Where are you located?

<p>This if more of a constructive comment than a question. I have been to many websites for photographers and the physical address (or even the area they serve) is either nowhere to be found on the website or I really have to dig into it. Sometimes I can google a phone number, but many sites have no contact information other then an email address.<br>

If you don't want to put your address on your website for privacy reasons, at least say something like "serving the greater Cleveland Ohio area" or "serving central Minnesota"....-Aimee</p>

<p>Amen.</p>

<p>I could see your point if I wanted to hire a photographer but in othe cases such as in my own - my physical addy is a moot point.</p>

<p>Not a single customer I've ever had needed them or me to be in any place in particular - they were only wanting to purchase a photo.</p>

 

<p>Derek,<br>

Obviously this wouldn't pertain to an e-commerce site. I was mostly referring to the wedding and/or portrait photographer. I've seen lots of posts on this forum about search engines, which means websites will get hits from everywhere, only to find out that a certain wedding photographer is 3,000 miles away.....-Aimee</p>

<p>I've got a home office / w kids here and my camera gear, etc. so that's whay no physical address. It's a 21st-centry safety security thing. One other thing to that point, as a home office, there are city restriction against having customers at my house, so as stated above it's a pretty moot point. I do say on my site that people can contact my via email or phone to request my mailing address. I'm happy to give it out, espceially when I know I'll be getting a check in the mail in a few days.</p>

<p>But you're right, people representing themselves as a true professional should have a dedicated business phone line. In fact, the IRS (here in the US) looks at that very issue when they decide if you are really in business or not. I can see some part-timers who are not interested paying for a business phone line, and probably don't want to get calls on their cell phones about photography while they are at their day job. - IMHO.</p>

<p>I agree with Aimee, I don't like sites without geographical information. Those with home offices that have security concerns might just put the county & state so prospective customers know weather they are dealing with someone in their area or on the other side of the country.<br>

Naturally if you're a destination wedding photographer your location is secondary.</p>

<p>Jim Marby</p>

The point is to let people know where you are and where you work. It could be city, town, county, etc., it doesn't have to be an actual address.<br>

Oh, and don't forget the state! Some sites will say a city or town and there can be many with the same name....-Aimee</p>

Definitely don't forget the state! There are 55 "Greenville"s in the US -- which means some states have TWO! -- not counting South Africa, Ireland, and Nicaragua , and those are just the ones I know of. (I researched this because a clueless manager once sent me to Greenville, Mississippi, instead of Greenville, South Carolina.)

<p>I understand why amateur photographers wouldn't what to give out their personal address or phone number, but I don't see any reason why professional photographers should not list a mailing address for their businesses on their website.</p>

<p>Now the mailing address should not necessarily be their home address even if they work from home. But a simple and straightforward solution would be to just rent a post office box from the closest post office to your home. P.O. boxes don't cost a whole lot of money to rent. I have a midsize one I use for my part-time I.T. consulting business that I pay a little more than $100/year to rent from my local post office. At that price, a P.O. Box should be affordable to all full-time professional photographers and most part-time professional photographers too.</p>

 

<p><a href="http://www.photo.net/photodb/user?user_id=4859252">Aimee </a>: what are you located? do you have a website?</p>