Every year I like to honor the top digital products photographers can use to grow their businesses. Below are 13 go-to items for this year ranging from software to presets to training. This post includes affiliate links.

Best Photo Editor

Luminar 4

Luminar 4 is a program that you can tailor to multiple photographic styles. Available for both Windows and Mac, the software supports cleaner gradients and automatic lens distortion corrections.

It comes with new camera profiles like vivid, Adobe standard, landscape, portrait, and more. The most recent update of Luminar promises improvements in speed across both Windows and Mac.

Learn More about Luminar

Best Lightroom Presets

Contrastly

The Contrastly complete preset bundle comes with over 1,000 presets with 26 different themes like Long Exposure, Portrait Retouch, Infrared Sims, and many more. From recovering shadows and highlights to adjusting exposure, this set of presets will help you create the final product you envision.

Most photographers realize that taking the photos is only the beginning and that editing is an art form in itself.

With this Contrastly Lightroom preset bundle, you can bleach your images a bit, adjust the foreground exposure, and enhance group photos.

Learn More about the Lightroom Preset Bundle

Contrastly also offers Lightroom Training.  Learn more about the Lightroom Mastery Video Course.

Best Contracts

The Law Tog

Ultimate Portrait Photography Contract Bundle by TheLawTog

The Ultimate Portrait Photography Contract Bundle helps you protect your business with lawyer/photographer-created contracts. This includes legal forms you’ll need to cover expectations for clients and safeguard your business.

The Ultimate Bundle has a Print Release form, Limited Model Release, General Model Release, General Portrait Contract, Permission to Sell to a Third Party and a Payment Plan Bundle. TheLawTog also offers the Basic Contract and the Essentials Bundle for people who need a little less.

Start Protecting Your Business

Best Album Software

Fundy Designer

Fundy Designer was created by Andrew Funderburg and runs on both Mac OS and Windows. To use it, just go to fundydesigner.com, download the trial and install it. If you get stuck at any point, there are multiple online tutorials to help you get the process started.

As soon as you’re ready to go, buy a license that fits your needs, such as Studio Suite Pro, Suite Pro, or Suite Lite. This software is well-designed and allows you to begin designing in one out of four modules: Gallery, Album, Image Brander, or Collage. In order to use photos in your project, just drag them from your computer’s images bar. This program is super intuitive and easy to use.

Start Using Fundy Designer

Best Logo Design

99 Designs

Launch a logo design contest with 99Designs

While there are a lot of free options on the web for graphic design, you’ll want something a bit more specialized for logo design. This can mean the difference between being lost in the sea of competitors online and truly standing out. 99Designs is a creative platform that allows you to hire talented designers to make your logo.

You can also start a design contest to get your graphic designs needs met, including custom WordPress themes or even book covers. You get to set your budget, receive ideas for a couple of days, and then make your selection.

Hire Someone to Create Your Logo at 99Designs

Best Training

Creative Live

Fundamentals of Photography

To be truly successful with photography, you’ll need a full understanding of the equipment needed and the technical aspects of your camera. The Fundamentals of Digital Photography will even show you how to make your creative vision a reality. Taught by John Greengo, a seasoned photographer, this training course emphasizes high-quality visuals and learning through experience.

The course will show you how to choose gear, how to properly utilize natural light, and how to make the most of composition, aperture, and shutter speed. With the Fundamentals of Digital Photography, you’ll learn to consider your ultimate goals and motivations with photography.

Learn more about this course.

Other Courses Offered at CreativeLive

CreativeLive offers classes on photo and video, money and life, art and design, and more. Here are a couple of other courses available:

Workflow, Time Management, and Productivity for Creatives

There’s a stereotype that says creative types are inherently disorganized, which can hold you back from getting into a good workflow. With the Workflow, Time Management, and Productivity for Creatives course, you can tackle your to-do lists, learn how to block out time, and beat your distractions.

Conquering Crappy Light

Working with subpar lighting can be frustrating. Since you can’t always control the light where you are, it’s helpful to learn how to work with it. In the Conquering Crappy Light course, you’ll learn how to capture beautiful photos regardless of the lighting conditions.

Free Courses at CreativeLive

CreativeLive also offers free courses like this Make Great Images with the Gear You’ve Got course.

Check out more free courses from CreativeLive

Best Deal Site

PhotoWhoa

If you want to become a better photographer, the products offered by PhotoWhoa can help. This online curation site gives you access to courses, books, and more, whether you’re a fashion blogger, food photographer, or a complete newbie.

A few examples of what they offer are 2665 Light Leak Overlays, a Photoshop Compositing Bundle, and software for easy image refocusing.

PhotoWhoa offers discounted photography products, with some eBooks or video courses marked down as much as 50 percent. Whatever your photography goals are, you’re sure to find something that will help on this site.

Start Using PhotoWhoa Today

Best Image Enhancement

Photolemur

Photolemur is a completely automatic enhancer for your photos and uses Artificial Intelligence to fix your pictures on its own.

Just import the image and the enhancer does the rest.

You can then define how your photos will look when they’re done and control the applied enhancement opacity using the smart slider feature in the program.

Photolemur 3 has a Facial Retouch tool that can improve the look of faces and six unique styles for perfecting your photos. While there is a free version of Photolemur available, it doesn’t offer batch processing and adds a Photolemur watermark to processed photos.

Check out Photolemur

Best Used Gear

KEH Camera

While you’re collecting your photography gear, don’t forget that you can buy used gear and also trade your used equipment.

Sources like KEH Camera, the largest used camera dealer in the world, are invaluable to creative professionals.

They have lenses and cameras from 60 years ago and have been serving photographers for over three decades.

They also have a full-line equipment repair department.

Check Out the Selection at KEH Camera

Best Podcast

ProPhotographerJourney Podcast

Chamira Young is a photographer who is obsessed with creativity and productivity. She uses podcasting and online teaching to help others learn how to reach their goals effectively. The ProPhotographerJourney Podcast lets you learn the craft from professionals as they explain what worked for them and what didn’t. Through this platform, you get access to tricks and tips from award-winning and successful photographers.

You can also check out the Portrait Party Success Kit offered by ProPhotographerJourney.com. Through this kit, you’ll learn how to gain clients, income, credibility, and testimonials for your business.

Check out our article about hosting your own portrait party.

Learn more about the Portrait Party Success Kit at prophotographerjourney.com.

Best Planner and Workflow

Although we often start out with the most productive of intentions, it’s easy to lose track of time. If you need help with time management, workflow, and planning, consider one of these tools.

Design Aglow Organization Help

The Big Picture Planner

The Big Picture Essential Planner will help you reach your larger creative goals by prioritizing your daily and weekly goals. This planner comes with more than 40 printable PDF pages, a 16-page guide for achieving your goals, cover options, planning worksheets, and much more. You’ll also get social and blog trackers, section cover pages, and planner sections for finances, inspiration, marketing, and more.

Essential Workflow & Organization Bundle

Every photographer has to deal with paperwork and scheduling, even though they really want to be out there snapping photos. You can automate these administrative processes using the Essential Workflow & Organization Bundle by Design Aglow. This comes with a Studio Workflow Assistant for systematizing your routine. It also has the Studio Email Assistant for communications and a process to simplify your invoicing process, the Studio Order Form.

Best Photography Business Book

Photography Business Secrets

Photography is undoubtedly a competitive field with over 150,000 professionals already in business in America. Whether you’re a beginner or a seasoned photographer, staying relevant in a sea of competitors is worth thinking about.

In Photography Business Secrets, Lara White has gathered some of the best advice from Photomint.com, her popular photography site. The book will help you with defining policies, establishing your name, marketing, networking, setting prices, and more.

Learn more about Photography Business Secrets

Best Photography Website Hosting

Imagely

If you’re looking for a turnkey solution, Imagely offers a fully managed system that’s easy to change and manage. You can set up a new website in mere minutes with a free initial account that includes pre-configured and pre-loaded themes and plugins.

Note that there is limited storage space on free accounts but that you may upgrade to get access to extra storage and a custom domain.

Check Out Imagely

As you can see, there’s no shortage of resources to make good photographers better and transform great photographers into seasoned professionals.

I don’t know if you have noticed, but Facebook is starting to get a lot more. . . live!

Business videos are starting to pop up, everywhere. People who you used to only “know” through their pictures and written posts are starting to become a lot more three-dimensional, with your being able actually watch, and listen to them. 

As photography business owners, this is a trend that you need to pay attention to. After all, we are a visual arts community, and videos are – wait for it- visual. 

I don’t know about you, but I love seeing my favorite people in action! When I can actually see them, and listen to them, they feel so much more real, and accessible. 

I actually like them more. They seem human, and it almost feels as if you are sitting across from these people at a coffee shop, soaking in their knowledge. It’s a pretty cool concept. 

Have you ever thought about being the one watching the “3..2…1….” click down and go live, on video, with Facebook? 

You should! 

Why is going live, and posting videos for your photography business, so important? Here are my top 5 tips about how video will set your photography business apart: 

1. Be real

(This is especially important for us introverts out there. You don’t have to be perfect. Your clients just want you.)

Clients don’t want to just look at your images before they hire you. They want to know you. They want to know whether you will “click” with them. They want to know what you sound like, and what it will be like to meet you in person. 

They want to feel like you could be their friend. 

They want connection. 

Video gives your clients a virtual peek into who you really are. The person behind the images. They may see your gorgeous images on social media, but they want to know what are you (the real you) are like. Are you sweet and shy? Funny and quirky? Clean-cut? Do you have bright-colored hair? Why do you capture images the way you do? Video allows them to connect with you, before they ever shake your hand. 

It’s okay to not be a polished public speaker. In fact, if you are not perfect, people tend to connect with you even more. You are human, just like they are! Let your guard down, and connect. 

2. Present something of value (as opposed to just “taking”)

Have you ever heard of a “giving” site, versus a “taking” site? 

