Vacations, long or short, are exciting and wonderful for the people who experience them, and they want to relive them again and again. Digital photography has made taking vacation photos easier than ever; in fact, we are taking hundreds more photos than at any other time. But as always, the question is: what can consumers do with all those images?
Besides the obvious photo album or scrapbook, how can those photos enliven your customers’ days the rest of the year? Here are some ideas you can pass along to your customers.
Beach vacation? Those long, lazy afternoons spent on the shore are some of the most relaxing, and those moments in time can be captured on personalized beach towels. BlanketWorx.com is just one company that offers photo beach towels, with or without a personal message. These are high-quality, plush towels, woven from 100% Egyptian cotton, with a full dye-sublimation process to ensure the photo will not fade or wash out, and the towel will remain soft and fluffy for years to come. The company also offers a huge selection of themed beach towels, including volleyball, cheerleading, soccer and more.
To help you offer your customers their unique products, and let you begin earning commission payments as soon as possible, BlanketWorx has teamed up with ShareASale to give retailers a simple affiliate signup process. Program highlights include: earning 10% commission for each successful sale; an average sale is in excess of $100; you receive banners for your promotion; 180 return days; and there are affiliate exclusive promotions and coupons.
If your customers are among those who enjoy a good game of cards—whether Bridge, Poker, Pinochle or Go Fish—PrinterStudio.com offers very affordable and fully customized photo and text on playing cards, and they have a reseller program, too. Card options include a choice of seven different templates and 52 discrete designs to create card decks with just an image on the back, images and/or text on the front and back, or any combination. Not only that, but one template allows consumers to create flashcards or any other cards they can think of. What child wouldn’t be more willing to study when their vacation adventures are printed on the flashcards! These decks begin at only $2.09 each. I can’t imagine a better bargain—or a way to keep vacations alive for everyone.
PrinterStudio.com also uses consumers’ images (remember that images include photos and little Rembrandt’s original artwork) to make everything from jigsaw puzzles, dominoes and even memory games. This site is a real treasure all-year round! The company will ship directly to your customers so you save shipping and handling costs. You don’t pay for packaging materials and boxes, and it takes about 8-10 business days to ship to your customers after you place your drop-shipping order.
Another extremely creative use of vacation photos is to transform them into backdrops for fish aquariums. This simple idea can be changed throughout the year and is a fun addition to home or office. You can easily set up a display using one or two different size aquariums in your store (even empty) and choose a special photo printed large enough to cover the back of the aquarium—a picture of the family on a boat off a Caribbean island will look amazing with the tropical fish swimming around it.
A more traditional option, coffee table books are back in style in a big way, and they are a wonderful, fast, affordable way to showcase the very best photos from each vacation. Covers featuring vacation photos of the family each year in a special location will delight without overwhelming anyone’s décor. Shutterfly, whose affiliate programs provide high commissions, dedicated support and quality content your customers will appreciate, offers a Storytelling series with new design templates and stunning covers. My personal favorite is the 8×11 in a landscape format; this hip style includes 20 pages, with additional pages available for just a dollar! The themed covers include great options, like California Dreamin’, National Parks, and Florida Sunshine. The options to customize are nearly unlimited, and Shutterfly consistently delivers a quality product at a great price.
From a personal perspective, my favorite and most used decorating accessories in my home are photos. There are photos everywhere, even tucked into the molding of my kitchen cabinets! While a few favorites stay up continually, most change out every few months, representing new “oldies,” as well as what our family has been up to lately. Two walls of my family room are filled with black photo frames, along with a digital frame that is loaded with hundreds of images, including short video clips. With background music, this frame is an ever-changing photo album all by itself and captures comments from every guest.
In fact, there are so many new ways to showcase photos as home or office wall décor now—from canvas wraps to custom photo metal art. Make sure you store is the destination for these creative items. Producing high-quality HD metal photo panels, ChromaLuxe is a preferred supplier for professional photographic labs and digital print providers. They just added new shapes to their line of Creative Border Photo Panels and Creative Border Ornaments. If you’re interested in becoming a ChromaLuxe fulfillment company, log on to: chromaluxe.com/about-us/be-listed-as-a-chromaluxe-supplier.
Shadowboxes are back in style as well, and they are a wonderful little accessory appropriate for every room in the house. Shadowbox frames, available in every size, shape and color, will easily enhance your inventory of photo frames. Display them with photos combined with “vacation memorabilia,” and your customers will be inspired to create their own. Some shadowbox frames have hinged doors, so that memorabilia can be handled, or the display can be easily and quickly changed on a whim.
How about a doormat with a favorite vacation photo or a license plate, cutting board or luggage tag? GiftsForYouNow.com offers over 175 photo items that can easily be customized to preserve the memories of your customers’ adventures—even iPhone covers. There is no charge to join their affiliate program, and they provide you with all of the tools you need as an affiliate. You can add links to your site and GiftsForYouNow will handle the order, shipment and billing—or you can have it shipped to you so your customer can pick the finished item up at your store.
While there are seemingly infinite ways for your customers to display their vacation photos throughout the year—and even make beautiful gifts that will be appreciated by every recipient—don’t forget to suggest personalized cards. Note cards, postcards and stationery of every kind are terrific examples of how your customer can showcase that incredible close-up of the beautiful flower in Bali, or that perfect shot of the Grand Canyon at sunrise!
So get creative and place displays of these ideas in your store to inspire your customers to memorialize their vacation travels in ways they never would have thought they could.
