Calculating album costs can be a bit more difficult than calculating prints. There are a lot more variables that go into albums compared to one off products. Let’s take a quick look at possible costs that go into albums.

1. The cost of the album from the album company.
2. The cost of any extra pages or cover upgrades from the album company.
3. The cost to design the album (whether you do it yourself or outsource it).
4. The cost/time to make any changes by the client.
5. The time it takes to order/deliver the album.

For example. (and these are made up numbers, but they should be close to real album costs)

1. $250 for a 10×10 30 page album.
2. $100 for a cover upgrade.
3. $50 (for two hours of design at $25/hour)
4. $25 (for one hour of design changes)
5. $15 (for one hour of office work)

Total costs = $440

Now we need to use a cost multiplier to come up with our retail costs. Professional Photographers of America recommends a 30% cost of goods (last time I checked). This means that if an item costs you $30, you would charge $100. So, your costs are 30%.

You can calculate the retail cost like this:

$440 ÷ 0.30 = $1466.66

If you are at the top of your market, you’d want to use a lower cost of goods. Dividing by 0.25 or 0.20 will give you a higher retail value.

I hope this final tip helps you price your albums better and gives you the confidence to stick to your prices when clients ask for a discount.

If you would like a more automated approach to pricing, Prosper™ at Fundy Software has a free 2 week trial, which automates this math for you.

Fundy

Fundy is the creator of Fundy Software. For free trials of their award winning Album Builder software or other photo tools, please visit www.fundysoftware.com

PRODPI RELEASES NEW FUSION COVER PRESS BOOKS

Merging beautiful and unique fabrics with your branding and images

Englewood, CO (January 27, 2011) – Digtal Precision Imaging, Inc. (ProDPI) annouces their new product release, Fusion Cover Press Books.  Merging beautiful and unique fabrics with branding and images – these Fusion Covers are bound to be a hit with clients!

All Fusion Covers are press printed on 100% recycled paper making these covers a great environmentally friendly alternative.  Fusion Covers are available with any of the ProDPI fabric materials.  Images can be on both sides of the book or just placed on the front with fabric covering the rest.

Fusion Covers are available on all books, including Eco Press Proof Books.  The Fusion Cover product joins an extensive size and cover option list including full fabric, Luster Photo Covers, and Pearl Photo Covers.  ProDPI provides a wide selection of paper types including hinged layflat papers, recycled papers, and magazine style text weight papers.

For more information view the ProDPI website at http://www.prodpi.com

About ProDPI

Digital Precision Imaging, Inc. (ProDPI) is a Professional Photo Lab that serves the printing needs of professional photographers withinthe United States and Canada.  A 100% digital workflow allows for sustained, high-throughput production with the use of cutting-edge server technology, custom software and all digital output devices. Professional equipment from Noritsu, Durst, Epson, and HP produce high quality photographic and digital offset prints and products for leading photographic studios and independent photographers.

You have to love etsy. I’m sure that some enterprising photographer can come up with a cool marketing use for these DIY paper craft templates.

via|momtastic

As a well networked photographer we can all appreciate having a humongous friends list. As the owner of one of those big lists I can tell you that the downside of letting any old “Friend” into the fold is that you’re giving up some privacy. But never fear there is a solution… drum roll please…. and it is lists.  Lifehacker to the rescue with a great little tutorial on how to setup and maintain Facebook lists.

The advantages of Facebook Friends Lists:

• Share info with members of a specific list (effectively eliminating those late night drunk rants from your photography clients prying eyes)
• Send messages and invites to events to specific groups (meaning you don’t have to send your photography friends or your mom info on your latest boudoir promo)
• See news feeds from certain groups (It’s kind of like being selectively deaf)

All in all it’s just good practice to organize your networks.  Can you think of any advantages that I haven’t already mentioned?

BTW be sure to follow us/like us on Facebook. http://www.facebook.com/DWFForum

Read the full Tip 1 article here.

