Many photographers have started using our SimplyElegantPhotoBooks.com software to easily create photo books for their clients. In many cases, you can create a book that you previously created in ROES – but in half the time.

However, their is a small catch: we cannot color-correct images when ordered through the SimplyElegantPhotoBooks software. The pages are pre-rendered into PDF files ready to go to the printer before they are uploaded to the lab.

If you are creating a photo book using non-color corrected images and it doesn’t look right, you have two options:

1. Select the “Perfectly Clear All Images” option from the Format menu. You can see this “fix” every image on every page.
2. If the first option does not work, you should create your photobook in ROES or LabPrints. Either of these order programs send us the original images, so we’ll be able to color correct them individually before printing the photobook.

You can also permanently turn on the “Automatically enhance images” from the Preferences menu so you don’t have to select it when starting each photobook.

Psychologists have found a link between children who smiled in old photos and the likelihood that they will not divorce.

In one test, smiles in College yearbook photos were rated on a scale of 1 to 10. In the top 10 percent of “smilers” contacted, all had remained married. In the bottom 10 percent, one quarter had divorced. In another test, senior citizens were asked to provide childhood photos. They discovered that 89 percent of the biggest “smilers” had remained married, while 31 percent of the least-smiling had divorced.

Overall, the studies concluded that children who frowned in photos are five times more likely to divorce than smiling children.

“Maybe smiling represents a positive disposition towards life,” said Matthew Hertenstein, a psychologist at DePauw University who lead the study. “Or maybe smiling people attract other happier people, and the combination may lead to a greater likelihood of a long-lasting marriage. We don’t really know for sure what’s causing it.”

The study is detailed in the April 5 issue of the journal Motivation and Emotion.

We’re doing some user account housekeeping over the next several days. We will be updating your billing and shipping information based on the information in your ROES Customer Information window.

1. Make sure your Customer information is correct. The address here will be your new shipping address. Note that we have added a new field called “Contact Name”. Be sure to fill this (and every) field in when the Customer Information screen prompts you.
2. New Billing Options. When completing an order, you will see the New billing options “Use Existing” or “New Credit Card”. Most customers should select “Use Existing” for us to bill using your current account information we have on file. Select “New Credit Card” only if you need to update your payment information. Once you select this option, all future orders will be billed to the new credit card.

If your current shipping information doesn’t match the Customer Information screen, it may result in delayed orders.

This information will be used as your default shipping address and on all your shipments starting the first week of August.

If you haven’t updated your website in a year, now is the time to think about doing so. And I’m going to suggest your next website be a blog (like you’re reading now). Why?

• Blogging creates a relationship between you and your reader. It lets them get to know something about you before they meet you. Statistics show that up to 80% of customers will search you out online before contacting you by phone.
• Blogs can look as cool, as warm, or as simple as you want. You’re blog isn’t about text – it is about images. Check out this great photographer’s blog design for an example.
• Blogs are easy to update. You log into your blog, update articles, add images, and publish. It only takes a few minutes, and you don’t need to call a web designer.
• Blogs separate the text and images from the design of your site, so it is easy to update the look of your blog while not losing any of your information.

To get started, you’ll need a blogger program. My personal favorite is WordPress (what you’re reading right now).

Next, you’ll need a “theme”, or the template that controls the look of your blog. One place to start is at tofurious.com. They not only have a free WordPress theme and some album layouts, but their entire website is filled with ideas of how a blog can draw in a potential reader (i.e. customer). Other popular themes include f8, ProPhoto, or Studiopress. Just Google the term “wordpress theme pro photography” and you’ll find literally hundreds to chose from.

While free WordPress themes are a great way to get started, I suggest you purchase a professionally designed one. They have better artwork, are better thought out, more SEO friendly, and typically cost $50-75 dollars. Of course, you can always find a designer who will create a one-of-a-kind theme for you. I suggest you start by finding another photographer who’s blog you like, then hire that designer.

Although it is easy to drop an image into a WordPress blog page, for slide shows of images you have a couple of options. You can provide links inside your blog to your images hosted on Flickr, SmugMug, Picasa etc. or you can use a WordPress slideshow plugin and host your own images online. Here’s a WP slideshow plugin that is very cool.

Of course, your blog should have menu options for all the standard features like Customer Login (proofing), contact information, portfolio, services, etc. Each of these is a “page” in the blog that you can update as often as you like.