A “giving” site gives a lot of information. These sites become “go-tos” for people, becoming trusted sources (hint: most photography sites are NOT “giving” sites, aside from “giving” people gorgeous images to look at).  

Giving sites are wellsprings of information, and not just one-time visits. 

Why is this so important? 

“Taking” sites are what most sites are. They take your comments, your page clicks, or even your email addresses, with little or nothing in return. They are often sites that you visit one time, to accomplish a “task”, and then never go back to it again. 

You don’t want your site to be like that; yet, most photography sites ARE like that. You go to view your friend’s portrait or wedding images, “ooh and aah” for a few minutes, and leave. The images are beautiful, but nothing else makes your site memorable to where you want to go back and revisit. 

Which sites, and businesses, end up being more profitable over time? You guessed it- “giving” sites. 

If you offered videos for tutorials on things like: how to dress, when to cut your hair before sessions, or how to organize your iPhone images, your clients will thank you in dividends. You will be seen as a “giving”, trusted source. 

Some ideals, for photographers: 

• What to Wear tips and tricks
• Photography day run-throughs and tips
• Free tips on how to hang your portraits (with inspiration templates you can send them when they opt-in to your website mailing list)

3. Keep it short 

Unless you are teaching a mini class on Facebook Live, keep it short. 

Most people have a short attention span, and busy lives. They don’t want to hear rambling- if they are on social media, short, sweet, and simple is best! 

How short? 

I say keep it to about 2 minutes. This is long enough for you to get your point across, but not so long to where you get nervous or rambling. 

By only offering shorter bits of information (try not to let it be super short- get to at least one minute!), you keep them wanting MORE. They will keep coming back, and you will establish yourself as an expert. Short, simple videos will also keep you at the front of your viewers’ brains when someone asks for a suggestion or referral. 

4. Be consistent

Just like with most anything else with business, consistency is key. If you offer behind-the-scenes videos with a handful of clients, you better be sure to offer these videos for all of your clients (people will notice, and will eventually ask you, which can make it awkward. If you need to, appoint someone at your session to be your “videographer” for Facebook Live. They will love it!).

Fun bonus to consider: record your video on your smart phone, upload to YouTube, and include the behind-the-scenes video on your client’s blog post! How cool would that be?  

Video will allow people to connect with you in ways you haven’t been able to do before, so be consistent! On my photography business coaching Facebook page, I offer “coffee chats” every Friday at 9 a.m. My followers can ask questions ahead of time, and either watch me live as I answer them, or they can watch the replay. Regardless of how they view the video, I get more responses and interactions with my “coffee chats” than any email I’ve ever sent, or image I’ve ever posted. Your words are powerful, and can help! Try it! 

For a portrait photography business, you can offer videos on Tuesdays on how to look great for your portraits, or even offer tips on how to shop for outfits. The number of possibilities are endless! Just try it. The compound interest you will gain on videos is mind-blowing. Add it to your calendar, and stick to it. After a few live sessions, your clients will start to look forward to seeing your face. 

5. Be educated on speaking 

If you are on video, it’s awfully hard to hide if you mess up, which is why a lot of introverts are anxious to click “go live”. 

If you are going to go live, please be prepared by either memorizing bullet points (don’t memorize the speech- you can tend to look too robotic. Keep a card with bullet points right off camera, if you need help staying on track). Keep eye contact with the camera, because if you keep looking off-screen, viewers will either get distracted or think that you are trying to “pull one over” on them. 

I usually do a run-through of my speech about 10 minutes out from going “live”. That way, I sound prepared, but not too polished. I also (personally) don’t like to practice in front of a mirror, because I want to be authentic and connected. I don’t want to be theatrical- I just want to be me! 

If the thought of public speaking truly scares you, consider joining a local Toastmasters International Club! Toastmasters is focused on helping you grown your public speaking and leadership skills, and is worldwide. I have been a Toastmaster for over a year now, and let me tell you: the things I have learned in Toastmasters has changed EVERYTHING in my business, from my public speaking to my marketing messaging. I am an introvert who shied away from public speaking before, but now I know that I have important things to teach others. After working my speaking muscles for a year, I am nowhere near as scared to put myself out there. 

And my business has thanked me for it! 

If you want to set your photography business apart, try video! Whether Facebook Live, or links to YouTube (see the video at the end of this post), be YOU, and be helpful to your clients. The more you love on your clients through unique business moves like posting videos, the more you will get word-of-mouth referrals. Your business, and your checking account, will thank you!! 

Want to go a step further with putting your face on camera? Worried that in-person selling won’t fit into your busy schedule, but you still want to make your clients sing your praises with your incredible service? Try VIRTUAL in-person selling, where you offer high-touch services to your clients in the convenience of your home office (or anywhere you have WiFi.)

We were happy with the new direction we were headed in, but we were still a little nervous about the change. Then I came across this forum thread: What Would You Pay for Custom Photography. I discovered there are an endless number of threads about photography clients who want to pay practically nothing for digital negatives and stories about photographers who charge $75 per session, including prints. Our print prices started at $65, so I was more than a little nervous.

Finally I saw something familiar. One of my clients posted this:

“We did an OpLove session, so I had no session fee and my darling husband got something sent to him overseas. I paid more than $65 per print and $5,000 total [despite other photographers who offered budget photos from $25.] They do not even give CDs, but I would gladly pay that for their work.”

What justified this higher price for her? Was it our work? I’ll be the first to admit that wasn’t the case. My boyish good looks or inappropriate sense of humor? No.

It was the entirety of our sales process, which is designed to give our clients exactly what they want from their session — nothing more, nothing less. That’s when it finally clicked for me: This is what our clients want. This is what they expect. And this is what they deserve.

So let’s dig in to the details of what such a sales process looks like. By the time you’re finished reading this article, you will have clear and actionable steps to take that should increase your sales and thrill your clients.

Oh, and by the way… the client I’ve been talking about? She was the first person who went through this sales process with us.

Let’s do this.

The Ultimate Sales Secret

Ask your client what they want. Then create it for them.

As trite as this sounds, take a second to think about it. What we’re talking about now isn’t sales.

Collaborate with your client and work as a team to create the best products possible for them.

Removing all of that stress around the idea of sales will free you up to provide great service to your clients. They’ll be much happier and you’ll make a lot more money.

First Thing First: Setting Expectations

Throughout the sales process, we are constantly setting and reinforcing the expectations we have for our clients. These expectations include the types of products we sell and the price our typical client spends. It’s absolutely critical you do this. If you don’t, it won’t be until the sales meeting when you find out you and your client aren’t on the same page. You could end up with a much lower sale price than anticipated, and your client could walk away feeling, at best, underserved — and at worst, embarrassed. You don’t want to waste each other’s time.

There are a few places you should be setting expectations.

On your website

Show what you sell. If you sell wall art, blog about the art pieces you’re creating. Shameless plug: If you haven’t sold any wall art but want to start, sign up for a Swift Galleries free trial (affiliate) and use some of our free stock rooms to create custom wall art pieces with some of your favorite portfolio images. Blog those images to show that you intend to create wall art pieces for your clients.

Give them a price range. Let your clients know how much they should expect to spend on you by including a simple message, such as “our typical client spends between $xxx and $xxxx on photography” or “custom wall art begins at $xxx.”

In Person

When you meet with your clients, ask them questions that make it clear what you intend for them to purchase.

This is as simple as asking, “Where in your home would you like to display your images on your walls?” or saying, “Tell me about your design style so we can start talking about what type of album would fit it best.”

Through Past Clients

If your client is referred to you by someone who has your images displayed on their wall, your new client’s expectations for wall art are already set. Conversely, if the client only sees your images on Facebook, there’s a good chance he or she only will expect to receive digital files from you.

The goal here is not to convince people to buy what you want them to buy. Instead, your aim should be to attract people who already want what you offer. If they want what you want to give them — and they have a general idea of how much that’s going to cost them — then you’re both well on the way to a great experience. If any of these things aren’t a fit, happily refer them to someone who is a great fit for them.

Step One – The Planning Meeting

After our client has looked at our website; reviewed our prices, products and process; and decided to move forward with us, the first step is a planning meeting.

The Purpose of the Planning Meeting

• Continue to reinforce expectations.
• “The Funnel” — Start with all of the products you offer, session location options, wardrobe options, etc. Ask open-ended questions about your clients, their style and their desired products. Narrow them down to only the things that are relevant for that client.
• Planting the seed for a sale — Start discussing specific products your client might want and get into detail about what those products might look like and what they will cost.
• Nail down logistics and session details — Decide on the session date, time and location, sales meeting date and time, and wardrobe options.
• Get room images to use in Swift Galleries (affiliate).
• Collect the session fee.

In our best planning meetings, we’re able to take our client from saying “I want some pictures of my family” to “I want a 30×45 canvas of my whole family looking at the camera to go over the couch in the living room, The Starry Eyed Canvas Collection with candids of each of my kids individually, and one of them together to go on the wall next to my bathroom as well as a formal family portrait for the front of our holiday card and a goofy picture of our dog for the back of the card.”

If we can get this specific (which is not always possible, but happens fairly often) then I know exactly what I’m going to shoot when I get to a session — all the way down to the aspect ratio I need to shoot for. It’s awesome.

Step Two – The Session

The session is an integral part of the sales process because it’s when you build excitement for the products your client wants. We do this by showing images on the back of the camera when we know we’ve nailed one of the photos they want, and saying things like, “This is perfect for that canvas we talked about over your couch” and “This is going to look great in that collection we talked about for your master bedroom.”

This strategy for building anticipation is more powerful than you think. Yes, your client will be more excited about their images. But even more importantly, during the time between the session and sales meeting your client will be able to visualize the image every time she walks past her couch. She’s selling that product to herself! Better yet (another shameless plug), use Swift Galleries during your planning meeting to show her what those photographs will look like at the correct size.

