SmugMug Development Lab

Event photography seems simple enough: Your job is to take photos of a special occasion. Where it gets tricky is in reflecting the actual experience from the participant’s perspective, whether it’s a professional conference for business owners, a product launch cocktail hour, or a wedding’s late-night dance party. Of course, the basic lighting techniques still apply for every event—adjusting shutter speed, aperture, and ISO for correct exposure—but utilizing the advanced lighting techniques listed below can take your event photography from pretty good to print-worthy.

First things first: Do your research.

As part of your pre-shoot preparation, think about the vibe and location of the event itself, as well as who the participants are, then plan some shots accordingly. For example, formal events (trade shows, conferences, business meetings, speaking events) might require crisp, clean images that reflect the scene as accurately as possible, while more personal events (weddings, family reunions, cocktail parties) might allow for an artistic approach and more experimentation. Communicate with your client about their expectations, and how your photographic style and vision for the event will fit.

Identify potential ambient light sources.

The sun, windows, streetlights, tabletop candles, colorful strobes, a stage spotlight, lamps, sparklers, neon signs, and overhead lights can all be used on their own to create interesting exposures. Look up images of the venue and talk to the client about what ambient light sources there will be, and have an idea of how you might utilize each of them. 

One important advanced lighting technique is knowing how to balance artificial lighting with the ambient lighting of any given scene. For a sunset cocktail hour, you might use a soft flash to highlight people having a good time while preserving the rich colors of the sky in the background. A live concert might require direct flash on the lead singer to freeze her jumping in mid-air, but with a slow enough shutter speed to include stage lighting that highlights her bandmates.

Choose the right external flash—and know how to use it. 

There are countless options when it comes to supplemental lighting for event photography, but what’s most important is thinking through what the pace and location of the event will be, then picking out appropriate equipment for the event. Will you have an assistant to operate an off-camera flash, or are you on your own? Is the event fast-paced with unmissable moments, or is it a bit slower with more time to set shots up and play with lighting? 

In addition to those factors, make sure you have full mastery over whatever lighting equipment you’re using. Event photography is all about real people (not models!) experiencing one-of-a-kind moments, so you’ve gotta be ready and have all your settings dialed for those split-second opportunities.

Pro-tip: Once you have the external flashes, practice photographing friends in a space similar to the event so you are ready for the big day.

One advanced lighting technique for event photography is to utilize multiple external flashes to provide a key light and fill lights for specific exposures. Knowing how your flashes can work together to layer the light in a frame will take your imagery to the next level. Here are a few things to consider with artificial lighting:

• On-camera flash: No, we’re not talking about the built-in flash that comes permanently attached to your camera (which is practically useless). Instead, we’re talking about a speedlight that mounts to the hot shoe on top of your camera and has adjustable settings. These are portable and inexpensive, and they provide endless versatility for whatever lighting conditions you might encounter. If you’re trying to isolate a subject or create close-up images that make the viewer feel like they’re part of the scene, tilt the light down toward the subject for hard, direct light. To add a touch of fill light, point the flash in a higher direction for a softer look, keeping in mind that the light will bounce off whatever is nearby, like the ceiling, wall, or a mirror.
• Off-camera flash: These are speedlights, strobes, ring lights, or other artificial lighting equipment that are remotely triggered. If the event photography job includes head shots or professional portraits, consider setting up a small photobooth with a nice backdrop and pre-arranged lighting so you can grab subjects when they have a spare moment. This will ensure continuity and quality for the images, as well as peace of mind for you as the photographer. One advanced lighting idea for events that have a party-like atmosphere would be to set up a strobe to backlight a dance floor and capture interesting silhouettes of high-energy dance moves. (Think feet jumping, hair waving, and clothes swinging!)
• Flash modifiers: DIffusers, soft boxes, bounce cards, honeycombs, and color filters/gels add another layer of versatility to any lighting equipment you already have. Diffused light will provide a softer look that’s great for nostalgic, intimate, and romantic moments, while direct or hard light can provide a more dramatic look with bold shadows and enhanced texture. Adding a color gel to your flash can create warm or cool tones, depending on what type of mood you’re going for.

Be creative and think outside the box.

With event photography, you have the benefit of being present for a special time in a person’s life—after all, it’s an event that stands out so much from daily life it warrants hiring a photographer! You’re there to document the people, the place, and the moments in a cohesive way that reflects the feeling, meaning, and importance of it all, beyond simply taking photos. Event photography is a great example of the whole being greater than the sum of its parts. Great event photography captures the essence of the experience, not just the facts.

Here are a few last ideas to try: silhouetting people against a bright background (look for interesting body positions), using a slow shutter speed for motion blur in the background with a flash to freeze the action of the subject, and painting with light (slow shutter speed + moving light source) to highlight a place setting or write something meaningful (like a wedding date + the couple’s initials). Be creative and think outside the box for how you can use advanced lighting techniques, and you’ll create images your event photography clients will cherish for years to come.

As a real estate photographer, you have more opportunities to add money to increase your revenues than a lot of other professional photographers: your network is made of professionals who have consistent demand for quality photography, plus a client base of consumers that may want to commemorate their new home.

Whether it's the middle of the slow season and you’re looking for new revenue streams or you’re trying to increase sales year-round, here are some out-of-the-box ways you can use your skills and network to grow your photography business.

Turn home shots into closing gifts.

Both the buyer and seller agents will likely be purchasing a closing gift for their client. And they’ll want to keep their brand front and center for their next purchase, sale, or referral. A gorgeous photo of the home they just helped buy or sell could be a great way to do both!

You’re photographing the property and already have a relationship with the seller’s agent, so why not show up at golden hour and take a couple of gorgeous photos of the home? Show the agent what your photography skills can do, and offer to make their clients some framed prints as a gift. As a bonus, this gets your photography in front of happy new homeowners who might have non-real estate photography needs in the future.

Create art galleries for open houses.

Agents either stage the house themselves or hire interior designers. Either way, they’re going to need art and furniture. If you see the staging, why not bring your photography portfolio on your iPad or phone and show how your artwork from non-real estate photos amplifies the experience of touring the home?

• Offer to lease the work for use at each open house.
• Come by and hang the work based on the furniture and room, then collect it after.
• Let the real estate agent or designer have access to a private and secure photo gallery where they can pick and choose which prints they want.

Then, in exchange for them getting high-quality photos, you can ask them to list your name and contact info by the photographs, or place your business cards as the artist by the sign-in sheet for the open houses.

The added benefit here is that you’ll be in front of home buyers that will need to decorate. Even if they don’t buy that house, you’re getting free exposure to an audience who will potentially be upgrading their living spaces and in need of new art in the near future. Offer the home buyers a business card where they can find your portfolio. Create a gallery for “Open House Art” so they know where to find the photo(s) they were drawn to on display.

Product and marketing shots for vendors.

When photographing a property for listing, find out who the vendors that worked on the house are.

• Landscapers
• Masonry companies
• Interior decorators
• Pool companies
• Etc….

Each of these companies has to advertise, update portfolios, and showcase work samples, and many forget to do this regularly. While you’re taking photos, snap a couple pro shots with these vendors in mind. (This could be updated patios, the staging of the home, and even a nicely trimmed lawn with flowers.)

Process the photos (and remember to add your watermark for protection), then send sample images to the respective companies along with a link to your portfolio.

Create fine art to sell.

Some real estate photographers like to create creative and evocative images within the homes they’re hired to shoot. As long as there are no restrictions in your contract, why not take advantage of a beautifully staged home for some fine art photography? 

Show up for golden hour to capture natural light coming through a window, or a scenic sunset over the back yard. Work on your food photography with that beautifully renovated kitchen as a backdrop. Your options are endless.

Making money with real estate photography doesn’t end with snapping photos of the house—it becomes a lead magnet for you to earn revenue in multiple ways. And if you’re not currently securing your images from theft and selling prints, give SmugMug a try for free by clicking here.

Whether you’re offering keepsakes to holiday portrait clients, or specialty items to art fans, we’ve taken the guesswork out of choosing which items to offer in your store beyond those gorgeous prints. How, you ask? With DATA. 

We’ve taken the most commonly searched-for items and terms to help you pick and choose just what you’d like to feature this holiday season. Beef up your photography packages, list these items front and center in your shop, and feature them in customer gift guides or newsletters for a gift that will delight your customers and their families.

Photo gift #1: Magnets.

We know that photo magnets are always a big seller for portrait clients. But just how popular are they? By using Google data we can find out, down to the sizes people commonly search for.  Here’s how many people search for photo magnets by month:

• 8x10 photo magnet - 6,600 monthly searches
• photo magnets - 4,400 monthly searches
• photo fridge magnets - 720 monthly searches

There are over 6,000 people every month searching for 8x10 photo magnets, so that’s an easy win right there. Try using a smaller size in your photo packages, and offer the more in-demand size to your clients as an upsell! Or you could offer discounts on orders including multiple sizes to capitalize on a diverse range of magnet options.

Photo gift #2: Mugs.

Another holiday classic, photo mugs are a popular search term. Here’s what they look like by the numbers: 

• photo mugs - 3,600 monthly searches
• photo coffee mugs - 1,000 monthly searches
• custom photo mug - 880 monthly searches

The word "custom" here is sneaky: It could mean someone is looking to upload their own image to the coffee mug. As a photographer that’s not going to build your business. But if you primarily do retouching work, it could be an ideal offering!

Like magnets, mugs are a popular item you can benefit from featuring front-and-center in your store. They work nicely as upsell items in your photo packages, too.

Photo gift #3: Stocking stuffers and wrappable wonders.

The numbers don’t lie: People love their keepsakes. Here are a couple other options that came up in our research:

• photo mouse pad - 1,000 monthly searches
• photo puzzle gift - 880 monthly searches
• photo collage gifts - 720 monthly searches

While these may seem like small potatoes in comparison with your first two options, we included the word “photo” in each of these for specificity. If we take that away, you get a bigger picture of the kinds of demand you can tailor your offerings toward:

• jigsaw puzzle - 165,000 monthly searches
• playing cards - 49,500 monthly searches
• mouse pad - 40,500 monthly searches
• coasters - 33,100 monthly searches
• coffee mug - 27,100 monthly searches
• postcards - 18,100 monthly searches
• keepsake frames - 18,100 monthly searches
• keepsake box - 8,100 monthly searches
• refrigerator magnet - 5,400 monthly searches

Each of these photo gifts offers an opportunity to sell your photos, you’ve just gotta get creative with your messaging: “A photo mousepad is a great way to make sure your favorite vacation memories are always with you at the office.” “Playing cards featuring your photos make great stocking stuffers, and will always spark conversation around the card table!” etc.

By including some of these popular items in your store, or featuring them as add-ons during the checkout process, you can inspire your customers to go the extra mile—and make an extra sale in the process.

Happy selling!

As a creative professional, it can sometimes be a challenge to treat your work as a business. Taking photographs is a form of self-expression and a personal passion, and that can muddy the primary goal of making a living. In this article, we’ve set out a financial management roadmap, to help set you and your photography business up for success.

First: How to price yourself properly.

Pricing yourself as a photographer is challenging, whether you’ve been in the business for one year or twenty. Taking the time to ensure you're pricing your work appropriately and budgeting carefully is absolutely essential to your success. 

But never fear! There are some simple considerations that can make your life a whole lot easier when it comes to pricing your services, or when to adjust your pricing. They are:

1. Costs of running your photography business
2. Costs of goods or services 
3. Costs of your time and labor
4. Your desired profit
5. Taxes

It may sound intimidating, but let's dive into each of these a little deeper.

1. ‍Costs associated with running your photography business: These are the nuts and bolts of your business.
   • Equipment costs - your owned gear, rented gear (remember to include wear and tear and repair/replacement into your estimate!).
   • Office/studio costs - if you work from home, estimate the square footage of your work space and include that, or your office/studio rent (as well as utilities).
   • Marketing costs - the cost of your SmugMug subscription, paid advertisement, business cards, etc.‍
2. ‍Costs of goods and/or services: These are the services you outsource. Think photo storage, printing, order delivery (all included in a SmugMug subscription, of course), as well as bookkeeping and other organizational tools. If you are in the business of selling your prints, creating photo bundles and packages is an important part of your pricing. 
3. Costs of your time and labor: Here’s where the rubber meets the road. When considering how you price your time and labor, do your homework!‍
   • ‍Place yourself in the competitive market. This takes some research but is a good starting place for making this important decision. Research working photographers in your area, ideally within your niche, and find out what they are charging. Try to aim somewhere in the middle – don’t price yourself at the low end of the market, but also don’t price yourself at the top. It can also be smart to choose a range of pricing to allow for some flexibility in terms of client budgets.‍
   • Estimate your personal value, based on experience. This is tough because it’s subjective, but try to be as objective as you can. Take into account how long you’ve been at it and what your strengths and weaknesses are. Take into account the quality of the gear you work with, and how quickly you turn around images. If you are in the commercial sector, take into account the caliber of clients, and brand equity of your clients. And never work for free.‍
   • Remember to never undervalue your own time. If you undervalue your time, clients and customers are likely to do the same. When estimating your time on a project, include the time not spent behind the camera: pre-production, traveling, client meetings, set up and take down, that’s all time you should be incorporating into your fees.
4. Your desired profit: This is where you decide on your own personal profit margin, which should come on top of your time and labor costs.
   • How much money would you like to make off a single project? Are you charging hourly, or a flat rate? It will vary project to project and shoot to shoot, so make sure to think it through on a case by case basis, and don’t hesitate to consult your network for insights.
   • How will your photos be used? Should you charge extra for that? To help you get started, use these helpful calculators created by The Association of Photographers and Getty. 
5. Taxes: everyone’s favorite financial topic!
   • We’re no tax experts, but you know who are? Accountants. If you’re serious about running a photography business, you owe it to yourself to hire an expert. And if you’re not at the stage where you’re ready to take that plunge, at least check out this handy guide from our friends at F-Stoppers. At the bare minimum, remember: set aside money from each paycheck to make sure you have enough money to pay your taxes!

Next: A little thing called P&L.

A good place to go next when managing your business finances is your profit and loss statement, also known as an income statement, or P&L. You’ve done all the hard work above, so a P&L is just a helpful document to make sure you’re on track. Put simply, your P&L is your business’s revenue (often referred to as the top line), followed by your costs, or operating expenses (studio rent, payroll, travel expenses, gear rentals, insurance, etc). The difference between your total revenue and your total expenses (also known as the bottom line) is your net income, or profit.

The more you are able to update your P&L statement, the easier it will be. At the very least, we recommend doing this quarterly, especially if you are filing your taxes as a sole proprietor (because you’ll be filing every quarter). Without tracking your revenue and expenses, you won’t know if you’re making a profit, so it’s a crucial step in running a successful photography business.

Lastly, and ongoing: Stay organized!

In order to sustainably and accurately manage your finances, it is important to stay organized. There are endless ways to do this, but for simplicity’s sake, we picked our top three.

1. Separate your money. In order to properly keep track of your business P&L, you need to separate your business finances from your personal finances. Open a business checking account, where you will deposit all revenue from your photography business, as well as pay any employees from (and manage business expenses, if you choose not to use a credit card). If you want to build credit, a Business Credit Card can be where you track all business expenses – not to mention a great way to accrue points! Pull at least 20% of your earnings into a Business Savings account to make sure you have enough money to pay your taxes when the time comes.
2. Define your payment policies (and methods), have them clearly stated on both your website and invoice template, and most importantly, stick to them. Decide which payment methods you accept, what your terms of payment are, set a security deposit percentage, and if you handle refunds or not. Don’t leave any room for confusion or misinterpretation.
3. Invest in management software. Using accounting software (like Quickbooks) and customer relationship management (CRM) software (like Paypal) to auto-populate your books and invoices will free up your precious and limited time for more important things, like getting more clients!

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Managing the finances of your photography business is no easy task, and like the market itself, your finances are not fixed, they are in constant flux and so your pricing is something that will need to be adjusted and reevaluated periodically to reflect that. We are confident, though, that taking the above steps will get you started on your way to growing a successful photography business!

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We’re always looking for new ways to power the business of photography. In the coming year, there are six key areas we’re focusing on that should give you and your business some jet fuel. Here’s what to look forward to in 2024 and 2025: 

1. Faster photo delivery.

We consistently hear that capitalizing on recency and emotion is key to maximizing sales after a photo event. That’s why we’re planning to offer additional ways for you to upload and deliver faster. Whether it’s utilizing new technology like our recent integration with Fujifilm that allows you to upload to SmugMug straight from your camera, or improving the efficiency of your post-shoot workflow, our goal is to help you get your photos in front of your clients as fast as possible.

2. New marketing opportunities.

Marketing is more than just getting people in the front door (or to your homepage), and we’ve got some exciting developments in the works to help you keep your customers coming back for more. First on that list is our recent addition to the shopping experience: When your customers leave an unpurchased item in their shopping cart, we’ve built a helpful reminder email that’s currently driving up to 30% more sales. Next up: we’re working on solutions to increase your average order value (AOV) and let you engage more consistently with customers before, during, and after their shoot.

3. Helping your buyers find their photos faster.

It’s hard to go anywhere these days without engaging in or overhearing a conversation about AI. Its rapid development is causing this exciting new technology to become foundational in our everyday lives. AI has many relevant applications in the photography world. One very clear example is in image recognition. As a customer arriving at a photo gallery with hundreds, sometimes thousands of images, finding the photos they’re most interested in can be a challenge. That’s why we’re planning new ways to help your customers quickly take advantage of AI and image recognition to find their photos in seconds, which leads to more sales for you.

4. Improving the customer buying experience. 

We’ve already made some large strides in this area in the past year with a modern update to the product selection flow, improving your customer’s access to Packages and Gallery Downloads, providing the ability to purchase Packages on mobile devices, and partnering with a new print lab, Fujifilm. Planned future updates include support for even faster payment for customers via Apple Pay and Google Pay.

