It was 2008 and I had just wrapped up working at ESPN.com as a photo editor. I remember running into Zack Arias' advice to offer headshot or business portraits.

Zack taught us all how to light (see his One Light 2.0 tutorial) but the marketing was up to me. Back then, with little to no real business sense, I dove into Twitter and offered my services to the first 20 people to respond. Yes, I offered to photograph them for free.

Twenty eager and friendly people made appointments for their portraits to be made and I obliged them. I loved the experience so much that I launched Connecticut Headshots and have been serving business executives, realtors, lawyers and a few actors.

Would I do that again? Knowing what I know now, would I offer to photograph them for free? Probably not.

For me, it came down to feeling less than confident. I gave myself a goal of 20 people before venturing out and creating a business out of it. I am learning now that there is another way.

Molly Marie and Jamie Swanson have created Profitable Portfolio Builder just for photographers like you and me.

“Portfolio building for free is like shooting yourself in the foot. It is hurting your business from the very start, and you’ll be losing out on a huge opportunity to create a client base and make money right from the start.”

Could I have used the revenue from 20 paying clients? Heck yeah!

What I was missing back when I started was a guide like Profitable Portfolio Builder that would walk me through the following:

Why the Profitable Portfolio Builder method is a better way to build your portfolio

How to get people to book portfolio building sessions with you

Exactly how to respond to people who want to book a portfolio building sessions in order to maximize the opportunity to get sales and long-term clients from the session

What you need to know and do ahead of time to get results

How to get the sale

The secret to getting powerful testimonials that influence others to book with you

Profitable Portfolio Builder also includes customizable scripts (yes friends, for those of us who are easily tongue-tied this will come in handy) to help us make the transition offering one type of photography service to another.

The only caveat Molly and Jamie offer is this: “The Profitable Portfolio Builder is based on psychology and past experience, and if you leave anything out or modify a vital part of it, it may not work.”

Are you willing to give this a try? Are you open to shifting gears and seeing what other opportunities might exist for you? I know I am glad I made the jump to also offering business portraits in Connecticut.

Please read all the way through the Profitable Portfolio Builder page to see if your current or future choice in photography would benefit from this incredible resource. As Molly says, her advice is meant for a select (but large) group of photographers. Still, there are some, like wedding photographers that this resource will not be a good fit.

It's normally $129.99, but right now and through June 29th, it’s only $79.99 (save $50!).

There is a small group of photographers who look beyond the photo industry to be inspired. They seek out leaders in other industries to keep their own businesses fresh and sharp. Are you one of those photographers?

Clearly Jeffrey Shaw is. He and Lori Nordstrom (another dynamo in the industry) are hosting Photo Success Summit on June 24-26, 2014. I urge you to sign up and listen in. Not only will it do you wonders, I suspect it will help your business grow as well.

What's more, it's 100% free!

You read that right. No catches. Nothing to buy, if you don't want to. Register here. When you claim your ticket, you'll immediately receive gifts from Michael Port, Jeremy Cowart and Sally Hogshead.

You don't believe me? Check it out.

When I spoke with Jeffrey today, he told me even the replays for each of these presentations will be available for up to 30 days … for free! So, if you are busy or booked on June 24-26, you can always dip back in and listen to the presentation at your leisure.

The Photo Success Summit, is from my memory, the first of its kind. Quite frankly, I have scheduled the Photo Success Summit presentations during the three days in order to learn and perhaps see my business from a very different perspective.

It may be time for you to do the same. Register for Photo Success Summit now.

The Web has become an infinitely complex place to bring your business to. A few years back, the WWW could have stood for Wild Wild West instead of World Wide Web. People easily put up Flash-based websites that did cool “things,” proper HTML was forsaken in the attempt to make sites pretty, but these attempts were workarounds and left the realm of solid web development.

Thankfully, albeit gradually, order came in form of thing like: Web Standards, CSS, Search Engine Optimization and Google Best Practices. And of course we can praise Steve Jobs for driving the last nail into Flash’s coffin with the creation of the iPhone and iPad.

