Featured Sponsor: Photography Blogsites

Just the other day I was talking about making sure you had a non-flash alternative if you have a Flash website for viewing on phones such as iPhones, and iPads.  More and more Internet browsing is being done on mobile devices and you don't want to lose out on that traffic when you have a flash only website.

As it turns out, I came across a somewhat new player on the sites for photographers map - Photography Blogsites.  After checking out their site and swapping some email with them I'm excited to see where these guys go.

Their blogsites are built on the Wordpress platform using HTML5 which means the sites will be easy to update, use an Internet standard admin, are going to be super SEO friendly, and best of all - the sites will work on computer web browsers, iphones, ipads all the same way!  Woohoo!

Want to learn more?  Check out the video showing what the system looks like:

Be The Master of Your Domain from PhotographyBlogSites on Vimeo.

Checking out their FAQs I found out a few things.  One is that they use the same SEO plugin (All in One SEO) that I use on several Wordpress sites I've developed.  It is a great plugin that provides you the options to make your site more search engine friendly.  And they developed their own plug-in to display image galleries. (cool)  The designs include links to your social media sites (like Facebook and Twitter) and some of the designs can even show your recent tweets.

To make the whole process easier they host the sites but you can use your own domain name.  The upside of that is you don't have to be super technical or worry about installing the system.  And you can switch between designs easily (so if you have commitment issues this may be a good option for you).  They don't charge a setup fee - and the hosting is charged either monthly or annually (for some cost savings). 

Check out Photography Blogsites for more info on what they offer.

Photography Blogsites is a sponsor of The Photographer's Kickstart and has a generous offer included in the virtual swag bag for our new release coming Thursday April 7th!!!

Featured Sponsor: Go {4} Pro

A few years ago I received an email from a fan of Hey Girl, Nice Shot letting me know she was inspired to create her own blog about the trials and tribulations of starting a photography business.  We all have different journeys, different approaches, and try different products so it seemed like a great addition to the sharing that I think is essential to building a better photography community.  That email came from Leah, and that blog turned into Go {4} Pro. 

Leah has since grown her blog beyond documenting her personal journey and into something much bigger with lots of great content, contests, and tutorials.   And she looks great doing it!

About Go {4} Pro
"We picked up our camera's to create, but have you created your business to thrive? Leah Remillet created Go{4}Pro three years ago when she decided to go for pro. Pulling from her background in marketing and sales, Leah was able to create a  profitable business with a 4 to 6 week wait list in the first year. Leah openly shares her knowledge about marketing, branding and sales freely with the photography industry through her site Go4ProPhotos.com. Go{4}Pro is a place to come for daily inspiration, business tools, marketing design and personal business coaching. " 

If you have not already been over to Go {4} Pro I definintely recommend visiting and getting your daily inspriation and advice.  Plus, she's in the know about what is new in the portrait photography world!   And if you want Leah to help you look good - check out the Go {4} Pro Shop.

Go {4} Pro is a sponsor of The Photographer's Kickstart and has included a goodie in the virtual swag bag for our new advanced training or training bundle release coming Thursday April 7th!!!

Featured Sponsor: Photography Web Marketing Guide

I know it can be overwhelming to work in this web 2.0 world and know where to put your time and effort.  Blogging, Facebook, Twitter - how can you use these tools and more to put your best face forward, build your rank, and earn more customers?  What techniques should you use to clear out the electronic clutter and stand out online?  Zach Prez is back and has a new ebook developed to help you know where to concentrate your efforts in your online marketing.

I used Zach's SEO tools on my photography website to improved my page rank for the critical keywords to me.  Close to 50% of the traffic on my photography site is from search engines and directly from the keywords I have targeted.   While I do occasionally use paid ads, most of the traffic I get to my site is free traffic and free is good! I had over 31,000 unique visitors to my photography website over the last year.   Here's a crazy number....my traffic on my photography site from Google went up 2,425.00% when comparing March 2010 to March 2011.    How awesome is that?!

Now I'm getting ready to do my next pass at web marketing and I'm looking forward to having Zach's guide to assist me.  I won't be floundering on what to do because this eBook includes a checklist so I simply have to follow his suggestions and I'll be all caught up.   At $29 this book is a steal and will certainly pay for itself in rank and bookings.

BUT WHY NOT GET IT FOR FREE?  As part of the launch of our new Photographer's Kick Start: Advanced Training launch on Thursday April 7th, we'll be including the Photography Web Marketing Guide by Zach Prez for the first 30 people that purchase the Advanced materials or the Beginners and Advanced Bundle.

Need more help that an eBook can provide?  Check out the option to have a coaching call with Zach where he can help you develop your SEO strategy and recommendations.

Featured Sponsor: Robin Long Newborn Posing Guide

I think newborn sessions may be my favorite kind.  I love getting to snuggle those new babies (without having to have a new one myself), listening to those little newborn sounds, and capturing babies at their freshest time.  I've been very lucky to have had the opportunity to observe some of the countries best baby photographers over the years during my workshop craze (I think I went to three different workshops one year) and I know my comfort level with newborns is directly related to seeing the other photographers at work.