5. Improved fulfillment of digital downloads.

It should come as no surprise that in the world of photography, digital is now king. This doesn’t just refer to cameras - digital downloads are far-and-away the most popular purchase option now as customers seek more flexible ways to buy and share photos. Digital files present ease of sharing, flexibility for printing, and a low footprint way to preserve memories for a lifetime. Knowing this, there are a number of ways we plan to improve the experience related to the fulfillment of downloads. When someone downloads a photo from you, it should be easy and fast, no matter what device they’re on.

6. Better access to data.

Understanding sales data can be crucial for growing your business. With over 20 years of sales data and experience under our belt, we plan to provide you more comprehensive insights. The goal is to empower you to make informed decisions, invest wisely in your business, identify profitable niches and optimize pricing strategies - all to ensure you maximize your revenue. 

There is a balance for most photographers when it comes to selling photos while protecting their brand and photo aesthetic. Since your gorgeous images speak for themselves, it’s up to you to make sure the words you use on your portfolio website are speaking to a wide range of audiences. 

While art patrons and loyal followers may want all the details about your photos—like inspiration, location, and how you Got the Shot—some consumers passing by may simply be looking for a perfect piece of art for their home or office. This second audience is often overlooked, and connecting with them is what we’ll be talking about today.

What’s in a (gallery) name?

Photography shoppers often know which room of their home or office they want to decorate, but they may not be sure what to put there.  Fortunately, you know just where your photos will look their best. By tweaking your gallery names (or creating specific, purpose-built galleries), you can guide customers to help streamline their decision-making—and ensure they get your best work for their needs.

For example, you could build galleries by room and function in the household: “Kitchen Compliments,” “Office Decor,” “Living Room Centerpieces,” etc..  As a bonus, you can even subdivide these by types of decor to give you an SEO boost and refine customer choices even further. (e.g. yourdomain.com/kitchens/farmhouse or yourdomain.com/kitchens/modern.)

Want to lead with aesthetics? Easy! Just swap the order and group your galleries first by style, then by room. Either way, you’ll be guiding your customers to the gold.

Don’t forget photo descriptions!

Once your customers arrive at a chosen photo, don’t stop there! Hit them with the power of words one more time by providing a tailor-made description of the photo and setting: “With this photo on your kitchen wall, you’ll practically hear the crash of waves and feel like you’re on vacation every morning.”

Many photo website builders like ours here at SmugMug allow for unique descriptions for categories, galleries, and individual photos—not to mention easy tagging for simple search. If you’re not already a customer, click here to try us for free.

Know your audience.

Does your photography fit best in the documentary or adventure category? If so, your albums might be better suited to include straight-forward titles and descriptions, like the Who What and Where. We know getting creative with naming can be fun, but it’s important to remember your audience, and if you shoot strictly landscape, it might be smart to stick to location titles to better help your customers find what they’re looking for. It’s also a good way for potential customers to find you! For more information on clever ways to help customers find you using words, check out our guide to SEO for photographers.

At SmugMug, we’re always looking to improve your experience and provide you with the best tools and services to preserve, show off, and sell your photography. So without further ado, please help us give a warm welcome to our newest lab partner, world-renowned leader in photo printing and imaging solutions, Fujifilm!

Why Fujifilm?

For over almost a century, Fujifilm has been at the cutting edge of innovation and excellence in the world of photography. Known for their high-quality prints and state-of-the-art technology, Fujifilm shares our commitment to delivering the best possible products to photographers of all kinds.

What this means for you.

SmugMug users will now have access to Fujifilm’s state-of-the-art printing services. Here are some of the exciting features you have to look forward to:

• Premium quality: Enjoy vibrant, true-to-life colors and stunning detail in every print. Fujifilm uses advanced printing technology to ensure your photos are dressed to impress.
• Wide range of products: From classic photo prints to mugs, canvas prints, and even tote bags and pillows, Fujifilm offers a diverse selection of products to suit all your printing needs.
• Easy integration: Ordering is just as easy as its always been. With seamless integration into your SmugMug workflow, you can select your favorite photos, choose your products, and place your order—all from the SmugMug platform.‍
• Fast and reliable service: Fujifilm is known for their fast turnaround times and reliable delivery, ensuring you receive their prints and products quickly and in perfect condition.

Pro Tip: For those who sell photos, check your pricelists and make any adjustments necessary. We are doing our absolute best to make this a smooth addition behind the scenes but we always recommend that you stay in control of your margins and product offerings.

A new chapter in photo printing.

We believe adding Fujifilm will help you improve your photography and your business. Whether you’re printing family photos, creating custom gifts, or setting up a shop for your customers, you can trust that Fujifilm will deliver the highest quality prints and photo products with the care and precision you and your customers deserve.

Thank you for being a part of the SmugMug community. Cheers to a new lab partner, and a new chapter.

Happy printing!

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Looking for some new ways to raise funds to support your camp facility and campers?  Below you’ll find a few unique ways to keep campers engaged year-round, bring in additional revenue through the activities they already enjoy, and reach new potential campers and parents without breaking the bank on marketing. 

Here are three ways to make money 365 days a year for your summer camp through photography:

• Cabin and group-based photo galleries.
• Editing workshops.
• Photo challenges between cabins, groups, or ages.

Camping is about comradery, learning, and self-discovery. Help your campers remember the fun they had last summer while getting them excited about coming back next year.

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Keep memories alive through private galleries.

When you use a photography platform like SmugMug, you’re able to create unlimited private and public photo galleries. This means your camp can create themed folders by cabin, club, theme, age groupings, and the season or year the camper attended.

From here your campers can upload their favorite memories to share with their friends and family back home. Parents can also buy digital downloads, prints, and countless keepsakes to cherish their campers’ summer memories.

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Offer photography workshops.

Another great way to earn off-season revenue is to offer photo editing courses and workshops to campers throughout the year. With SmugMug’s unlimited photo storage, campers can easily upload their edited photos to galleries to show off their skills.

Contests and challenges are also a fun and easy way to get your campers excited. Put on a holiday-themed photo contest or create photo challenges for your campers, asking them to utilize an editing or shooting technique you taught in a course. Then you can offer the submitted photos in your camp’s SmugMug print shop for proud parents to buy.

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Everyone loves a sale.

For off-season camp revenue, sales are a no-brainer. Boost print and fun photo gift purchases by running a sale or two throughout the year. Make sure to have one around the holidays – it’s when most parents are looking for easy and thoughtful gift ideas.

By offering special discounts and promotions during key times of the year, you can turn heartwarming moments into lasting keepsakes. Remember to create a sense of urgency with limited-time sales: you can drive more revenue while keeping the camp spirit alive all year long. SmugMug makes it easy to manage these sales and offers a seamless purchasing experience, ensuring that your campers' memories are treasured forever.

The options are endless for ways you can use photography to make more money for your camp, especially during the offseason. You only need a bit of creativity—and a photo hosting, storage, and photo selling solution like SmugMug. Click here to try us free today.

If you find yourself glued to your camera seven days a week, it might be time to shake up your photography-pricing game.

Whether you're snapping shots at events, welcoming clients into your studio, or selling your art, the eternal question remains: How much should you charge, and when should you change your rates? And when you do decide to tweak your pricing, how do you figure out the magic number?

Here are five telltale signs it's time to adjust your photography prices (up or down!), along with some advice on how much to adjust them and how to break the news to your clients.‍

5. Your schedule is packed.

If your calendar's bursting at the seams, it's a surefire sign you're the go-to photographer in town—or beyond. And if you're having to turn clients away, that's your cue to start thinking about raising your rates.

It can be difficult to increase prices immediately, so send an email to past clients and current leads to give them a heads-up that your rates are about to change. You can also post to your social-media accounts to let people book holidays or occasions in advance.

When it comes to how much to adjust your prices, let demand be your guide. If you have a large waitlist, consider a higher amount, such as 50%. If your waitlist is shorter or you have a regular influx of leads, try a lower amount: 20% for a trickle of new leads, or 35% if you're swimming in inquiries. You can always increase later if your calendar stays booked.‍

Pro tip: Don’t panic if a few clients complain. Even if a handful jump ship, remember that a 20% price increase means more cash in your pocket and more time to savor that work–life balance.

4. Print sales are in a slump.

If you’ve noticed print sales are slowing and seasonal spikes are down, it may be a good time to think about reducing prices. But that isn’t your only option.

Try creating a photo package where people save 20% if they buy multiple prints or sizes. If you have an email list, try sending a custom deal to previous customers and share new photos you think will sell. These short-term fixes can help tide you over until demand picks back up.

If you discover your market is saturated, a price reduction may be the solution while you expand your reach to new customers or open shop in another market or niche. Don’t panic! Every photographer hits a dry spell now and then.

3. Your costs are creeping up.

Costs to run a business can always increase—sometimes unexpectedly. A landlord could increase your rent. Gear breaks. Clients demand new trends that require new equipment. 

If you’re scared to do an increase across the board, start small. Try selecting only a couple of offerings or tossing in a few add-ons to sweeten the deal, like bonus prints or limited-edition backdrops. Or change up your portrait sessions with some fun props. Not only will it add value to each session, it can also make you a trendsetter in your market.

‍Pro tip: When adding bonus prints, focus on lower-cost items that clients perceive as high value, such as upgrading the print size or material type. Metal, wood, and acrylic prints all offer an extra special touch to meaningful photos.

2. You’re a rising star.

Getting featured in glossy mags? Picking up steam on social media? That extra boost to your brand can mean big money.

Before you increase your prices, update your portfolio to feature the images that took off and brought you recognition. You’ll also want to reference them on your homepage and potentially add an “as seen in” section with logos. Remind folks that you're the mastermind behind the trend—and why they should be booking you.

‍Pro tip: If your photos are being featured across the web, ask site editors if they can link your art or name to your portfolio. Not only will this help potential clients find you more easily, it can also help boost your search-engine optimization.

‍1. You’re overworked, and everyone else is charging more.

The biggest sign it’s time to increase the price of your photography services is when you’re overworked, facing burnout, and notice everyone else is priced above you. 

To figure out your fair market value, start by scoping out the competition. Check out what other photographers in your league are charging, factoring in everything from experience to turnaround times:

• Accolades
• Equipment
• Experience
• Skill levels
• Turnaround times for deliverables
• Locations (by transportation or available parking)
• Reputation

Now pick a price that's in the middle of the pack—or maybe a bit higher. You’ll be making more per session, so even if a few clients leave you’ll still be making the same or more as you were—and you’ll have reclaimed a part of your life. 

Knowing when to change your photography pricing is half the battle. Knowing by how much and if it should be permanent is the next. Once you recognize the signs, the rest becomes easy.

What’s new.

• We've given our iOS app a tune-up with more modernized code, ensuring a smoother experience for you. Also enjoy sleeker navigation with updated overflow menus that make it even easier to find your way around the app.
• Our Android app is now updated to Android 14, keeping you in sync with the latest API changes behind the scenes. We've also updated our multi-factor authentication (MFA) log-in messaging, providing a direct link to our help page for any assistance you might need.
• For Android TV users, we've revamped the "Slideshow Display Time" option to provide a better navigation experience with clear focus indicators.

What’s changed.

• We're continuing to enhance your browsing privacy when it comes to dependency on cookies. As a result, dragging and dropping directly into a gallery to upload is no longer supported, but you can still enjoy a smooth uploading (and drag-and-drop) experience through our upload interface.
• We’ve been hard at work behind the scenes to enhance our backup strategy to continually safeguard your precious photos.
• You’ll also notice a more streamlined experience across our mobile web and native apps.

Bug fixes.

• Enjoy a smoother shopping experience, with fixes for unlisted galleries not showing items in the shopping cart, password-protected galleries being able to access the shopping cart, and themed messages when there are "No Products Available" for purchase.
• Your gallery feature image will now display the correct image when posting to Facebook.
• The Safari browser no longer interferes with creating QR codes on a custom domain.
• Fixed the ability for assistants to download single images from the Organizer and removed their ability to access sales history.
• Bulk-gallery changes will no longer flash a misleading error message when the changes work.
• Our iOS app also received a lot of love, bringing back the "Move" option to the overflow menu for easier navigation and providing bug-free downloads after swiping through the Lightbox or via multi-select.
• We also cleared the auto-upload errors related to too little space or gallery limits being exceeded.
• We fixed video-playback issues in the iOS mobile browser to ensure you no longer get only audio.

Stay tuned for more exciting improvements!

Sports photography isn’t easy. Often done on a speculative basis, success only comes with a great marketing plan, a solid business plan, and a lot of hard work before, during, and after the game. We gathered a few tips to help make the process from shot to sale easier.

‍Getting the shot.

Face. Contact. Action. Ball. These are the elements of a great sports photograph. Your ability to get the shot—in sports photography more than any other field—requires more than “f/8 and be there.” Equipment matters since you very likely won’t be able to control the light. Here are a few recommendations:

• Camera body with the ability to shoot multiple frames per second
• Clean high ISO for low-light shooting
• Telephoto lens with a large maximum aperture (fast glass)
• Monopod
• Accreditation and/or permission to shoot the sport

‍1. Know your sport.

The ability to anticipate where the action will be, to predict the drama by understanding the rules and rulings, to be prepared for the ecstasy and agony of the competitors are what will set you apart as a sports photographer.

‍2. Fill your frame with action.

Minimize distracting backgrounds. Choose the right depth of field. Make sure the play or the player is your subject. Shoot tight, crop tighter.

3. Pick the right shutter speed.

In general, you’ll want to freeze the action, so your shutter will need to be fast. If motion blur is desirable to help convey the story or set the mood, a slower shutter speed may work, but you’ll still need to ensure your shutter speed is fast enough to prevent camera shake.

Pro tip: Your shutter speed needs to be greater than the focal length of the lens. Try shooting in burst mode to ensure you don’t miss any of the action. Using strobes? Balance the flash power against flash duration to freeze the action.

‍4. Get accreditation and/or permission to shoot the sport.

Meet the sports director for the school or club, the president of the booster club, or the director of the league and get their blessing to photograph their players. You should know their needs (yearbook photos, website photos, championship photos, team photos, etc.) and be prepared to include these shots in exchange for the right to photograph the game/league/tournament.

You’ve got the shots, now get the sales.

You probably aren’t expecting to head out, take a bunch of game-day photos, and put them up for sale. While you're perfecting your shooting technique, you should also be putting together a strong business and marketing plan, including building your brand name and recognition, your customer base, and your portfolio.

‍Marketing.

1. Use SmugMug’s drag-and-drop customizability to add your brand to your website. Use sports photos in your portfolio.
2. Make sure your homepage meta description and keywords reflect what you do and where you’re located. Take steps to ensure you can be found in a Google search

At the stadium.

1. Network. You’ll likely start out photographing youth sports. Your sports-team booster club, team manager, and parents are going to be your biggest fans and referral sources, so be sure they know who you are.
2. Business cards and printed material: Create your SmugMug folders or events before games or tournaments and include the URL on your print advertising. Distribute that advertising during the game so people know where to find your photos as soon as they get home.
3. Turn your portfolio shots into print and product samples that show folks what you offer for sale. They're perfect for demonstrating how great their photos will look.
4. If you're working at a tournament or multi-game event, have a display set up on site and show the photos as they come from the field. Generate excitement and get them eager to buy ASAP! Using SmugMug print-credit coupons is a great way to ensure you'll make more sales after the tournament.
5. If you’re submitting photos to wire services, do so at halftime. Sports shooters highly recommend using Photo Mechanic software for the sorting-and-sending process.

After the game.

1. Put your CF card into a card reader and use Lightroom to import and copy the files into a folder (organized by date) on your external hard drive.
2. Use the Lightroom Library module to quickly cull all out-of-focus and otherwise unsellable shots from the set. Mark them rejected by hitting the X key.
3. Use the filter near the search bar at the top of the window to select the rejected-photos flag. Select all the photos in the filmstrip at the bottom and right-click > delete to clear out the rejected images.
4. Add keywords and metadata (copyright information, for example) to the whole set of photos using the Sync function in the Library module.
5. Use the Lightroom Develop module if minor editing, like adjusting exposure or quick cropping, is needed to get the best image possible.
6. Go back to the Library module and set the publish setting File Setting Quality slider to 50%. This keeps your proof images small so you can upload them faster.
7. Select all images to be published.
8. Use the Lightroom SmugMug publish service to create a new gallery on SmugMug and make sure you have proof-delay enabled. Having the images already selected puts them right into that gallery. You’ll be able to configure your gallery settings from within Lightroom, too.
9. Hit the Publish button and watch as Lightroom uploads your selected photos into your new SmugMug gallery.
10. Spread the word that the photos are online and available for purchase. Remember that marketing your work is critical to success. Use email and social media. Make sure you contact your liaison with the team and have them help spread the word, too.
11. Make a sale, and know which photos have been ordered.
12. Open Lightroom and navigate to the published gallery. Find the image your customer bought, open the Develop module, and edit that file for print. Repeat for each ordered image. Those images will be marked for republishing.
13. Open the publish settings and reset the Quality slider to 90% (print quality).
14. Hit the Publish button, which replaces your compressed images with your print-ready files.
15. Go to the SmugMug proof-delay page for the order and click the Release Order button.
16. Write your customer to let them know you’ve reviewed the order and sent it to the lab, and thank them for their support.

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We hope these steps outline an easy strategy to get you started on your way to success in sports photography. Have any tips of your own to share?

Looking to boost your photography business's average order value and make booking appointments a breeze? Crafting the perfect photography package is the key. We've got you covered with this five-step guide that breaks it all down. Plus, we'll sprinkle in some expert tips on how to present your packages to potential and returning clients. Let's dive in!

1. Curate your products.‍

First things first, look at your sales data to see which products are flying off the shelves. Whether it's canvas prints for pawtrait sessions or wallet-size paper prints for senior portraits, tailor your packages to what your clients love.
‍

Pro tip: Add high-margin items like metal prints or photo books as upsells to specific packages to boost your income and keep your clients happy.

2. Package variety is key.‍

When it comes to package options, three's the magic number. It's enough to offer variety without overwhelming your clients. But hey, if you've got a killer custom bundle in mind, toss in a fourth option for those looking for something extra special. And remember, each package can be tailored to different types of photography, so you're always ready to capture those unforgettable moments.

Here’s an example of offering three different packaging tiers for two different types of photography:

Pro tip: Create unique landing pages for each type of photography you offer to showcase relevant samples of your work to clients and improve your visibility in Google searches.