While many of the standards and practices above have made life easier for web users, the implementation of those standards can vex common business owners that just need to get their site up. It can be analogous to herding cats, and requires a broad range of skills to manage. Because of that, I highly recommend that when you do look for someone to build a custom site, you find a Web Developer instead of just a web designer. They will be skilled in the various areas (or have a team of people skilled in those areas). Here are a number of the skills required to put together a solid, custom website:

* General hosting server operations. The knowledge to move sites, and be able to handle Redirects, 404 errors, etc. is absolutely critical.
* PHP, HTML and CSS experience. These coding languages are the building blocks of the Web.
* SEO (Search Engine Optimization). Google's algorithms are constantly changing, and then every 9 months to a year there comes a big change that turns the SEO industry on its head. A good developer will keep up with this or have a person that they work with directly to stay up to date on these changes.
*  WordPress expertise. This is of course assuming you're using the best CMS out there. A developer knows how to use template files, Custom Post Types, and advanced plugins that enhance your custom website.
* Security. Having a secure website is a big deal. There have been a number of brute force attacks on sites that have rendered them completely useless. GoDaddy's entire infrastructure was down for a full day! A developer will know where you should host and what you should do to prevent these types of attacks.
* Mobile. Responsive website design “responds” to the size of the device you're on whether that's desktop, laptop, tablet, or phone (small device). There are very important things to consider when developing and designing for the various sizes. You definitely want someone well versed in that world.
* UX/UI. User Experience / User Interface. Your website is a tool to make sales for you. How efficient it is at doing that will depend on how well your Developer understands the process that people go through when entering a site. A good developer will suggest strong CTAs (Call To Actions) on home page, and wherever else a potential customer could be enticed into reaching out to you.
* Design. Of course, you want this thing to look pretty, right?!

Who To Hire?

Different developers have different strengths. Personally, I'm rock solid when it comes to SEO, HTML, CSS, UX/UI and WordPress, fairly strong when it comes to PHP, server functions, and security. I'm OK with design, but I still want my clients to have great designs. So I hire a great designer for our custom website builds.

Finding a developer that has these areas under control, either by himself or with a team, is a must in order to get the absolute best product. I've heard a lot of stories of people not getting what they expected. I even know a photographer that had a custom site performed, but was told to never update WordPress! This is a very critical step in preventing security problems, and an example of someone not familiar enough with WordPress to make the site work properly.

I also see beautifully designed sites that will never see the light of day if searched on Google because they failed to structure the site properly, and the SEO is poor. Do yourself a favor and interview the developers you have in mind and find out what their knowledge is in each area. Thoroughly test out the sites in their portfolio. Ask yourself if they have good designs (beware of the “I don’t like the paint on the walls” thing that people say on those HGTV shows). Pay attention to the level of design. Do elements on the page stick out, do they do a good job of balancing the needs of a website with the design, do the sites look like they were designed in the 90’s, does it appear that the designs get better with each and every website?

I'm happy to help you find the right person too. Even if Flaunt Your Site isn’t the right fit, I often help people figure out what the best path is for them. And we’re not always the answer. (I'll even pose as your web developer brother that works for Qualcomm and can't work on your project, if it helps you).

Who Not To Hire

* First and foremost, avoid anyone that mentions the word Flash. That should elicit the response of you hanging up the phone, or pretending you don’t speak English. Even if they say it’s mobile friendly, you should still print their email out, and then light it on fire. (Cackling like a witch is totally optional.)
* Anyone spouting anything about HTML5 or CSS3 or other technical mumbo jumbo to influence you into working with them. First, websites are about people and their businesses. The developer’s job is to use the technology to accomplish your goals, not to use buzzwords as leverage to get you to hire them. (I’ll also add that HTML5 doesn’t mean what most people think it means).
* Someone without a portfolio, or a list of previous clients and links to their site. You really want to look at the websites they’ve worked on before.
* The guy that will do an “amazing full custom website” for $500…

Do you remember the last time a $500 wedding turned out “amazing?”  … Yeah, neither do I.