Step Three – The Sales Meeting

We’ve found that a set progression through our sales meeting helps us to be sure we cover all of our bases.  And it’s just plain easier. Here’s how we work through the sales meeting (and how the Swift Galleries IPS Mode is set up):

1. A slideshow, twice —  The first time through, we tell them to sit back and enjoy the images and not to try to decide which ones are their favorites. The second time through, we ask that they start thinking about which ones are their favorites.

2. Sort the images into “yes” and “no” — If it’s a “maybe”, just put it in with the “yes” pile. Better to have these to draw from if we need them.

3. Choose large portraits or collections — We start with the “statement” pieces first when choosing our clients’ wall art images. We often have these layouts pre-designed and saved as Suggestions in Swift Galleries with the products they said they wanted during the planning meeting and also fill with the images we were excited about during the session. We’ll tweak these with different images if they love something else. We use Swift Galleries for this (surprise!) so that we can show them exactly what these images will look like on their wall, at the right size.

4. Albums and miscellaneous products — Our clients are consistently surprised at how many images they love from their session. Even after choosing five or six wall art pieces, often a client wants to find a home for all of the other images too. So we’ll sell them albums or other products that fit more than one image. It’s a good idea to come up with some products that will allow your client to purchase more than one image but won’t take up a huge amount of space in their home. We sell an Easel Collection (a small easel with eight 8×8 mounted prints) for this very reason, so that our client has a way to display more of the images they love. In Swift Galleries IPS Mode, we’ll just add these non wall art products to their order as “Add-Ons” during the checkout process.

5. Gift prints — We offer a discount on any image in 4×6, 5×7 or 8×12 that our client has ordered elsewhere (i.e., a discounted 4×6 on an image that appears in an album or in a wall art collection). We then combine that “sale” mentality with suggestions on for whom or why they should buy some gift prints. For example, “Father’s Day is coming up. Do you need any images for Grandpa? If you want a small print of one of your wall images, it’s discounted off of the regular price since you already ordered it there.” As with everything else in our process, this is not pushy salesman stuff; it’s simply asking your client what they want and giving it to them. These get added as “Add-Ons” in Swift Galleries, as well.

6. Take their payment — Tally everything up, and take their payment manually or automatically through Swift Galleries. We offer payment plans on anything over $1,000. Half down and half due one month later.

If you use something like PayKit.io, you can set this up to automatically charge the card on the date due, which saves everyone the hassle of arranging the second payment.

We’ve taught this sales process to photographers for years. We consistently hear from those who’ve made the switch that they are seeing giant increases in their sales and getting referrals from happy clients. The photographers who put off making the switch always mention that they wish they had switched sooner.

So there you have it. It looks like a giant process when it’s all written out, but it’s really not. You are simply asking your client what they want and creating it for them. By doing this, you’re providing your clients with a service they couldn’t get from most of your competitors, and they’ll pay you a premium for it. In the end, you’ll have higher sales averages, and your clients will be much happier with their experience than if you had simply delivered the images on a disc and sent them on their way to figure out what to do with those images on their own. So get out there and start making more money while making your clients happier!

The Perfect In-Person Sales Tool

Come see how simple wall art sales should be with Swift Galleries.

Swift Galleries makes In-Person Sales simple by helping clients visualize exactly what their images will look like on their own walls, at exactly the right size. And because Swift Galleries was built around the exact process you just learned, you can be up and running with it in mere minutes.

• Swift Galleries works across all devices and operating systems – so design on your iMac, sell on your Android tablet and even check your sales stats from your Windows phone.
• As a web-based app, there’s nothing to install and no need to ever worry about running the latest version. When we release an update, it’s available immediately as soon as you log in.
• Swift Galleries was built to fit seamlessly into your business, without you having to change things for us. So sell the products you love, from the labs you use, online or in-person, on any device.

Click here to try it absolutely free for 14 days

In fact I’ve heard many photographers dismiss Facebook Ads as something they tried once that either didn’t work, or that spent an overwhelming amount of money in a frighteningly short amount of time. Well, I hate to be like that click bait that you see out there but: “You’re doing it wrong.”

There are lots mistakes that I see photographers making when using paid ads on Facebook, from targeting to messaging and understanding the difference between an ad and a boost; but underneath all of that is a larger issue that has to be addressed: Too many photographers are trying to advertise to people who have never heard of them and are expecting to drive quality leads. Instead, they launch their ads to the sound of crickets, or get a flood of clicks that don’t convert.

Creating ads asking for the sale before you’ve wooed a prospect is the crux of why ads on Facebook fail to perform. So today I want to share some strategies that I employ, both as a photographer and in my role as a digital marketing specialist, to give you a new perspective of how Facebook Ads can help drive a steady stream of valuable leads to your business. My hope is that you’ll feel empowered to create the kinds of killer ads that you need to compete in an increasingly noisy digital space.

Using Facebook Ads to Create the “Know, Like and Trust Factor”

So what exactly is wrong about advertising to new people and asking for a sale? Now before you email me, chastisingly reminding me that, “Jen, finding new leads is kind of the point of advertising” let me explain. Imagine yourself at a big cocktail event filled with all kinds of people that you’d love to work with. What would you think of a person making his way around the room, handing out his business card to people before he’d even been introduced?

Unfortunately that’s what it’s like when you’re running an ad on Facebook, expecting a sale before you’ve been properly introduced. If you haven’t provided value to the people that you’re getting your ad in front of, what is it that’s going to make a potential client want to work with you over someone else?

Now let’s reimagine this cocktail party scenario. You’re participating in the conversation, engaging with your fellow attendees, and someone happens to ask a question that falls into your area of expertise. You light up and provide helpful, relevant answers with no strings attached. Not only is the person who asked the question pretty impressed, but so are a few others who’ve been participating in the conversation.

Then comes the magic question: “Do you have a business card?” You do, in fact, have a few tucked into your wallet. And, you happen to mention, there are a few more helpful resources on your website in case anyone else has any questions on the topic discussed. By providing value you’ve developed, what we call in marketing, the know, like and trust factor!

So, how do you translate this into your Facebook Ads strategy?

The answer is: provide value first. Before creating an ad that asks for the sale, make sure that you’ve wow-ed your potential audience with so much value that they can’t imagine booking with anyone else. In order to do this, you have to do a little bit of reverse engineering, and understand what it is that your prospect is looking for at each stage of their exploration and research prior to booking.

So if you’re a wedding photographer, let’s play this scenario out with your potential bride or groom: When a couple gets engaged, the likelihood is high that they’ll be looking for a wedding photographer. But before you jump in front of them with ads that are akin to that unsolicited business card at a cocktail party, let’s think about what their questions and needs around finding a photographer might be.

If you can identify those needs and questions ahead of time, then you have the edge to get in front of those couples and provide them the with answers to their questions in the form of ads that lead them to great downloads or helpful blog posts.

What is your Customer’s Journey?

If you’re struggling to think about what this looks like in a strategy, let’s use the example of the wedding photographer. If a wedding day is all about love, then a love story is a journey. When a couple gets engaged, you have to be ready to take that couple on a journey to fall in love with your services. In marketing we refer to this as a “Customer Journey.”

Luckily you know the beginning of this journey: a couple get engaged. You also know the end: couple gets married. Your job is to help in fill in the story with an exceptional experience in between. Let’s take a look at what a potential bride’s journey might be in looking for a wedding photographer:

In the above example timeline, we’ve identified that this potential bride has gotten engaged and set a wedding date of about a year out. At this stage, couples tend to be looking for inspiration, so this is a perfect opportunity to offer something of value that addresses the couple’s needs.

Perhaps you could run a “Like” campaign, promising inspiration and planning tips that you share regularly on your Facebook page. Think of how your expertise can lend itself to the needs of your potential client at this stage; and if you run a Facebook Ad at this stage, how to do you offer value?

Running a “Like” campaign isn’t about “buying followers.” We’re not looking to increase the number of likes on your Facebook page as a vanity metric (although Likes are a great way to offer a little bit of social proof). Instead, we’re trying to grow your audience so that you can offer both organic and advertised content in the future. Once a prospect is familiar with you, we can move on to the next step in the timeline.

Example of a Like campaign on Facebook

Research and Reverse Engineering

In our example timeline, we now have a bride that has begun to think about photography, but she could potentially be overwhelmed with choices and questions. It’s time for you to dive deeply into the psyche of your ideal prospects, or give a call to past clients and do some research! What kinds of questions kept your former client up at night, and how were you in the perfect position to have answered those questions? Chances are these are the same questions, and solutions, that you can provide to prospects.

In order to create effective ads, and content/offers that you will be promoting in those ads, make a list of the questions that you’ve determined prospects and past clients had in their journey towards booking. You may have to spend some time working backwards in your memory with past clients to determine what their biggest pain points were in trying to determine their photography needs, but once you do this you’ll have a powerful list of content ideas.

Once you’ve determined the content that provides the dream answers for your prospects, it can live on your website, you blog, be delivered via an email campaign, or exist in a PDF that’s delivered as part of the Facebook Ad Conversion. Feel free to be creative here; you can dream up anything as long as it offers solutions to the problem that your potential client could be facing in their customer journey.

Don’t worry about creating something that delivers all of the answers all at once. Break things up into bite sized pieces so that you don’t overwhelm your prospect, and then deliver that information over your prospect’s journey as they progress through their timeline. By positioning yourself as your prospect’s guide and an expert who is available to give them answers, not only are you consistently providing that value that we talked about before, but you’re also creating that all-important know, like and trust factor.

An example of an ad that could provide value to your prospect.

Introducing Your Brand

Now that prospects are engaging with the content that you’ve provided, it’s time to introduce your brand and services. Yes, technically we’ve been doing this all along by creating branded content that answers your prospect’s questions, but until this point we’ve been pretty mum in terms of the exact services you provide. We’re still not at the point of expecting a sale, but we’re taking that next step towards getting a prospect interested in the services that we offer that meet their needs.

