Is this possible with SmugMug Pro or others?

wildviper

Hi,

I have to make major changes to the way that I work.

Straight to the point - What I need is this:

1. A nice jazzy flashy website that is SEO friendly with big pictures.
2. Custom galleries that are password protected
   1. Ideally, a custom gallery with mulitple passwords so that I can track which family member likes which photos the best and they can do Option 3(below) and I will know who wants what. I recently shot 6 cousins and their 6 families want different pictures.
3. Each picture in a gallery can have "comments" added by my clients or an ability to indicate to me that they want a 8x10 or 11x14 or whatever and how many copies of each.
   1. The reason for this is because I would like to crop the pictures appropriately before printing for them and I can pick any photo printer to print at then.
4. Easy uploading through Lightroom(I know smugmug has this), but if anyone is recommending another site, like zenfolio.
5. Offer Print Packages, T-Shirts, and so on.
6. My own branding on website. No little smuggys or anything. I can pay premium for this.
7. Virtual galleries.
8. No "sign-in" required by my clients (unless password protected) to view other pictures.

That's all I can think of right now.

Now, i realize that Smugmug can probably do a lot, but I DO NOT want to do "Hacks, Scripts, APIs and whatever". A ready made system that allows me to EASILY select options and get my site up and running. While I can program, I just do not have time for that.

David Manning

I am currently using the Pro Photo Wordpress blog template (http://www.prophotoblogs.com/) and RedCart (http://redcart.com/) shopping cart template. I think both solutions may work for you, but at a significant initial expense. Both have back ends with enough options to make your site truely unique, yet you could set them both up in a couple of days without any programming. There is considerable work to do due to the many options they each have, but the work is really easy. You just have to read through the pages of options and turn the switches. I have been using my blogsite for about eight months (after leaving Bludomain), and I just set up my RedCart this past weekend. The initial cost would probably run around $1,500, but sometimes freedom comes at a price.

I'll comment on each of your concerns;

1. Not real jazzy but very professional, clean, and entirely yours!
2. You can password protect each gallery, and you can have everyone log their email addresses.
3. The RedCart cropping and order placement is excellent, and you can have anyone in the world print them! You can also collect the taxes you're expected to collect, even outside CA!
4. No uploading through LR, and you have to use CS3 or later. I can upload an entire wedding (including resizing) in about 10 minutes.
5. I don't know about print packages. I sell a la carte, but there are a variety of options I haven't explored. You can do coupons and gift certificates!
6. No smuggys!! I use Miller's and they offer boutique packaging! Both sites are completely branded by you, as much or as little as you like.
7. Not sure exactly what a virtual gallery is...
8. Galleries can be made public in RedCart, or you could just put public galleries in your blogsite!

David

wildviper

David, thanx for your reply. I wish I had that type of money to spare. I was hoping to pay around $200 - $300 per year for this.

Betz

wildviper wrote:

David, thanx for your reply. I wish I had that type of money to spare. I was hoping to pay around $200 - $300 per year for this.

The ProPhoto Blogger Template is a one time fee which ranges from $179 for do-it-yourself to $259 for the hand-held version. You would have to have a website with Wordpress version 2.7 or higher so you're looking at a hosting fee. You can get a Deluxe hosting account through GoDaddy for $8 a month. SmugMug Pro is $150 a year.

Some of the things you are looking for are in the works here at SmugMug: virtual galleries, packages, coupons etc. But to get the site to look the way you want it to look will take work. I currently use Wordpress for my blog and SmugMug for galleries, main landing and print orders. The most important thing to me is customer service. I can go get a flashy website design from BluDomain but I won't get the same level of customer service that I get here. (I've read too many horror stories) If I'm going to bust my arse for my clients then I want a company that's willing to do the same for me when it comes to handling my photos. I do know that with a bit of work you can create your entire site with SmugMug Pro for the $150 a year.

If you don't have cash to throw at a designer then you're going to have to be willing to do some of the work yourself. At least here you've got tutorials and lots of folks who are willing to walk you through things if you just ask on these forums. DGrin is a great source for that.

David Manning

Just to be clear, the templates from Pro Photo and RedCart are a one time purchase, then it's $8 per year for web hosting, plus you won't be paying 15% commission! At low volume (like me right now), it will take a while to pay back, but it's so worth it.