If you are already using a blog for your website, send me a link and I’ll feature it here in an upcoming article.

I have a friend in real estate that creates awesome panorama photos of the houses she has for sale. She pays a $30 per month subscription fee to use the software.

That’s why I was amazed when I saw that LabPrints now offers a tool called LP Image Aligner for only $89 dollars. This is basically the same digital imaging technology originally created for the defense department to stitch map photos together.

Sure, you could find a separate program to do the same thing, but if you are already a LabPrints user, the built-in integration – combined with LabPrints constant upgrades – makes this program a steal. LabPrints users can try it out for free for 30 days before they decide to purchase.

If you’re a wedding photographer not already familiar with LabPrints, I strongly urge you to check it out. When used as part of a studio projection selling system, I guarantee it will make you more money on every sale.

Image (c) Tom Wall Photography

If you haven’t been following What the Duck over the last few years, you don’t know what you’re missing. Aaron Johnson is cranky, fearless and occasionally brilliant as he skewers photographers, clients, models and basically anything in the photographic industry.

Think of it as Dilbert for the pro photog- rapher crowd.

If you need to waste an hour this weekend, check out the archives of past strips here, here, and here.

Matt McGee over at Small Business Search Marketing has a great post on how to implement a new Google gadget on your website. Unlike a simple map, the customer types in their address, and the gadget gives them written directions to your studio.

However, Matt makes a great point about “maps” on your website. A jpeg photo of your street with a little red star does nothing to help promote your business. Instead, make a link to Google maps and/or the Google gadget, then type in directions like this:

JD Photo Imaging is centrally located in Flint, Michigan north of Detroit, Pontiac and Ann Arbor, and south of Saginaw, Bay City and Midland. It is within 3 minutes of the  I-75, US-23 and I-69 interchange. We’re located 3 blocks east of Ballenger Hwy. and half a mile east of the I-75 and Corunna Road interchange on the north side of the road. Our street address is 3018 Corrunna Road, Flint, MI 48503.

The advantage of this is that search engines will more likely find your studio when folks search for your name combined with any local landmarks. For example, after using the text above, I could expect a photographer to find our lab by typing in Google “professional photo lab flint mi.”

It works. Try it.

Like any small business, you probably take credit cards. When you signed up for your merchant account, you were introduced to a hidden tax called the “interchange access fee.” This fee ranged from 1% (huge retailers) to 4% (small business) and was deducted from every credit card charge you took in. You were told the rate would go down as you took in more credit cards, and you were told it was a normal cost of doing business.

What you may not have been told is that this hidden “tax” on retailers as tripled in the last decade, and now cost the average consumer approximately $427 each year.

Congress recently passed a bill to increase consumer protection for credit cards, and  now they are looking at regulating interchange access fees.

If congress gets these fees under control, it will put money directly into your pocket. I’m going to stay on top of this and urge my congressman to do the same.

I don’t see enough funny photography around the lab, so here are a couple of links to inspire you.

Fun Wedding photos

More fun wedding photos

Fun graduation photos

Fun family portraits

Of course, I’m not suggesting you show your subjects in a bad light. But if you find yourself with clients that are having a good time, don’t be afraid to try a couple of unique shots.

Remember, they are just pixels. If you waste a few, don’t worry about it…the camera will make more.

Jay Goltz, writing for the New York Times Small Business section, has an interesting take on the first half of 2009. Basically he says that

Breaking even is the new profitable!

I agree with Jay. If you’re still in business today, you’ve survived the worst of the recession (I don’t like to use the d-word). So now is the time to start thinking about 2010 and beyond:

• Do you have a high-quality website with lots of examples of your work, own your own URL, and use as your e-mail address (no @aol or @earthlink e-mails) ?
• Do you have a 2010 marketing plan that includes low-cost guerrilla marketing techniques, e-mail marketing, and social networking?
• Have you outsourced as much of your work as possible so that your workday is focused on either shooting or marketing?

Instead of dwelling on how tough times are today, think of this as an opportunity to get a leg up on the competition. Your worst competitors will soon be out of business. That means when the economy turns around, only your best competition will still be around. If you start planning today, you’ll be ready to compete with them.

It’s time to turn our minds around. Anything bad has already happened – let’s get ready for 2010.