Tip 2 – Show Big and Fancy

It’s a proven fact that people buy on emotion. Studies have been done by all of the big business schools in the world and the conclusion is that people buy on emotion. Sure, they will shop around on prices, and do research, but when that final day comes, they buy on emotion. As a business, we are required to tap into that emotion at every stage of our sales process. The very first stage of the album sales process is when the client first looks at sample albums. Imagine your sample album showing as the show room of a BMW dealership. What does the dealership have on the show room? The bottom end cars with the fewest features? No, they have the coolest, fanciest cars with all the bells and whistles. Does everyone buy these? No. But it taps into their emotion. It makes them want to buy a car, buy a BMW.

Image courtesy of Finao

So, the logical conclusion for photographers is to show the biggest albums possible with the fanciest covers available. Christine, the owner of Finao Albums, turned me on to this concept. It costs approximately the same to order a 12×18″ album with 20 pages and a cover upgrade as it does a 40 page 10×10 album. Most album companies also offer discounts on samples, so any price differences really come down to $20-$30 per large sample album. Additionally, Brides and Grooms really don’t want to look through 40 pages of people they don’t know. They want to see the pretty getting ready and bride/groom portraits. They want to see the ceremony and ONE spread of formals (just to make sure you can do them) and the key moments of the reception. They don’t want to see 8 pages of people doing the Conga that they don’t know. 20 pages is enough for samples.

If people ask what a 10×10 album looks like, pull out a 10×10 portrait album and show they the size. Guaranteed that the clients will see it as a small option. They may not opt for a 12×18 album, but they’ll probably opt for a 12×12″ inch album. Secondly, showing large, elegant albums creates value in the album itself. It says to the client, that an album is a valuable product. Lastly, an investment in fancy albums pays off in bookings. If all of your competition is showing 10×10 leather albums and you are showing a 12×18 horizontal album with a metal cover, then clients will gravitate towards your offerings.

Fundy is the creator of the Fundy Album Builder™, design elegant albums right in Photoshop. You can download the free trial here.

Hello Matt, a recent article of Danny Sullivan suggests that Google uses Twitter and Facebook links as a ranking signal. Can you confirm this? Can you elaborate a little bit more on this? -WebSEOAnalytics

Search Engine Land

Looks like those of you who have been ignoring social networking due to it’s lack of SEO value might wish to re-evaluate. An interesting change in just a year me thinks.

Way back in the day all you needed was a yellowpages ad and you were off and running. Your phone would start to ring. You’d do a few weddings, shoot for a few clients, build some relationships with venues and vendors and then word of mouth advertising would kick-in and what can I say… LIFE WAS GOOD!

<insert dramatic pause for glory day memories here>

Then came the internet and all it’s pixelated glory. The economy was booming and brides began using “portals” to find their photographers and wedding vendors. The brides were plenty and LIFE SEEMED GOOD!

Sure as the day is long this infinite resource of brides was here to stay.  It was perfect, you paid one or two portals between $50-150 a month and your phone rang and your email inbox was full.  I believe it was during this “golden age of the bride portal” that some photographers got lazy. It’s also a time when many new photographers entered the fold. They all neglected the tried and true methods of  nurturing their business to business and business to past client relationships. It was just too simple to just pay money to a portal and have brides come to you. Networking, after all, requires effort.

Then at the beginning of  our recession the portal “system” dried up leaving some photographers with no eggs left in their basket. Portals which once brought in bride after bride all of the sudden ceased to produce. Was it portal overload? Was it that the brides moved on to other resources ala Facebook? Who knows why it changed, all I know is that it changed and that your monthly investment in “portal” advertising was looking worse for wear.

Great observation Mark you’re saying “So where does that leave us?” well I’ve found that we’ve pretty much come full circle in our never-ending search for brides.

