online proofing suggestions

[timmyp]

<p>i'm new to the the business side of photography, but i want to start selling prints to my clients. in order to do that i need some sort of online proofing website. like i said, im new at the business aspect of this, so my budget isn't great and i dont really want a long term subscription, but rather something i can go month to month. i dont have a website, only a blog at this point. anyways, in order to sell prints to my clients (that don't want to pay for digital images) i need a place to show them their proofs and preferrably where they can purchase the prints as well. looking for suggestions please!!!!<br>

thank you so much for your time and suggestions.<br>

tim</p>

[pbalko]

<p>Tim, I don't mean to be snarky, and hope to stay within the guidelines of the Beginner's forum ("...photographers who can offer patient, helpful and informative replies are greatly appreciated here!"), but this question gets asked almost daily. If you use the photo.net search in the upper right corner of your screen, you'll find far more information than can ever be provided in a single thread:<br>

<a href="../search/?cx=000753226439295166877%3A0gyn0h9z85o&cof=FORID%3A11&ie=UTF-8&section=all&q=online+proofing+suggestions&filter=0&sa.x=23&sa.y=9&sa=Search#1782">"online proofing suggestions"</a></p>

[jon_robert]

<p>From the wedding angle. But may the idea can be adapted - I don't know specifically what you are doing..<br /> The local photogs around here from my brief inquiry offer 150 proofs for $600-well over $1000 (very generalized statement)<br /> Want a cheap and easy way to get rolling :<br /> This is my "style" which is every bit as marketable as the style of my photos. Here is what I do: I shoot the rehearsal, wedding receptions, what ever as per requested and then edit.<br /> Everything that makes my final cut is sized at 4x6 and uploaded to Walgreens, Target or what ever is the place where they live. Last month was 660ish uploaded to Walgreens in 4 albums, rehearsal, ceremony etc. . And it is a free service. I also use it as a back up storage location in case my house burns down.<br /> I then send an invitaion to view link to everyone at those events that care to give me their email. Dozens usually do. And it is great advertisement. They can share viewing with anyone who might be interested in your services. They can order souvenir prints if they want and I never know nor do I care. They can even order CD's of all of the photos.<br /> I make it clear that they are 4x6. If they want any different then email me and I will crop the original as such and send another link to it.<br /> If the wedding party wants all that fancy wedding album stuff then they can say so. (Never do, they can scrapbook their own easily now days)<br /> Simply price your services as per the above scenario and no fuss no muss you are done. No need to sell prints or books to make the income. Search your local area and come up with a price. $800.00 for 150 photos or my way for hundreds of photos. Several variations of certain ones are included. They usually love and comment later on the candids, the artistically angled ones or the Photoshop trick ones. But I'm sure there are some that still want the old fashioned arrangement, books and such through the photographer. And in some cases special variation to the above scenario may surface.<br /> The above way is a simple no fuss way to get your product into the hands of the customer, and advertise.</p>

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[crystal_smith5]

<p>I use moments4ever.com and I love it. You only pay by the month so there is no "6 month" subscription. If you want it for a month you can just buy a month and it costs around $14. :-)</p>

[976photo]

<p>There's always <a href="http://www.smugmug.com">www.smugmug.com</a> or <a href="http://www.zenfolio.com">www.zenfolio.com</a> and it'll give you a website that you don't have now.</p>

[timmyp]

<p>Thank you all for the responses. I'm currently researching your suggestions. I greatly appreciate your help.</p>