Trying to step it up in 2012

CMAldridge · March 12, 2012

My renewal is coming up soon.

I did a few events in 2011: a conference, a (small) wedding, and a couple of theatre productions. My upfront fees were minimal, but picture credits, and distribution of promotional material were mandatory.

That said, web sales were next to nil. I realize this is probably a promotional issue on my part, but what else am I missing?

I've spent what little time I could spare last year trying to understand how smugmug with CSS modifications work. I've made some changes, had friends give me feedback. I don't think how my site looks is the root cause.

Yet I am frustrated with the format, mostly having such large galleries. I've started playing around with breaking up events into multiple galleries but the methodology to do so does not seem intuitive to me. I.E. I can't have a master (event) gallery (with security) with sub galleries, they are infact individual galleries that are sorted together by their category and sub category labeling. Also from what I can tell so far, the Event manager is intended to send personal links to individuals, not for linking to generically.

I will have more time available this year to dedicate to business, but cash is low right now so I am looking at all my costs and really wondering if I can justify the Pro account. I'm considering at this point a static portfolio site, that from what I can tell could be more easily managed with less coding (for updates, info etc) and simply charge more upfront instead of hoping for sales.

I can upload pictures all day for people to look at for free at a variety of sites if I need online viewing (even smugmug).

Please help me profit from and justify continuing to utilize Smugmug Pro.

Thanks

CMAldridge · March 13, 2012

Wow. No help in 24 hours?

Ham1 · March 13, 2012

CMAldridge wrote: »

My renewal is coming up soon.

Please help me profit from and justify continuing to utilize Smugmug Pro.

Thanks

Hi Chris,

I am sorry for the late reply, I would love to help you out. It sounds like we need to have a phone conversation, can you email me? markham at smugmug dot com.

We'll get you on track!

Markham

HoofClix · March 13, 2012

Chris, I'd be glad to help you too, but your question is big and wide. After Markham gets you started, I'd be glad to talk to you as well..

Smugmug's heirarchy of Category / Subcategory / Gallery can be of real help if your business is also well organized..

It may also be that you could find the Minding Your Own Business section in Wide Angle of good use..

CMAldridge · March 14, 2012

Thanks guys. I realize it is a very wide question, that being some of my problem. This is about as specific as I've been able to formulate a question regarding the business of photography. However, I'm in a better position at this time to refocus and make 2012 a better photographic business year! I take this seriously. Managing a business during the day I know how involved business can be.

Mark, you may be hitting the nail on the head. I'm simultaneously building both an online presence and a real one, along with the 9-5 (which is really 7:30 to 6 something). So organization is well, uh, lacking.

A lot of my initial confusion was just not knowing how I wanted the site to appear, retrospectively because my photography was (is still?) very general. I had an automotive oriented website years ago I remember being easier and more logical to build. Some of the ways of having to manipulate smugmug pages just got confusing (over whelming). I've spent hours and hours browsing pages trying to figure out how I want it to look, so I can figure out the code to make it look that way. Bottom line, site design doesn't directly build the business or make money.

That's one of the reasons I was considering a simpler online approach at this point, reduce what I'm trying to figure out.

I think one of the major aspects of my failure has been direct marketing. I somehow expected, and relied upon, the event organizers to distribute the link to my site for their participants to view. I don't believe that happened.

smurfy · March 14, 2012

I visited a Z* site last night to look at some wedding photos. The photographer required only one password, but was able to separate the images within what seemed to be one wedding gallery as "getting ready", "bridal portraits", "ceremony", "family", etc. This type of organization is a necessity to help sales, since most people don't want to wade through hundreds of photos looking for the few they might be interested in.

I'd also love to see this type of organization possible within one gallery, and not solely as an event that a viewer must be specifically invited to. That's what my interpretation of the OP's request was, and I think thousands of us would likely be thrilled to see a more user friendly organizational and shopping experience on Smugmug.

HoofClix · March 14, 2012

Well, when I started with Smugmug I was trying to program my site via Front Page (

) trying to be smarter about it than anyone else.. I asked a rider how they go look for themselves online for photos, and they said they always knew who was the photographer at a show, so they only needed to know where they were showing and when they were there.

It was simple to me. A category would be the "where," and a subcategory would be the "when." I started right away putting on rider/horse combo in one gallery. It took me a year or so to realize that instead of the horse number I could just put their name. I don't think anything about Smugmug goes against being user friendly. From a buyer's standpoint, I can't imagine a more user friendly way to be.

Another thing I did way back then was to rename every image upon transfer to relate to a particular show by puttin a date and venue code on it, along with a sequential number from the show. Thus:

120226PT-00234 means "2012" "January" "26" "Pine Top Farm" picture number 234. If someone asks for a picture, I know exactly where to find it.

I don't do a lot of weddings anymore (it's another racket..) but I do set them in galleries like descried above. I think it makes for a more enjoyable experience when viewing the whole occasion..

(mods, if this belongs in Minding Your Own Business, just let us know..)

Rogue 1 · March 16, 2012

smurfy wrote: »

I visited a Z* site last night to look at some wedding photos. The photographer ... was able to separate the images within what seemed to be one wedding gallery as "getting ready", "bridal portraits", "ceremony", "family", etc. This type of organization is a necessity to help sales, since most people don't want to wade through hundreds of photos looking for the few they might be interested in.

I'd also love to see this type of organization possible within one gallery, and not solely as an event that a viewer must be specifically invited to. That's what my interpretation of the OP's request was, and I think thousands of us would likely be thrilled to see a more user friendly organizational and shopping experience on Smugmug.

Hi Smurphy - I'm thinking this may just be a matter of semantics - you've ALWAYS had this on SmugMug - And yes, proper organization is key to a positive experience for your clients (as well as yourself) -

On SmugMug, it's not 'galleries inside of galleries.' We call 'em categories and subcategories - This is how the hierarchy works:

Your site > Category > Subcategory > Galleries > Photos

And used correctly, they go a little something like this: http://tinyurl.com/3jagu9g

Now > if you want to LOCK a category or subcategory, give each gallery within the same password, and when your client submits it once, ALL of the galleries under that section are unlocked for them.

I do hope this clarifies and helps! :ivar

smurfy · March 20, 2012

Thank you for the link. How does one set a password for a subcategory? I've only ever seen a password option being set in gallery settings, not for subcategories.

CMAldridge · March 20, 2012

The way I understand is if they all have the same password you don't have to reenter it for all galleries in that subcat

Btw these guys at Smugmug are awesome!

smurfy · March 21, 2012

Thanks, let me rephrase the question: How does one lock a sub-category? I checked the control panel area for customizing categories, but don't see that locking option.

denisegoldberg · March 21, 2012

smurfy wrote: »

How does one lock a sub-category? I checked the control panel area for customizing categories, but don't see that locking option.

If by lock you mean password protect, you can't lock a category or subcategory. Password protection is applied at the gallery level. As Rogue 1 said above, if you give all galleries in a category or subcategory the same password, the viewer will only need to enter the password once.

--- Denise

smurfy · March 24, 2012

Thank you, Denise.

Trying to step it up in 2012

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