What Developers Cost

Cost is, of course, a huge factor to consider. Custom websites can vary from developer to developer. It will also vary depending on what functionality you want for your site. To give you a range, Flaunt Your Site does full custom sites from $3,000 to $5,000. We can do sites beyond that price point as well, but that tends to be the averages when it comes to our clients.

You will find developers that charge less than that, and you’ll find developers that charge more than that. My suggestion would be to interview more than one person for your project. Just as your clients have no doubt interviewed more than just you to find out who the right photographer.

Whether you hire someone for $1,000 or $10,000, your aim should be to have your new website be the type of investment that actually makes you money. If this isn’t on yours or your developer’s radar, you need to make it a priority quickly. If you’re doing it just to have a pretty site, then that is narcissism or “keeping up with the Joneses” getting in the way of running your business.

The only reason to spend money on a custom site is to increase your bottom line.

I have a personal goal that each website Flaunt Your Site does is directly responsible for our clients gaining 5-10 new clients in that first year.

I've always been a full-time photographer. Like you, I've created list after list in an attempt to streamline my business workflow. What needs to be done first, second, third and so on. In fact, what sub-tasks need to be done?

Quite frequently, the intention was good, but the action was lacking. So, I've ended up derailing my workflow and then played catchup with myself. It's a self-defeating proposition that Leeann Marie, a wedding photographer based in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania sees all too often in the photo industry.

Leeann is a wonderful photographer but what makes her successful is how efficient she is with her business. She has created systems and processes for every part of her workflow. Leeann credits her background in industrial engineering for creating these systems for her business. For several years now, she has coached and set photographers up with their ShootQ accounts.

We recently spoke on the eve of her webinar, 15 Secrets For Automated Systems:

Want to know how to streamline your photography business? I suggest you learn from the best. Sign up for this free webinar now. Leeann will be leading and ShootDotEdit will be hosting it on June 11th. I can't wait to continue learning from Leeann!

Don Giannatti coincidentally also wrote a blog post about creating systems that you should check out.

The Modern Tog, published by Jamie Swanson, just named Tiffinbox among the top 10 photography blogs. This honor has been bestowed on the site three years in a row!

I am humbled by this recognition and want to thank you, my audience and my enthusiastic guest bloggers who feel just as strongly about sharing useful, actionable information that will elevate photographer's craft and business.

The other nine amazing blogs are:

Psychology For Photographers
The Law Tog
A Camera and A Dream
Joy Vertz
Photography Concentrate
Photography Spark
Elizabeth Halford
DED PXL
Ground Glass

Please do yourself a favor and visit each one of the other blogs too. I assure you that they will add value to your life and business. They do to mine.

Meanwhile, if you are keen on guest blogging on Tiffinbox, please check out the submission guidelines here. Pitch me with an idea that you feel you need to share with other photographers. Also, if you would like to see a particular topic covered, please mention it below. Your voice matters here!

I've been seeing this question, or a level of self-applied pressure to get a cool website pop up lately in some of the forums I belong to. It’s understandable that newer photographers get the idea that in order for them to get more, better, higher paying clients that they need to have an incredibly designed website. But, attached to those websites is often a price tag they’re not ready to pick up. Not to mention, spending that much money for a budding photographer is very premature.

Another thing I see in forums is photographers getting frustrated with their designers, developers, etc. Since I’m both photographer and a web developer, I think I have a good handle on where the communication breakdown happens.

With those two problems in mind, I've put together a 3 part series that will cover the following:

* When and why you should get a custom website
* What to look for in a web developer or designer
* How to effectively work with your developer, and what to do after the website launch

The Purpose Of Your Website

So let’s start by defining the actual purpose of your website. The purpose of your website is to clearly provide enough information for potential clients to hire you.

Are there other things your site does? Absolutely. But you don't want to veer too far from that main purpose of your website. As the famous Architect Louis Sullivan once said “Form Follows Function.” The purpose of your site should take priority over the visual quality of your site.

Note that I didn’t say your site needs to be ugly.

If deliberate thought doesn't go into how you're getting found online as well as how people will use your site, how people will hire you, then you'll end up with a pretty website that doesn't bring you clients. We’ll look at those things in a bit, but first let’s look at the benefits you get from having a custom site over a template. Then, we’ll answer the question: When should you consider a custom website?