From a Facebook Ads perspective, this could be a boosted post that leads to a blog post showcasing the latest wedding you’ve photographed. Or, if you have a brand video that tells the story of your services, this is the perfect point in your prospect’s timeline to introduce them to it. We want them to begin thinking, “Yes, that’s what I want!” So think about what you can showcase that will get your prospect excited about the idea of working with you.

Asking for the Sale

Once you’ve consistently offered value to your prospects, they know, like and trust you, you’re finally ready to ask for that sale. This is where you can create an ad that offers a promotion that is directly related to your services. If you’ve been promoting content that is helpful and engaging, you should have no trouble converting those prospects into leads.

Create ads that explicitly describe your offer, your value proposition and a strong call to action. You’ll have 90 characters to describe your services and offering, as well as 200 characters in the News Feed Link Description section. Use these wisely and to your advantage to compel your primed prospects to book with you!

Once you have engaged with prospects that are familiar with your value, you’re now ready to utilize the power of Facebook Ads to generate bookings!

Putting it all together

If we think back to that initial timeline, it’s important to remember that your prospects are on a journey of discovery, and if you’re willing to be a part of their journey you will have an amazing opportunity to engage them through Facebook Ads. Now that we’ve walked through a sample journey, we can take the various types of ads that we discussed and overlay them over that previous timeline.

As you can see, getting a couple to book a wedding takes multiple touch points. The same can be said for booking any kind of photographic service. So while you may occasionally get a lead from running a Facebook Ad that is asking for the sale right away, chances are that if you craft your strategy to involve those multiple touch points, developing the know, like and trust factor, you’ll have greater success and more engaged prospects who are excited at the idea of being able to book with you.

Use “Like” campaigns early on to target prospects to introduce them to your brand. Next use Ads that are honed in on the specific pain points that your prospect could be facing that can help remove their barriers to booking. Follow those ads with ones that take a prospect inside your studio and brand and help them fall in love with the services that you offer. Once you’ve done that, you’re finally ready to ask for the sale. And if you’ve done it right, it should be a no-brainer for those prospects to say a very enthusiastic “yes!”

Continue to Part 2: How to Rock Facebook Ads.

Get Perfect Facebook Ads

Our 149-page ebook helps you plan an effective ad strategy to find perfect potential clients at the lowest cost. It goes way beyond what to put in your ad, although we do cover that. You will learn how to attract the right person at the right time with the right ad. Our examples and formulas make it easy.

Your business needs are as unique as your photography. We show you how to use Facebook’s options to create a tailor-made marketing campaign perfect for you!

See What’s Inside Perfect Facebook Ads

So when I see someone doing something right, I mean totally nailing it, I want to shout it from the rooftops and do a little happy dance. And that’s what happened the other day. (Except I was at work and shouting would be rude; plus I reeeally want to avoid the possibilities of my coworking making an embarrassing meme of me dancing.)

I was scrolling through a photography group on Facebook, and a post by Amanda Lacy of Authentic Portrait caught my eye. She had popped into the group to help buoy the spirits of other group members who were struggling with their marketing. Her mention of Facebook Ads piqued my interest because I’ve seen a lot of photographers struggle to use them effectively; but Amanda’s strategy was spot on!

So I decided to reach out to Amanda to ask her about her Facebook Ad strategy, how she went about targeting her ads, and what her ultimate results were. Amanda was kind enough to share a deep look into not only the Facebook Ad that she had been running, but also let me interview her to understand the work that she did before launching her ad, what her exact results were, and what her next steps are.

First let’s take a look at a screenshot of that initial post that caught my eye. I want to dissect what she said that clued me into knowing that she had a solid strategy, and then talk about how you can implement a similar strategy to help you start getting leads who are excited about working with you!

The first thing we know off the bat from this post is that Amanda’s strategy is working. Wahoo indeed! She’s getting the coveted “bums in seats,” so let’s talk about why.

Amanda’s strategy is a holistic, client-focused one. She is thinking about the kinds of things that her clients would be interested in, and provides that content in her social media curation. She has a healthy mix of her business content and outside sources, so that her social media doesn’t seem like she’s on a megaphone preaching about her services. She’s got a regular email newsletter that she grows consistently. Finally she’s using Facebook Ads to help grow her email list by providing something every single client of hers would want, and she’s not trying to sell directly to them in the ad!

If you just heard that record scratch sound effect in your head, hear me out: I’m not telling you that you can’t sell to people using Facebook Ads. I’m not even going to tell you that you can’t get bookings using Facebook Ads. But I will tell you that if you implement a strategy like Amanda’s first, you’ll have a lot more success booking, not only through Facebook Ads, but also through organic Facebook interaction and on your website. And it’s going to be a helluva lot cheaper.

You see, Facebook Ads shouldn’t be your stand alone online marketing strategy. You shouldn’t create a single ad or boosted post and expect to get leads clamouring to book. For something as expensive and non-essential as a photoshoot, you have to expect that the time between someone being interested in having a photoshoot, researching various photographers to find the right fit, and then finally booking is going to be long. Rarely is a photoshoot an impulse buy.

In fact it can take anywhere from 7 to 13+ touch points before a customer is ready to buy! Those touch points can be social posts, blog posts, newsletters, and ads. But none of these should stand alone. They work together to become a part of the larger, integrated strategy that we mentioned. Once you have those various pieces, then you can launch ads to help show potential customers the next piece of content or the next step to help them in the research and decision making process towards booking.

So let’s slice out a piece of Amanda’s strategy and look at it from the Facebook ads perspective (remember: it’s tied to her blog and her email list, so it is integrated into her overall strategy):

Amanda created a free ebook geared towards women, promising them insider secrets on how to look gorgeous in photos. Then she created a blog post to advertise the ebook, offering the download in exchange for an email address. Already, without the added benefit of using Facebook Ads, this is a brilliant piece of marketing. She has identified a concern that her potential market has (looking terrible in photos) and has offered a solution! This helps develop the know, like and trust factor that is so important in both marketing and connecting with your client during a photoshoot.

As a benchmark, she noted that prior to her creating her ad, she had already had 9 organic shares on the blog post. After running her ad that number had jumped up to 273! Prior to launching her ad, she had installed the Facebook pixel on her website and was able to use that to create a Lookalike Audience in Facebook based on female visitors to her site. This means that Facebook was able to match people who were similar to Amanda’s website visitors and serve her ad up to that larger audience.

Then she launched a Website Clicks ad to drive traffic to the blog post offering her download. Here’s a glimpse at the ad she launched:

She ran this ad for a little over a week, with a daily budget of $5 per day, spending a few cents over $38. So how effectively was her money spent? Lucky for us Amanda was nice enough to share her results:

From a screenshot of the Facebook Ads Manager we can see that she was able to reach 3,005 people and get 55 clicks to her website. While Amanda mentioned that she should like to improve her click-through rate, which was 1.83% for the run of the ad, according to a study by Wolfgang Digital this is actually very close to the average click-through rate of 2% for Facebook Newsfeed ads. And considering that these are ads that people are not searching for, like ads we see in the Google search results, anything near a 2% click-through rate is pretty good.

From the 55 clicks through to her website, Amanda received 25 email signups from women interested in downloading her ebook. That’s a whopping 45%!! And, now not only is she able to offer these potential clients value through her e-book but she is able to stay in communication with them via her newsletter. And for $1.52 per person that’s pretty cost-effective!

And as a bonus Amanda was able to get four inquiries out of these ads, because she had provided so much value through her e-book. For an ad that was not designed to drive inquires right away, she is still getting inquiries at a rate of about 7%. If we look at the cost of these four inquires, Amanda paid less than $10 a piece. Will they all book? Maybe not, but they were interested enough to reach out. And if even one books a session, Amanda has more than covered her advertising cost and gotten a return on her investment!

So now let’s review and talk about how you can take cues from Amanda’s strategy and employ them in your own business? We can take Amanda’s initial post in the In Bed with Sue group for inspiration:

1. Get to know who your ideal client is, where they hang out, what their interests are and what their aspirations are.
2. Share content on your blog and social networks that is relevant to them and that provides value.
3. Identify at least one pain point of theirs as it relates to your business, and provide a solution.In Amanda’s case she created an ebook that helps women feel more confident in front of the camera, because their biggest pain point is feeling insecure about how they look in photographs.

   She also broke down the exact things that women would learn in the book – from learning how to get rid of the dreaded double chin to stand to accentuate their shape. She was organically advertising her ebook on her Facebook Page. In this case she used Leadpages to create a Facebook Landing page:

4. Build you ad with laser focus in terms of targeting.Amanda used the Facebook pixel to help her identify who was going to her site, and then find a Lookalike audience that could potentially be interested in her information.

   Notice that I said interested in her information and not necessarily interested in her service. Yes, she did get inquiries from this ad. But that was the cherry on top for having created a killer piece of content for prospective customers.

   Offer your freebie but ask for an email address. You want to be able to continue offering awesome value to these potential customers before offering booking deals.

   Continue to send out great content on your newsletter, blog, and social channels.

5. Repeat.

Yup, marketing is a long term strategy. And you’re in business for the long haul right?

Even Amanda, who had amazing results from her ad, admits that there is a learning curve to Facebook Ads and that you can’t just launch an ad and expect people to come banging down your door. You have to keep testing and see what works.

So don’t get discouraged if your first foray isn’t stellar, and remember to keep testing what works and keep making improvements. In fact Amanda has already launched two new ads for that very same reason! She’s testing ads to compete against each other, varying her messaging, so that she can see what her audience responds to. In each she is focusing her messaging to appeal to her potential clients, helping them alleviate their worries about stepping in front of the camera:

So now that we’ve looked at what a successful Facebook ads strategy looks like, I would love to hear from you! How can you take learnings from the strategy we’ve discussed and employ them in creating Facebook ads that will delight your audience, and make your prospective customers fall in love with you – all before they book.

