Robbin Stieff at LunaMetrics wrote an interesting article that lists the 8 Worst SEO Mistakes companies make when they redesign their website.

For photographers and studios, “The Flash Problem” is the worst. Here’s why:

1. Photographers are visually stimulated, so it makes sense they would be drawn to great looking websites based on photography. People who design websites for photographers know this, so they frequently replace keyword-rich sites that Google likes with gorgeous flash-based sites that Google will ignore.
2. Google depends on plain vanilla text inside your website to tell it what your website is about. A Flash website has almost no text on the homepage - it is designed to load and play the Flash “movie”. Learn why adding a description tag or some keywords doesn’t solve the problem.
3. Some flash-based sites only have a single URL — the homepage. When you click on a different page on the site, you are taken to a different part of the Flash movie. These pages are hidden from search engines, users can’t bookmark them, link to them, or share them on Facebook.

How to solve the problem

Create a text-based website, then include a window with Flash inside. This gives you the stunning photography you need, but still allows text on the homepage. That’s what we did on the JDPI homepage.

Michelle Bogre, a photographer, college professor and lawyer, has started an excellent website called TheCopyrightCorner.org. In it she plainly and simply spells out the rules of copyright for professional photographers. My favorite page on the site answers the question “I am a photographer, so if I own copyright in my photograph, can I do anything with my photograph?”

You should check out the answer. Interesting reading.

Other topics she covers:

• Basics - what copyright is
• Getting Started - get it, keep it
• Register Your Stuff - Reasons and Rationale
• Fair Use - the guidelines

It will take you about 15 minutes to read them all, but you will be much more educated about copyright issues in the end.

I was reading an article entitled the Top 10 Trends for Weddings in 2010, and the item about videographers caught my eye:

Professional grade still photo cameras like the Canon 5D Mark II DSLR are being released with HD video capabilities included. It is recommended to have both a videographer and a photographer at your wedding to capture every moment of the big day. Tech-savvy brides looking for a new experience, may like to experiment with a visual professional (videographer or photographer) who has this technology. In the future, you will begin to see an emergence of two-in-one companies. Companies like Engaging Films and Video Keepsakes of Beverly Hills in Los Angeles will shoot video and take stills, but use only one piece of technology.

For years, many pro photographers have “given away” the videography business. Brides wanted albums first, and videos second. But with the new generation of cameras, this no longer has to apply. With a push of a button, you can be both a photographer and a videographer - or as the article describes - a visual professional.

If you aren’t taking advantage of this technology, someone else in your market will soon be. Look for visual professionals who promise to take care of every aspect of recording an event: from portraits to albums to videos combined with still photography.

You can shoot your own video or hire a videographer. But if you choose to ignore this trend, I believe you’re going to see it effect your wedding photography sales.

Are you already shooting video or working with a videographer? Leave a comment below and share your thoughts on the subject.

Sending an email has become as common as a making a phone call. If you are like most business owners, you send and receive a dozen emails a day. At JDPI we have a simple list of “rules of email etiquette” that we encourage our staff to follow in order to make it easier for you to communicate with us. You might want to share this list with your staff - it will make your business look more professional to your customers, and it will make your life a little easier too.

1. Use the subject line. Use 3-5 words to describe the email. Something as simple as “Your proofs are ready” or “Sitting confirmed Aug. 1st” is fine. Emails that have no subject, or emails with lots of exclamation points (BIG SALE!!!!) will be rejected by most spam filters.

2. Use upper and lower case letters. TYPING ALL CAPITAL LETTERS is called shouting, and is considered unprofessional.

3. Use the spell checker. Set it to automatically check your spelling before you send an email. Again, this will make your email look more professional to your clients.

4. Quote the previous email. As a courtesy to the recipient, when you send a “reply” don’t make them search through old emails to figure out what your reply (”Yes. Thanks!”) refers to. Enable the “quote previous email” option in your email reader program settings.

5. Don’t send large attachments. Many email readers will reject an email that is larger than 1Mb. If you are sending images, you should re-size them first, or upload them to the web (use one of these free services), then send a link in the email. When sending images to JD, always use ROES, LabPrints or our FTP service.

6. Include a signature file. It makes it easy for the recipient to contact you, and it will increase traffic to your website. A signature can be fancy with your studio logo, or it can be as simple as your name, studio, email address, phone number and website URL. Create a signature in your mail reader, and it will automatically be added to every email you send - saves typing.

Tiger Woods was on TV the other day saying how sorry he was for his mistake, and how it would never happen again.

Did you believe him?

The problem with “sorry” is that words are cheap. We’ve all read about the celebrity or politician or Minister of Propaganda from a third-world country who said something with total conviction one day, and we learned the truth was exactly the opposite the next. As consumers, we’ve become jaded. We don’t trust apologies anymore.

So what happens when your client didn’t get the prints they ordered from you on time? Did you say you were sorry? Do you think they really believed you?