What Benefits Do You Get From Having A Custom Site?

First and foremost, a custom site will be something completely unique from what everyone else has. It will be exactly what you want, and nothing that you don’t want.

The process of having a custom site built for you includes having a professional walking you through what works and what doesn’t when it comes to websites. A good professional developer will also bring something to the table that you won’t have access to by purchasing a $200 theme.

A custom site is often a much more pleasurable experience for your potential clients to use and find what they’re looking for. That ease of use should result in more people hiring you. Your developer will have thoughts on how people use websites, and how the process of getting potential clients through the sales funnel should work on your site.

You’ll also have someone handling all the technical aspects of the site for you. This will free you up to work on your business, and your photography. Even if you buy a $200 theme, you still have to set it up and learn how to use the theme. You could spend a week or two just getting it the way you like it. Hiring someone to do a custom site for you puts you back in the driver’s seat of your business.

So, When Should You Get A Custom Site?

How long have you been in business? How good is your work? Have you been photographing for a short time, or are you a seasoned vet? Are you still learning your equipment? These are all the first questions you should be asking yourself first.

I find that photographers that decide to jump into business without having essential photography skills such as being able to shoot in manual mode, use light meters, use off-camera flash, et cetera, need to focus on those things before they get distracted with things like custom websites, SEO, marketing, and other business aspects like these. If the product you are delivering isn't of a professional quality yet, people shouldn't be paying for that product just quite yet. So if you’re just starting out, or unsure where you stand, getting a theme for $200 is a good place to start. And if you’re cringing at $200, you shouldn’t be thinking of custom anything for your site – at least, not just yet.

As a point of reference, most of Flaunt Your Site's clients have been in business full-time for at least 2 years, and have been photographing for at least a year or two longer than that. If your work is good, and you're booking consistently, you can use that as an indication that you might be ready for a custom site.

Branding & Visual Identity

Do you have an idea of what you want your business identity to be? Have you formed the values of your business? Are you clear what products you will and won't sell to your clients and how they fit in your offerings? Do you have any packaging in mind yet? There is a lot more to a brand than your logo and colors, but they can be a big part of it. Logo and colors can be a big part of the overall experience when people are introduced to your company. The look and feel can communicate the values of your business, and it usually sets the stage for the type of customers that will contact you as well. You may not have any of this done yet, which is fine. You can work with your web developer to come up with a visual identity, or perhaps your developer has a graphic designer that can work with you to create that.

Client Targeting

Have you been in business long enough to know what types of clients you really enjoy working with? Early on, most photographers are struggling to just get warm bodies to walk through the studio door. As you shoot more and more, you either begin to attract certain types of clients by your style, or you find that you just enjoy certain clients over others and start targeting your efforts towards those people. There are many demographic targets for which you can aim:

* Geographic (certain neighborhoods or suburban areas).
* Ethnic (perhaps you're Vietnamese and you are prominent in the Vietnamese community).
* Religious affiliations (You could specialize in Catholic weddings).
* Occupations (Maybe you came from a specialized business sector and you really connect with people in that industry).
* Organizations (If you belong to clubs or organizations devoted to hobbies or passions, you can find others that share your interests).

These are just a few ideas of where people find their niche. You can imagine how important it is to understand your target market. If the clients you tend to attract are Catholic moms in their 50's, but your site looks like Rock&Roll Bride, those potential clients will run screaming away from you. Your clientele will be a big factor in determining specific design ideas.

Are you attracting people that need larger type that’s easier to read? Are your clients moms on the go that need the information super quick? Are your clients tech-heads that want to know every piece of gear you shoot with? Do your clients feel more at ease making decisions with someone on the phone, where having a big phone number on each page will make a difference?

These questions are by no means exhaustive, but knowing the answers to these questions and having a thorough understanding of your clients will make all the difference when it comes to having an amazing and easy to use website.

If you have questions for William Bay, please post them below in the comments section. He is happy to help you through this process.

