abby_benedict

<p>I picked a business name based on my last name. It means "blessing," so I picked Blessed Life Photography. Plus it connotates exactly what I want to capture among the families I photograph. I get asked all the time how I selected the name.<br>

I don't think Wojo sounds professional. But I lean towards a company name instead of a personal name because of all the reasons stated above.</p>

<p>I only offer 4x6 prints as a proof set. If you make the 4x6 prints extremely affordable, then clients can take them anywhere - like Walmart - and get them scanned into a low-quality higher print. Except they may not care if it's low quality, because they like the image - but without paying you for a larger, quality print. And then you run the risk of that client's friends and family seeing it and being told it's your work - bad print quality and all.<br>

<br /> If you are going to offer 4x6 sizing, then do so as a legitimate "professional print" or as a proof set. (My proof set is $300 with a minimum print purchase - and people respect that.)<br>

<br /> And remind your friends - or clients - that they make 5x7 photo albums! :)</p>

<p>I would personally never hand off unedited photos of my work and allow them to be edited by the client. Because people will inevitably see them and she'll say, "oh, my friend Artur did those!" and they will then attribute whatever the final image is as being your work. If she had a professional skillset, then she would not need to hire you. Therefore I would assume that her editing skills are subpar and what looks great to her would not necessarily be great to anyone else.<br>

I would only allow her to resize your digital files for appropriate placement in templates. (Resizing is different than cropping - I would not allow her to change composition.) If she's worried that she won't appreciate your editing, then maybe she should take the photos herself or find a photographer who is willing to do so. (And I don't think there are many.)<br>

She can go to Portrait Innovations, have a session and then they'll send her home with a cd of all the images, unedited. Maybe that is more her style.</p>

 

<p>What do you guys think about my adding my personal blog to my business splash page? I do a lot of photography on it, though I'm not as careful about editing (I would spiff it up a bit and remove anything too personal - but I can't think of anything I'd really want to remove. It's a relatively new blog, mostly about my little daughter and husband and good things that happen). However, I can update my personal blog as frequently as I want and it automatically would give my "site" new content and therefore be listed better in search engines. Anyone feel me on that? A friend of mine suggested this, saying that the trend with twitter and other social networking sites or blogs themselves is to "humanize" yourself - it creates interest and clients feel like they "know" you before even contacting you for work.<br /> <br /> Not sure I want to post it publicly yet, but PM or email me and I'll share it. Thanks for any feedback even without seeing it - just about the idea.</p>

<p>Dana - that's not an action. I magnetic lasso one eye, choose Filter>Sharpen>Unsharp Mask and then play with the levels. I feather at 10px. :) To make sure the eyes are evenly sharpened (and I don't recommend sharpening the heck out of them every time, but I liked it for that photo), I magnetic lasso the other eye, go to Filter and then just click the last one used (should say Unsharp Mask). You'll get the identical play on the other eye that way.<br>

<br /> I do need to work on incentives. I'm kicking myself for not doing that all this past fall. I've been pretty dead this winter (due to not having a studio, it's cold out where I live and I primarily do outdoor location work), but I'll definitely be doing that for clients this spring.<br>

Donating a free session free/print is a great idea!</p>

<p>Thanks for the replies so far! Thanks, Nicky, about my photographs! You're sweet.<br /> Hmm, I hadn't thought about competitions. I guess I could try to submit some things - interesting idea.<br>

<br /> Yes, Joseph, do tell what companies you suggest... I had a very bad experience with one SEO company. They ended up being a scam, but I was able to pull out just in time.<br /> <br /> A friend of a friend offered SEO services - but told me that what she does is basically what I'm doing, so that didn't make me want to pay her $50/hr. :)</p>

<p>I'm a children's and family on-location portrait photographer. I'm looking to have more of an online presence in my marketing and advertising. I have a website and blog. I advertise on a local mommy board. I invest in Google Adwords. I have print ads in three local newspapers - one large and two small. Craigslist ads get reposted every few days under creative services. What else can I do to get more traffic and therefore business? I'm working on SEO, too. I'm also constructing a myspace and Facebook.<br>

<br /> I'm considering doing a direct mailing, but my instincts are leaning toward continuing in online advertising and investing more than I have.<br>

<br /> What has worked for you - if you are a portrait photographer?</p>