3. Name your packages.‍

Time to get creative with your package names! Keep it simple with standard labels or jazz things up with a bit of branding. From "Classic Collection" to "Pawsitively Platinum," let your imagination run wild (but not too wild—you want your clients to know what they're getting!).

‍Pro tip: Use themed package names to add personality and create a memorable experience for your clients, like "Hot Cocoa Holiday Specials" for seasonal sessions.

An example of standard package names:

4. Solve the pricing puzzle.‍

Pricing your packages doesn't have to be difficult. Start with a basic formula—think business costs + materials + labor + profit + taxes—and set your pricing based on your margins.

Focus on items with higher margins that are in high demand and aim for a base margin of 50% or higher. For example, if paper printing has a 20% margin and canvas has a 70% margin, include canvas prints in your popular packages to offset lower-margin items. Adjust your package contents to maintain or exceed the 50% margin goal. For instance:

Original package:

• 6 wallet-size paper prints at $10 with a 20% margin ($2)
• 1 8x10 paper print at $20 with a 20% margin ($4)
• 1 24x36 canvas print at $30 with a 70% margin ($21)
  Total margin: 31%

Adjusted package:

• 12 wallet-size paper prints at $20 with a 20% margin ($4)
• 2 8x10 paper prints at $40 with a 20% margin ($8)
• 1 24x36 canvas print at $100 with a 70% margin ($70)
• 1 24x36 metal print at $120 with an 80% margin ($96)
  New total margin: 64%

By making strategic adjustments, you can meet or exceed your margin goal, boosting your profitability.

‍Pro tip: Highlight high-margin items like canvas prints or metal masterpieces in your packages to boost your overall margin and offer added value to your clients.

5. Showcase your packages.‍

Now for the fun part—showing off your photography packages. Whether it's through eye-catching colors, playful fonts, or strategic sizing, make sure your options are front and center.

‍Pro tip: Use design elements like banners or starbursts to draw attention to your best-seller or current promotion and guide clients toward their ideal package.

Here are a few examples of ways to display your photography packages:

‍

‍

And there you have it—the ultimate guide to crafting, pricing, designing, and showcasing your photography packages. 

Ready to take your business to the next level? Click here to give SmugMug a try for free and revolutionize the way you book clients, sell prints, and share photos securely.

What’s new.

• We've turbocharged the shopping experience for your customers, making it lightning-fast to add items to their carts. Since making these changes, we’ve seen the time it takes your visitors to add their first item to the cart drop by 34 seconds. We’ve also seen conversion rates for adding items to cart increase. Quicker shopping = more sales for you.
• We’ve added a fantastic new SmugMug Perk: 20% off a lifetime membership to the International Freelance Photographers Organization (IFPO). IFPO has provided credentials, support, access, and community to photographers since 1984.

What’s changed.

• We've made significant improvements to your uploading experience, paving the way for better content sharing and management. Check out this announcement for all the details.

Bug fixes.

• To simplify your customers’ buying process, coupons will no longer apply to packages, which already offer your visitors discounted pricing.
• We've fixed the issue causing video-playback interruptions before processing completes, which resulted in "Processing Failed" messages.
• Out with incorrect crops. We've resolved the issue that affected some print-product cropping to deliver perfect results every time.
• Pro branding updates now stick when changed, allowing Pro-plan subscribers to showcase their updated brand with thank-you notes in each print order and custom stickers on the outside of shipping packages. Not yet using this feature? Learn more!
• Downloaded orders are now correctly labeled as "Shipped," providing clarity for Pros and customers alike.
• We've tackled a cookie issue that blocked visitors from passworded galleries and downloads after they entered the correct password, ensuring uninterrupted access for your visitors.
• Sales history is now off-limits to assistants, and downloading images is a breeze from both the organizer and lightbox.
• We've squashed iOS bugs left and right—from manual-sort glitches to app crashes—to make your mobile SmugMug experience even better and ensure you have uninterrupted access to your photos and videos no matter where you are.
• Our latest Android app release comes with performance enhancements for smoother browsing and quicker transitions.
• Prints and cards now play nice together in the same cart, ensuring they're both visible and ready for purchase.

These updates are designed to supercharge your selling experience and keep your business running smoothly. Happy selling!

Photographers, are you ready to elevate your branding strategy? Let's dive into watermarks and discover how to leverage them effectively on SmugMug.

‍Understanding watermarks.

First things first, what exactly are watermarks? Watermarks are customized graphics or text that you can overlay onto your photos. They serve as a visual stamp, asserting your ownership and brand identity. You can apply them to all your photos on SmugMug, but we never place them on your original files. This means your watermark will never appear on downloads, prints, or keepsake items clients purchase from your galleries. But they travel with your photos online as part of our secure photo sharing. 

‍Who can use watermarks?

Watermarks are available only to Portfolio and Pro account holders on SmugMug. Power users can use external programs like Lightroom for watermarking, but this means your original file will contain the watermark so it will also appear on anything purchased from your site.

Elevating your brand identity.

Why bother with watermarks? Beyond adding a professional touch, watermarks reinforce your brand presence. Whether you're selling your photos or showcasing your portfolio, they ensure your name remains prominently associated with your images. And once you set up watermarks in your gallery settings, SmugMug automatically applies them to new photos as you upload.

Creating your custom watermark on SmugMug.

Ready to craft your signature stamp? You can create text-based watermarks directly in SmugMug. 

1. Navigate to your Selling Tools tab.
2. Select Watermarks > Manage. 
3. Tweak fonts, placement, and other settings, and watch as a live preview updates with your selections.

If you want to step it up a notch—say, using your logo as a watermark—fire up your preferred image-editing software (such as Photoshop) and unleash your creativity. We recommend starting with a transparent PNG file of around 1000 x 2000 pixels for optimal versatility. Apply it the same way you would a text-based watermark, but select Image as the watermark type instead. You’ll be prompted to upload your new watermark and then can adjust its opacity and location until you’re happy.

Stuck? We have a comprehensive step-by-step tutorial about how to make a sample watermark file on our help pages. 

Locating your watermarks.

Navigate to your Selling Tools tab to access all your branding tools, including watermarks. This centralized hub allows for easy management, editing, and removal of your watermark collection.

To apply your watermarks to your photos, look in your gallery settings under the Photo Protection tab. Or drop in to the Organizer to watermark several galleries at once! 

Refining your brand aesthetic.

Need to refresh your branding or make adjustments? No sweat. Simply upload your updated watermark, configure its settings, and apply the changes within your gallery settings.

Adapting to every image orientation.

Addressing the perennial dilemma of landscape versus portrait orientation, consider experimenting with square or corner watermarks for a cohesive aesthetic across all image types.

Distinguishing watermarks from printmarks.

Think of them as siblings—watermarks for your digital portfolio, printmarks for your physical prints. Both serve as customizable branding elements, tailored to enhance your visual identity, but only printmarks show up on the images your clients order. And printmarks, unlike watermarks, are limited in size and where they can appear on the photo. 

Great ideas for printmarks include event dates, your handwritten signature, team names, and graduation years.

Striking the perfect balance.

Strike a balance between visibility and subtlety to ensure your watermarks complement rather than distract from your captivating images. 

Ready to get started?

Dive in to SmugMug’s built-in watermarking tool and embark on your branding journey with confidence! And remember, our dedicated Support Heroes are on standby to assist you every step of the way: click here to reach out.

Now go forth and leave your mark on the world of photography!

What’s new.

• We’ve enriched your shopping experience by introducing package and gallery-download options directly within the gallery. Now it’s easier than ever to explore and purchase the perfect package or download high-quality images to cherish forever. Since release, we’ve seen visitors using these new options 10 times more than when they were buried a few clicks away—and more engagement means more sales!

• Enjoy smoother multi-selection sharing with our latest Android app version. Preserve your image selections even after download errors and enjoy hassle-free editing with multiline captions.
• Say goodbye to cropping concerns! Our new crop-warning message in the shopping cart alerts your customers to potential issues, allowing for easy adjustments before ordering. This also helps ensure they’re more aware that cropping occurs before printing, increasing satisfaction when their order arrives.

What’s changed.

• Visitors to your smugmug.com domain are now automatically redirected to your custom domain, enhancing your brand presence and user experience.
• We’ve improved the experience when canceling your SmugMug subscription through our iOS app with  a reminder to also cancel your subscription directly in the App Store. While we wish we could do this for you automatically, Apple’s terms require this step to fully stop future charges.
• Say goodbye to reliance on browser cookies for your stats—we're keeping up to date with modern browser requirements while respecting your privacy! As a result, stats may now include owner views. 
• We've also revamped our image URLs to ensure robust security without relying on browser cookies. Your photos are now even safer, giving you peace of mind every time you share or view them.

Bug fixes.

• We squashed a pesky bug in our latest iOS app version that caused auto-upload notifications to be sent erroneously, even when auto upload wasn't enabled. 
• We fixed bugs preventing video publishing and RAW photo uploads in our Lightroom plug-in, ensuring your photos and videos continue to reliably upload to SmugMug for secure storage and sharing.
• We resolved an issue where RAW uploads (with a Source subscription) weren't generating JPG previews. Although the fix wasn't retroactive, affected files are now ready for primetime.
• Fixed a bug where sort orders weren't always honored when viewing your site while logged out. Now your content displays just the way you want it.
• Tackled an issue where feature/thumbnail images would sometimes stop displaying in our Windows app. Update to the newest version for improved browsing and viewing experiences.
• Our Android app now lets you make purchases from private galleries even when your account has a custom domain, providing you a quick and easy way to order personal prints on the go.
• Our iOS app now displays all folders and galleries when adding or uploading.
• Enjoy glitch-free navigation on our mobile apps. We resolved issues with image processing, checkout, and gallery visibility on both Android and iOS platforms.
• Fixed GST calculation issues on digital-download purchases in Australia.
• Quashed an issue with photo-size shrinking when rotating a device in the Lightbox, ensuring optimal display quality.
• Resolved a concern where coupon restrictions weren’t applying to gallery downloads, ensuring consistent pricing and discounts.

Tim Miller's journey into the world of wedding and dance photography began with a high-school class. Little did he know that class would set him on a path to becoming one of the premier photographers in the eastern Pennsylvania region and one of the highest-selling pros on SmugMug. But like many success stories, his journey was far from linear. 

We had a chance to chat with him about what makes his photography business so successful, and how SmugMug helps contribute to that success.

1. Branding matters. 

In the early 1990s, Tim noticed a lack of creativity and spontaneity in wedding photography. Determined to change the game, he and his wife, Liz, began experimenting with a new approach: focusing on the candid moments that truly reflected the emotions of each wedding day.

This "Your Day, Your Way" concept resonated with couples seeking a personalized and authentic wedding experience. Soon, Tim and Liz were booked solid, photographing weddings all over the region. But Tim didn't stop there. 

After sparking up a conversation with a wedding DJ who also worked in a dance studio, he ventured into dance photography. "I created a separate site and named it ArtOfDance.Photo after a big dance studio in Easton told me they would've hired me three years earlier if I had dance photos on my original site," Tim said. 

Using SmugMug’s variety of customization options made it easy to brand each site separately, making them unique enough to avoid confusion among his clients.

His journey from Tim Miller Photography to ArtofDance.Photo underscores the importance of strategic branding. Learn from his experience and make sure your brand reflects the specific niche or audience you serve.

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2. Know your audience. 

"My advice is do your own thing and solve problems for your clients," Tim said. And his approach has paid dividends, with his business flourishing even amid the pandemic.

His decision to split his photography ventures based on client preferences also highlights the significance of understanding your audience. Whether it's weddings or dance photography, catering to the distinct needs of your clients can set you apart in a competitive market.

"Brides don't want to see dancers, and dancers don't need to see brides," he said. But it wasn't just about differentiation; it was also about scalability and brand longevity. 

3. Plan for growth. 

"You don't want to name your business after yourself," Tim recalled, echoing the advice of a fellow photographer. If the business grows enough that you can sell it, people will always wonder who and where the named photographer is. Tim’s friend later lamented he would’ve been able to sell his own studio for more profit if he had known this tip himself.

Once you’ve chosen your name, think about getting a custom domain and logo to fully brand your business. Also monitor your growth easily with SmugMug stats and sales reports as well as third-party analytics.

4. Timing is key. 

Tim's knack for identifying and addressing industry frustrations didn't stop with weddings. He saw an opportunity to revolutionize the timing of dance-company photoshoots, shifting them from the bustling spring season to quieter winter months. This not only alleviated financial strain on parents but also ensured a steady stream of income for Tim during the offseason. 

Tim’s strategic shift in photoshoot scheduling demonstrates the importance of timing in maximizing sales while easing the financial burden on clients.

5. Problem-solving = success. 

He also changed how studios could approach their photo days to make them less disruptive and more customer-friendly. During his pivotal conversation with the wedding DJ/dance studio assistant, she explained why picture day was difficult: time had to be set aside to pose all the kids and to collect prepayments for packages—which might include photos the parents didn’t even want. 

After listening to her woes, Tim had an idea: “What if we took photos during class instead of on a separate day? And instead of making parents prepay for photos, what if I posted the photos online for them to choose from?" And so began a new chapter.

Tim's entrepreneurial ethos centers around solving problems for his clients. Embrace this mind-set and offer innovative solutions to problems in your industry that satisfy your customers and give your business a boost at the same time.

6. Leverage technology. 

Also central to Tim's success was his partnership with SmugMug—the “answer to everything," he said, emphasizing its indispensable role in streamlining his workflow and facilitating seamless transactions. The platform's robust features, coupled with exemplary customer service, have been instrumental in his ability to deliver exceptional experiences to his clients. “The superfast delivery of digital images is a strong selling point for me,” Tim said.

Partnering with platforms like SmugMug can simplify your workflow and enhance your customers’ experience. 

7. Customer relationships are key. 

Tim's dedication to excellence extends beyond business transactions; it's ingrained in every interaction he has with his clients. "I love what I do, and I don’t take myself seriously," he remarked. His success is rooted in the bonds he's built with his clients over the years. “People remember how you make them feel.”

Cultivate genuine connections with your clients by prioritizing their needs and delivering exceptional experiences. 

8. Stay approachable. 

A lighthearted approach can go a long way in building rapport. "I just love to have fun with my clients," Tim said. His down-to-earth demeanor and humorous anecdotes create a welcoming environment that fosters trust and loyalty.

9. Continue learning. 

A couple years into his dance-photography journey, a studio owner challenged Tim by asking, "Why do we take the same boring pictures? Why don't we capture leaps or something?" Instead of shying away from this knowledge gap, he approached the question with one of his own: “How would I do that?" The studio owner responded by borrowing his camera, giving the dancer a countdown, and snapping the photo with one shot. 

From there he discovered his studio strobes couldn't stop action, so he invested in better lighting. And he continued to learn the timing of leaps. “That's what changed me as a photographer, and when sales started going through the roof,” Tim said.

Embrace a growth mind-set and remain open to learning from both successes and failures. Tim's willingness to adapt and evolve has been instrumental in his journey as a photography entrepreneur.

10. Efficiency is essential. 

On the day of a photo shoot, Tim hands out letters to parents that explain how SmugMug works and hangs QR codes around the studio. These codes, generated on SmugMug, take parents directly to the photos’ online gallery when scanned. “I’ve already seen an increase in early sales with the QR codes,” he said.

“Also key to what I do is fast turnaround,” Tim said. “I use only three things for post-production: ACDsee for viewing and numbering the photos, Lightroom to edit the photos, and SmugMug to display and sell the images.” This allows him to edit and upload 12,000 studio images in three hours or less. 

Tim's efficient approach to post-production and client communication allows him to handle high volume with ease while maintaining quality. Streamline your workflow and optimize your processes to maximize productivity. 

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By incorporating these insights into your photography business, you can carve out your own niche in the industry. Remember, it's not just about taking photos—it's about building relationships, solving problems, and delivering outstanding experiences that keep clients coming back for more.

SmugMug users photograph everything: be it weddings, cats, races, mountains, architecture, or cat races, there’s room for you on SmugMug. And we’ve got great features built in to every account type to help take what you’re shooting to the next level. Here are a few recommendations for SmugMug features that can boost your site, depending on what you love to shoot.

Event and sports shooters.

If your adrenaline gets going when the competition does, you probably have a number of galleries with exciting photos. Stay in the game by staying organized and ensuring every subject in every photo can be found.

• Keywords.
  Keywording is just as important as the photos themselves. You want to keyword your images not only with the event name, but also with location, date, and player name if it applies. Don’t forget to add a search box or display a keyword cloud so clients can find their photos easily.

• Sitewide organization.
  Organization with SmugMug’s seven layers of folders and galleries is invaluable when it comes to busy event seasons, so structure your site clearly and easily: simple enough for you, your assistants, and your clients to find exactly what they’re looking for.

Client-seeking pros.

If you’re putting your business online, there’s a few things we recommend to help impress your client base. Whether your profession is photography, graphic design, architecture, or something else—SmugMug’s great for businesses of all types.

• Best-of galleries.
  Your site should show off what you do. Whether it’s pictures, video, or text, your clients want to get a taste of what you do and what makes you unique. Create a gallery or page that visually delivers your elevator pitch, then upload your best content, or collect and curate it from around your site. Then highlight this gallery in your navigation bar so it's easy for clients to find.

• Contact form.
  We still see websites that make it difficult (or impossible) to contact the site owner. If you want people to hire you, make sure your contact information is clearly visible on your homepage. SmugMug gives you a safe, ready-to-use contact form you can add to your site menu.

World travelers.

It may be tough to keep track of which time zone you’re in, but you can always remember where you took those photos with a few SmugMug features.

• Maps and pins.
  If you shoot with your phone, or if you have geotagging enabled on your camera, your photos keep their location data when uploading to SmugMug. You can also manually add locations. If you want to share where that secret beach is with your visitors, use our built-in map content block.

• Text content blocks.
  A photo may be worth a thousand words, but a few lines about what you did and how you got there adds to the story. Try out title and text content blocks on your homepage and custom pages, and fill in title and caption fields under every photo for some extra SEO.