As a business owner, you’ve got to follow Harry Truman’s old adage, “the buck stops here.” Here are the steps you need to take when your studio makes a mistake on an order:

Don’t play the blame game

It is human nature when something goes wrong to blurt out the name of someone else to pin the blame on (the dog ate my homework, my staff screwed up). It is a natural defense mechanism we all share. But as a business owner, you have to take full responsibility for any mistake that comes out of your studio. Don’t shift the blame. Say you’re sorry, and tell your client you’ll personally fix it. It makes them think their problem is important to you, and by inference, that they are important too.

Change a policy or process, then tell them about it

If the complaint is the result of a mix-up in communication, or someone dropped the ball at your studio, don’t just fix the customer’s problem - fix your own. Chances are the complaint you hear is only the tip of the iceberg. Then once you’ve made the fix, let your client know that their complaint resulted in a real change to your business. Again, it makes them feel that you took them seriously.

Thank your client for their complaint

For every client who complains, ten say nothing, then bad-mouth you behind your back. When you get a complaint, thank them for taking the time to bring the problem to your attention. After all, aren’t they really helping you to build a better business? Besides, nobody says “thank you” when you bring them a problem. It will immediately make them feel better about the complaint, and hopefully earn you their forgiveness.

Reward your client for their complaint

If they ordered one print, give them two. Would you rather spend an extra $2.55 on an 8×10 print or lose a client? (hint: it costs you a lot more than $2.55 to find a new client).

Follow up

Here’s an example of an note I’d want to receive if you sent me the wrong print:

Dear Tom,

I want to personally apologize for the mistake made on your order. Because of your call, we’ve improved our client services. Phoned-in order changes are now immediately confirmed by e-mail. This problem won’t happen again.

I’ve enclosed an extra copy of the 8×10 print as my way of saying “thank you” for bringing this to my attention. I really do appreciate it.

I look forward to serving you again in the future.

Regards,

John

The next time your studio makes a mistake, give this a try. It works better than saying “I’m sorry“.

With everyone on Facebook, MySpace and blogs, sooner or later one of your employees is going to mention you online. This can both help - and potentially hurt - your business.

On one hand, if a graphic artist writes online that they did a cool project for you and links to your website, it is great marketing, and it will improve your Google page rank. On the other hand, if they get in an online fight with one of your old customers, it makes you look bad.

The typical business owner’s gut reaction is to ban ANY mention of your business online by employees. However, if handled correctly, employee participation in online social media can bring you new business. The trick is to take the time to make it clear to them what is considered “good” and “bad” behavior online.

Below is a 10-point set of guidelines that has been circulating around the web. I suggest you copy and paste it, replace (COMPANY) with your studio’s name, and have every employee read it and sign it.

Oh, and by the way, these rules should apply to you too

SOCIAL MEDIA PARTICIPATION GUIDELINES FOR OUR COMPANY

These guidelines apply to (COMPANY) employees or contractors who create or contribute to blogs, wikis, social networks, virtual worlds, or any other kind of Social Media. Whether you log into Twitter, Yelp, Wikipedia, MySpace or Facebook pages, or comment on online media stories — these guidelines are for you.

While all (COMPANY) employees are welcome to participate in Social Media, we expect everyone who participates in online commentary to understand and to follow these simple but important guidelines. These rules might sound strict and contain a bit of legal-sounding jargon but please keep in mind that our overall goal is simple: to participate online in a respectful, relevant way that protects our reputation and of course follows the letter and spirit of the law.

1. Be transparent and state that you work at (COMPANY). Your honesty will be noted in the Social Media environment. If you are writing about (COMPANY) or a competitor, use your real name, identify that you work for (COMPANY), and be clear about your role. If you have a vested interest in what you are discussing, be the first to say so.
2. Never represent yourself or (COMPANY) in a false or misleading way. All statements must be true and not misleading; all claims must be substantiated.
3. Post meaningful, respectful comments — in other words, please, no spam and no remarks that are off-topic or offensive.
4. Use common sense and common courtesy: for example, it’s best to ask permission to publish or report on conversations that are meant to be private or internal to (COMPANY). Make sure your efforts to be transparent don’t violate (COMPANY)’s privacy, confidentiality, and legal guidelines for external commercial speech.
5. Stick to your area of expertise and do feel free to provide unique, individual perspectives on non-confidential activities at (COMPANY).
6. When disagreeing with others’ opinions, keep it appropriate and polite. If you find yourself in a situation online that looks as if it’s becoming antagonistic, do not get overly defensive and do not disengage from the conversation abruptly: feel free to ask me for advice and/or to disengage from the dialogue in a polite manner that reflects well on (COMPANY).
7. If you want to write about the competition, make sure you behave diplomatically, have the facts straight and that you have the appropriate permissions.
8. Please never comment on anything related to legal matters, litigation, or any parties (COMPANY) may be in litigation with.
9. Never participate in Social Media when the topic being discussed may be considered a crisis situation. Even anonymous comments may be traced back to your or (COMPANY)’s IP address. Refer all Social Media activity around crisis topics immediately and directly to me.
10. Be smart about protecting yourself, your privacy, and (COMPANY)’s confidential information. What you publish is widely accessible and will be around for a long time, so consider the content carefully. Google has a long memory.