Get Perfect Facebook Ads

Our 149-page ebook helps you plan an effective ad strategy to find perfect potential clients at the lowest cost. It goes way beyond what to put in your ad, although we do cover that. You will learn how to attract the right person at the right time with the right ad. Our examples and formulas make it easy.

Your business needs are as unique as your photography. We show you how to use Facebook’s options to create a tailor-made marketing campaign perfect for you!

See What’s Inside Perfect Facebook Ads

Honestly, there is a striking balance between what you like writing about and what your readers would like to see on your blog. Generating new blog post ideas is not that easy, however, there are numerous ways to find what you’re looking for.

In this article I’m going to share with you a few quick tips on how to find new content ideas. You can implement these steps into your everyday routine, so you would never run out of ideas again.

Why Blogging is So Important?

While your portfolio website is important to show your latest work and experience, blog is a perfect place to show your clients who you really are in less formal way. It allows you to showcase different types of photography you take, not just wedding or family portraits.

HubSpot published the study which showed that business blogging leads to 55% more website visitors and 97% more inbound links. Thus, blogging helps you to get better marketing results. Since, blogs are constantly updated with good content, Google keeps coming back there and monitors it, – so frequently updated blog can improve your rankings.

Besides, a blog is a perfect way to establish your photography brand. People start perceive you as an expert in photography area when you share your own tips and experience on a blog. With time you can develop your unique voice and gain followers. Thus, blogging has a lot of hidden benefits. Let’s create some awesome content ideas for your photography blog!

Know Your Audience

If you don’t know who you’re creating for, then figuring out what to create would be nearly impossible. You need to get to know your target audience really well, and create your content specifically for them.

Here is a huge questionnaire by Regina which will help you to find your perfect reader. When you know your ideal reader’s profile, you know how to create shareable, useful, informative content.

You can guess who your target audience is, but Google Analytics can tell you for sure. Just open Audience tab and then User Explorer to get to know your users’ age, gender, interests, location and even more.

One more great way to deeper understand your audience is conducting a survey. There is a free tool SurveyMonkey which can help you create a survey quickly and easily. You can ask your readers what types of post they would like to see on your blog?

Just make sure your survey has up to three questions: don’t ask your readers to spend too much time on it, because there is a huge chance they won’t answer. It’s better to create a list of options to choose from for quicker clearer results.

Know Your Competitors

Photography is your industry, but what is your niche? You may write about photography business, photography marketing, the art of taking pictures and so on. You should find blogs similar to yours and get to know what worked out for them. It would be a great source of inspiration.

In order to get to know the best content of your competitors you can use famous marketing toolset Ahrefs. Along with numerous useful features, Ahrefs lets you to get to know what blog posts of your competitors are popular on social media. Just insert any URL you need and go to Site Explorer, then open Best by shares tab:

Site Explorer has also two more important reports: Best by links and Top Pages. ‘Best by links’ shows you posts which have the most backlinks. Top pages helps you to see which pages of your competitors bring the most organic traffic to them and get to know the keywords.

Ahrefs is a paid tool, but they have 7 day trial for $7 which is quite enough to analyze your competitors.

There is no need to copy someone’s content, you can use their popular headlines as a base, but add it a different angle. For example, if you want to write about suitable clothes for a photo shoot:

– What to Wear for Outside/Inside Photo Shoot?

– Do’s & Dont’s: the Best Clothing for Portraits

– 10 Tips on What to Wear for Your First Photo Shoot

There are numerous variations of how to write a headline about the same thing. Add your individual approach to each topic to make it different. Think outside the box to bring a whole new angle to an old topic.

Online Ideas Generator

If you create site content, you most probably have some experience and knowledge in blogging and photography. However, it’s not quite enough to create intriguing headlines and unique ideas.

Everyone have creative block from time to time. Fortunately, there are online ideas generators which can help you create a huge list of ideas using just one keyword or phrase. TweakYourBiz is an awesome example of title generator.

Just open the tool and write your keyword. In less than a second you’ll get a collection of over 100 title ideas separated into categories: lists, how-tos, questions, business and more.

Of course, not all of these suggestions may seem logical, but at least you’ll get inspiration to create a blog post plan.

Also, you can use Headline Analyzer by CoSchedule.

It will tell you how much common, uncommon, emotional and powerful words your headline has, show you how it’s going to look like in Google, and give some tips on how to improve it.

Play with Google

There are two useful ways of how you can use Google to create new content ideas. When you start writing something in Google’s search box, at the bottom you see other suggested searches based on what you were looking for.

Google shows you what other people were searching for. So, each your keyword can be used to find even more blog post ideas.

Also, when you write a letter right after your phrase, you get even more content ideas. See yourself:

You can do this with every letter of an alphabet.

Follow Questions of Others

There are famous Q&A networks like Quora where people ask and answer different questions. You can find the topic you’re interested for and see what questions get the most followers and what answers get the most upvotes.

Here I searched for ‘content marketing’. You see that the question ‘What are some common beginner mistakes in content marketing?’ got the most followers, so it would be a great new content idea.

You can also ask a question yourself, for example, ‘what topics you would like to see on photography blog’ and wait for people’ answers.

Recycle Old Content

You can analyze your website using Google Analytics or Ahrefs to get to know what posts bring your the most traffic from Google.

Then, look through these posts, maybe some content there is outdated. You will be surprised to know how many changes you can make there to actually come up with new content.

You can add some information and images there to make your posts even more informative and engaging. Make sure to change photos, screenshots or paragraphs which seem too old.

For example, one of our most popular posts on Photodoto Who are World’s Most Famous Photographers? has been updated. It appears in top ten Google’s results for keyword “famous photographers” and it brings over 2,000 organic pageviews each month since 2012.

You can update your post and leave it, or republish it as a new piece on your blog – it’s up to you.

Bonus: List of Content Ideas for Photography Bloggers

• Tell you readers a story why you became a photographer.
• Advise them how to prepare for a photo session: clothing, makeup, poses, best locations, and so on.
• A behind-the-scenes of one of your photos. Tell a whole story beginning of how and where it was taken till post-processing.
• Tips on how to help clients to pick the best shots from a photo session.
• Tell about your travelling or some other hobbies besides photography.
• Show some before & after shots to get readers know how much time and effort you put into every image.
• Tell about local vendors which may help you clients to buy accessories, clothing or other stuff for the next photo session.
• Share your vacation or other personal images to help you clients to get to know your better as a person.
• Write about running a photography business and milestones other newbie photographers may face with.
• Share funny stories that happened on your photo shoot.

Wrapping Up

To keep your new ideas organized, I suggest you to create ideas file and update it once you come up to new blog post idea. It ensures your inspiration won’t dry out.

These were my ways on how to never run out of content ideas again. What are your ways? Please share with us your strategies of creating new content in the comment section below.

As a photographer your best asset is your online portfolio. It is a consistent online presence that puts your work in the hands of potential clients, wherever, whenever.

There is no one ideal portfolio. Every photographer will have a different style and that should be reflected across your entire brand, including your portfolio. But there are a few common portfolio mistakes that can detract from your work. I asked Format’s CEO and co-founder Lukas Dryja to show us how to avoid seven of those mistakes when crafting your own portfolio.

Mistake #1: Your portfolio is too cluttered

When you have a large body of work, it’s easy to think that a portfolio including the majority of your work will provide a more nuanced look at your abilities. In reality, an endless horizontal scroll with too many images can be overwhelming to navigate.

Instead, carefully curate your work and choose only your very best pieces for your portfolio. You’ll leave visitors wanting more instead of feeling like they’ve already seen everything you have to offer.

If you have a small body of work, don’t stress, it’s still possible to create an effective, professional-looking portfolio. The key is portfolio design. You’ll want to chose a theme or layout that works with your content. A grid-based theme works best with a larger volume of images, while a horizontally scrolling theme is suited to fewer images.

Mistake #2: Your portfolio is disorganized and unclear

With any website, the desired result is for visitors to know clearly and confidently what it is that you do or sell. Lukas explained it this way:

Think of your portfolio as a storefront. If you took a look around, would you know what you were selling?

If you’re primarily a wedding photographer, ensure those images are front and center. If you also shoot street photography and travel photography, those projects can be included too. Instead of letting these three genres coexist side-by-side, consider using your site’s navigation to divide your portfolio clearly.

As well as genres, you might also consider separating work by projects or clients.

Mistake #3: You’re not including enough “you”

The About page is the most clicked-on links on Format portfolio websites, so make yours count.

People looking to hire you or buy your work want to know about you. Make sure your bio is personal and authentic. Really introduce yourself, include a photo and provide some interesting background about who you are.

Let clients know what kind of work you are passionate about and use your About page to brag a bit: list your schooling, professional experience, accolades and client testimonials.

Mistake #4: You’re presenting work without context

It’s easy to think your work should speak for itself. But just like potential clients want to know about you, they also want to know about your work—who is in the photograph, where was it published, what project is it a part of, where the photo was taken?

Giving a bit of context about the projects you display online helps to give your work authenticity. You don’t need to provide a novel on your creative process, but a brief explanation gives your work more weight and gives visitors a deeper understanding of the project and, ultimately, you.

Mistake #5: You aren’t proofreading

Whether your site is content heavy or relies mostly on images, it’s in your best interest to ensure all copy is free of misspelled words and grammatical errors. A typo will take away from the sense of professionalism you’ve cultivated in your portfolio.

Take the extra time to review new edits before publishing to avoid distracting visitors from your carefully curated images.

Mistake #6: You’re ignoring your dream client

Many photographers believe that if they highlight a specialization, they’ll box themselves in. In reality, the opposite is true. By highlighting your preference for a particular type of work, you’re more likely to attract the clients who will help to further your career in the right direction.