I was approached about giving away three developer accounts by Elegant Themes. Taking one look at them and specifically their latest, Divi 2, I couldn't pass it up. Before you enter this contest, do take a look at what Elegant Themes can do for you and your photography business. If you are considering revamping your site, Elegant Themes is one of a handful of companies I would suggest to you.

True to their name, I think their themes are indeed elegant. Check these out:

So, you want to win one a developer account worth $69? Just follow the steps below. The 3 winners will be notified on May 31st. Thank you!!

a Rafflecopter giveaway

Imagine being able to build your WordPress based portfolio website in a couple of days, just by dragging and dropping modules. That's exactly what you get using Divi 2. Would you be better off presenting your work in an elegant manner that's responsive, mobile friendly and SEO ready?

Even if you don't win this giveaway, I would strongly recommend you consider Elegant Themes.

Several days back I mentioned that Salesographer had changed hands and Chris Scott of Preveal has relaunched it. Some of you snagged this incredible resource up. Some of you missed it. Life has a way of getting in the way, right?

Well, I was able to convince Chris to extend a special discount code to only my newsletter subscribers (that could be you). Instead of it costing $129, now through June 8th, it will be $99, a $30 savings you can use to order all kinds of studio samples from ProDPI.

Here's a refresher on what you will receive when you make this investment for yourself and your business:

I also spoke with Chris a few days back to get the skinny on how Salesographer and Preveal go hand-in-hand and what his future plans are for Salesographer.

Watch this clip now:

As I said, you can buy Salesographer for $99, if you are subscribed to my newsletter.

If you haven't yet done so, look to the right and enter in your email address in the blue box. I'll be in touch very soon!

My last post on Tiffinbox.org, titled “How Photographers Can Create a Well-Rounded Marketing Plan” was a huge success! It even made it into Seshu's top-5 articles of all time, which is a huge honour, so thank you for giving it all the love! Seshu has given me the opportunity to write here again, and so I wanted to take one of the ideas that I touched on in that last article and go deeper with it.

Display collaboratives (otherwise known as display advertising) is a co-marketing initiative where you hang your prints at a third-party location or business (target location), with the intent of creating brand awareness and community recognition for your work. What's great about display collaboratives is that it is an idea that is applicable to every genre of photography in every market. No matter what your specialty or target market, this is a great marketing program that you can use to grow your business.

Why display advertising?

If the benefits of display collaboratives aren't inherently obvious, then I'll take a moment here to explain. You are basically creating a win-win-win situation. Normally, a win-win would be good enough for me, so that extra “win” in there makes this that much better!

The target location wins because they get unique, custom art displayed in their space that is highly specialized. They get to support a local artist, and they'll also gain recognition, awareness and ultimately more business throughout the promotion of the display advertising. More to come on the promoting part later.

Your clients who are in the images being displayed wins because they get to be “famous” for a short period of time. They can brag to their friends and family that their family
portrait, wedding image or child's portrait is hanging in a prominent, popular place in town.

You win because you get be in front of a completely new audience, you get to re-enforce your brand in your community, you get to build a solid relationship with a local business and you gain access to their audience throughout the promotion of the display advertising.

How to set up a display advertising collaboration

Ultimately, you will want to have several displays up in a few different locations – the idea is to “be everywhere” and re-enforce your brand and your presence in your community. I recommend starting with one location at a time, and working your way up from there.

Throughout the whole process, remember to continually build value, be professional and continually show respect and appreciation for everyone involved. This is as much about the finished pieces on the wall and the exposure as it is about the relationships and impact you can make throughout the whole process. Throughout the process, promote and share on social media behind-the-scenes pictures, ideas and teasers to build excitement for the project that you're working on with the target location.

Here is a 5-step process to take you from idea to fulfillment for setting up a successful display collaborative campaign.

Step 1 – Determine the target location

First let me say that this is not a marketing initiative that is done well through “cold-calling” potential target locations. This is the kind of marketing program that you want to run collaboratively founded on existing relationships. I'm not suggesting that you have to be best friends with the target location, but instead what I'm saying is that display collaboratives are best executed when there is a pre-existing mutual trust and respect. Look at your “rolodex” of local contacts and discover some locations where your target client might frequents.