NOTE: All media inquiries (TV, newspaper, radio, blogs) must be directed to me. If I’m not available, politely tell them you have no comment, and get their phone number.

Over 60 photographers from across Michigan and Ohio filled the training room at JDPI to capacity to listen to Chris Wunder’s program “Learn to Earn $100,000 a Year from Portrait Directories” workshop on Wednesday, February 17th. During the full-day workshop, Chris taught photographers step-by-step how to turn portrait directories into a profit center for their studios.

While I cannot even begin to summarize everything Chris said, here are some of the take-away points that amazed me after listening to him:

• Their is a ton of opportunity in this market. As I listened, I kept thinking to myself, “This is the photographic equivalent of low-hanging fruit. Why isn’t everyone doing this?”
• Chris laid out the numbers. With a little effort, you really could add $100 thousand to your bottom line in a year.
• Local photographers with great customer service have a real advantage over their national competitors.
• The great thing about church directories specifically is that some churches have schools, school have sports teams, and every church has weddings. The opportunity for one sale to lead to another is amazing.

During the breaks, I had the opportunity to give lab tours. Everyone was pleased to discover that we can print all the products Chris described, and at great prices.

I want to personally thank Chris, all the old friends (and new ones) I met, and encourage anyone who didn’t attend to seek out Chris the next time he is in your area. You won’t be disappointed.

During our spring open house at JDPI, Mark Lemon gave a step-by-step presentation on how to improve your search engine ranking in Google. You can download a PDF version of the Powerpoint here.

Topics include:

• What is SEO?
• What are keywords?
• Link building

If you’re interested in learning more about SEO, this is a great introduction and set of tools I can highly recommend.

With the tight economy many professional photographers I talk to are still pessimistic about sales.

They shouldn’t be.

As I walk through the lab today, I see more image-based products than ever before: press-printed photo books, photo merchandise, calendars, giant peel-and-stick vinyl wall prints, photographic wallpaper, metallic prints, dry erase boards, and gallery-wrap prints compete for floor space with standard 8×10 photographs.

Never has the professional photographer had a more creative and varied product line to offer to their customers. This is a great time to be in the photographic business.

Imagine you owned a clothing store. You don’t have any inventory, just sample photographs. A customer walks in and spots a photo of a jacket they love, but they need a different size and a darker shade of blue. With a snap of your fingers, the jacket is re-sized and the colors matched.

Why couldn’t you make every sale? In fact, I believe you’d have the most successful clothing store in the mall.

In the same way, once you have captured a great image, any product your customers can dream of can be made, limited only by their (and your) imagination. For example, using Lucis and Nik software, I’ve seen photographers create incredible works of art that would not have even been possible a few short years ago.

You can be pessimistic about the economy, or you can be enthusiastic about your profession. The choice is yours, but I guarantee it will show up in your bottom line.

Back in the old days, running a small business was as simple as opening a checking account, keeping track of sales, and paying your taxes on time.

Not anymore.

Their are two new laws on the books that can effect your business. Get caught breaking them, and you could be subject to tens of thousands of dollars in fines that could bankrupt you overnight. They are:

PCI Compliance

We’ve all read the stories about hackers stealing thousands of credit card numbers from large retailers. But you may not know that small businesses that accept credit cards account for the majority of credit card theft. If a customer’s information is stolen from you (by a hacker or an employee), you can be held responsible.

What is it? To protect customer information, the PCI Security Standards Council was formed. This industry watch-dog group has created a set of security standards for any business that handles credit cards.

Why is it important? While the PCI standards are not federal law, some states have adopted them as law, and PCI non-compliance has been used by the courts as proof of negligence in credit card theft cases.

What can you do? Start by downloading and filling out one of the PCI self-assessment worksheets. This will tell you what level of security you are responsible for. It could be as simple as filling out the worksheet and keeping it on file (in case you are ever audited) or as complicated as hiring a third-party consultant to independently audit your business.

CAN-SPAM Act

What is it? The CAN-SPAM Act is a federal law that “establishes requirements for those who send commercial email, spells out penalties for spammers and companies whose products are advertised in spam if they violate the law, and gives consumers the right to ask emailers to stop spamming them.” Basically, that means that if you send out advertising e-mail, you need it to conform to the law.

Why is it important? Nobody likes spam email. In an effort to combat it, congress defined spam as anything from the Nigerian prince who sends out a million copies to the small business that sends out a few dozen coupons. Last month, Alan Ralsky of Detroit, Michigan was sentenced to 61 months in jail and ordered to pay $250,000 in fines. While sending lots of spam email was a factor, what brought him to the attention of prosecutors were complaints by private citizens (think of an unhappy customer with too much time on their hands).

What can you do? Make sure any email you send meets the requirements: Don’t use any false or misleading information, clear subject line, identify yourself as a business, provide a way for the recipient to get off your list, etc. Rather than keep track of all the rules, many businesses use an online email service like Constant Contact, MailChimp or Vertical Response (the one we use). These programs are designed to insure your mailings follow all the rules.