I do believe that seeing a newborn photographer work in person is a great way to improve your technique and learn how to create lasting images.  But I also know that not every photographer has the option to travel for a workshop, take the time or expense to go, or want to invest so much if it is not going to be their speciality (many photographers make a living specializing in newborn photography).

Featured Sponsor: Robin Long Newborn Posing Guide

Introducing Robin Long's Newborn Posing Guide. In addition to having recently been awarded for her maternity and child photography, Robin has also had image published on many covers of Tot Trends weekly magazine.

The pure baby Newborn Photography Guide to posing is a Soft cover PRINTED 7x7 square book with 80 pages of images, tips and tricks on posing newborns, lighting and camera techniques, soothing baby, post processing and so much more!  Robin's style portrays a pure, natural and organic feel to her newborn portraiture throughout the book.

While the main part of the book is about posing and how to get newborns into those curly, squishy poses.  The book also covers a wide variety of topics to help you with a complete newborn session.

Topics discussed in the book include:
* Natural light & how to see it
* exposure & metering
* white balance
* lenses
* prepping the parents
* best age to photograph a newborn & why
* transitioning
* baby tools every photographer needs
* the set up with pull back images
* using a bean bag
* pure posing
* soothing techniques
* props
* post processing
* tips and tricks
* before & after post processing images
* vendors list
* pure baby | newborn photography workshop

You can keep informed about new products and workshops by "liking" Robin's Facebook Fan Page (don't forget to say hello).  She also has workshops scheduled all over the country (and one in Canada) if you are looking for a more hands on experience. 

And when you purchase the new Photographer's Kick Start: Advanced Training or Training Bundle (to be released Thursday April 7th) you'll find something from Robin in your virtual swag bag.

How could you not love photographing these sweet babies?  The real trick is getting them to sleep.  Looking for more inspiration?  Check out Robin Long's Photography blog.

 

Featured Sponsor: Jamie Schultz Designs (and Van for Dan Workshop Info)

The first time I blogged about Jamie Schultz was in June of 2007.  In many ways I feel like we grew up "together" online as our businesses grew and changed.  Over the last 4 years I've recommended Jamie's beautiful card templates and marketing materials (many of which I used in my own business), at least 7 times.  I love her style and somehow felt a connection over the Internet to her.

I always wished that she would do a workshop.  I would have loved to have gone to learn how she runs her business in my earlier days.  And have you seen her amazing studio space?

It would be hard not to be inspired by such beauty.

Then Jamie did something that proved to me that she was every bit as nice and special a person as I already suspected.  She created a workshop as a fundraiser for a former high school classmate that needs a new handicapped accessible vehicle after being in an accident that left him handicapped.  She is donating the proceeds from the workshop to help Dan get a special van to allow him to continue to be mobile. 

This workshop sounds like it is going to be great fun.  And with only 12 people it will be cozy allowing you to make some new friends.  You'll feel good about helping someone get a better life while positioning yourself to learn from a seasoned pro (and the other workshop attendees).

And there are goodies in it for you.  I'm not sure what exactly but I've heard rumor of generous support of this workshop from lots of different vendors in the photography community.

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Jamie Schultz Designs has also generously offered a little something for our swag bags for the upcoming release of our new Advanced Training materials on Photographer's Kick Start.  We are thrilled to have her join our group of sponsors and will be announcing additional sponsors this week prior to our launch on Thursday April 7th!

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I've blogged a bunch about Jamie Schultz...check it out:

First blogged about Jamie back in June of 2007 with my post Buying Templates.
http://blog.heygirlniceshot.com/2007/06/buying_template.html

Posted again to talk about holiday card templates in October of 2007.
http://blog.heygirlniceshot.com/2007/09/holiday-card-te.html

More about the way I offered Holiday cards in November 2007.
http://blog.heygirlniceshot.com/2007/11/holiday-cards--.html

Marketing Business Packages in January 2008
http://blog.heygirlniceshot.com/2008/01/business-market.html

valentine Goodies in January 2008
http://blog.heygirlniceshot.com/2008/01/valentine-goodi.html

It's beginning to look a lot like Christmas July 2008
http://blog.heygirlniceshot.com/2008/07/its-beginning-t.html

It's beginning to look a lot like christmas cards again July 2009
http://blog.heygirlniceshot.com/2009/07/index.html

Interview and Contest on MCP Actions

This week Jodi Friedman over at MCP Actions (one of our fab sponsors) is featuring an interview with me AND a contest to win your very own copy of the Photographer's Kick Start: Training module (a $299 value).  So head over and read the interview, follow the directions to win, and good luck.  By the way, no reason to wait to buy - if you make your purchase this week after seeing this contest on the MCP Actions site, and you win I'll refund the purchase price to you!