Family snappers.

Stay closer to home? Photos capture important memories for you and your family, but you don’t want those photos falling into the wrong hands. Your favorite memories should also be easy to find for the feels.

• Privacy settings.
  We recommend logging out of your account to view your SmugMug galleries as a guest. Are the galleries you unlisted hidden? How do passworded galleries appear? We’ve got several privacy options available for you in your account settings and individual folder and gallery settings.

• Folders and galleries.
  SmugMug gives you the ability to nest your folders and galleries up to seven layers deep.. Organize your content so it makes the most sense to you, whether it’s by child, by event, or by year. Or a combination of all the above. Then use your photo library to find specific photos quickly.

The socially savvy.

Social media is great, but you never know how long your content will be relevant online. Build one forever home on SmugMug and use it to share to all your social-media outlets.

• Social designs.
  Put all your cards on the table with our default SmugMug design template, or the Dash design. Both let you set a profile pic, display your name and a cover photo, and list your favorite social-network sites.
  

• Comments.
  This is a simple content block you can drop anywhere on your site to encourage your visitors and friends to engage in discussion. 

• Share galleries.
  Want direct-sharing options instead of additional buttons? Enable social sharing in your gallery settings to share individual photos or entire galleries with a click.

We hope no matter what you shoot or how long you’ve been with SmugMug you’ve discovered something that’ll give your site that extra oomph. What features have you made the most of?

What’s new.

• Discover a more visual and convenient buying experience with our Collage and Thumbnail gallery styles. The all-new buying flow allows you to effortlessly select and add multiple photos to your cart with a single click. Shopping has never been easier.

• Make your Collage or Thumbnail gallery more interactive with a new hover feature for your shopping-bag icon. Let your photos speak for themselves without any overlays until your customer is ready to buy. Enable this feature in your gallery settings.
• We fine-tuned our Android and iOS apps to address your concerns about gallery card sizes and icons. Explore a smoother, more enjoyable scrolling experience—because your visual journey should be flawless.
• A new help feature reminds you that filenames won't show if a photo has a caption. 

What’s changed.

• We made numerous updates to our help pages, offering detailed insights into new features, buying flows, SEO best practices, and more. Check them out and make the most of your SmugMug experience.
• Our ongoing efforts ensure your SmugMug site remains at the forefront of search-engine results. We continued SEO improvements for an even stronger online presence for your photos.

Bug fixes.

• Some users faced a small issue with default pricelists not being assigned, which we swiftly resolved.
• Your events and custom domains now work in perfect harmony! We squashed the bugs, ensuring a smooth and unified experience.
• We diligently worked to correct a temporary glitch in stats reporting and retroactively updated affected stats pages. 
• We fixed an issue that was causing private-sharing emails to ghost their recipients.
• No more worries about duplicate email addresses with different names when sharing—we've addressed the glitch.

Last year, we told you we were investing in uploading and getting images to your customers faster, a critical component for realizing sales. We kept this promise by focusing heavily on improving our upload experience this year, allowing you to better use the bandwidth offered from high-speed internet connections many of you have in your offices and homes. Some customers were able to enjoy a 50% improvement in upload speeds and reduce errors by 20%.

We also told you we’d be focusing on helping you sell your work wherever your customers are. We invested in improved order experiences for mobile devices, making it easier for people to get the products they want and helping them understand how a print might be cropped for the product they order. We also made it easier to add items to carts, and it’s all paid off—literally. In 2023 you all made more money selling on SmugMug than in any of our previous 21 years!

But it’s not just mobile-friendly access for your customers—you’re on the go, too. These improvements save you precious time before and after shoots as well as give you flexibility to work when and how you want. We added the most important features, including releasing proof delays, checking orders, and engagement stats, directly in the iOS and Android apps.

We were also focused on the impact that we and the photography industry have on the world. As of 2023, SmugMug is Climate Neutral Certified. We’re proud of the work we’ve done for the planet this year, and this is only the beginning of our journey to create a company and business that truly makes the world a better place.

You, our customers, are our priority. SmugMug already offers world-class support, where a real human is just a quick email request away. But this year we resolved your email and live-chat requests faster than ever before; even through your busiest sales times, requests were responded to in less than an hour. 

You’ve been telling us where the product let you down, and we listened. We fixed hundreds of issues that prevented you from getting the most from our platform. We touched everything from how you log in, gallery displays, product selection, order delivery, and search-engine optimization, and we sped up parts of the site that “felt slow.” We want your experience to be delightful, consistent, and intuitive.

What’s next for SmugMug?

We’re focused on meeting the needs of your business. We’ve heard from many of you that better insights about how to run your photography business are critical. We’ll help you navigate the things that are unfamiliar. We’ll provide more actionable data and advice so you can make better decisions for your business and help you thrill your clients. You’ve seen past investments in gallery stats, and we’ll do more here to help you understand what’s working for your business to ensure your marketing efforts are driving the outcomes you want.

We’re also making it easier for your clients to find photos of their cherished memories. Not just from search, but finding the right photos in each gallery. Not everyone wants to buy prints of those cherished memories anymore, and we’re making it even easier for them to purchase digital copies and other keepsakes, too. You’ve captured the memories they’ll hand down for generations. 

Our money-back print guarantee ensures you can rest easy knowing clients are satisfied with the prints they order and, in 2024, we’ll expand the work we help you do even more. We’ll do more for you through amazing partnerships and exclusive offers, and by ensuring the solutions we build support your business needs. In 2023 this included offers for business banking through Found and discounts on the equipment, education, and software you need—and we’re just getting started.

As we’ve added new capabilities and fixed issues you’ve told us about, we haven’t always done the best job of telling you we did it. We want to go beyond sending you email updates. We’ll help you understand how to most effectively use SmugMug to thrill your customers and grow your business. We’ll do a better job of telling you about new capabilities through multiple channels.

We’re excited about what 2024 holds for photographers everywhere. And we’re thankful for your continued trust in us. Photography holds the power to change the world, and we’re excited to be on this journey together.

What’s new.

• Continued improvements to SEO, ensuring your SmugMug site stays at the forefront of search-engine results.
• Seamless experiences continue on Android with our latest updates to the app—smoother, faster, and more delightful than ever. Enjoy enhanced features, a better interface, and a bug-free experience. We also updated icons to improve the visual experience for a wider range of modern and older Android devices.
• Unveiled the next phase of ShutterScout, which now allows potential clients to search for photographers to hire, offering more to elevate your photography business.

 What’s changed.

• Your journey with multi-factor authentication is now even smoother. We've updated and improved the setup process for a hassle-free experience. Updates to wording, clearer steps, and additional help-article links—ensuring you're always informed and empowered.

Bug fixes.

• No more hiccups! Now, when you share a link to an image in a Hide Owner gallery, guests are directed to the image, not just the gallery.
• Updated the Adobe Lightroom Classic plug-in, addressing issues related to assistant access.
• Say goodbye to the wrong image previews. Shared image links on Facebook now display the correct image, enhancing your online presence.
• Moving a photo to a gallery with a watermark now applies the watermark, ensuring your branded touch on every image.
• iOS app folder feature images are no longer playing hide and seek; they're front and center for you and your audience to enjoy.
• An issue with event passwords restricting access to galleries has been resolved. Enjoy better access and security.
• Events and custom domains now work harmoniously, eliminating the need for complicated workarounds. Thank you for your patience!
• Fixed a glitch that prevented coupons from being used on digital downloads. Now enjoy the full power of discounts on every purchase.
• Fine-tuned our order-confirmation emails to provide you with more accurate processing-time details. Stay informed and track your orders with confidence.

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Remember to keep an eye out for updates in the "What’s New" section in your SmugMug account. And tell us what you think or what features you’d like to see: start a conversation on our Facebook, Instagram, and/or X (formerly known as Twitter).

In this SmugMug Spotlight, we had the privilege to meet aerial and landscape photographer Andy Yeung. Based in Hong Kong, Andy has been taking spectacular photographs since 2005. You may even recognize some of his photos — his series called “Urban Jungle” went viral on social media a few years ago.

SmugMug: We are so excited to sit down and talk with you, Andy. Your work is stunning. Can you tell our readers a little more about what got you started in photography?

Andy Yeung: I developed a passion for photography at an early age when I received my father’s old camera as a hand-me-down. It was this early exposure that introduced me to the world of photography, which I believe has a healing power. I believe that a great photograph can speak to people’s emotions and make people pause and think.

SM: You definitely do give us all such a unique perspective of the city! Can you tell our readers more about the gear that you currently use to capture these images?

AY: I use a Canon 5D Mark IV. It is a full-frame camera and has excellent image quality and multiple lens choices. That makes this camera really convenient for me. I also use a DJI drone. This drone provides me a new perspective of where I’m at and is very reliable and stable to fly.

SM: Awesome. Tell us more about why you chose to shoot your genre of photography.

AY: I photograph cityscapes and architecture — mostly capturing the unique visual and structural characteristics of Hong Kong from the perspective of a local photographer. I got into drone flying in 2015 and that has added the new perspective that I was looking for.

SM: Your aerial shots definitely show a unique perspective of Hong Kong that you wouldn’t get if you were just walking the streets. Why did you choose SmugMug to be your partner in presenting and preserving these amazing shots?

AY: I’ve been using SmugMug since 2014, if my memory serves me right. I started using SmugMug because it is very user-friendly and a great platform for photographers to promote themselves and offer prints for purchase. Plus, many well-known photographers are using it.

SM: Wonderful! We are so glad that you’re happy with the platform. One last question: Do you have any advice or tips for a new SmugMug user?

AY: I highly recommend customizing your website template! Spending the time to do that will help you stand out even more.

SM: Thank you, Andy! Great advice and again, thank you for your time and allowing us (and our readers!) to get to know you better.

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About Andy Yeung: Andy Yeung is an award-winning photographer specializing in architecture and landscape photography. As a born-and-raised Hong Konger, he learned to cull inspiration from the familiar, especially when it comes to coming up with shots of his over-photographed city. He relies on a good eye and knowledge of techniques to capture magical moments of Hong Kong and transform what he has seen into something that mirrors how he feels.

Follow Andy on Facebook, Instagram, Flickr, and 500px.

A newborn baby is one of life’s most precious additions and the source of many joyful moments. But how to capture those moments, fleeting as they are? Enter LA-based photographer Erika Seress, founder of The Pod Photography, a modern portrait studio specializing in helping make parents and their little ones look their very best. We sat down with Erika to talk to her about the work she does, why she does it, and what advice she can offer anyone new to SmugMug.

SmugMug: Hi Erika, thanks so much for chatting with us! Your work shows off such wonderful passion. Please, tell our readers more about you.

Erika Seress: Hi! So nice to chat with you today, and thank you! I’m Erika Seress, and I founded The Pod Photography in 2008. I had a vision of creating a modern portrait studio for today’s sophisticated clientele, and I love photographing people—especially tiny ones! I specialize in documenting baby’s first-year milestones. I’ve also authored The Parent’s Pocket Guide: Taking Kids’ and Family Photos, am a photography workshop teacher, and appeared on Lifetime, Hollywood Access Live, and various celebrity reality shows. I’ve also been published in Cosmopolitan magazine and The Wall Street Journal.

SM: That’s incredible! You’re one busy and successful photographer. Our readers always love to hear this part, so please tell us how you got started in photography.

ES: I started taking pictures to document my travels while living abroad in Thailand and Germany. I loved capturing the culture, people, and my daily life so I could look back on them. When I moved home to Los Angeles, I got a degree in photography on top of my business degree and then started my portrait studio in 2008.

SM: Amazing. Thailand and Germany are two incredibly stunning areas of the world. Another insight that our readers like to know is what equipment do you use and why?

ES: I am a Nikon shooter. I love how intuitive the gear is as well as the sharpness of their lenses. I shoot 90% of my photography with a Nikon 70–200mm f/2.8 lens since it is perfect for really flattering portraits of people, plus I can zoom in and out to take both full lengths and close-ups of a child without moving my body. You've got to be quick when it comes to kids!

SM: It’s so true! They definitely change and move in a blink of an eye, but It sounds like you enjoy the challenge and have mastered it. Your photos definitely reflect how good you are at capturing that moment. Could you tell us more about the type of photography you shoot and why?

ES: Sure! As mentioned, I am a portrait photographer specializing in newborn, maternity, babies, kids, and family photos. I have always loved photographing people, and at the beginning of my career I did mainly fashion and commercial work. I came to realize that I felt much more fulfilled by working with private clients and creating art for their families, so I have shifted my business toward that focus. 

Today, my company, The Pod Photography, has really flourished in Los Angeles where we focus on a mix of modern natural-light portraiture and elaborate set design. I love the art of creating custom sets that reflect a family’s or child's hobbies or personality or just bring some whimsy to the portraits. I was recently commissioned to create intricate sets recreating a Starbucks store, the Oval Office, Star Wars, as well as design elegant tea-party sets for my newborn and first-birthday clients. We have a lot of fun at my studio!

SM: What brought you to using SmugMug for your photos?

ES: I've been using SmugMug since I created my very first website in 2008. I love SmugMug because of its integration with sales, and how I can seamlessly sell digital and printed products through my website. I'm also a big fan of the unlimited storage!

SM: That’s awesome! OK, one last question: Do you have any advice for someone who’s just starting to use SmugMug themselves?

ES: Get creative designing your website! Start with a template but don't be afraid to customize it so your website stands out from the rest. SmugMug makes it so easy to have a unique website.

SM: What a wonderful tip! Thanks so much for sitting down with us today and for sharing your story with our readers—we really appreciate it!

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For more about Erika Seress of The Pod Photography, visit her website at https://www.thepodphoto.com/ or follow her on Facebook and Instagram.

As a SmugMug Pro subscriber, you have access to some game-changing features that help you run your business. One valuable feature we’d like to highlight today can revolutionize your client photography sessions: client downloads. This feature is designed to simplify and enhance the photo download experience for both you and your clients. If you haven't explored it yet, we’ll walk you through it.

What are client downloads?

Client downloads are a feature that allow you to offer a specific number of photo downloads to your clients as part of your photography packages. This means you can provide your clients with a convenient and efficient way to select and receive their favorite photos, all within the limits of the package they've chosen. 

Why is it valuable?

1. Streamlined selection process: With client downloads, your clients can easily choose their preferred photos from the session, saving both you and them valuable time. No more sifting through hundreds of photos—they can focus on their favorites.

2. Customized experience: It enhances the client experience by giving them control over which photos they want to download. Clients appreciate this level of customization, making them happier with your service.

3. Clear communication: Offering a set number of downloads helps set clear expectations from the start. Clients know exactly what they're getting, reducing misunderstandings and potential disputes. Also, No longer will you have to send them galleries with downloads disabled, communicate back and forth about the images they want to choose, and then send them only those photos.

4. Value addition: Including a specific number of downloads in your packages adds perceived value to your services. Clients see it as an extra benefit, which can influence their decision to choose your photography services over competitors.

5. Efficiency: For you, it simplifies the delivery process. You don't have to manually send each selected photo; clients can download them directly from their account.

How to use client downloads.

Picture this—You photograph family portrait sessions. Typically, you book a session for a flat fee. This session fee not only includes the portrait session, but also includes the ability for customers to download 20 of their favorite photos after you edit and deliver them. On SmugMug, here’s how client downloads help:

1. Set the limit: Decide how many photos you want to allow this particular client to download. In this case, 20.

2. Inform your clients: Generate a dedicated one-time link for your client from your SmugMug gallery and send it to them.

3. Client selection: Your clients follow the link to your gallery and choose their favorite photos up to the agreed-upon limit of 20.

4. Effortless delivery: Once they've made their selections, they can immediately download their chosen photos (and only their chosen photos), simplifying the delivery process for you. 

Don't miss out on the opportunity to improve your client experience and add value to your photography services. Client downloads are a feature that can make your client delivery workflow easier than ever.

To get started with client downloads and see the impact it can have on your photography business, simply log in to your account and explore this feature today. Watch this quick video to see it in action.

Available only for SmugMug Pro subscribers. Not on the Pro plan? Learn more about how the Pro plan can help you elevate your photography business.

Offering coupons is a powerful strategy that can provide numerous benefits for you and your clients. SmugMug makes offering coupons a snap, so let’s learn more about how this feature can benefit your business.

Increase sales and urgency.

Coupons can create a sense of urgency and excitement around purchasing. When customers know they have a limited time to use a discount, they are more likely to make a decision quickly. This can lead to increased sales as clients are motivated to take action before the coupon expires.

Attract new customers.

Coupons are not only attractive to existing clients, but they also entice new customers to make their first purchase. People often try out products or services they've been curious about if there's a discount involved. This can help you expand your customer base.

Reward and retain loyal clients.

Coupons are a fantastic way to show appreciation to loyal customers. By offering exclusive discounts to repeat clients, you can strengthen your relationship with these customers and encourage them to return for more business in the future.

Enhance customer loyalty.

When clients receive discounts, they are more likely to feel a connection to you. This sense of goodwill can lead to increased customer loyalty as clients remember the positive experience and are more likely to return for future photography needs.

Drive seasonal or themed sales.

You can utilize coupons to align with specific seasons, holidays, or events. For instance, a discount offered for holiday family photos or back-to-school portraits can drive targeted sales during those periods.

Customize a variety of offers.

SmugMug coupons offer various types of discounts like "percent off," "amount off," or "free shipping." This allows you to tailor your offers to what resonates best with your audience.

Boost marketing efforts.

Promoting coupons through various channels—social media, email newsletters, or your website—can generate buzz and engagement. This not only leads to immediate sales but also increases the visibility of the your brand.

‍Delve into data Insights.

Through the use of coupons, you can gather valuable data on customer behavior. You can analyze which coupons were most effective, which customer segments responded best, and adjust your marketing strategies accordingly.

Gain a competitive advantage.

In a competitive photography market, offering coupons can set you apart from your competitors. Clients are more likely to choose a photographer who provides additional value through discounts.

Encourage repeat business.

After a successful purchase using a coupon, clients are more likely to return for future photography needs, even without a discount. This can establish a long-term relationship between you and your clients.