• Photographers can benefit by going back to our roots. Build a referral network, make friends in the wedding community and spend some actual facetime (not iPhone facetime real person to person interaction) with your peers.
• Keep in touch with your past clients. Be it email, or Facebook or Twitter or hell even snail mail. Remind them you’re there and remind them of all the services you offer. Sit down and build a contact list. Write a little newsletter and send it.
• Watch your marketing dollars closely. If a portal or ad is not producing any longer drop them or at least try to negotiate a lower rate which better suits their current return on investment.  Move those marketing dollars around, don’t be afraid to try new advertising but be sure to give it time to work before calling it a bust.
• Modify your marketing message. In these days of tightened purse strings being opulent is out. People are in a down to earth, value state of mind. Offer products and services that are inline these values. And no I don’t mean charge less for them, I mean choose your words wisely and describe your current offerings as such.

Do you have an idea for finding brides? I’d love to hear them. Share them here or in the Private DWF Photography Marketing Forum. Trials are FREE!

Since October, we’ve been working to make this process easier for you. First we added group tagging, so you could type one name and apply it to multiple photos of the same person. Now we’re announcing tag suggestions, which will make tagging multiple photos even more convenient.

Sounds almost Orwellian doesn’t it. Now, not only does Facebook know where you are and what you’re doing now Facebook can recognize you in photos. My black helicopter paranoia aside this will make tagging photos easier.

Now if you upload pictures from your cousin’s wedding, we’ll group together pictures of the bride and suggest her name. Instead of typing her name 64 times, all you’ll need to do is click “Save” to tag all of your cousin’s pictures at once. By making tagging easier than before, you’re more likely to know right away when friends post photos. We notify you when you’re tagged, and you can untag yourself at any time.  As always, only friends can tag each other in photos.

And of course with all good things on Facebook you can OPT out if you wish.

Read more on the Facebook blog.

Branding

Most album companies allow the photographer to do a studio imprint on the back flap of the album. This is essential. Every time a client shows their album to their friend, you want that friend to see your name, your branding, your logo. Without this branding, the friend thinks, “oh, I can do this now with my photos.” When it is branding, then the friend thinks, “oh, look what this photographer can do.” Many press printed books do not offer studio imprinting. But, it is very easy to add a logo on the back cover of a press printed album.

Mini Books

If an album is 10×10 or smaller, a mini book is probably not necessary. Most people will carry around a 10×10 inch album or smaller in a bag to show their friends. But, for our best clients, who order larger albums, carrying around a heavy album can be a burden. Most likely these clients are spending $1800+ for their wedding albums, by doing a small give-away mini album, clients will do some free advertising for you. Finao offers mini self mount albums, 3×3, 4×6, etc, that can be ordered with prints for under $30 with only ten pages. Choose your favorite spreads from their wedding album, make a ten page mini album as a gift to the client. I guarantee that she’ll show all of her friends. Or an inexpensive accordion album from ProDPI will go a long way.

Social Media

One of the features I wanted for the Fundy Album Proofer was social media sharing. If a client can share her entire wedding or portrait album with just a click of a button, that is real marketing power. Make sure you use a service that can do this when proofing an album. While our proofer does this, there are a number of services, from Animoto to eMotion Media, that can do the same thing. Even just uploading low-res versions of the album directly to Facebook will help your marketing. Just be sure to use something like Batch-o-licious to brand the spreads so they don’t get stolen on Facebook.

Going Forward

I’ve just touched on a few ideas here, but the point is: albums are a marketing tool. There is so much work that goes into producing albums, and so much money spent on them, photographers need to use them to their fullest. Albums can not be a source of income, they can also be a source of new clients.

Fundy

Fundy is the creator of Fundy SOS, a provider of design and production tools for photographers. All products have a free trial, you can find our more here.

DWF Expert and Convention Speaker Sandy Puc has a new magazine and you can grab a free copy along with two FREE templates if you head there right now. Below are all the details and in the interest of full disclosure, the DWF is a proud sponsor of Ukando.

