My annual frustration
beetle8
Registered Users Posts: 677 Major grins
Well here I am at my annual frustration point with SM.
What does "bootstrapped" mean?
That phrase was used recently to describe SmugMug in a defensive nature as reasoning for why things are the way they are.
One year it was the quick settings mistake, one or two years it was the lack of packages and coupons, one year it was the failure of stats, this year it's that I can't for the life of me understand why we can't incorporate discounts (packages) into the purchase of digital downloads. It's like SM is always playing catch-up.
Yeah you have a sexy UI and stellar customer service, but that only goes so far when it comes making money.
I lost a sale last weekend because of my clunky implementation of paypal into my galleries in an effort to provide todays customers with what they want, digital images. I shouldn't have to be constantly contriving work arounds, Why do I have to do that, because...
I think it's because SM is only trying to keep pros, not actually going out of their way to make the pros successful, that may not be the case but that is the impression that I am always getting?
How long do I have to wait to incorporate DL's into a discount plan, (we don't divulge what or when) or to set sizes for the DL's this is huge because right now people are interested in paying a little to have a great Facebook profile picture, and if I could set a size (like you can at other sites) I could knock down the price on FB only images that would be worthless for print.
Right now is when the customer wants to buy 5 DL's and get them for a discount, Right now is when some customers may be interested in a package that comes with a low-res DL when you buy three prints. When SM finally get's this in the tool box, we'll be here complaining about something else.
As with everytime this happens I am off checking out the competition, before I was hesitant because of the amount of photos I have on SM's servers, but I'm running trials on 2 other sites and I'm not waiting around any longer for SM.
Sure there are things I'm not keen on with the other sites, and I know the whole grass is greener cliche' but they both have what my customers want right now
What does "bootstrapped" mean?
That phrase was used recently to describe SmugMug in a defensive nature as reasoning for why things are the way they are.
One year it was the quick settings mistake, one or two years it was the lack of packages and coupons, one year it was the failure of stats, this year it's that I can't for the life of me understand why we can't incorporate discounts (packages) into the purchase of digital downloads. It's like SM is always playing catch-up.
Yeah you have a sexy UI and stellar customer service, but that only goes so far when it comes making money.
I lost a sale last weekend because of my clunky implementation of paypal into my galleries in an effort to provide todays customers with what they want, digital images. I shouldn't have to be constantly contriving work arounds, Why do I have to do that, because...
I think it's because SM is only trying to keep pros, not actually going out of their way to make the pros successful, that may not be the case but that is the impression that I am always getting?
How long do I have to wait to incorporate DL's into a discount plan, (we don't divulge what or when) or to set sizes for the DL's this is huge because right now people are interested in paying a little to have a great Facebook profile picture, and if I could set a size (like you can at other sites) I could knock down the price on FB only images that would be worthless for print.
Right now is when the customer wants to buy 5 DL's and get them for a discount, Right now is when some customers may be interested in a package that comes with a low-res DL when you buy three prints. When SM finally get's this in the tool box, we'll be here complaining about something else.
As with everytime this happens I am off checking out the competition, before I was hesitant because of the amount of photos I have on SM's servers, but I'm running trials on 2 other sites and I'm not waiting around any longer for SM.
Sure there are things I'm not keen on with the other sites, and I know the whole grass is greener cliche' but they both have what my customers want right now
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