SmugMug coupons are a powerful tool that can help you boost sales, attract and retain customers, and strengthen your brand's presence. By using coupons effectively, you can create a win–win situation for both yourself and your clients. Haven’t tried coupons on SmugMug? Learn more about this feature today!

Available only for SmugMug Pro subscribers. Not on the Pro plan? Learn more about how the Pro plan can help you elevate your photography business.

What are packages?

Packages are the perfect tool for professional photographers like you to offer curated bundles of photo prints and digital copies. Imagine being able to provide your clients with an all-in-one solution that simplifies their purchase experience while boosting your sales. It's a win-win.

The benefits of packages.

Boost sales: Packages allow you to create enticing offers that encourage customers to buy more. Offering bundled deals can increase the average order value and, ultimately, your revenue.

Simplify the purchase process: Your clients no longer need to agonize over choosing individual prints and files. They can easily select a package that suits their needs, making the decision-making process hassle-free.

Value for your clients: Customers love discounts and bundled deals. Packages provide them with great value, making them more likely to make a purchase and recommend your services to others.

Consider this example - you could offer a package that includes two 8x10 prints, two 4x6 prints, and the original digital files—all at a discounted rate. Your clients can then choose which photos they want to include in this package, creating a personalized experience.

Getting started with packages.

Ready to make the most of this feature? Here's how to get started:

1. Log in to your account.

2. Navigate to the packages section via the Selling Tools menu at the top of your account.

3. Create your customized packages based on popular combinations.

4. Promote these packages to your clients through your website, social media, or email campaigns.

Remember, packages can not only simplify your workflow but also enhance the buying experience for your clients, leading to more orders and happier customers.

Ready to get started? Learn more about creating packages.

Available only for SmugMug Pro subscribers. Not on the Pro plan? Learn more about how the Pro plan can help you elevate your photography business.

The SmugMug Events feature, available for our Pro subscribers, gives your clients a way to pick their favorite photos from galleries you've curated for them, streamlining the purchasing or photo delivery process in a simple and elegant way. Set up is easy and the benefits are many: 

You provide easy access to a group of galleries via a single click.

You even get to customize the URL. Your client sees a gorgeous, personalized presentation with each gallery displayed before them, highlighted by an optional slideshow.

Your important clients can pick favorites.

Just add them as participants. Click the Share button and send them a personalized email invitation with their unique link to the event.

You can control access by making your events public, unlisted, or protected with a password.

If your event is public, you can set up the option for viewers to register themselves, meaning you get to collect their email addresses and they get to pick favorites. Win–win.

‍How it works.

Registered participants (your clients) browse the event galleries and choose their favorites, marking them with a little red heart. As favorites are clicked, virtual copies of each favorite photo are placed in a special Favorites gallery. Favorites galleries are unique to each registered guest or participant and visible only to them (and you). And your visitors will always know where to find their favorites gallery because we'll send them an email that includes a link to it.

In short: It's easy for your clients to pick, choose, and view their favorites.

They can review them, whittle down their selections, or add new favorites at any time. Participants can purchase any of your available products directly from within their favorites gallery, or anywhere within the event. If you’re working with a client on selections for a special project, like a wedding album, their choices are only a click away. No more trying to hunt down cryptic file names from an email.

Tips to maximize your events.

Feature the event on your homepage. SmugMug allows you to set up your event and generate a URL beforehand so you have that info at the ready. Online, you can modify your event and add new photos as they become available. If that’s too complicated, you can even feature an event on your homepage, putting it front and center.

Feature the event gallery (or galleries) on printed materials at the event. Include the event URL at every opportunity, like the following. (Make sure your printed material matches the formality of the event.)

• In the event’s program.
• On business cards you make just for the event.
• On postcards included in swag bags given out at the event.
• On elegant formal event cards displayed on tables, at the guest book, or at the registration table.

Talk to your host. If your event has a chairperson, director, or simply a social butterfly, exchange email addresses and information. Chances are they have access to a mailing list, registry, or directory in which to distribute info about the event, the photos, and you.

Remember, the people you photograph want to see their images. It’s up to you to get them to where the photos live. Events are one way to make that process a little bit easier on you and your clients.

No sales? Hard time snagging clients? Your deep-discount pricing could be hurting your reputation. It's not uncommon to offer your services at a cut-rate discount with the hope you'll snap up eager bargain hunters. But is this the right approach?

Successful pros agree that raising your pricing may not necessarily scare away potential clients; in fact, it can do you some good. 

The trouble with “cheap.”

"Cheap" sets bad expectations for your clients. If you're a cheap photographer, clients wonder how you're cutting costs so much and if it's worth it for them to take the risk. They question your ability to manage expectations and communicate with them. Will you effectively guide them through an important experience, or will you simply fire a few snaps, hand over some digital files, and call it a day?

"Cheap" makes it look as though you don't think you're any good. Any business owner who doesn't think their brand's the best is probably in the wrong field.

How to not be expensive.

Right about now you're probably worried about scaring away clients by being too expensive. How do your clients know what "expensive" really is? It's all about pricing and a concept called anchoring—meaning they have to compare the value of something new with something familiar. In layman’s terms, clients will be able to better grasp the value of your work by judging their interaction with you.

Here are some tips to help you prove your work is worth every penny:

1. Create a unified brand: A professional website. Clearly placed information. A custom domain and email address go a long way, too.
2. Be professional: Be prompt, courteous, and friendly. You provide a quality service, which is worth paying for.
3. Look and act the part: No one is going to pay $5k to someone wearing stained T-shirts, especially if they show up late and forget to bring the paperwork.

How to do the "free" thing (the right way).

Just because you should be paid fairly for your work doesn't mean you can't cut clients a break, or even do the "free" thing once in a while. Samples are a great way to give clients a taste of what you do without giving away the farm. Some ideas of how to work this into your business plan:

• Model 1: Waive your session fee, but be sure to charge for prints and digital downloads.
• Model 2: Apply the sitting fee toward the purchase of digital downloads, making the first X-number free.

On SmugMug, it's easy to offer a few deep discounts by creating a custom coupon to hand out. There are five different types, ensuring you can keep changing it up and keeping things relevant.

Calculate your costs to avoid going broke.

The reason most photography businesses don't survive is because their owners didn't properly calculate their costs. And as the old adage goes, time is money. Don't forget that your time and expertise are more precious than replaceable objects like paper and gear; you can hire assistants, but they aren't you. 

Here are our suggested guidelines for calculating your costs:

• For prints: Your pricing shouldn’t be less than 4x your hard costs, including packaging and shipping. Seems like a lot? It's not; about half your balance goes toward taxes, 1/5th goes toward the base cost of the item, and the rest goes toward your profit.
• Albums and multi-photo goods: Your pricing should be no less than 3x your hard costs, which may include design work as well as the physical cost of the product.
• For downloads: Price your larger-than-web-sized digital downloads at no less than the cost of ten prints. Giving away images at any printable size means you have to make it worth your while: clients will use that file to print lots of prints, and you also run the risk of having your brand diluted if your client opens Photoshop and makes their own digital adjustments. Check out our resolution chart to find out how big different sizes can print.

The bottom line.

Don't be afraid to charge a fair price for your work. By understanding your costs and charging more, you're sending a stronger message to your clients and ensuring they value you, too.

If you're already in business and think your prices need an adjustment, remember that it's simple to adjust your pricing using SmugMug’s pricelists.

Do you know Lee Morris, pro photographer, video producer, and educator? He's a seasoned commercial, advertising, fashion, and wedding photographer, plus he's co-founder of the website Fstoppers.com. He took a moment to reflect on the wedding business, why it's so hard, how it's changing, and how pros like you can make the most of it by staying true to your heart.

‍The role of sentimentality in business.

When it comes to managing a business as intimate as wedding photography, it’s easy to let your emotions take over. I try my best to approach my photography business as I would any other business. I need to manage my time, keep my current clients happy, consistently book new clients, and make money. Many photographers fail to meet at least one of these goals. Maybe you’re really good at making your current clients happy, but you work too much and you don’t enjoy your job or have time to enjoy your life. Maybe you book a ton of work, but you don’t charge enough and you’re constantly struggling financially. 

During the digital revolution, many photographers who didn’t change their pricing structure were incapable of making their current clients happy. Maybe their pictures were great, but as digital started to take over, couples felt like they were getting nickeled and dimed after the event. If you can’t make your current clients happy, you’re going to struggle to find new clients.

When I started my business years ago, I learned early on that I hated making prints and albums. I could shoot a wedding in a few hours and make a few thousand dollars, but it would take me a full day to retouch a few pictures, print them myself, or take the files to a lab, package them up, take them to the post office, and I would only make a few dollars’ profit. In many cases my clients would have to wait weeks to actually get their prints because I was out of the state shooting another job. I decided I was going to start giving away the digital files with each of my weddings. Maybe I would lose a few dollars on the back end, but I was also gaining a ton of free time; and my clients were happier because they could print their pictures how they wanted, when they wanted.

As a single guy in my twenties, money was important to me, but free time was far more valuable. Once I had booked my 20 or 30 weddings for the year, I knew I had plenty of income to support myself and had the security to start working on other things. With the extra time I had gained, I created the photography website Fstoppers.com. If I had focused on custom prints and albums like other photographers do, I have no doubt I would have made a bit more money, but Fstoppers has been far more rewarding. Creating videos for our website like Bon Jovi’s photographer behind the scenes, Peter Hurley’s: The Art Behind The Headshot, or How To Become A Wedding Photographer has been the most exciting experiences of my life.

My point is that you may love your photography career (I sure do), but if you can give yourself some extra time, who knows what you’ll be able to create.

SmugMug = time = money.

When I found SmugMug, I realized it filled three major needs in my business:

1. High-resolution backups are included with the subscription.
2. It allowed me to promote my photography by giving guests and family members a place to go to see my work.
3. Bay Photo integration meant I gave my clients high-quality prints without actually having to do any work.

By simplifying my business, I was meeting all four goals above; I had more free time, my clients were happier, I was marketing to new potential clients, and I was making money from print sales each month.

It’s easy to think we know what’s best for our clients. We may know that if they don’t book an album now, they will probably never get one made. But the sad truth is that many of our clients would rather put their pictures on Facebook than deal with an album. It’s important to remember that we are hired by these couples to do a service for them; if they don’t want prints, we should figure out what they do want and charge them accordingly for that. 

If you’ve ever bought a car before, you know how obnoxious it can be when the salesman tries to sell you on something you don’t want. There are so many other ways to make money with wedding photography that may not involve expensive prints. I make far more money than I ever did selling prints by selling engagement and bridal sessions, setting up a photobooth at receptions, selling video slideshows of the event, and offering a video service. Many photographers also don’t know that SmugMug makes it incredibly easy to sell digital copies of files. If you don’t want to give away your files like I do, you’re able to set the size and price for each individual picture.

I want to make clear that I love high-quality prints and that many wedding photographers make a lot of money selling prints, even today. I love seeing my work printed huge, professionally framed, and hanging on a wall. My point is simply that times are changing and the current generation of brides probably do not want the same things that their mothers wanted. To stay ahead of the pack, you need to deliver exactly what your clients are looking for, not what you think they will appreciate one day.

If I could sum up this article into a single point it would be this: Listen to your clients, and give them what they want. A happy bride will tell her friends how wonderful you are, and you will never have to worry about a shortage of work. In some cases, especially this one, it can make your life a lot simpler, and you might even make more money.

All photos by RL Morris Weddings.

Career highlights.

1. Serves 250,000–300,000 customers annually.
2. Shoots 40,000–50,000 gorgeous images per event.
3. 5 million+ images generated in five years.
4. Client list includes All American Baseball Youth, Youth Baseball Nationals, Youth Softball Nationals, American Youth Football, Babe Ruth League, World Series Cal Ripken Baseball, and The Ripken Experience.

Turning want to need.

Glossy Finish was born in 2006 when Haim Ariav was suddenly inspired to build a mobile photo lab in a trailer and cart it to sporting events, enabling families to view, purchase, and retrieve photos on site. Ariav, a classically trained photographer, saw an unfilled niche: he recognized that as a “want” industry, photography was taking a hit in a rough economy, so he set out to re-brand memorializing athletic moments as a “need” by making it easier to enshrine kids’ sports glory. Redefining how images are delivered on site is the foundation of Glossy’s business model, unique in the sports photography vertical.

The post-game show.

But on-site sales aren’t Glossy’s sole revenue stream. After an event, Ariav’s team uploads its treasures to SmugMug’s cloud and follows through with additional distribution via SmugMug’s labs. Online sales, a significant supplement to Glossy’s revenue stream, run smoothly on SmugMug, along with back-office functions. “We rely on the website for 100% of our revenue for events that don’t utilize the mobile lab,” Ariav said. “Using the SmugMug infrastructure, reliability and scalability are key for us. Having access to the various products offered by the labs is a huge opportunity for us to carry out our online strategy.” 

Ariav’s team uses online proofing to boost non-mobile sales. “Different events may not warrant the use of our patent-pending mobile lab,” he pointed out. “The success of those depends on customer satisfaction with images and ease of purchase. SmugMug allows us to deliver a successful experience.”

Scoring points with social media.

Ariav endorsed SmugMug’s decision to allow digital downloads to have watermarks. “We felt it would facilitate our ability to brand ourselves on social media,” Ariav said. “We wanted to have a presence on social networks like Facebook and Twitter, where so much photo sharing takes place. We know how important printmarks and watermarks are to both our business and our creativity.” 

Ariav milks every branding opportunity he can out of SmugMug’s tools, even while focused on image protection. “Printmarks turn images from just a photograph into a memory,” he said. “Our logo is also typically part of the printmark. Watermarks deter people from stealing, but we also use them as a way to show what [clients’] prints will look like with the printmark. We are always marketing and trying to keep up brand awareness.”

Owning it from field to checkout.

Outlining a strong customization strategy for site design and gallery organization, and a reliance on SmugMug’s advanced customization tools, Glossy also has the cart-branding feature firmly in the “on” position: “Branding is a huge part of what we do best, which can be seen in our website customization. We [use] cart branding so our customers know they’re getting a great Glossy Finish product. We also use the box sticker. We want customers to know who they are getting a package from and, most importantly, thank them for their order.”

Less work, more profit.

Ariav used to blanket events with trigger-happy shutterbugs. Now, by sending sales teams to pre-sign customers, he may only capture four or five kids out of 20, but the average order has increased from $25 to $125. “It’s okay not to photograph every player on every field at every game,” he said. “We focus only on those that want and love our photos. It works better for the customer and us

With SmugMug’s help, this focus on time-saving extends to online sales: “We try to keep pricing as uniform as we can to lessen confusion on our end,” Ariav said. “With the introduction of pricelists, it is much easier to organize pricing throughout the site. Now I can set up pricelists for sales and simply move galleries around once the sale is over.”

Making friends with the moms.

After cutting overhead and moving from the flea-market, on-spec approach to a more profitable, streamlined system scaffolded on a $20 deposit credited toward purchase, Ariav saw opportunities to reach a larger audience without snapping a photo. Envisioning his business as “an exclusive entertainment club,” Ariav created custom lanyards customers could don at soccer tournaments, showcasing that their kid’s athletic prowess was immortalized by Glossy Finish. The result? A flood of visitors to his trailer.

Taming the technology beast.

Photographers have never discriminated when it comes to capturing contacts; Glossy worked hard to collect home addresses and emails. Now, Ariav plays smarter, relying on texting select targets for marketing blasts. His on-site blitzes are wildly successful. “If we have a slow period, we can ping them and—boom!—the trailer fills up. We have a direct connection to our customers. And when we’re done with an event, we have more contacts in our database for future direct and instant marketing.”

If you’re a portrait or event photographer, you’ve undoubtedly had clients ask you any or all of the following questions:

• Are digital files included with my booking?
• Could I get a digital copy?
• Will I get a USB with all my images on it?
• Can I post these photos on Instagram?

The fact is we're living in a digital world. Fewer and fewer people are interested in physical prints and are increasingly using websites and social media to store and share their precious memories.

At SmugMug, we still believe in the power of a printed photograph, but we think it's equally important to adapt your business to the digital needs of today’s customers.

You've already got your portfolio and proofing solution sorted out with SmugMug, and you know what a lifesaver our print labs are in fulfilling your print and merchandise orders. Don't leave money on the table by keeping digital downloads a secret!

Photos + video downloads = instant gratification.

Portfolio and Pro account owners can price and sell single digital images and video files to clients and they're retrievable immediately after checkout. In other words, they're perfect for customers who are itching to share with friends and family right away. Digital downloads also buy you time, especially if they'll be waiting for you to proof your prints; and they provide a little extra cash in your pocket.

Don't think you can emotionally "let go" of your digital files? Not to worry: You can lock them down and offer only smaller display sizes or choose to offer files that only include your printmark. Additionally, you can set one price for personal use and charge more for commercial licensing. Or sell the whole gallery at a single package price.

Steps to start selling.

1. Protect against theft.

When you decide to start selling downloads, it's of utmost importance to be sure you've got image protection set up the right way. Take a look at the resources we've written to help you set up watermarking, right-click protection, and more.

2. Strategize your pricing.

We've got a great article that helps you answer the eternal question, "How much should I charge?" but this is a very personal decision and there is no right answer. We can, however, offer some practical tips:

• Don't dismiss printmarks. While text or logos cover up part of your image, there's a greater benefit: they're advertising for you. Create a printmark that's tasteful and unobtrusive, and your clients will be happy to share your name with the world.
• Set your larger downloads at a higher price point than your prints. Assuming you're selling downloads so customers can get prints made locally instead of through SmugMug's print labs, you'll have to make up for that loss. Also remember that a digital file doesn't self-destruct once it's been printed, so make sure you build multiple uses of those files into your prices.
• Consider paring down your offerings. While it's true we make several download options available for you to sell, it doesn't mean you should actually do it. Decision paralysis throttles sales every day, and we want you and your clients to both be happy.
• Include digital files in your sitting fee/packing price, then give your client a print credit coupon after the shoot to purchase digital downloads. This method streamlines the amount of thinking they need to do, and it keeps everything close to your website at SmugMug. 
• Alternatively, use our client downloads feature to deliver a select number of full-res photos in the gallery to the client via zip file.

