition results

Records Tumble

Portrait Bonanza!

Baby of the Month July 2011

Record Portrait Sales

Portrait Bookings

Wedding Photography

Increasing sales

Wedding Bookings

Wedding results

Baby of the month

Recent Comment

Emma's Diary

New Portrait Contracts

July portrait competition results

Financials

Student Success

Royal Assignment

Graduation photography

Baby of the Month - May 2011

June portrait competition results

New Courses

Feedback

Copyright

Fantastic wedding images

May Portrait competition results

Complaint