For example, if you’re a wedding photographer by trade but you’d like to start shooting more travel projects, set up a portfolio that shows off more of your travel-centric work. A travel client wants to hire a photographer with a portfolio  of travel photography, not a wedding photographer who has dabbled in destination photography.

Brainstorm five dream clients that you’d like to work for one day. Think about the kinds of photos they shoot, then create a portfolio that reflects the same aesthetic.

Mistake #7: Your portfolio is out of date

Your portfolio should always be evolving in order to showcase your new work. If your portfolio hasn’t been updated in a long time, you could be inadvertently signaling to potential clients that you aren’t committed to your work.

Create a schedule for yourself and stick to it—maybe you’ll update your portfolio every month or every quarter. Whatever you decide, challenge yourself to update your portfolio with fresh work and you’ll be rewarded by the results

Also, check out what others are doing when developing your own portfolio.  Here’s a resource with some design portfolio examples for inspiration.

With everyone on Facebook or Instagram now do you really need a website any more?

While I believe that there are few absolutes in business, my answer to that question is a resounding yes.

Don’t get me wrong; Facebook, Instagram and other platforms all play an important role in putting your work in front of potential clients.

However, the critical problem with all of these platforms is simple; you don’t own them. Facebook will always do what is best for Facebook, whether that means compressing your photos into pixelated oblivion or ceasing to show them altogether.

They are, after all, in business for themselves and they don’t owe you or I any favors.

In contrast, you always own every byte that is published to your little corner of cyberspace. You decide exactly what you want to publish and how you want to present it; it remains forever accessible to anyone who searches for it.

There is no puppeteer behind the curtain, tweaking algorithms or forcing your work into their corporate-approved template.

Understanding that, now we ask, so what exactly can your website do for you?

Building a Great Website

First and foremost, a great website introduces you to your ideal client. It presents your work and your brand and helps to establish expectations for all that will follow.

Its purpose isn’t to sell any stranger who walks by; it exists to lead the right people to the next step – an inquiry or consultation with yours truly.

A great website is available 24/7, even when you’re not. You can introduce yourself to potential clients at 2pm on a Tuesday afternoon or 2am on a Sunday morning.

It can talk to one, two, or even twenty people at one time. It doesn’t matter where you are or what you’re doing; your website is online, ready to greet anyone who would like to know more.

Tackling exactly what you share and how you share it is a series unto itself, but here’s a very brief list of ideas:

• Think about your ideal client; what’s in it for them? Make sure that your copy forms a connection with them and proactively speaks to their FUD (fears, uncertainties, doubts). Tell them what to expect.
• Set expectations. What is it like to work with you? What unique benefits do you offer? How will things unfold a week, a month, or a year from now in your working relationship together?
• Show, don’t tell. Use testimonials; use vivid pictures of your wall art collections, your albums and anything else you emphasize.
• Get the first date. You’re not asking your reader to marry you; don’t ask them to sign on the dotted line today. Instead, craft a presentation which says, hey, I think we might work well together; let’s get together and talk details.
• Make it really easy to contact you. As a potential client, there is nothing more frustrating than wanting to take the next step and having to hunt for a contact form or phone number.
• Make it mobile friendly. More than one third of all internet traffic is mobile-based and that number rises each year. Don’t assume that potential clients will tolerate usability flaws; a poorly optimized site will cost you money, maybe lots of it.

Next, we’ll talk about how to build your website, but first, a word about hosting, as these two decisions are often closely linked.

Picking a Platform and a Host

First, there are a couple of terms you want to become familiar with. A host (or hosting provider) stores a copy of your website’s files and makes them accessible to anyone who requests your website, via your domain name.

For example, when you type https://www.chrisaram.com into your browser, here is a very simplified explanation of what happens next:

1. Your internet service provider will look up the requested domain name (in my case, registered with GoDaddy) and “ask” where to find its server;
2. My DNS then relays the request to my hosting company (MediaTemple);
3. MediaTemple knows to rout chrisaram.com to my personal VPS (defined below) instance and serve the requested resources (code, images, CSS, etc.) to the user’s browser.

The takeaway is that there is a domain name (in my case, chrisaram.com) which points to a host (in my case, MediaTemple) which stores my website’s files and serves them to internet visitors. (It’s also important to note that you can buy your domain name at any registrar and still host your website somewhere else.)

There are countless hosts and a dizzying array of options, but at the end of the day, they all boil down to a few fundamental choices.

Shared hosting is the most popular option, largely because it’s the least expensive; most shared hosts will allow you to set up shop for around $5-$10/mo.

Servers aren’t cheap; a shared host defrays the cost amongst many users by pooling them together.

The problem with this approach is that many of your “neighbors” may not be well-behaved; there is a constant “battle” for resources (Computer Processing Units, called CPU for short, disk space, Random Access Memory, also called RAM for short, and bandwidth, to name a few) which may result in degraded performance.

Of course, you might also get lucky; maybe your host is well maintained or your virtual neighbors happen to play nicely together for many months or years at a time.

I’ve worked with multiple clients on shared hosts at GoDaddy, for example – some of the sites generally ran smoothly, while others were a regular disaster.

A VPS is the next step up from shared hosting. While it costs more, the performance is generally quite a bit more reliable. Also, because you’re paying the hosting provider more for a VPS, you may also get faster and more skilled support if and when you need help.

Last, a dedicated server offers maximum performance, supporting hundreds of users at once; however, it’s also probably total overkill for any photographer’s website. (Bottom line, you probably don’t have enough visitors to warrant the expense.)

In the past few years, fully managed hosting from sites like Pixpa and SquareSpace has become a popular alternative.

Fully managed hosting offers more reliable performance and ease of use, at the expense of flexibility (in order to keep things running smoothly, most managed hosts restrict what their customers can do). As a photographer, you may not mind these restrictions, but it’s something to be aware of.

My favorite “traditional” host is MediaTemple. I’ve generally had good experiences, both with their product (the hosting) and their support (if and when I had questions or things went wrong).

WordPress is an extraordinarily popular infrastructure. A recent estimate suggests that a quarter of all websites online today use WordPress. It’s powerful, easy-to-use and can be installed on virtually any Linux-based host (most providers offer both Windows and Linux OS). It’s also versatile and fully customizable.

There are thousands of plugins which have been written to extend its core functionality, and you can write code to modify anything or hire someone to do it for you. There are additional frameworks built on top of WordPress like Genesis or a theme from StudioPress.

Recently, Imagely introduced managed WordPress hosting which is tailored specifically to photographers. They offer the best of both worlds; all of the power of the WordPress ecosystem, plus someone else to handle the technical stuff for you!

Learn more about the Imagely NextGen Gallery

Earlier, I mentioned that your choice in host and choice in platform are sometimes closely linked. If you love the SquareSpace platform, then you have no choice but to host with SquareSpace.

If, on the other hand, you want to use a WordPress-based site, then you can host just about anywhere. In the end, most platforms are similar. There are a few clear benefits to each and I’d probably encourage you not to sweat the decision too much. You can pick any of the paths described above and build a great website which will serve you well for years to come.

Building Your Website

The actual step-by- step process of assembling your website will vary, but here’s a short list:

Research Domain Names

Recall that your domain name can live separately from your host: for example, I can buy by domain name at GoDaddy but still point it to my website which is hosted at SquareSpace, or anywhere else.

Research Hosting

As mentioned earlier, this is the “space” that your files will occupy on a server; your domain name (or more accurately your Domain Name System, also know as DNS) will “point” any visitors to this space to access your website. Some providers like SquareSpace offer a truly free, no-strings-attached trial for you to test-drive things.

Find a Theme

If you’re running WordPress, there are countless options. Scott Wyden Kivowitz just wrote a great post on this very topic.

Install Analytics

Analytics tells you where your users arrive from and what they do once they’re on your site. It can help you to gauge the success of your various marketing efforts and understand which pages work well and what can be improved. I recommend Google Analytics; it’s free, powerful, and pretty easy to use.

Optimize Images

Use images which are optimized for the web. When printing our images, maximum resolution matters. But online, large image files load exponentially more slowly and Google will penalize you for it.

When exporting your final, web-ready images:

• First, use JPEG. They’re much smaller than PNG with no perceptible loss in quality.
• Next, use moderate compression. I usually find that between 60-80 results in a significant reduction of file size, again with minimal loss in quality.
• Third, size them appropriately. A 60opx photo will load exponentially faster than a 900px wide one.

Side note: No matter how many frenzied debates you might see to the contrary, PPI/DPI is meaningless when displaying images online. It matters when printing, but the only measures which are relevant online are width, height, and compression.

Use keyword-rich but natural sentences to describe your images (so that Google knows what they are). This is a really simple way to be found in Google for highly targeted, less competitive search phrases. I’ve booked clients with this very technique, like when a bride was searching for images of her chosen venue. It is best to name your photos honestly, for example bride-at-nationwide-resort.jpg.

For more about SEO, I loved Photography Spark’s SEO Cookbook.

Put Backup Systems in Place

I cannot overstate this point. Your website is (or will become) a valuable business asset: do not leave years of your online history up to chance. Suppose you’re hacked (it happens) or you inadvertently make a change (it happens) which cripples things; you’ll want to be able to quickly restore from a working backup. Even if your host backs things up regularly (they should), it’s important to maintain your own copy of everything in case they go bankrupt or suffer another unforeseen, irreversible loss.

Here’s a post comparing cloud backup companies.

Another good reason to use WordPress is its ability to configure automated remote backups. Or you can always pay someone like me to do the job for you.

Choose an Email Address

This may be a minor point, but hello@chrisaram.com looks more credible than chrisaram@gmail.com.

Post Your Sessions

Google prioritizes “freshness”. Not only that, but people like to see new work and besides, it will also signal that you’re a busy, in-demand photographer.

Don’t Be Afraid to Ask For Help

As photographers, we preach the value of trusted, professional expertise to our clients. I recommend you think of your website and the people who will help you to host and develop it along the same lines.