Here are a few examples of locations that might be a good fit:

• If you're a wedding photographer that targets the high-end bride, perhaps a wedding boutique on the main street in your quaint town would be a good fit.
• If you're a wedding photographer who specializes in the vintage style, then perhaps a good fit would be a local brewery or a new-age rustic flower shop.
• If you're a child photographer looking to photograph for families who are in the middle-to-upper professional working class, then maybe a good fit would be a higher-scale local dentist office.
• If you're a child photographer looking to photograph for more middle-class, DIY, stay-at-home Mom's who want to spend good money on great photography, then a good fit might be a local children's clothing boutique.

You can see how there are so many opportunities once you start choosing partners based on target market.

Golden nugget: If you want to really find out the best places to partner with, then simply ask your 5 best clients where else they shop during the week. Better yet – ask them where they go to buy Christmas presents around the holidays. This will show you what kind of consumer they are, where they shop, and what their spending habits are like.

As I mentioned earlier, it's best to have a pre-existing relationship before you start bringing up the idea of display advertising with a target location, so if you don't already have a relationship with the target location you're approaching, then you need to spend some time building and nurturing a relationship before you “jump into bed” together. Network, get to know each other, build up that mutual trust and respect, and then move on to the next step. If you already have a solid relationship, then move on forward.

Step 2 – Propose the idea of display advertising

It's simple to bring up the idea of doing a display collaboration with a target location. You want to propose the win-win-win situation to them, explain the benefits and minimize the objections. I recommend having this discussion in-person, and be sure to bring a sample print  similar to one that you would display so that they can see the value.

You must consider this a creative marketing expense, and so I recommend that you do not charge for the prints. This is an advertising opportunity for you, and much like you'd pay a magazine to be in front of their audience, you are covering the expenses here in exchange for being in front of this new audience. Discuss the idea of having your logo on the prints, or at the very least, ask to have business cards on display nearby.

Step 3 – Decide size, placement, duration and (optionally) rotation

Another benefit to having the discussion in-person is that you can start to brainstorm right away where and how big the prints might be able to be displayed. You are the expert here, remember; you are a professional photographer and a part of your job is to design wall art, so be generous with your recommendations, but remember that it is ultimately their space, so you need to also be respectful to their wishes.

Step 4 – Hang the prints yourself

Once you've decided on sizes, images and placement, be sure to get the prints made as quickly as possible. Bring the finished pieces into the space personally and hang them yourself at a mutually agreed upon time. Once again, show your professionalism. This is when you are presenting the “deliverable”, so the excitement should be at it's high. If you want to really make an impact, deliver a special surprise with the finished piece for all of those involved. Whether that means bringing a bouquet of flowers, a small gift or giving them a gift certificate for personal portraits themselves, do something at this point to exceed their expectations.

Step 5 – Promote it!

This is when the real work begins. You need to promote the display collaboration as much as possible. Help to deliver the target location's “win” part of the equation and get them more visibility. Tweet, Instagram, Facebook and Blog as much as you can. Share images, videos, stories of the whole process everywhere and anywhere you can. Get the local media involved and see if it would be something they'd be interested in running in the local paper or on the radio. Here's an idea – consider running some sort of contest to get buzz going. Be creative here!

Don't forget to reach out to those who are actually displayed in the portraits you have hanging on the wall and tell them that their images are up (they should have been aware ahead of time). Tell them that they should go check it out and to tell all of their friends and family about their “moment of fame”.

Think Outside the Box – Be Creative!

Display advertising as I've presented it thus far has been fairly straight forward – you hang some of your work in another space. There are so many more ways to “spin it” if you really think outside the box and get creative. I have written a “part 2” to this article where I share some specific ideas for getting creative with collaborative display advertising opportunities, in fact, one of my ideas will even generate you money – lots of money! If you're interested in getting the second part delivered right to your inbox, then head on over to this page on the Sprouting Photographer website, leave me your e-mail address and I'll send it to you right away, free of charge!