3. Set your prices.

Just like traditional prints and gifts, you price your photo, video, and gallery downloads in your pricelists manager to make them available to your clients. The only difference is that all digital downloads are delivered instantly via email from SmugMug, and they aren't tied to a specific print lab like physical products.

We hope we've inspired you to try an all-new way to make more money from your photography, as well as given you new ways to make your clients happier. If you're brand new to digital downloads or just want to read more about how you can make money at SmugMug, read our help pages for all the details.

As always, don't hesitate to reach out to our Support Heroes if you're confused, need help, or just have a question about what you need to do next. Happy sales to you!

This tip is brought to you by cabbey, landscape and fine-art photographer, and one of SmugMug's backend engineers. He's usually up to his elbows in the code that sends your orders to the labs and your profits to the bank, but now he's sharing some tips for photographers who want to be sure they’re getting the best possible prints.

‍But it looked good on my screen!

Let's say you take a picture of your son and the camera does everything perfectly in terms of white balance and exposure. You made sure the image was properly exposed, something akin to the image on the left below.

Next, you downloaded that image and loaded it onto your computer. But your computer's monitor isn’t calibrated, so your photo suddenly looks too red and too bright, like the middle image below.

To correct this, you fixed it in Photoshop until it looked like the original image. When you were done, you uploaded it to SmugMug and ordered a print, then received something that looks dark and weirdly tinted green:

Why did the lab ruin my image?

They didn't! The problem is that monitors are generally made for office tasks, not photography. Manufacturers give you the brightest display possible with the punchiest red they can produce.

As a result, any time you process your photos on an uncalibrated display, you're making your image considerably darker and turning down the red cast, skewing everything toward cyan. The third image above is what your finished photo actually looks like, and the lab faithfully printed what you sent them.

‍Calibration to the rescue.

By calibrating your monitor, you'll get better prints and happier customers without having to fall back on SmugMug's 100% print guarantee. The top three correctable problems that land on our help desk are

1. The prints are too dark.
2. The prints have a weird color cast.
3. Skin looks too red.

We have a great help page about return rates that shows what gets returned and why. The top six reasons are all solvable by using a properly color-managed workflow.

‍How do I do it?

Exactly how you do it depends on what gear you buy. There are a number of different choices, but the leaders of the pack are Datacolor's Spyder and X-Rite's lines.

In general, you'll need a colorimeter or spectrophotometer (fancy words, but they basically mean a special device you can put on your screen and plug in to a USB port) and a piece of software that usually comes bundled with it. The software will put your monitor through its paces while you have the meter on it, then it uses that information to build an output profile for your screen.

With that resulting profile, any software that cares about a properly color-managed workflow can properly display accurate colors on your screen. Since monitors' color accuracy varies over the lifetime of the display, it's important to update the profile periodically, at least every month or two. Most of the above programs will remind you when it's time to re-profile your display.

You can also get a calibration print with SmugMug. With that in hand, you can bring the calibration image up in your editor of choice and see how much closer a calibrated workflow makes it look on your monitor. The closer it is, the closer your images will be when you're editing them.

Lab color correction: One click to save them all.

Portfolio and Pro account holders can always print through Bay Photo, WHCC, or Loxley Colour, whose color-correction services are always done by hand. It costs a little more, but it can save you time at your desk, or headaches if you don't feel like fiddling with your computer. 

You can find this option when editing your pricelists. 

‍Go the bargain route.

Most operating systems have an "eyeball" calibration you can do that will at least get you started. They aren't as accurate, and they depend on your eyes making decisions, so be aware that this may not work for everyone.

On a Mac, use Spotlight to launch Display Calibrator Assistant. Once it opens, just follow the steps.

On Windows, search in the control panel for "display calibration" and, again, follow the steps.

The simple formula for profitability is revenue - expense = profit. But if success were that easy, why do most new small businesses fail? And what more should you be thinking about when starting your new photography business?

First off, where will your revenue come from? For photographers this is typically from one or both of two sources:

• Through the sale of goods: charging for prints, digital files, videos
• Through the sale of services: sitting/booking fees

And secondly, where will your profit come from? There are many pricing models available to photographers, but these are two of the most popular:

• Cost-plus: add a markup to your calculated cost of goods
• Value-based: based on the value of your service as perceived by your customer
  

What does it cost to do what you do?

Whether you decide to use a cost-plus pricing model or a strategic pricing model based on the value of your service, you need to have a good understanding of your actual costs of doing business. This is more than an hourly rate or the cost of the products you’ll provide. 

Consider the following:

• What is your time worth?
  Make sure you consider all the time involved in a shoot—contact with customers before the shoot, travel, shoot time, edit time, delivery time: it all adds up.

• Wear and tear on your equipment.
  Shutter count, dust and grime, not to mention upgrading to keep current with ever-improving technology.

• Business expenses.
  Electricity, insurance, marketing, software, website, child care...

• Who do you want your customers to be?
  And what will it cost to market and appeal to your target audience?

Hot tip: The National Press Photographers Association has a handy cost calculator that might help you figure out your cost of doing business.

‍Why you should never lowball your work.

How you value your work is more than material cost and time spent, it’s about the time, experience, and artistry it takes to capture the images uniquely as you and only you can. If customers could take the photos themselves, they wouldn't be hiring you. 

Every business owner will battle pricing pressure at some point. It can come from price wars with a competitor or a persistent customer who won't buy anything without a discount. That being said, starting low is bad for business. 

Low prices set low expectations from your clients. If you’re a cheap photographer, clients might immediately question your reliability or the quality of your work. 

Being “cheap” also means you can’t afford to invest in your business or use more effective marketing strategies like coupons and special sales. These tools are invaluable for creating urgency and closing sales. Also, placing a fair (higher) monetary value on your work will inspire confidence in yourself and your clients.

"Moms and young kids out of college are opening up shop down the street. The new freelancer charging $50 per session has taken some of my clientele," Susan Sidoriak of Silverbox Creative Studio said. “Yet I have raised my prices throughout the recession, and the economy hasn’t really hit my business." Sidoriak got a bit of pushback when she raised her prices on 4×6 and 5×7 holiday photos last fall, but not one customer jumped ship.

‍Use SmugMug pricing tools for an easy advantage.

SmugMug's pricing tool allows you to create different pricelists for different products and event types: weddings versus senior photos, limited-edition prints versus stock photos, etc. You can then apply each pricelist to galleries or individual photos.

Every new SmugMug Pro should set up pricing. You’ll have some important decisions to make:

• SmugMug offers many great print labs. Which one is right for you?
• The labs offer color-correction services. Should you use it?
• SmugMug offers more than 300 print, merchandise, and download products. How many will you offer?
• How much profit do you want to make?

Offer clients discounts with a built-in coupon tool to sweeten the deal. Who doesn’t love a sale? Incentivize your customers to make their purchase quickly by setting expiration dates on your coupons.

“Print credits are vital to my business model,” said Meghan MacAskill of Wild Bloom Studio. “[I noticed] that many clients weren’t actually pulling the trigger and getting prints. I decided to model photo sessions differently and include a print credit in every package to guide clients into purchasing prints. It has been very successful, and SmugMug's coupon feature is vital for it to work without me filling those orders myself.” 

A couple more Pro tips.

Packages are also a popular tool for school and sport photographers. With packages, you can bundle a set of prints together for a single price, creating a value incentive for your customer...and a simpler buying experience.

Printmarks allow you to “sign” prints and photo downloads. They can be used as an artist's signature, to add value to a print product, or as advertising, which then allows you to offer the product at a reduced price compared to a non-printmarked version. 

Pick the strategy—or mix and match several—that makes the most sense for your business!

We’re all thinking about it, so we’re here to talk about it. Here are eight SmugMug tools that will improve your sales and get more cash into your pocket.

1. Pricelists.

SmugMug's pricelists give you the power to

• Manage all your pricing from one place. 
• Manage your pricing across hundreds of galleries with only a few clicks.
• Offer different pricing for different types of events (wedding, sports, family photos, etc). 
• Decide how much profit you make on each sale.

2. Proof delay.

SmugMug's proof delay gives you the power to make finishing touches before sending orders to the lab, allowing you to fix things such as customer cropping mistakes and to save on upload time.

Time-saving tip: Upload medium-resolution JPGs and, when your clients make an order, swap them with full-resolution, edited files. How? Compress your images in your favorite photo editor before you upload photos to SmugMug. They'll upload faster without affecting your customers' opportunity to buy large prints. Then use proof delay's replace function after clients place orders to swap the compressed image with the full-res file. 

This way, you only edit the images that are purchased. SmugMug’s proof delay helps SmugMug Pro Andi Grant maintain her high standards: "I love proof delay because I do very little editing to my proofing galleries—none for boudoir," she said. "So when a client orders an image, I then have the opportunity to make sure it’s perfect. I especially like to be sure their cropping is correct."

3. Color correction.

SmugMug’s lab color correction gives you the power to leave global color edits to the experts, ensuring great print products for your customers and freeing up your day. This setting is found in your pricelist manager. 

4. Image protection.

SmugMug's many image-protection features ensure your customers are buying, not “borrowing,” your photos. Here's what we recommend:

• Use watermarks: Advertise your copyright and protect against screen grabbers.
• Enable right-click protection: Foil those “save as” stealers before they start.    
• Disable originals: Prevent one-click downloads. 

5. Printmarks.

Printmarks put your signature or logo onto the products your customers buy. In the case of a fine-art photographer, a printmark is a way to sign the print the customer receives, creating more value for the customer.

For event photographers, printmarks work as advertising that allows the photographer a way to offer the product for a lower price, and encourage sales.

6. Digital downloads.

Photo and video downloads give you the power of instant gratification. SmugMug has more than 30 digital-download options you can price and sell.

Pro tip: Gallery backups are perfect for delivering files to customers that have paid for your services in advance.

7. Custom discounts.

Coupons and packages are powerful sales tools every pro should use. Who can resist the opportunity to get more for less?

• Percentage or dollar-off coupons are fantastic incentives to encourage more sales.
• Print credits are perfect when built into your session fee in return for a prepaid sale or as a gift to a special client.
• Packages allow you to set a single price for multiple print products, making it easier for clients to check out.

8. Events and favorites.

Events give your buyers the ability to gather their favorites into a single gallery for review. You can also give several clients in a single shoot their own private favorites gallery.

This feature gives your clients a sense of privacy and control, while making your life easier. Favorites also help you work together with your client to discuss their selections for delivery. 

Have a money-making feature you love to use that we didn’t cover above? We’d love to hear it!

What’s new.

• Digital image add-on for print purchasers. If your customers add a print to their cart and you have a digital download version available as well, a new upsell appears in the cart encouraging your customer to add on the digital download. This gives the possibility for the customer ordering prints to purchase the digital version giving them more products to enjoy and Pro & Portfolio subscribers selling can increase their sales.

• New controls for photo downloads. You can now choose the size of the download for each of your galleries and you can provide a customer or client a gallery without a limit on the downloads so they can “select all” if they so choose!

What’s changed.

• More details added to help pages! Additional info on how to use a subdomain with your account, setting up Google Search Console on your account, updates to the Assistants help page to include steps on how to set up this feature on your Pro account, and how to share to Wordpress when using a custom domain.
• Latest iOS app version 4.8.1 which provides the new download size feature to be available within the app.
• Lightroom Classic Plugin version 3.5.4 released that corrects some entanglements issues in regards to virtual copies.
• Android app version 4.6.4 released that includes the download size feature and better information for you when you’re trying to create a folder nested too deeply in your folder hierarchy.

Bug fixes.

• Jumped on a few bugs impacting the speed of uploads and digital downloads. We hope you didn’t notice any issues!
• Addressed issues with the Adobe Lightroom Classic plugin for RAW file upload errors, missing watermark settings, and other small annoyances.
• Resolved an issue where manual sorting was not honoring their gallery position so photos should be in the order that you want them to be!

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Remember to keep an eye out for updates in the ‘What’s New’ section in your SmugMug account. And tell us what you think or what features you’d like to see: start a conversation on our Facebook, Instagram, and/or X (formerly known as Twitter).

Looking back at 2022.

In 2022, we celebrated 20 years of helping photographers all over the world showcase their art, cherish their memories, share their experiences, and run their businesses. And a lot has happened in those 20 years! We’ve heard amazing stories from photographers about their work and how they run their businesses. We’ve told some of their stories with SmugMug Films, where we highlight the inspirational work of amazing photographers around the world. And we’ve heard from our customers about how much of an impact our platform has made in their lives.

You are our priority, and the work we did in 2022 reflects that.

As your business grows, we’re enabling you to do more of it while on the go. We added notifications to our mobile apps to let you know when you make a sale. We also added mobile support for proof delay and made it possible for you to check on the status of orders no matter where you are. These small changes free you to manage your business when and where you want.

When you’re at your desk, we’ve added support for proof delay directly into the SmugMug plug-in for Lightroom Classic, allowing you to stay in this powerful tool while fulfilling customer orders.

It can be difficult to know if your photos are getting in front of your potential buyers, so we added improved SmugMug gallery engagement stats to get the data on how your potential buyers are responding and if the promotional channels you’re using are effective.

Our world-class customer support Heroes answered more than 120,000 inquiries. Many issues were resolved in just a few minutes. We’re proud to continue offering this level of courteous, effective, and fast customer support.

We made improvements to search to make finding photos easier for you and for your customers. Search is now faster and more accurate across all our subscription plans, and for customers opted into SmugMug Source™, it also includes auto-tagging of objects and geolocation.

We improved the purchase experience for customers ordering digital downloads from mobile phones and tablets, solving a fulfillment pain point many of you shared with us. We also added the ability for you to sell digital packages, giving you the best-in-class tools to deliver photographs to your clients.

But none of that matters if all of your photos aren’t safe and readily accessible. In the past two years we made it easier for you to store your RAW files along with your finished JPGs with SmugMug Source, an add-on feature to any SmugMug subscription plan. And in this past year alone, we invested in the stability and reliability of the SmugMug platform and storage. While you can’t always see these changes, everyone benefits from faster page loads, improved browser experiences across devices, and the peace of mind that every pixel of your work is safely stored and ready to be served at a moment’s notice.

Forward looking to 2023.

You’ve told us you want to sell your work. We’re here to support you in achieving that goal. In the coming year you’ll see improvements that help people find and purchase their photos more easily. We know many of your customers increasingly are giving up their desktop computers (if they ever had them) and are using their devices on the go. We’re committed to making that experience easier for them and for you when managing the sale.

You’ve said you want photos available for purchase faster. We’re investing to enable more options for uploading. We’re excited about the opportunities in this space and can’t wait to see how it accelerates your business.

We want to be the best employee you’ve ever had, supporting you with the mundane parts of running your business so you can do the work that’s unique to you. Letting you do the work that your customers depend on. We’re also working on improvements to help you get photos onto our platform more easily, whether that’s on your desktop, tablet, phone, or camera — uploading to SmugMug should always be fast and reliable.

Like many of you, we’re concerned about the world we’re leaving behind for future generations, so we’re working to reduce the environmental impact of our business. This means continued investment in how we run our platform and business in a sustainable manner. We’ll continue to optimize our software, storage, bandwidth, and energy usage to ultimately become climate neutral.

Our purpose as a company is to build a better world through the power of photography. At SmugMug, we’re creating the best platform for all photographers and we’re incredibly humble that you’ve chosen us to be a partner throughout your journey. The next 20 years will be transformative for the photography industry, just as the introduction of digital cameras was. So stay in touch and look for more from us throughout the year!

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Tell us what you think! Start a conversation on Twitter, Facebook, and Instagram.

What’s new.

• Visual cropping guide overlays — A highly requested feature by our photographers has been the ability to help their customers understand what will be cropped on prints as the format sizes are changed. We’re excited to share that we added a visual cropping guide overlay to the shopping cart. In the shopping cart, your customers will see a red overlay which will indicate what will be cropped when printed and so adjustments can be made accordingly before the purchase is made.

• Permanently delete trash in the Library — We’ve added the ability for you to permanently delete items in your Library trash can. Remember, once you add something to the trash, you still have 30 days to recover those items but you also have the ability to permanently delete them by simply emptying the trash. Be careful using this though. Once enabled, the files can’t be recovered.

What’s changed.

• Moved the Watermark tool access in the Selling Tools tab of the Navigation menu — By removing the Watermark tool from Account Settings and moving it to the Selling Tools tab, this puts all of our tools for sellers in once place making it easier to find. Learn more about how to create and use Watermarks to protect your photos.

• Manage pricelist page update — The look and feel of the page where pricelists are managed has been updated to give clearer indication of which pricelist is assigned as the default for the site. At the top of the page, the default price list will be listed on the left.

• For SmugMug Pro members with assistants — Assistants can now log in to your SmugMug Pro account and the Account Settings page will now say “Account Setting-Assistant View”. This will help with lessening any confusion over which login is currently being used when viewing the account.

• Moved access to proof delay and your sales history to the Sales tab in the SmugMug iOS and Android mobile apps.

Bug fixes.

As always, we have been busy squashing pesky bugs!

• Fixed storage concerns on iOS devices. Added a warning on iOS app to advise if the password is the same as the hint being used.
• Addressed minor checkout issues in the shopping cart and problems with payment on order creation to improve the checkout experience for your customers.
• Resolved small bugs found in your Account Settings including updating an address and adding country information on receipts with VAT charges.
• Fixed some small Gallery and folder issues.

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Remember to keep an eye out for updates in the ‘What’s New’ section in your SmugMug account. And, tell us what you think or what features you’d like to see: start a conversation on Facebook, Instagram, and/or X (formerly known as Twitter).

What’s new.

• Brand new SKUs added! Cozy Fleece Blankets and Photo Slates. For photographers who sell prints & gifts, find them in the Keepsakes section of your Bay Photo, WHCC, or EZPrints pricelists.
• Also, new Greeting Card designs were added for this year!

What’s changed.

• iOS and Android apps pushed new updates. iOS app 4.5.7 and Android app 4.4.1. Learn more about our mobile apps.
• SmugMug Connector for Lightroom CC also pushed a new update: 3.3.8. Learn more about the SmugMug Connector for Lightroom CC.