Be willing to invest effort in a qualified, professional team who will do great work you can be proud of.

Whether you’re just launching your business or you’ve been at this for many years now, I recommend that you revisit your website once or twice a year. Try to see things with a fresh eye and determine whether or not it reflects your current brand and direction.

I wish you the very best as you set out to build a profitable website which serves you well! Please always feel free to reach out to me directly if there’s any question I can answer or anything else I can do to help!

How do you feel about social media, my fellow photog? I know some of you may think social media is a good-for-nothing frivolous waste of time.

However, friends, I want you to know that social media is actually industry GOLD and possibly even more valuable than SEO (yes, I actually said that out loud).

After all, your clients and prospects live on social media. So, as the savvy connected photographer that you are, you need to make sure you show up where your clients are. Right?

If you’ve been burned out by fruitless efforts on social media or you just shy away because you don’t know where to start, follow my social media guide for photographers, below, and I’ll show YOU how to shine online!

Let’s crank it out, shall we?

Necessary social accounts for photographers

Doesn’t it seem like new social media platforms are popping up all the time?! From Facebook to Anchor, how are you supposed to make it all work…and work well together?

I have a little news for you. If you spread yourself too thin (trying to go beast-mode on all social platforms) you will most likely burnout AND be quickly rendered ineffective. You need to focus.

I want you to start with the two big players and one left fielder. Facebook and Instagram are your MVPs. The majority of your demographic lives here. They do life here. The parents are there; the students are there; the grandparents are even there for goodness sakes (isn’t that scary??).

Those two platforms are where I want you to start. Narrowing it down to two main online stops allows you to be strategic and gain momentum. Your tribe will know where to find you and you will know where to find them. Period.

Facebook

I know you’ve heard that Facebook is done, over, and basically a death sentence to small businesses that can’t pay-to-play. I have news for you, though. Listen up. Facebook is alive and well and it’s only getting stronger with Facebook Live.

Celebrities are streaming conversations with fans, couples are streaming weddings, moms are broadcasting births… Facebook Live gives you an amazing opportunity to connect with your clients and prospects in a way that lets them see your heart and your style, like never before.

Consider ways you can use Facebook Live to build relationships and earn trust as an industry expert.

Fill your Facebook page with strong content and quality ad campaigns that allow you to leverage your clients in a way where you have a strong ROI. Before you boost a post have a plan to measure the engagement, traffic, and sales from your investment.

Read more about boosting posts here.

Instagram

Instagram gives you an amazing (and industry related) platform to not only showcase your work, but also to show-off clients and engage with them – as well as prospects – on a regular basis. You can offer photo and video content on Instagram and that’s what your clients want to see. That’s how they will get to know your work well.

If you leverage Instagram for your photography business, you have an opportunity to reach seniors (who will likely later be your brides), brides (who will likely later be your families), and families, who will tell their friends about you!

Scott Kelby talks more about Instagram here.

What do I post?

Think before you post! Always ask yourself if what you’re about to post will add value to your clients’ lives.  Here’s a post about the importance of printing:

The most important thing you can do for your business is to build relationships. And, as we know, successful relationships can’t be one-sided! If you’re only focused on what you are doing and how you are succeeding, your clients will not see how having a relationship with you will be beneficial and they will walk away.

Client relationships are crucial for success, and marketing with only self-serving efforts is what I like to refer to as, “a big fat no-no.”

Not sure how to add value?

No problem. Consider tips and tricks that your clients would like to know, but may need a little help from you on.

Depending on your target market, this could be things like make-up application, how to dress for a photo shoot, how to coordinate colors for a photo shoot, posing guidance, the best place in town to buy clothes, etc. Here are a couple examples:

When you give these little bonus insights, you add to the relationship and your clients will love you for it!

How do I build engagement?

Now that you’ve posted highly-value content for your followers, how do you get engagement? This is a crucial step to your social media success Posted content is only as good as clicks, comments and shares that follow…. so how do we get our clients to actually talk to us?

Think about these things when you work to build engagement…

Your clients and prospects will see through highly curated content and stage acts. People will respond to genuine and thoughtful posts. Do that…be genuine; be thoughtful; make it personal.

Focus on teaching and training. Your clients do not study the Facebook algorithms. They aren’t hashtag pros. You need to educate and empower them in order to build engagement.

During your session, let them know what’s going to happen after. Saying something like, “You’ll see a sneak peak from me later tonight; so make sure you’re following my page @_______! then be sure to let me know what you think and tag the post so your friends and family can see it, too!”

If your clients aren’t engaging with their sneak peeks, shoot them a quick text or email saying, “oh my gosh! Have you seen your sneak peek?!?! I love it!! Go check it out and comment below to let me know what you think!”

Be sure to respond to comments that are left, as well. No one wants to talk to a wall, be sure you are treating your followers the way you wan to be treated [in real life].

Always, always, always, include a call to action. Ask clients and followers to share the post, tag a friend, comment with their favorite thing about the post, etc. You can also invite them in with open-ended questions. Tell your clients and followers what you want…and they will do it!!!

Here’s an example of an image that I posted that worked really well and that follows a lot of the guidelines mentioned above:

If you look at this photo, it’s nothing spectacular. I had 5 minutes for ALL the bridal portraits, the location was crummy, the light fluctuated between cloudy and full sun… and, oh yes. I was wearing heels and a bridesmaid dress while shooting. Not my best work. Awe.some.

But here’s the thing. The mother of the bride posted the photo as her timeline and everyone kept asking, “how did you get that photo?!”

After listening to my audience’s questions, studying the Facebook algorithm, seeing the potential and knowing how to lead with value… I knew what I had to do and pounced on the opportunity.

I commented on the mamma’s photo and told everyone that I’d post a behind the scenes photo (which I thankfully had) over on my Immerse Photography page on Facebook the next day, and I encouraged everyone to follow along so they could see it.

The next day, I did just that. I posted the behind the scenes photo next to the final copy and told everyone exactly what we had done to make it happen.

I used words that would evoke a strong emotional response from my clients and had all the key elements of a strong social post. And you know what happened?

I reached 500 more people than I had fans on my page! That’s right – I reached more people than were actually following me! And, the best part? It was completely organic… meaning I didn’t spend a penny.

Social Resources

So now that I know the basics…. what next? Remember social media marketing is always changing and evolving. Stay on the forefront of these trends so you can stay in front of your clients. Become a part of my Spark Society community to get free goodies and the latest tips and tricks. Here are some related articles:

• How to get your photos into the Instagram Newsfeed
• Five Tips for Engagement
• Using Periscope for Your Business
• Learning to Use Video & Live Streaming for Your Business

I’m often asked where to start when looking for a photography website design. The answer is complicated and very personal when you think about it. But I try to give the best advice I can.

In this article, I am going to go over this question, in detail. But before we get going, you should know that I will only be discussing WordPress. The reason is I believe WordPress it the only platform for which photographers should be using to run their websites.

WordPress is open source and completely free, but it’s the most flexible content management system available. It also has the largest community around it, so there is always a place to get an answer to a question about the software.

WordPress powers more than 25% of the Internet, and it’s growing tremendously every year. That means 1 out of every four photographers uses WordPress to run their websites. That’s an amazing thing!

The software is naturally favored by search engines, which means websites which run on WordPress are more likely to rank better than competing sites which do not. The software does not rename your images like other services do. It also does not hide source code like other services do.

But WordPress can be intimidating to those who are not very technical. Its user interface is familiar to other software, but also confusing to some. Fortunately, there are fantastic free tutorials all over the Internet. And the community mentioned just above can always be quite helpful when someone is stuck.

Where To Find WordPress Photography Themes

So where do you find templates?

There are many places where you can find WordPress themes (templates) for your photography website. Places like individual developer theme shops, like at Imagely. Or WordPress.org, where you can find thousands of free WordPress themes. There are even theme shops, like ThemeForest, MojoMarketplace, and MyThemeShop, which sell products from many developers.

I recommend either buying a theme from an individual theme developer or if you cannot afford it, using a free theme from WordPress.org/themes that suits your needs and has good reviews and support.

Here is why.

Individual theme developers pour their heart and soul into their products. They’re usually thoroughly tested, come with features that will benefit your business and include professional grade one-on-one support.

But not everyone can afford one-time or annual prices for themes. Sometimes photographers just starting out have little to no budget for their website. That’s where free themes at WordPress.org/themes come into the picture.

Why Photographers Should Consider Using Genesis Themes

I have been using WordPress for a very long time, over ten years. I started using it when WordPress was just a blogging platform, although it could still run complete websites at the time. Having used WordPress for so long, I have tried countless plugins, many themes, and eventually fell in love with a theme that I continue to use to this day.

Genesis is more than just a theme. It’s a theme framework. In plain language, that means Genesis is a parent theme built for developers to create child themes, and it’s developed in such a way that is easily extendible.

A parent theme is a theme that is installed on a website, but not active. A child theme is a theme which is active on a website and references the parent theme for its core functions. Then adds its functions and styling on top of it. Extending a theme framework means that developers can add more functionality, specific to a genre like photography. Or developers can create plugins which use the same structure and code quality of the theme framework and require the theme framework to be used.

I use Genesis and recommend it for photographers because of its quality. Genesis is coded to be simple, fast, reliable, search engine optimized and secure. The fact that it’s easily extendible is a bonus for its users. All Imagely themes are developed as Genesis child themes. That means they live up to the same standards that come with Genesis but are styled and have functions specific to photographers.

Photographers should use Genesis because it has the potential of making website creation and management painless. In fact, we say that with Imagely themes, photographers can spend less time fussing with their websites and more time making beautiful photographs. Isn’t that what photographers want, anyway?

Photographers like communities, and with Genesis there are three distinct communities for people to get assistance no matter the Genesis theme. The Genesis community is large (the largest of all WordPress communities), friendly and willing to help. There is an official Genesis forum for Genesis Framework customers, a Genesis Facebook group as well as a Slack group.

