Did I get ripped off?

Steven Granshaw

I came to Smugmug because of the lay out and ease of use and the benefit of Direct Deposit. other sites were taking to long to send money and one didn't send any at all. and now i'm thinking the same thing here.

How can someone with so many people "53,101 In one Day" visiting their site have no one buy one photo. Explain this to me.

Thank You, Steven Granshaw. (571) 297-5188

Andy

Hi Steven, not sure how you ever would feel like we'd rip you off If you have money earned, we pay it - in fact, I just authorized the payment of $$$$$$ that will go out to our pros via direct deposit this week.

I can help you with your site. One thing that strikes me off the bat is the huge size of your header - it makes it hard to view your site, with all the scrolling. We call it banner bloat, it's a common mistake. I would seriously consider making a smaller banner image.

Now as to sales - what galleries have you been promoting, and how are you promoting them? I'd also like to review your pricing, so post back with some links, ok?

fredjclaus

There is also a way to view the stats of your galleries. If people viewed images and ordered something it would be in those stats. Are you sure you are getting 52,000 unique visitors? Are they coming to your site because they like to look at the pictures? Also, did you block the right click option and the option allowing people to save the images on their computer?


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I am here: http://maps.google.com/maps?ll=42.992896,-78.962304

Andy

You will want to block originals from view, that's very imporant.
http://stevensphoto.smugmug.com/Fashion/Moda-Bolivia-Caro-Gnzales/18531601_5b2WrB#1430529458_9NNtQJN

Sam

Steven,

I was just cruising by and saw your post.

I have been around SmugMug and Digital Grin for quite awhile now and can tell you without hesitation the owners are high quality honest folks. I would trust them with the keys to my house.

The people they have recruited and brought on board are also quality people with good skills and most important a great attitude.

Now as to your web site: As other have already mentioned, your home page banner is way to large and the overall layout, first impression is lacking. I personally don't care for your watermarks prominence and location.

As to the image content, I don't see anything really compelling.

The most important thing is sales come from YOUR promotional efforts, and contacts. very few sales are made from people surfing the net.

As an example I have had many people contact me and tell me how wonderful my landscapes are. Out of the blues sales to date ZERO. Is that SmugMugs fault? NO WAY!

People don't just fall all over themselves to buy photography off the internet from and unknown ( to them) photographer.

SmugMug can help you with your website. The people at Digital Grin can help you with photography, photo critique, gear, post processing, business advice, etc, etc.

It's all here for you. Now it's up to you to take advantage of all this or not.

Sam

PS: I know sometimes I sound like a SmugMug fan boy, but trust me on one thing, I have no trouble calling a cow a cow!

SamirD

Photo sales are hard to get no matter who you are. The market has changed, and so has the purpose of printed photos. Most photos are shared digitally now, and that can be obtained for free if they can see the image.