Special Sponsor Thank You!!!

The pre-release of the Photographer's Kick Start: Training materials were an overwhelming success.  We sold over 50% more than our sales goal and we think the great sponsor swag at a little something to do with that.  So we wanted to say a very special THANK YOU to our sponsors who contributed money saving coupons, gift certificates, and free sample products to our "Virtual Swag Bag".

 

So thank you to Big Folio, Clickin Moms, My 4 Hens Photography Actions, MCP Actions, National Association for Professional Child Photographers (NAPCP), Paperie Boutique, Photographer's SEO Book, Pretty Presets, On the Spot Studio, Sassy Designs, The Savvy Photographer.

Featured Sponsor: Clickin Moms

{click : to become clear; fall into place}

I'm thrilled to announce another sponsor for the Photographer's Kick Start: Training module.  Clickin Moms!  If you have not been to the site yet head on over and check out all their great resources and forums!

A little about Clickin Moms...

Clickin Moms is a welcoming, generous, supportive group made up of everyone from beginners to pros. And it feels about as close to friends and family as you can get online. What a forum for sharing images and ideas! You can show others your photos and get constructive feedback about them. Learn about a ton of subjects – everything from technical areas like lighting to practical stuff like the business of photography. Even host your own lesson on a subject others want to know more about. And if you have your own blog, you can join the affiliate program and earn commissions by referring your readers to Clickin’ Moms.

On top of all the support that is available to every member every day, Clickin’ Moms has recently started to offer photography workshops. These incredibly popular classes come in several varieties, geared towards various levels of photographers and topics.

No matter where you are in your photography journey, this is a group that’s worth getting to know.

Purchase our Photographer's Kick Start: Training module when it is released April 30th and you'll get a great money saving coupon from Clickin Moms in your virtual swag bag!  You can sign up for our email newsletter to get a reminder about our product release and to learn more about future products

Featured Sponsor: BIG Folio

{service : an act of helpful activity; help; aid:}

As a former web developer, I created and managed my own website for the first three years of my business.  I didn't want a site that looked like all the other photographers' sites and I wanted something I could update myself.  I was also worried about the site not being search engine friendly if it was a Flash site.

After I had my photography business logo designed by Jen Thompson, she started working with Big Folio offering design services for through them so I thought I would check them out.  And I'm so glad I did.  I LOVE my Bubblegum Tree Photography site which was my first Big Folio site.  It is easy to update, and looks totally different.  And I rank well in the search engines for my optimized keyword phrases by taking advantage of the splash page AND HTML mirror site.  When it came time to create a new site for the photography classes I teach to moms, I purchased another Big Folio site for that!  They also have great customer service and I totally recommend them if you are looking for a change or need a site!

A little about Big Folio...

 

BIG Folio and NextProof are perfect for all types of professional photographers. From weddings to portraits, landscapes to commercial—BIG Folio is the ideal solution. Update your site's colors, images, logo, music and more to make it uniquely you. It's like having a custom site for a fraction of the cost. All of our premium sites support video galleries—making it perfect for videographers and those using today's HD-enabled DSLRs. Ready to blog? We'll install WordPress when we setup your new site. Make your blog look great with our WordPress themes and services. Our sites are designed to rank higher, look great, and boost your sales. If you sell images  through NextProof or Pictage, our sites will automatically display links to your client  galleries. High-performance servers ensure your site is fast and reliable. Easily update important ranking factors without any HTML knowledge. Build a splash page with just a few clicks. Go further with our SEO service.  A true hosting platform with PHP/MySQL support & FTP access means you can upload slideshows, videos, a blog and more.

Purchase our Photographer's Kick Start: Training module when it is released April 30th and you'll get a great money saving coupon from Big Folio in your virtual swag bag!  You can sign up for our email newsletter to get a reminder about our product release and to learn more about future products

Featured Sponsor: The Savvy Photographer

{connect : to establish communication between; put in communication}

There are few people in the photography industry working as hard as Marsha of The Savvy Photographer to connect photographers with each other and with vendors that can help them in their business.  Throw in some eye candy and you have her site!  Having met Marsha in person I can say she is a lovely and busy person and I appreciate her taking the time to put together the projects that she features on The Savvy Photographer site.

A little about The Savvy Photographer...

  

{Inspiration..revealed}

We are photographers~ we inspire~ we are inspired by others~ we are inspired by ourselves~ we seek to learn... then create~ we are bound by a love of capturing moments through our lens...moments that will now last forever...

Find your inspiration~ 

In addition to having photographer interviews, studio tours, giveaways, workshop information, they also have great templates for photographers.  For example, check out the just released Beach House Collection templates in action....

Purchase our Photographer's Kick Start: Training module when it is released April 30th and you'll get a goodie from The Savvy Photographer in your virtual swag bag!  You can sign up for our email newsletter to get a reminder about our product release and to learn more about future products.