But let’s talk SEO, now. That’s always a hot topic, and one often discussed here on Photography Spark. Genesis is developed in HTML5, which is a modern code style which is referenced by search engines. Additionally, Genesis uses Schema markup which helps sites rank well based on newer algorithms and search types. That winning combination is one of the many things that sets Genesis apart from other themes.

There is a part of Genesis, which some people concern themselves over even though they shouldn’t. Any photographers coming from themes like the Photocrati Theme (affiliate, made by the Imagely team as well), ProPhoto, X-Theme or similar, are used to bells and whistles and knobs and dials for every little thing. Themes like those mentioned can be adjusted in so many configurations. They make creating a website simple in some ways because photographers don’t need to know how to code PHP, HTML or CSS. However, they can also add complexity to a website when it’s not necessary. They can force a photographer to spend more time configuring their website and spending less time doing what they want to do for their art, or need to do for their business.

Having a website with your preferred style is important. I completely agree. Having a website that’s branded to your company is essential. But spending hours upon hours customizing every nook and cranny of your site is not something I recommend photographers doing. Where does the camera come in for that scenario?

By using a Genesis theme, you’re committing to a particular set of customization. That might be color and images only, or maybe a few font choices. But it doesn’t end there with Genesis. Previously I mentioned the extendibility of the Genesis Framework. There are many plugins that add functionality to a website, even if the theme itself doesn’t offer it. I will talk more about that when I get to the plugins section of this article.

How To Pick A Photography Theme

This is the part that gets very personal. Because photographers are visual people, by nature we want our websites to be visual and pleasing to the eye. And every photographer has his/her taste in design.

But with that aside, there are a few core items that I strongly recommend all photographers consider when choosing a WordPress theme.

Responsive Design
Responsive design is when a website adjusts for smaller screens automatically. There are various forms of responsive design, so without getting into technical details, I’ll say that Genesis is 100% responsive and will look beautifully on all devices.

To see if your website is responsive, either view your site on a mobile device or shrink your browser window to one direction, to a width that a tablet or phone would be. If your site adjusts to the smaller screen size, then it’s responsive. If it does not then, it is not responsive. You can also use Google’s free site responsiveness test as well.

Having a responsive design has numerous benefits. One significant advantage is branding and cohesive look of your site across all devices. Another is that Google now includes mobile friendliness in their search engine optimization algorithms. That means they are giving more preference to websites that look and work fantastic on mobile.

Strong Imagery
You’re a photographer, right? So images are significant to your business. That means you will most likely want images to be dominant in your site design. Not all themes focus attention on images. Some do not even display images on a site until you place one on a page.

I recommend finding a WordPress theme that has just the right amount of attention to images as you want. That might mean a background slideshow for the homepage or an image in the header area. Or it might mean integration with beautiful gallery displays. The list could go on longer, but think about what you want and write it down. That way you can reference your list of hopeful design features in theme.

Customization
Earlier I mentioned that typically Genesis child themes come with very little customization. Usually, it’s the essentials, like basic color choices, images for backgrounds, logos for headers and maybe a couple of others here and there. I’ve also explained the purpose for this; to make it easy and fast.

But Genesis themes aren’t limited, in any way, to the basic customizations. There are numerous ways to customize a Genesis theme beyond its standard controls.

• If you know how to modify and implement custom CSS, you can do that within the child theme files or by installing a custom CSS plugin.
• You can install a plugin which adds more customization control over page design, fonts, colors, widgets and more. I’ll get to that when I discuss plugins.

If that makes you nervous and you prefer a lot of customization control built into the theme, then look for a theme that does that. I mentioned a few popular ones earlier in the article.

Great Support
Support is something essential to any product you use. This goes for gear you use, the software you process photos with and even your website.

Without support, you can find yourself feeling stuck or lost. So whatever direction you go with your photography website, be sure that the company you’re paying, or the free product you’re using, offers some support.

Typically themes in the WordPress theme directory use the free support forum available to them. Do not go into it expecting best in class support, though, as developers will not always provide the best support when they’re not being paid for it. That doesn’t mean you won’t get support. But it also does not guarantee it. Many developers offering free themes also offer paid support, so look into that if it’s available to you.

If the theme you’re considering is a paid one, be sure to check if they offer support with the theme. Typically paid themes come with support. Some companies offer support via a forum, and some offer it through a ticketing system. At Imagely, our support is done via a ticketing system and customers receive personal replies from our support team.

There Is A Plugin For That

Just like apps for your phone, there are plugins for nearly every task you would want to your website.

Design Pallet Pro is the first I want to mention. It’s a customization plugin for Genesis themes. It allows you to control the look and feel of nearly every part of your photography website. And it does it without you needing to know any code. This is the plugin I recommend for Imagely customers to use, as it adds the immense amount of customizations they might want which are not built into the themes. The plugin is lightweight and has a nice interface for previewing the customization changes.

Next are two plugins created by the same people who make the Genesis framework. Simple Social Share is a plugin that allows you to have lightweight and customizable sharing icons above and/or below your post and page content. They include only the most popular social networks, for simplicity.

Simple Social Icons is a plugin which allows you to place social follow icons in any widget area on your site. It’s also lightweight and only includes the most popular social networks.

CoSchedule is one of my personal favorite organization and time-saving plugins for content creation and social sharing. The plugin is a paid service but is well worth it for busy photographers. CoSchedule offers a drag-and-drop editorial calendar for blog content. The plugin offers more than that, though. CoSchedule offers the ability to check your headline for effectiveness as well as schedule new content to be sent out to your social networks at specified times and days.

WP Rocket Cache is a fantastic caching plugin which I recommend over all others. It’s a paid plugin, but quite affordable. The plugin is simpler than most other caching plugins and has a reputation of playing well with others. Its image Lazy Loading feature will help speed up load times by not loading images until a user scrolls to the point where an image is displayed. There are more speed- worthy features in the plugin, so visit their website for more on it.

Some photographers enjoy page builders, where you can drag and drop content for endless design possibilities. There are many options out there for the job, but one that works nicely is Beaver Builder. If you decide to use a page builder (any of them) with a Genesis theme, be sure to install a free plugin called Genesis Dambuster. It’s designed to make Beaver Builder and Genesis themes work well together, but as it turns out, it makes most page builders work well with Genesis themes.

The last plugins I want to mention are ones we make at Imagely. NextGEN Gallery is the most popular gallery plugin for WordPress. It goes beyond what the standard WordPress gallery system offers, and is designed for heavy image users. NextGEN Gallery is meant to handle large volumes of images within its gallery management system. It also displays your galleries and albums nicely on any post or page. NextGEN Pro adds more gallery styles to the options as well as adds e-commerce for prints and digital downloads and proofing to your galleries. It’s one tool to help photographers to condense their multiple website platforms into one self-owned WordPress site. NextGEN Gallery and NextGEN Pro offer much more than that, so I encourage you to visit the website to learn more.

Where Should I Host My Photography Website?

The last piece I want to mention is hosting, as it is one of the two backbones of your photography website. (The other being the WordPress software, which we’ve already discussed.) When it comes to hosting a photography website, there are many types of platforms. The most common, and least expensive, is called shared hosting. This is where your photography website lives on a server with hundreds, if not thousands, of other websites. The downside to this comes when a site on that server is hacked or uses a lot of resources. If one site is hacked, all sites on that server run a risk of being hacked as well. If one site uses too many resources, other sites can slow down.

Better types of hosting platforms are cloud servers, virtual private servers, and dedicated servers. Cloud servers live in a cluster of servers in multiple locations. They serve the website from multiple locations at once, keeping a site fast. They’re also safer than shared hosting because sites are compartmentalized. So no sites are on the same server.

Virtual Private Servers are like shared hosting, but the server is using software to keep the websites separated from others. Dedicated hosting is when you have your own server, running only your website and using only its resources. Dedicated hosting is commonly the most expensive option.

When it comes to hosting a WordPress site, not all hosts are equal. Even when comparing shared to shared or VPS to VPS or cloud to cloud. Here’s a hypothetical situation.

You have a website hosted at ABC on a shared server. Your website runs WordPress and something happened during an update. You have Random Theme installed and then 23 plugins doing different things. Who do you contact to get help? There are 25 places you can go for help; your host, the theme company or the 23 plugins.

Confusing, right?

That’s why I recommend using managed hosting service, specific to WordPress sites. Managed hosts use that phrase because they do multiple forms of management for you. Here are some of the common ones:

• Daily/nightly backups
• Guaranteed uptime
• WordPress core updates
• Security protection

There’s an additional bonus to managed hosting over others, though. Typically managed hosting providers will offer end to end support, as much as they can, for whatever theme or plugins you’re using. That means if you run into an issue, the hosting support team will help you identify and potentially fix the issue. Even if it’s not of their own platform.

This is what we do at Imagely, in our managed photography WordPress hosting system (affiliate). Our customers have the safety of knowing our WordPress experts have their back.

Combine all of that with the speed of Amazon’s servers, server caching and the rest of our world-class hosting features, photographers can make photographs while knowing their websites are working to get them business.

Summing It All Up

You need to feel comfortable with your website. You need to know it’s working for you and not the other way around. To do so, consider the following:

1. Use WordPress because there is no better choice.
2. Don’t just use any theme from any developer. You need quality.
3. Find a theme that suits your specific needs, but doesn’t keep you fussing with the site.
4. Use Genesis, because it is designed for optimization.
5. Make sure your site works across all devices.
6. Find a theme with just enough customizations, or the ability to extend it with customizations.
7. Make sure that theme displays your photographs in a way that makes you happy.
8. Be sure that the theme offers quality support for those moments when you’re unsure of what to do.
9. Choose plugins that help your website, and adds functionality that improves your business.
10. Host your website with someone reliable, understands your business and has your back.

Now I challenge you to spend less time on your website. Find a solution that works in your favor.