Shoot Me Your Ideas

jacquelynecullen · Jun 23, 2014

My Site: Jacquelyne Cullen Photography | PA Family Portraits + Events

Background: I just launched May 1st. Business is sporadic so far. Some weeks I'll have 3 shoots, some 1, but the feedback so far from clients (and their friends/family) has been outstanding. So, I'm hoping with continued patience and diligence this will really be all I've dreamed for so long for it to be. That all being said, I'd really be grateful if you'd take a look around, whether you're a pro or not, beginner or advanced, (as clients aren't pros and it's always great to have that untrained eye feedback too!).

I have some questions here just to get the juices flowing, but feel free to shoot me any thoughts that stand out to you when you view the site. Doesn't have to be these.

Does it navigate easily for you?
Load quick enough for you?
2 photos you'd take out
2 photos you'd definitely keep
My tag line is "feel good. feel inspired." Is there anything of the site that doesn't jive with that tagline, and thus should be nixed?

Note: Definite issue right now is I haven't blogged in 20 days, and I have it on my must do this week, but tomorrow is a newborn shoot, so it will probably be Thursday before that happens. :blushing: So please excuse my embarrassingly not up to date blog.

Designer · Jun 23, 2014

Does the gallery move by itself, or do we have to click the arrow? I clicked the arrow. There are probably a few that I would not include, but since each of us has our own particular taste, it would be presumptuous of me to make suggestions. One thing that is awkward; on the clients page, the tabs are gone.

- yes
- yes
- see above
- same
- I did not notice your tagliine on the site, but the site seems fine to me.

jacquelynecullen · Jun 23, 2014

Thanks for taking the time to look through and provide the feedback, Designer. I appreciate it! The client page irks me too. I have been using shootproof, and instead of being able to embed the gallery, shootproof has me redirecting. So it breaks the flow. I plan to switch to Studio Cloud for proofing (...as well as use it to add an online booking option). I actually have most of the stuff set up in Studio Cloud, but there's just soooo much to it, that I'm afraid to push it live yet. I'm hoping by next week to implement that change. It should flow much nicer for client galleries then. ...and the front page flips through the first image of each gallery, but the individual galleries themselves don't scroll on their own. You can either click the + to go full screen to flip through or leave them as shown and scroll through 3 to a page. It's the forte template for squarespace.

The_Traveler · Jun 24, 2014

Jacquelyne,

I looked at your site for a while and have some impressions that are pretty far away from your questions.
I respond to the questions first and then leave a space if you want to ignore the rest.

Loads and navigates quickly.
There are several pictures I would either take out or move but more about that in general.

What follows is my opinion; feel free to ignore me without my taking offense.

General impressions:
Site looks good but the impression is a bit incoherent.
Nowhere does it clearly say what area of the country you work in until I scrolled down on the 'Payments' page.

A gmail email address doesn't look professional. For virtually nothing your hosting service or registrar wull give you mail at your url.

On the front page the most visible line after the title link to to a photo essay on Virtues. If I am a potential client, I would have no idea why that is there.
That is the spot for your tag line that summarizes who you are - and doesn't change.
Your current tagline says nothing about you or your work or your ideals, it is an exhortation that would fit anywhere and is thus not adding to the site.

And the first link on the drop-down to the galleries is to that same virtues collection. If you are selling your services, sell your services first.
You are right to be proud of that collection, but the emphasis on it muddles your point.

Galleries should be by Service so that people can look at your ability to do what they are possibly buying.

The pictures on the services page are nice but redundant and mean that many of your services are only seen if one scrolls.
Not 'payments', which is associated with repeated payments. The costs could go on the services page - and be much clearer

The 'about' page is needlessly personal - and potentially off putting.
Tell people what you think, what you want to do and, if you must, some personal issues about experience and ideas but leave off medical history - much too intimate.

The download packet is interesting and pretty; I would change a bit of the text on the checklist page but I think I've said enough already.

Lew

jacquelynecullen · Jun 24, 2014

Hi Lew. Thanks not only for taking such time to check out the site, but also for the detailed feedback. It's really helpful.

The incoherent part is a result of my actual incoherent direction. I've been having a difficult time nailing down a specialty. Before I opened the business, I (and everyone I knew) thought I'd specialize as a pet photographer. I adore dogs, train, rehabilitate, foster, all that, and I do enjoy pet photography, but to be honest, I don't *love* pet photography. I don't really have a real reason for that. One of my peers thinks I'm nuts as her mentor makes $1.2mil a year as a pet photographer, but I know if it's not something I wake up excited about day in and day out, then the money won't be an incentive for me to keep going. So I began doing a variety of types of shoots to see what really grabbed me...fashion shoots, seniors, couples, business headshots, mommy & me, children (under 5), maternity, and today my 1st newborn. I have a couple of creative editorial shoots scheduled next month.

Now, it's very clear to me that my desired specialty would be maternity to first year as my clientele with creative essays "on the side" also. Pulling in that specific clientele now will be the next biggest challenge. So, I'll be completely revamping soon, I'm sure.

Thanks for pointing out about the lack of location being obvious. It used to be right by my logo, and I totally missed that I took that out.

Switching emails seems daunting to me at the moment, but I'm sure I will get to it in time. I've been so busy with marketing and shooting and editing and finances and web upkeep and setting up studio cloud that ...for now... I'd like to stick to the comfortable gmail I know. I totally agree with your point though, so will heed the advice in time.

The front page flips through the first image of each sub-gallery. The first being virtues, but then will flip to the next, and the next, and the next. My clients thus far have actually raved about the virtues series, telling their friends they have to see it, so it does seem to be generating business, but I can see what you mean.

I wasn't sure what order to put my pages, so your suggestions on services first and so on is very very helpful. Thanks!

The payments section issue will be fixed as soon as I integrate studio cloud into the system because studio cloud take care of the booking, invoicing, payments, all of it. It has so much potential to really ease up my workload, but getting it all set up is the tough part, which I'm working on this week.

The tag line and the about page were results of marketing workshops I watched recently on Creative Live. They were honestly just implemented this past week, and I've been iffy on the about page for sure. The bio is based on a worksheet by Barry Moltz, as well as an exercise by Dafna Michaelson, and advice from John Jantsch during the workshop. That all being said, I'm not totally sold on it, and I'm still looking into a better bio.

Oh, and no offense taken whatsoever. I found your feedback super helpful. I really do appreciate it.