Bug fixes.

• Resolved an issue where zip links opening on mobile devices were having some trouble.

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Remember to keep an eye out for updates in the ‘What’s New’ section in your SmugMug account. And tell us what you think or what features you’d like to see: start a conversation on our Twitter, Facebook, and Instagram.

What’s new.

You can now assign pricelists at more granular levels within your organizational structure: the Folder and Gallery levels.

Simply select your pricelist at your desired level. Remember, at the Gallery level, you can set a pricelist via the Gallery settings as well as through the pricelist itself.

What’s changed.

• Migrated customers using EZPrints for prints to WHCC for print fulfillment due to EZPrints no longer supporting print processing. WHCC is an amazing print lab partner with incredible quality so you and your customers will be delighted with print orders. EZPrints will still be available for providing personalized keepsakes to your customers.
• It is now even easier to find and review default pricelists in the Selling tools section. Default pricelists are clearly visible in its own section.

Bug fixes.

• Found some bugs and glitches and squashed them!

_______

Remember to keep an eye out for updates in the ‘What’s New’ section in your SmugMug account. And tell us what you think or what features you’d like to see: start a conversation on our Twitter, Facebook, and Instagram.

What’s new.

• Attention MacOS users! We’ve added a new plug-in for Capture One. You can now upload photos directly from Capture One to your SmugMug site.
• Apple Pay & Google Pay are now both available as payment methods in the cart. Learn more about this release.

What’s changed.

• For those accounts who have access to watermarking photos, the watermark feature is now accessible right in the navigation bar tab under Selling Tools.

• The SmugMug Android app has received updates with the latest version being 4.4.13. Make sure you’ve updated the app to the most recent version.
• There’s also an updated version of the SmugMug Adobe Lightroom plug-in so make sure you’re on version 3.4.3.
• Overall performance improvement for your SmugMug website — specifically the page load times for Photo Sites, Organizer, Login/Signup, Checkout, and many other pages, especially for anyone on slower connections and/or slower CPUs.

Bug fixes.

• Invalid email addresses can no longer be added to Contacts. This will ensure that only valid email addresses can be added and your contacts will have accurate information.
• There was a brief issue with the rendering of uploads, but that was addressed quickly!

_______

Remember to keep an eye out for updates in the ‘What’s New’ section in your SmugMug account. And tell us what you think or what features you’d like to see: start a conversation on our Twitter, Facebook, and Instagram.

Friends, photographers, storytellers: Send us your originals!

We know you've got lots of choices for places to trust with your precious photos, from cloud-based storage services to free social-media sites. But we believe many of those choices come with risk.

At SmugMug we're dedicated to secure storage, and we'll keep every pixel of your photos safe and sound. We want you to trust us with your original, full-resolution files, so we'll never crunch, squish, resize, or compromise your photos.

We also won’t limit the number of photos and videos you can upload, nor the number of times you can access them. Your files are yours, and we'll never hold them hostage.

One upload. Many outcomes.

Once you upload your full-res file, SmugMug maintains it carefully in all its glory, and also creates a series of custom display sizes for easy viewing and sharing.  

You don't need to do a thing. We take your file and optimize your images for web display, all in the background. We resize images on the fly so your viewers get the perfect size photo no matter how big (or small) a browser window they're using.

This means your images will look great on any device, on any connection, anywhere in the world. 

What does this mean for you?

Archive.

SmugMug is your photo archive. All your memories are safely stored in the cloud, letting you access them from any computer at any time. With folders and galleries, you can organize everything in an easy-to-understand way, and arrange your files using our easy drag-and-drop system.

Your untouched, full-resolution originals are always available to be retrieved by you (at no extra charge). In fact, you can get them back individually, or we'll zip up the whole gallery for you. And if you use SmugMug Source, you can upload all your RAW files.

Print.

SmugMug provides you with easy access to high-quality print labs. Upload once to your SmugMug site and make prints, gifts, and merchandise at any time.

Gone are the days of having to deal with lost CDs, corrupt files, or the tedium of having to upload your photos to a second website just to buy prints.

You can also let your loved ones buy prints and gifts from your photos, too. Set your gallery settings' Shop View option to ON to reveal the shopping cart to your fans. They buy from the comfort of their couch, and we deliver the prints to their doorstep.

Share.

After you upload your full-size photos, you can still share any size photo from your site with whomever you choose:

• Send grandma an email with a photo of her newest grandson. 
• Post last night's shenanigans on Instagram. 
• Embed photos into your Craigslist or Ebay ads. 
• Collect your favorite wedding images into a "Best Of" gallery, then share that gallery with the bride. 
• Allow your clients to save high-resolution copies of their favorite images, direct from the proof gallery. (Or not—you can change this if you want to lock them down.)

There are as many ways to share your photos as there are photos to share. 

Protect.

Don't want to share? No problem. There's no need to reveal your originals to your guests. Keep them tucked safely away for your eyes only by restricting the largest display size your viewers can see.

Our Portfolio and Business accounts have extra image-protection tools, including non-destructive watermarks. 

A note about upload speeds: How fast you can upload photos is determined by your internet service provider (ISP) and the size of your files. Digital cameras keep producing larger and larger file sizes, but in reality, printing doesn't require all that data. You can help speed up your uploads with a tiny bit of image compression when you edit your photos. Here's how: Save your files at Lightroom quality of 85% (or Photoshop quality 10) to give you great prints and reduce your upload time. Getting proofs to your clients quickly: Are you a photography pro with lots of event photos to upload for sale? Use image compression to get your proofs uploaded in record speed, and use SmugMug's proof-delay feature to replace only the ones that sell.

A happy customer is a return customer. Your clients chose you over others because they knew you could meet their specific needs, but your job is much more than creating a few good photos: you need to deliver a quality experience from first contact to getting those prints into their hands.

Make a great first impression.

All websites have some basic, common elements: a landing page, header, footer, content boxes, and a way to navigate from page to page. You can change all these elements using customization on your SmugMug Power, Portfolio, and Pro sites.

In addition to the above, you should include the following:

• Your logo
• Contact information (a must!)
• Navigation
• Homepage description and meta keywords

You can also spice your website up with

• A slideshow or video
• Your most recent uploads
• A search box
• or any of the many different content blocks available on your SmugMug homepage.

Don't hide your email address.

Make use of your built-in SmugMug profile. Add your name or business name, an image of yourself, and a background image to take full advantage. You want this info to be easy to find, either on your homepage or in an “About Me” page.

All SmugMug accounts also get a contact email address to fill in on their profile. That, in turn, creates a contact request form available from the contact link in the footer or in your navigation menu.

Keep your site organized.

While galleries are the building blocks of your site, they can be categorized into higher-level folders up to seven levels deep. Keep your site organized to make things easier on your visitors. Then build a navigation menu to help them get around your site.

A navigation menu is a row of links at the top or side of every page, best used when you link to specific galleries, pages, or folders on your site. For extra assistance navigating your site, consider adding breadcrumbs. These additional links at the top of each gallery easily take your viewers back to a gallery’s category or to your homepage. Nothing's worse than a digital dead-end.

Prevent analysis paralysis.

Limit choices and don’t overwhelm the viewer. Cull your shoot down to the best of the best. Limit the products that you sell as well—price only those that best suit your photos' and your clients' needs. 

Then organize your photos to provide a great customer experience in a meaningful and easy-to-navigate way. Your viewer will have an easier time browsing their wedding photos if you take the time to organize them into galleries rather than showing them one gallery with all 1,200 photos.

SmugMug smart galleries can be a real timesaver. Create your galleries and define rules based on keywords, then upload all your photos into a single Unlisted gallery. The smart gallery settings will automatically pull in photos that match your rules based on your keywords.

Take this one step further by making use of events and favorites so customers can pick and choose their favorite photos. Favorites are put into a separate gallery that both you and your customer can see, providing a great way to discuss their choices.

Create a sense of urgency. 

Giving clients incentive to buy sooner than later can make all the difference. Try these tips:

• Create limited-time discounts immediately after the event. With SmugMug, you can easily create a coupon good for only a few days to get clients buying while their memories are fresh.

• Try seasonal or special-event discounts. Encourage customers to avoid the Christmas rush by having a special deal available only in September.
• Take galleries offline (make them unlisted or change the password) after a certain date. Just make sure potential customers know this deadline so they know exactly how long they have to browse and purchase.

Creating an easy and user-friendly site will encourage customers to linger on your site: clear, organized navigation, easy-to-find galleries, and a simple list of products they can buy are all incredibly helpful. Try these tips to keep your bounce rate down and your sale rate up.

These days, everyone has a website. But how do you know what your friends, family, and fans really think when they see it? And if you're a pro making money from your craft, are you sure your site is doing everything it can to get you clients and seal the deal? After browsing tons of sites and hearing the advice from our team of Support Heroes, we've compiled a list of tips to help you get the best, most effective, and appealing website you possibly can. 

1. Your contact information.

Omitting or hiding ways for people to reach you is a grave mistake, one you may not even know you're making. If someone finds your site and wants to talk with you, how would they do it? Yes, putting your email address or phone number out in public can be risky. But there are other ways to let your potential clients and fans reach out to you without throwing the door open to everyone who walks by.

Also, it may be obvious to you that your town of Springfield is in New Jersey, but potential Googlers in Massachusetts, Illinois, Oregon, and Missouri may not be so sympathetic. Be specific about the areas you serve so you'll score top search results by clients looking to hire locals like you.

To do:  Include a way to contact you either at the top, bottom, or in the navigation bar of your website. Add your contact email address in your SmugMug profile. Take it one step further and connect your SmugMug site’s contact form to your navigation menu by choosing the pre-built contact link in the menu bar builder. 

If you talk about your location on your homepage or About page, be specific about the state or country where you're willing to work. You can also add those terms and keywords in your Account Settings > Discovery > Search section so Google and other search engines pick you up ASAP.

2. Personality.

The great thing is everyone has a website these days. But the downside is...everyone has a website these days. How will you stand out? The answer is: Be yourself! You have a personality, and it's completely unique. Use your own language, unique selfies, or whatever it takes to show the world that you're more than another link on the web. Talk about what drives you and why you're passionate about your work. Give visitors a taste of what it’s like to meet you in your studio or at your next gallery show.

To do: It's difficult to talk about yourself, and it's even harder to figure out what strangers want to hear, but don't be afraid to browse through some of your favorite websites and see what sticks in your mind about their bios—the good and the bad.

3. Speed and ease.

Nothing looks worse than a super-slow website with broken images and dead links. Even if you aren't looking to make money through your website, you still want to look as polished as any pro. So do a regular audit of your site, click your links, and update them regularly to make sure they work every time. When you're logged out of your site and viewing it like a guest, what do you see?

To do: On SmugMug, we already give you warp-speed page loads and unlimited traffic and sharing. So you never have to worry about slow load times. Our Share button will generate handy links for all your photos, so you can be sure your images look beautiful every time.

4. Simplicity.

Your gorgeous photos may speak for themselves, but if your site's a mess the message will get lost. When you’re expecting house guests you tidy up, so extend the same courtesy to your online space. No one needs to see the photographic equivalent of your laundry pile.

To do: Curate a few examples of your best work and make them easy to find via a slideshow, featured content on your homepage, or a straightforward link in your navigation bar. Keep this gallery updated with new photos as you take them. Choose images that really show what you love to do and show the full breadth of your abilities. It can be difficult, but you can use SmugMug’s Collect Photo feature to add a virtual copy to a best-of gallery, and easily remove the ones you don't think make the cut.

Love to archive? That's OK. Just keep the rest of your photos neatly organized, too, so leisurely browsers can find their way around.

5. Your brand.

Even if you aren’t a working professional, it's important to give your viewers a unified look and feel that translates to a cohesive experience. Simply using the same colors and font size from page to page can keep your fans feeling grounded and sure that you've got your stuff together. If you're a pro, having your company's name, logo, and a simple set of colors can be all you need to say, "Yeah, I’ve got this."

To do: SmugMug makes it easier than ever to give your site a unified brand. Our pre-built designs have all the details of color scheme, font, and layout baked right in. We've done the heavy lifting for you.

Personalize any of the designs by adding your own logo, changing up the colors by changing the theme, and optimizing the page layout to best reflect your brand. Pro account owners can add order branding, too. 

‍6. Your services.

The key to making great sales is to do the thinking for potential customers so they don't have to. The most basic way to do this is to be crystal clear about what your specialties are and which services you offer. Whether you shoot BMX, babies, or brides, making it obvious in your brand and portfolio is the best way to ensure the right customers are finding you.

You made it! After learning about products and pricelists,  coupons and discounts, and connecting with customers, you’re ready to put it all together into a marketing strategy that will help you drive more sales for the holiday season and all year round. 

Today’s post is all about managing the moving parts of your promotion ahead of time. Think of it as planning now, so your future self can relax and rake in the sales. 

(If you really want to get ahead, we recommend reading through the Marketing for Photographers ebook as well. We can’t offer extra credit, but hopefully you get some extra cash!)

The story so far.

Here’s a quick checklist of the activities you can do (or might have already done) to prepare for your sales push:

1. Choose your products.

• Update your pricelists and tweak as needed.
• Add seasonal items to pricelists.
• Make a gallery of new or best-selling photos.
• Create visual assets for items you want to promote.
• Pro option: Build product packages to boost bulk sales.

2. Pro option: Build a promotion to excite your customers.

• Create a coupon or coupons for your sales push.
• Create visual assets for email and social outlets.

3. Lay the groundwork for outreach.

• Update your email list with your most recent customers.
• Update your website with SEO-friendly terms in your titles and image descriptions.
• Pro option: Add your coupon(s) to a banner on relevant pages, galleries, or your whole site.

You’ve done a lot of work to get here, and you’re almost ready for showtime. All this potential needs a plan, though. It’s time for a content calendar.

What’s a content calendar? How does it help sell more photos?

A content calendar gives you a bird’s-eye view of all the ways you can interact with your customers over time. It shows your communication channels (like your website, email list, and social media outlets) on one axis, and the date on the other, letting you plan and visualize where and when you want particular messages to connect with your future customers.

Content calendars are especially useful for creative businesses who need to spread the word about their work. Why? Because they’re efficient: You can create a single asset—like a blog post, a video, or a gallery—and build a whole raft of communications to promote it across your channels, where you’ll catch the attention of different audiences on each channel.

This means more eyes on your photos, more traffic to your site, and more chances to make the sale.

How to make a content calendar work for your photography.

Picture this: you make a gallery of your best-selling photos for the holidays (we told you it’d come in handy). 

Then you make a coupon for those photos. 

You promote that gallery and discount with a simple shout-out to your email list.

Then you tweet about it on Twitter/X one day. Post a teaser image on Instagram the next. Poll your followers for their favorite photo on Facebook. 

Maybe you throw one last reminder to your email list as the promotion is about to expire.

And all of a sudden, presto, you’ve got a marketing campaign. 

Follow this approach for other galleries, new products, or upcoming holiday promotions, and you can start to see how a content calendar will help you keep everything organized on your end, and keep your customers coming back for more.

Content calendar essentials: Framework.

Building a content calendar is easy. You can start with something as simple as a spreadsheet— in fact, most fancy content calendar tools are based on just that. 

To make things even easier, we built you a template you can use to get started for the upcoming selling season. Just click the image below to download the file, then open it in your favorite spreadsheet app.

Some businesses use content calendars to plan a full year in advance. Others may only use them for specific campaigns or particularly complex projects. For our purposes, a few months will do nicely. 

Content calendar essentials: Channels.

With the “calendar” part taken care of, let’s look at content. For each channel, it’s important to consider what kind of content you want to put out there, and how to play to the strengths of each. For example:

• Instagram is likely to be at the top of your list as a photographer, and for good reason. The ability to share photos, galleries, and videos makes it a natural fit for photographers looking to grow their business, and stories provide a fun way to engage with followers in a low-stakes, casual way.
• Facebook can be used to engage with your followers while they’re scrolling through their news feed. Its flexible tools can help you craft just the right kind of eye-catching post, and fun options like polls and surveys give you extra insight into what your audience engages with the most. Facebook’s paid marketing capabilities also let you target an audience much more specifically, getting just the right eyes on your photos. 
• Twitter/X is excellent for engaging with your followers because they have direct access to you. By setting up notifications and monitoring your account activity, you can be quick to answer questions, address feedback, and turn interactions into business opportunities.
• YouTube is your home for all things video and a great place to try out some non-photo content. Your videos don’t need to be polished, big-budget productions—you can craft a personal hello to your followers, a preview of things to come, or show off your latest print unboxing with a simple smartphone. 
• LinkedIn is often overlooked, but it’s a great asset for professional development and business growth. Building your brand, sharing your business wins, and networking with other photographers are all easily accomplished here.

Feel free to add any communication channels you like to the document (Pinterest? TikTok? Go wild), and let’s dig into scheduling.

Content calendar essentials: Scheduling.

Scheduling is the most personal part of your content calendar creation process, and it will be wholly unique to you and the type of campaigns you want to run. To get you started, though, here are a few important dates to keep in mind this season:

• Thanksgiving—November 25
• Black Friday—November 26
• Small Business Saturday—November 27
• Cyber Monday—November 29
• #GivingTuesday—November 30
• Hanukkah—November 28–December 6
• Christmas Eve—December 24
• Christmas—December 25
• Kwanzaa—December 26–January 1
• Boxing Day—December 26

Upcoming holidays are called out in the content-calendar template, and we’ve gone ahead and populated the first week with a sampling of emails, posts, and assets to get you started. You’ll also want to keep an eye on shipping deadlines so you can let your customers know to order in time for the holidays!

Just like emails, you can draft and schedule your social media posts ahead of time using tools like Facebook’s native scheduler, or try an all-encompassing tool like HootSuite.

Whichever tools you use, a little up-front planning can make your selling season a breeze, so get out there and get posting.

You’ve got a solid foundation. Time to build.

Thank you for joining our Photo Seller’s Foundations series. We hope these tools are helpful for you this selling season, and, as always, our sales specialists are here to answer any lingering questions you have. We can’t wait to see your photos out in the world.

