Have you checked out our layout guides for ROES yet? These collections of layered PhotoShop PSD files make it easy to lay out a product, save as a JPG image, and drop into our ROES software. And because each layout guide comes with safe, wrap and cut guide lines, you can be assured your finished products will look great.

Here are a current list of available guide collections you can download. Each collection of guides are in a ZIP file. You should download the ZIP file and open it to access the PSD files.

• Diamond Albums – our Diamond Album cover guides in leather and acrylic available in 5×5″ through 12×24″ album sizes.

• Emerald Albums – Cover layout guides for Emerald Albums in 5×5″, 6×6″, 8×8″ and 10×10″ sizes.

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If you’ve got a website and aren’t using Google Analytics, you’re missing out.

For those of you who haven’t heard of it, Google Analytics keeps track of how many visitors you had, which pages they looked at, and how long they stuck around. It is free to use on any website you control.

For example, I can look at our JD website page by page, and it will show me which buttons or hotlinks  customers click the most. See the example on the right (click to enlarge). Red regions are clicked the most, then orange, then green with blue sections clicked the least. Non-colored sections aren’t clicked at all.

Here’s what it means:

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It is not uncommon for a wedding photographer to have a “preferred vendors” web page. Even if you don’t have a web page listing your preferred venues, caterers, etc., chances are you have a list in your studio so you can answer the question we all inevitably get from clients, “who do you recommend?”

The problem with a preferred vendors page on your web site is that while it promotes your vendor’s websites – and it might be useful to your clients – it isn’t helping to build your business.

Here’s a way to put your vendor list to work for you: Offer your vendors a special promotion they can offer to their customers. Here are a couple of ideas that can work for your studio.

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Sam Sarkis, a professional photographer in Farmington, Michigan has made social media the cornerstone of his marketing effort, and the results have grown both his business and his bottom line.

Search for “sam sarkis” online and you will notice that he dominates the front pages of Google, Bing and Yahoo.

That’s no accident.

I spoke with Sam, and asked him about his general marketing plan, and how social media fits into it.

“I spend 2-3 hours a day marketing online alone,” Sam said. “First thing in the morning, then perhaps again later in the afternoon.”

I asked Sam how he finds that much time each day for online marketing.

“I don’t spend as much time in PhotoShop,” he explained.

I then asked Sam if that much time spent online hurts his business.

“I used to spend a thousand dollars on an ad. Now I spend nothing, and I get even more clients. And they are better clients too.”

So where does Sam spend his time? Without giving away his secrets, Here’s the list of links on the first page of Google alone!

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Professional Photographers of Michigan is expanding its educational opportunities with additional programs to help you expand your skills and improve your business. “PPM Presents” is a series of one day seminars held throughout Michigan that are designed to expand your knowledge of photography and business.

The next workshop will be Sunday, April 22nd featuring Steve Ragland “Creating Images from Start to Finish”. The focus of this workshop is creating beautiful images using inexpensive materials or materials that you may already have. We will talk about each step it takes to create the set, finding inspiration and being innovative. Register here.

Each day-long workshop is available to PPM members for just $49! Registration for Michigan Affiliate members (DPPA, MMPPA, MTPPA and PPWM) is $69, non-member registration is $89.

Have you joined Pinterest yet? Pinterest is the fastest growing social media platform today. Why should you care?

• The amount of click-throughs from Pinterest are greater than YouTube, LinkedIn, and Google+ combined.

• The majority of Pinterest users are women ages 25-44, the target market for many kinds of professional photography.

So let’s say you’ve signed up for a Pinterest account. Here are a couple of ways you can use Pinterest to market your business.

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ROES is a great tool for placing print orders. But let’s face it, it’s not the greatest design tool there is. Laying out a composite or a book can be tedious and sometimes frustrating. Sometimes it’s hard to see the product artwork or read the information provided. Here are a few tips to make things easier.

Remove unneeded panels. Click the Preferences button on the bottom center and un-check “Show Banner.” This removes the JD logo at the top of the software and buys you an extra 10% of horizontal space.

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6 months ago, we encouraged pro photographers to create a new business page for their studio and to use that page to highlight their work, talk to clients, etc. instead of using their personal profile page. The logic was to a.) keep business and personal conversations separate, b.) to have the ability to create Facebook business ads, and to c.) avoid the possibility of Facebook deleting your personal profile if they discover you’ve been using it for business.

However, many photographers told us that they have been combining their friends and business clients for years on a single profile page, and that there was no easy way to sort them out.

If you’ve been using your personal profile for business, Facebook just gave you another option. Facebook now offers the “subscribe” button for personal profiles.

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In honor of the Good Friday holiday, JD will be closed on Friday, April 6, 2012.

We will resume our normal business hours Mon-Fri 9-5pm EST on Monday, April 9, 2012.