"Why hire a pro?" page

[jamesbjenkins]

there is no problem. Its your website, do what you want. But from the perspective of what I assume is your target market, I don't like seeing it. It is very "buy me/ in your face". Don't you want people to see and appreciate your photos? To choose you because of your work? Or because you have a christmas special going on? Also the big photos of your nikon camera and the photo of the software you use looks very much like an advertisement to the average consumer.

Noted. Thank you. I don't mean to sound defensive, I'm just trying to understand why that perception is there so I can avoid it in the refresh. Thanks.

 

[MLeeK]

There isn't a problem in advertising it, but your advertising should not be the first impression of who and what you are. If you are expecting people who are interested in spending money on photography and not the cheap sale seekers, leading with a cheap looking sale isn't the way you are going to "hook 'em."
A sale should be done on a pricing page or a current promotions or similar. Or even on your blog or social networking advertising and not even on the website.

Someone mentioned your galleries and displaying publicly like that not being the thing. It's very true. You want to show the best of the best in the best and most flattering light.

Think about websites in general and yours. LOOK at photographer websites. Heck, even look at some of the bad ones. Compare. It's easy for anyone with no talent to market themselves with a beautifully designed and laid out website. You have eyes and you can see the differences in yours and most other good websites. Yours doesn't flow and doesn't necessarily even make total sense. It doesn't showcase your talent and it doesn't market any demographic who is going to be inclined to purchase a photo session for more than about $50 with the CD included.
I understand that you've put your blood into it, but it's not helping you any. That doesn't mean you have to lose SmugMug. It means your main site would be cleaner, flow and showcase your work. Then you can put a link in that site to your client galleries on smugmug.

 

[Designer]

I agree with MLeeK that trying to convince the general public that a professional is worth some extra money may be a complete waste of time.

Instead of laying out your best argument, (which is good, BTW) why not let your best work do the talking for you?

IMO, people usually will not see any difference even if it is pointed out to them.

 

[jamesbjenkins]

Thanks for the advice guys. Can I get some feedback on this idea:

Using my current blog site (WordPress with a ProPhoto theme) as the main site (obviously a lot of converting needed there) and drop back the smugmug site to little more than private proofing galleries site? With smugmug's $100 price increase, I'm not inclined to stick with their highest plan that I currently have, especially when so many labs out there will give you great rates if you're a legitimate photography business.

The Wordpress/ProPhoto site would be much easier for a designer to refresh into something clean, elegant and high-end looking.

Thoughts?

 

[spacefuzz]

Thanks for the advice guys. Can I get some feedback on this idea:

Using my current blog site (WordPress with a ProPhoto theme) as the main site (obviously a lot of converting needed there) and drop back the smugmug site to little more than private proofing galleries site? With smugmug's $100 price increase, I'm not inclined to stick with their highest plan that I currently have, especially when so many labs out there will give you great rates if you're a legitimate photography business.

The Wordpress/ProPhoto site would be much easier for a designer to refresh into something clean, elegant and high-end looking.

Thoughts?

I understand your situation, I just switched from smug mug to squarespace because I couldnt seem to get one of their templates to look like I wanted. With the price incrase its cheaper, but doesnt have any print support. Might be worth looking at in the interim until you can hire a pro web developer.

 

[MLeeK]

Thanks for the advice guys. Can I get some feedback on this idea:

Using my current blog site (WordPress with a ProPhoto theme) as the main site (obviously a lot of converting needed there) and drop back the smugmug site to little more than private proofing galleries site? With smugmug's $100 price increase, I'm not inclined to stick with their highest plan that I currently have, especially when so many labs out there will give you great rates if you're a legitimate photography business.

The Wordpress/ProPhoto site would be much easier for a designer to refresh into something clean, elegant and high-end looking.

Thoughts?

hell, you don't even have to be in business to get great rates from WHCC and a few others that are really phenomenal!
There's no way I'd pay what smugmug wants for client galleries.
At one time I used one... I think it was PhotoReflect. Might look into that. They had changed things and I didn't like that I couldn't choose the lab anyomre, then I just went to in person proofing (MUCH bigger sales!)

 

[2WheelPhoto]

Why hire a pro when you can get a "Natural Light Photographer" with a brand new Bestbuy camera, a FB page, business card, and a huge watermark on every pic