Welcome back to the Photo Seller’s Foundations series. If you missed our posts on products and pricelists or coupons and discounts, you may want to start there. Go ahead, we’ll be here when you come back. 

(You can also tackle the series at your own pace on our Photo Seller’s Foundations page, or get a wealth of photography marketing and business strategy knowledge with our free Marketing for Photographers ebook.)

If you’re following along, you should have an established pricelist, a best-selling gallery, and a shiny new coupon ready for your customers. Now it’s time to get in touch. Today’s a big one: we’ll be going over the basics of email marketing and search engine optimization (SEO), and we’ll take you step by step through how to post a promotional banner to your website. 

Ready? Let’s get to it.

Getting started with outreach.

Connecting with customers—new or returning—can be the hardest part of selling your photos. But there are a few simple ways to stay in touch with your existing customers, and attract new ones, with minimal time investment.

The most important part of this process is making content that people want to see. We’re willing to bet you’re already doing that with your photography, so let’s dig into the next step: leveraging those gorgeous photos to connect with more people. 

Putting yourself (and your photos) out there.

When you upload new photos to your SmugMug galleries or add new products to your pricelists, do you tell anyone? If so, great! You’re ahead of the game. But if you’re like lots of photographers, it’s upload, add a title and tags (maybe), and move on to the next task at hand.

All those beautiful photos can help you strengthen and expand your customer relationships. You’ve just gotta get them out there. We recommend starting simple, with email and social media.

Email:

Getting started with email marketing takes a little work up-front, but it’s easily the best way to keep in touch with your customers. The most important component is a rich and varied list of people to email about your photography. Here’s how to build it.

If you’re just starting out your sales journey, connect with family, friends, and coworkers to see who might be interested in hearing from you and seeing your latest photos. Then get their email addresses, and be sure you’ve got a contact form on your website so current and prospective customers can easily get in touch.

Not sure how to add your own contact form? Episode 69 of SmugMug Live! walks you through the process step by step. Watch it here. 

If you’re an established seller, you’ve got a head start on building an email list thanks to your previous customers. You can export a summary of your sales history by navigating to Account Settings > Business > Selling > Sales History > Manage. 

On the right side of this page, you’ll see the option to download a detailed .csv file of your entire sales history. Open this file in your favorite spreadsheet program, and you’ll see a column for the email addresses of every customer going back six years. 

Copy this column into a word processor or email marketing manager and presto! You’ve got the beginnings of an email list.

Pro tip: Be sure to download your sales history regularly so you can keep your email list up to date with your latest customers. The detailed version is also useful for tracking what types of products are most popular in your pricelist, how your customers are responding to a promotion, and more.

How you manage your email list is entirely up to you. Some photographers maintain their own curated email lists for different types of personal outreach. Others use services like MailChimp or Constant Contact to automate email sends and gain visibility into open rates, click rates, and overall engagement. 

We’ll cover content planning in tomorrow’s post, but whichever way you go, all that’s left is to send those emails! We recommend reaching out whenever you have something to announce: a new product added to your pricelists, photos from your latest shoot, workshops you’re offering, or discounts and offers like the one you made yesterday.

Here’s a sample email template to spread the word about your new promotion. Just download the PSD or HTML file; customize it with your personal photos, logo, and text; maybe throw in some of those best-selling product images from part 1; and you’re off to a great start.

One last thing: Email subject lines are an easy way to stand out in a crowded inbox, so don’t be afraid to get adventurous! Here are a few ideas to get you started: 

• It’s here! A special gift just for you inside.
• It’s my turn to thank YOU. Here’s a coupon for your next purchase.
• Here’s 10% off your next print order, as a way of saying thanks.
  

Social media:

‍Many of the same rules for email marketing apply to social media as well. Did you post a new photo gallery, add a new product, or start a new promotion? Let your followers know on your social feeds.

The huge variety of platforms and metrics can seem like a complex beast, but really, it’s all about consistency and exposure. Share your content often (we’ll get to this tomorrow), tag your posts with relevant hashtags for discoverability, talk to other like-minded users, and you’re well on your way.

If you’re just getting started, here’s a quick and easy project to help you get some exposure: connecting your SmugMug site to your social outlets.

• Log in to your SmugMug account, click Photo Site in the navigation bar, and then select Customize.
• Choose what area of your site you want to add social icons to, like your Entire Site, or just your Homepage or Contact page. 
• Drag the Social Icons content block to where you want it to appear.
• Choose which accounts you want to show in the Social Icons settings, found by hovering over the content block and clicking the wrench icon.
• Add your relevant URL to each active account, and you’re done! 

To keep you going strong, here’s a sampling of standard-sized promotional images for your social posts that include your brand-new 10% off discount. Download them here.

Getting discovered via SEO.

Photography is a big investment for most customers. People are doing research, comparing prices, and looking for just the right photographer to shoot their wedding, sell them the perfect photo for their living room, or take timeless family portraits. 

That means people are out there, every day, looking for your expertise, your art, your photography. 

SEO is how you get found by those potential customers, and we have a wealth of information on how to optimize your SmugMug site, right here at your fingertips. 

We recommend starting with our Four steps to improve your SEO on SmugMug article for a detailed breakdown of the essentials, and if you’re still hungry for more, our SEO for Photographers guide is available for download here.

While you’re making tweaks under the hood of your SmugMug site, there’s one more tool for reaching out that will help you connect with your customers: on-site promotions.

Building banners for on-site promotions.

You’ve built an email list. You’ve posted to social media. You’ve SEOptimized your SmugMug site, and you’re getting lots of love from organic traffic. What’s a hustling photographer to do next?

How about giving those lucky visitors a pleasant surprise? 

You’ve probably seen websites with promotional banners across the top of the homepage, or for specific categories of products, and you can build the same for your SmugMug site. Here’s how:

• Make a new promotion for your SmugMug site using the directions from yesterday’s article as a guide. 
• In your SmugMug account, click Photo Site in the navigation bar, and then select Customize.
• Choose where you want your promotion to appear from the right-hand toolbar—for this walkthrough we’ll choose “Entire Site.”
• In the same toolbar under the Content Blocks heading, expand the Text options (marked by a + sign).
• Click and drag a Text content block to the header section of your “Entire site” window.
• Fill in the text field with your promotion, then size and adjust your copy until it looks good on the page.
• Click “Done” to save and close the text box, then click “Done” in the upper right to save your changes, and, lastly, click “Publish now” to make those changes live.

Want to follow along? Click here for a video walkthrough of adding a promotional banner to your site.

You can also make banners for specific areas of your site (like education or photoshoots) or for specific galleries (like a recent client) by following the steps above and choosing those sections, pages, or galleries instead of choosing “Entire site” when placing your text block.

Just imagine: a family friend receives your email about your new discount and decides to check out your SmugMug site. To their surprise, they’re greeted by an even better discount when checking out your galleries. Now all that’s left is for them to fall in love with a photo and bring it home with them—and receive a bonus 10% off their next purchase!

That’s just one of the ways the above tools can combine to drive more sales for you this season, and all year round. But to really bring it all together, you’ll have to check in tomorrow where we tackle the big picture.

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Not quite ready to reach out to customers? Reach out to our sales specialists instead with any questions. We’re here to help.

Welcome to day 2 of the Photo Seller’s Foundations series. If you missed part 1, be sure to check out yesterday’s products, pricelists, and packages post, or continue reading for today's deep dive into coupons, discounts, and limited-time offers. We’ll also walk you through how to make an automated “thank you” discount for your customers all year round.

As always, you can power through the whole series on our Photo Seller’s Foundations page, or get into the nitty-gritty of photography marketing and business strategy with our Marketing for Photographers ebook.

Setting up coupons in SmugMug.

First things first: Coupons and discounts are only available for SmugMug Pro subscribers. If you’re a Portfolio subscriber who’s been on the fence about upgrading, consider this one more reason to take the plunge and invest in your photography business. 

Coupons are a powerful tool to grab attention, drive sales, and even prime return buyers for more purchases down the road. On SmugMug, coupons are generated via a code that your customers enter during checkout. The option to enter a coupon will only appear when coupon-eligible items are in your customers’ shopping carts. 

You can manage coupons from the same place you find your pricelists: Just click “Manage” under the Coupon section of your Selling Tools page. Here you’ll see any previous coupon discounts you’ve run, and the option to create more.

More of a visual learner? Everything to get you started with coupons is also covered in our Pro Workflow webinar, Coupons: How and why?

Step 1: Choose your coupon type.

When you click the “+ Create Coupon” button in your coupon manager, you’ll be prompted to choose an initial coupon type. SmugMug coupons come in four different flavors: 

• Amount Off: Choose a set amount to take off a purchase, before or after shipping is calculated.
• Percentage Off: Choose a set percentage to take off a purchase, before or after shipping. 
• Free Shipping: Free standard shipping for your customer, or free airmail shipping if the order is international. If the customer opts for faster shipping at checkout, then an amount equal to standard shipping will be taken off the shipping total. 
• At Cost: Offer your lucky customers the option to purchase photos at the same cost you’d pay to print them.

Once you’ve chosen a coupon type, you can fill in the details, including a title, description, desired currency, and discount amount. We recommend giving your coupon a descriptive title that will help you quickly identify it in your coupon list, like “Amount off portraits” or “Percent off metal prints.”

Last but not least, you can choose your custom coupon code. Have fun with this part! Choose something eye-catching, memorable, and descriptive to grab the attention of customers browsing their inbox or social feeds. 

Step 2: Customize with restrictions.

Choosing your discount type is a great start, but the real power of coupons comes alive when you start applying restrictions to fine-tune your offer. These can be mixed and matched to build the perfect coupon for your customers. 

When you click the “restrictions” tab, this is what you’ll see:

Valid from and Valid through will let you set the start and end dates of your promotion, if you 

choose. Many promotions benefit from a limited duration, but some (like the one we’ll walk through making below) are good to leave open-ended. 

Here are your other restriction options:

• Minimum Purchase: Set a minimum total price for the entire purchase before your coupon can be applied to a customer’s order. This can help you ensure the order amount is large enough to cover your coupon’s discount.
• Maximum Discount: The most you want a customer to receive off an order’s total. Especially helpful to ensure a large discount doesn’t eat too much into your gross profits.
• Maximum Uses: How many times a coupon can be used on separate orders. If this is left blank, your coupon will be good until it expires. 
• Maximum Items: How many items the coupon can be applied to in a single order. The most expensive items will automatically be selected for the coupon application to give the buyer the largest discount.
• Choose galleries: By default, your coupon will apply to all your photos, but here you can choose specific galleries you want it applied to instead. This is an easy way to make client- or genre-specific offers.
• Choose products: Like galleries, your coupons will apply to all your products by default, but if you have some special items on sale (like ornaments) or you have a higher profit-margin product you’d like to promote (like gift cards), this tool will let you limit a coupon to a specific product or product category.

Pro tip: By combining coupon types and restrictions, you can create engaging sales like limited-time offers, bulk discounts, and buy-one-get-one deals. We have five great options broken down step by step here: Want to sell your photography? Use coupons. Any one of these would make a great promotion for that best-selling gallery you made yesterday, too.

Step 3: Get your promotions out there.

We’ll cover search-engine optimization (SEO), email, social media, and more in tomorrow’s post, but specific to coupons, here’s an easy way to get your discounts into the hands of people who’ll use them.

Ongoing discounts: Who says coupons are just for selling season? Promote return sales all year round with an automated 10% off “Thank you” coupon for all print orders. It’s an extra $1 per order, but you can deliver your coupon via a custom print, sticker, or, in some cases, both (visit our Help Center article for full details). 

Here’s how to get it set up:

• Create a coupon for your thank-you promotion:

• In the coupon manager, click “Create” and select “Percentage off.”
• Title your coupon something descriptive, like “Thank you 10% off.”
• Enter a coupon code—for this example we’ll use “THANKS10.”
• Enter 10 in the “Discount Amount” field.
• Click “Create” and you’re done with the coupon.

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• Enable “Thank You Prints”:

• Download these customizable PSDs and make them your own! Just be sure to keep the sizing the same—prints need an exact 3:2 ratio, and stickers need to be 2:1.
• Go to your Account Settings page, click the Business tab, and find the Printing section.
• Click “Manage” under the Order Branding subhead to open the Pro Branding tool.
• Upload your images for your coupon and sticker. 
• Check the box next to Thank You Print and Sticker, then click “Done.”

And that’s it! You’ve just made an ongoing coupon to encourage your customers to buy again—or encourage their friends to buy by sharing the discount. It’s a great way to keep in touch with your customers, help them feel seen and valued, and drive repeat sales in the future.

Next up, it’s all about outreach and how to connect with your customers: SEO, email, social media, website updates, and more. Don’t miss it.

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Still confused about coupons? Reach out to one of our sales specialists for help.

Hello, and welcome to the Photo Seller’s Foundations series.

It’s simple, straightforward, and built to help you make more photo sales. Four articles, four tasks, and a handful of helpful tools will lay the groundwork for your best sales yet.

For the overachievers who’d like to get it all done at once, head over to our Photo Seller’s Foundations page for all the goodies.

For the academics who prefer a book to a blog series, check out our comprehensive Marketing for Photographers ebook, published in collaboration with leading photography educator Phlearn.

Lastly, for everyone who’s along with us for this ride, read on for part 1: Products, pricelists, and packages.

Getting started with pricelists.

Pricelists are the key to selling photos on SmugMug. They let you manage all your print and download pricing in one place. Think of your pricelist like a template you can apply to any gallery or specific images you like: choose what products you’d like to sell, set your profit, and watch the sales roll in.

Portfolio and Pro subscribers can find the pricelists manager on the Selling Tools page in the navigation bar when logged into SmugMug. Click the “Manage” button under the Pricelists section and you’re in.

Note that SmugMug Portfolio accounts can only have one pricelist active at a time, while Pro accounts get the option to manage multiple active pricelists at once.

Prefer to learn by watching? Check out Episode 75 of SmugMug Live! for a start-to-finish walkthrough of pricelists, plus some helpful tips and tricks to get you started.

Step 1: Choose your products.

To prep for a sale, you’ll first want to check in on your pricelists and make sure your products and profits are set how you like them.

On the Manage Pricelists page, the white star indicates your default active pricelist. This pricelist is applied to all galleries where the shopping cart is turned ON, with the exception of Pro accounts running multiple pricelists. Click it, and you’ll be able to see more details, including your print lab, currency, preferences, and all the product categories you currently have for sale. Light-grey items can be purchased, dark-grey items can’t.

Around the holidays, our fantastic print partners introduce seasonal products like greeting cards and ornaments. If it’s been a while since you’ve updated your pricelists, there might also be new products we’ve added, like epic prints, that you’ll want to enable.

To add these items, click “edit list” in the bottom-right of the screen. On this page, you can enable greeting cards from the right-hand toolbar. By default, your base profit for greeting cards will be set at 30%, but you can change this manually.

Pro tip: Final pricing on items like greeting cards will change based on your customers’ choice of paper, design, and more. To check the final price of gift cards or other items for your customers, navigate to your SmugMug site in a logged-out or incognito tab in your browser, then add your desired items to your cart, where their final prices will be listed. If you check while you’re logged in, you’ll see *your* cost, not the cost-plus-markup your customers will see.

To add or remove other items from your pricelist, click “choose products” in the upper right of your Edit Pricelist screen. Here you’ll find a full list of possible products to choose from. Click each category to see specific sizes, and check/uncheck the boxes to select the products you’d like to sell this season.

If you’re not sure which products to choose, or want to know more about your various print options, take a walk in your customer’s shoes and browse through your (or another photographer’s) SmugMug site to get a better idea of what these various print products look like.

Want to see what your photos will look like as some of this season’s best sellers? Download these free PSDs of greeting cards, ornaments, and metal prints and drop your photos in to show your clients and customers.

Step 2: Set your profits.

Preparing for a sales push is a great time to revisit your profit margins and make sure everything is in order. There are three ways to set your profits on SmugMug.

Suggested pricing: The first (and easiest) way to set your profits is by selecting the “suggested pricing” option when you create a new pricelist. This will populate your pricelist with a data-driven variety of print products, plus markups for each one that will net you a fair sum no matter what you sell.

Default base profit: You can also customize a default base profit in the right-hand toolbar of the Edit Pricelist page. This will apply the same percentage profit to every item you sell — but be aware that a several-hundred-percent markup on paper prints that seems reasonable can produce a shocking price tag on larger, more expensive items. Be sure to review the price and profit for your products before applying and saving your pricelist.

Individually: Setting your profits individually gives you complete control over each and every product you offer. To set your profits individually, select your product category and item in the Edit Pricelist page, then enter your desired profit amount (e.g., $1 per small print) or your desired final price (e.g., $3 per small print). Whichever you choose, the other will be automatically calculated based on your preferences.

Step 3: Build packages.

For SmugMug Pro subscribers, packages are an easy way to encourage bulk purchases, often at a discount.

From your Selling Tools page, click “Manage” under the Packages section to get started. If you have existing packages, click the one you’d like to edit. Otherwise, click “New Package” and you’ll be whisked to the package-creation page.

Here you can add items to your package, adjust options like color correction and single- or multiple-image packages (think school photos vs. wedding photos), and, of course, set your desired profit. We suggest choosing your print lab to match the print lab on your default active pricelist.

Pro tip: The most successful packages encourage customers to buy more photos for a sweet discount, so be sure to price your packages slightly lower than the cost of the packaged items sold individually.

At this time, packages are limited to physical products only, but you can use coupons to create digital-download “packages” with a few simple tricks. More on that tomorrow, when we dive into Photo Seller’s Foundations Part 2: Promotions, coupons, and discounts.

Bonus tip: Build a best-selling gallery.

Do you have a few photos that outsell the rest? Or maybe you’re particularly proud of your latest photoshoot and would like to see it in the spotlight? Now is a great time to make a new gallery in your photo site. This will come in handy later on, so check out our step-by-step guide here: Create a gallery.

(Not sure about your sales numbers? We’ll cover downloading these details in part 3, but you can get a head start at our Help Center.)

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Still perplexed about pricelists and products? Reach out to one of our sales specialists for help.