New Product – Albums!

Collages.net welcomes one of its new arrivals – albums! We know that you’ve been waiting a long time for these to become available, and they’re finally here. We’ve developed a unique, cutting-edge print and bind flush-mount album with two different types of leather and over 20 different colors to choose from.

Our albums feature excellent lay-flat properties and the smallest page break in the industry, not to mention an excellent turnaround time. The customizable options, which include cover cameo, embossing options, and spine hubs, allow you to get a little creative and design a keepsake that’s sure to win over your clients!

These books’ versatility allows you to expand your product selection and offer albums not only for weddings, but also for babies, children’s portraits, maternity shoots, and senior portraits. Click here for more information on Collages.net albums.

Once you have logged in to the ordering system, you can see a full selection of sizes and pricing for all of our albums. With such a wide range of options, you’re sure to find something to suit every one of your clients. Stay posted for updates!

Photography Blogging Techniques

Take your studio to a new level by blogging. We have found that one of the best ways for photographers to market their studio is through blogging. With a blog, you are able to reach a large audience, maintain a significant, inexpensive web presence, and instantly and easily add new content to your website.

A blog technique that many of our successful photographers use is capitalizing on their clients' enthusiasm. There is a certain amount of lag time between shooting and posting an event, and during that time your clients are overly anxious and excited to see their images. Why not benefit from this – use your blog to give your clients a small preview of their event! In your blog entry, post 2-4 images that will WOW them, write about how you enjoyed photographing their wedding, and post the Collages.net log-in information. Your clients will love seeing a preview of their event and will undoubtedly send your blog’s link to their family and friends, giving your studio instant exposure and immediate referrals!

When deciding which few images to post in your blog, choose wisely. Post images of which you would like your clients to buy large scale prints, post images that illustrate your style, post images that others will find inspiring! The first images your clients see are the ones they will want. Also, don’t forget to mention the actual Collages.net event site and the date you will have it posted – this will ensure your readers will remember to view the entire gallery.

To read more about the benefits of blogging, see our Studio Marketing webpage. If you aren’t yet a blogger, creating a blog is a quick, simple process and will do wonders for your business.

Website of the Week Graphic

Collages.net recently designed a website of the week award for our photographers. Now when studios are honored with website of the week, they will receive this honorary graphic that can be posted on their website or in their blog. This allows photographers' current clients, potential clients, and colleagues to see that they have been recognized for their outstanding work!

The graphic links to Collages.net's website of the week page. There is also a choice of two graphics with two backgrounds. If you were featured as website of the week in the past and are interested in this graphic, please e-mail Eileen Rafferty at erafferty@collages.net.

In case you aren't familiar with website of the week, every week Collages.net features two exceptional websites to showcase the incredible work of Collages.net photographers. Our marketing department carefully reviews all posted websites and, with the photographer’s permission, chooses one wedding and one portrait session for weekly presentation.

Important Search Engine Optimization Tips

This morning we have a post from Collages.net's SEO Advisor, Tiffany Miller. She compiled the five most important search engine optimization tips for professional photographers.

1. Content

It is important to remember that your customers are not the only people that read your website – search engine robots do as well. For that reason, your content should be full of keywords and rich text. Also, duplicate text is not indexed by search engines, so make sure your content is unique to your site.

You can also add lots of solid content by adding articles to your site; you can write them for yourself or for other photographers, just be sure to add as many keywords as possible.

2. Keywords

Keywords are used when people search for information about a certain topic. Most photographers’ websites are in Flash, which doesn’t add any keywords to your site. You can add keywords to the backend of your website that search robots will be able to index. Every site is different, but your website administrator should be able to add these for you. When adding keywords, think of words that are not only relevant to photography but are also specific to the area in which you specialize, making you unique as a photographer.

3. Linking

Have as many links coming into your site as possible. When you have several links from other sites linking to yours, it tells search engines that you have a lot of worthwhile content to read. There are many sites in your area that will link to you free of charge because you offer a service (i.e. local chamber of commerce, local wedding retailers, any partnerships, your blog, clients’ blogs). Be sure to stay away from link farms or any service that requires you to pay for a link - these are usually viewed as spam.

4. Good title bars

It is important to title every page on your website. This helps search engines categorize your site. Your title should be a descriptive word or phrase about the page. You can also use your tagline by using a dash to separate the title and the tag line.

5. Do your research

Go to a major search engine and type in “Photographers in [Your City]". Take a look at what your competition is doing so that you can differentiate yourself in the search engines. Copying your competition will have no benefit and may be harmful in your search results. Look at the keywords and structure of their sites and see how you can make your site unique, not only for your clients but for the search engines as well.

June Newsletter

Yesterday we sent our collagesNewsletter to all of our photographers. Each month our newsletter includes a wealth of information, and whether through workflow advice or marketing technqiues, we cater our content toward helping our photographers.

This month we wrote about how to increase your product offerings and impress your clients with our latest product line - gallery wraps. We also alluded to several new product lines which are coming soon.

In our Market your Studio section, we touched upon our Build your Brand website, focusing on how to learn ideas and techniques from others in the industry. We also included an incredible article in Professional Tips, by Jill and Lauren of Person + Killian Photography, in which they share how their studio experiences marketing success. Furthermore, we featured the words and work of Val Westover Photography, who won our Power Marketing E-mail of the Month.

As you can see, June's newsletter is not to be missed! Be sure to check out this edition; we e-mailed it to all of our photographers on Tuesday. It can also be found on our newsletter webpage.

Impress your clients by personalizing their sites!

It's the little details that your clients notice, so why not build your event site to match the bride’s colors or add music that corresponds to your client’s fun-loving personality?

Collages.net provides you with plenty of personalization options: a custom color picker, more than 40 font choices, numerous graphics, and a variety of music options. These customizable choices give you the opportunity to bring a sense of familiarity to your customers, and just as you remembered their little details, they will remember your top-notch service.

A great example is our wedding of the week taken by Tiffanny Francisco of Francisco Photography.



To view more of our websites of the week, click here.

Unique Ideas - Portrait Parties

We have received a tremendous response from an article in our April Newsletter. One of our photographers, Tina Gwynn of Kristina Gwynn Photography, shared how her studio has profited from an innovative idea – Portrait Parties. Tina detailed how the idea started, how the parties are held, and how her studio has experienced success. In her article, she also included a sample portrait party posted on Collages.net, which we have extended indefinitely due to the positive response.

To read Tina's article, click here. Also, if you have an article you have written or would like to share an idea that you have found to be successful, we would love to hear from you!

Building YOUR Brand

In an effort to help you build your brand, Collages.net does not include our company logo on any of your event websites or event notification e-mails. Your studio logo is the only brand that appears. When your customers log in to their event websites, they see your studio logo prominently displayed in the top left corner.

Your studio logo is a powerful marketing tool as it builds your brand, attracts additional clients, gives your event sites your personal look and feel, and makes your studio memorable.

To learn how to design an effective logo, visit our studio marketing website. To send Collages.net your logo, simply attach the jpeg file to an e-mail and send it to customerservice@collages.net.