By the way… If  you want to hear Sandy speak? She’ll be at the DWF Convention in San Antonio in just eight short weeks. It’s not too late to register.

It’s official. The very first marketing magazine of its kind, Ukandu Magazine, is only one click away.

The name Ukandu is selected for this online publication because it exemplifies the proactive spirit of photographers looking to give their studios a boost. In its original form, the word Ukandu was born out of a creative thinking process by designer, marketing and photographer gurus alike. It is a fun, short way of spelling and saying, “You can do…design, marketing, photography, etc.”

In its first issue, Ukandu Magazine takes a look at a diverse spectrum of marketing topics, including target audience, pricing, product selection, customer service, social media and event marketing, among other exciting new topics. Some specifics of the magazine focus on how to handle customer feedback by Sandy Puc’, while Steve Mills shows us how to maximize your market’s full potential. The magazine will be sent out every other month, and will always include a FREE customizable marketing template to help your business grow!
To learn more about these topics, and to download the very first FREE issue of Ukandu Magazine PLUS 2 FREE downloads, please visit UKANDU.COM. This month’s free downloads:Client Survey and Charity Event Online Ordering Card
(The free downloads will arrive in the same download as the magazine. Enjoy our first issue. We worked extra hard to produce something that we hope you will like. To continue receiving Ukandu Magazine, be sure to enter your email address in the Mailing List area on Ukandu.com.

Happiness all over,

Sandy Puc’
Editor in Chief Download Instructions:To download your free copy of Ukandu Magazine, click here. On the following screen click “Add to Cart” below the cover image. Next you will be asked to input your contact information and then click on “Check Out.” You will receive an email with a link to download a ZIP file containing the magazine and two free downloads.

Let’s see…

• Personalized = Check
• A different Image on each card = Check
• Attention getting sizes = Check
• Cool holders that keep your cards from getting smashed = Check
• Really decent printing for a card printing company = Check
• Other cool printed products = Check

I’ve used Zazzle in the past for my cards simply because they had a mini card option. I have to say that mini cards have been a big hit with my clients. They all do a double take at the card which is what you want. It doesn’t instantly go into their pocket or purse. MOO takes that idea and runs with it. Allowing you to have multiple images in a card pack. Very cool and the printing I saw at PhotoPlus Expo in NYC was top notch. I also really liked some of their card carrier options. I hate to stuff tons of cards into my wallet and I hate when cards get banged up edges. So for me at least a cheap and functional card carrier is key.

I was also impressed by their sticker books. 90 different stickers of someones wedding in a book. What bride wouldn’t love that as a toss in? Or maybe just for marketing yourself…

Ok seriously who doesn’t use Google Maps these days. I’m pretty darn sure I’ve seen a Google Map in my mother’s hands so let’s agree to call it mainstream.

Last week sometime Google Places removed the usernames from their reviews, essentially making them anonymous and potentially making them a huge headache for business owners who cannot defend themselves against a faceless complaint.

In the image above you’ll note that there used to be a Google username somewhere around the date.  Even more interesting is when I Google “map” John Hall Studios and hover over his name I’m greeted with the lovely review shown above. (It’s a fitness studio, not a photography studio btw)

So what’s a small photography business owner to do? Well first off I’d monitor the hell of out of my Google Places account. Set a weekly or bi-weekly calendar item with a link. It would only take a few seconds to setup. Beyond that I’m not sure how you would have a false review removed beyond flagging it as inappropriate.  But apparently even that is an uphill battle according to this Google Places user.

What do you guys think? Another Google “fail” for small business?

Discuss this one in the Pro Photography Marketing Forum now. Login required by trials are FREE!

(image via Facebook blog)

I’ve gotta say that while my distaste for Facebook grows almost daily they are doing some pretty cool stuff.  This one could be very useful for any photographer who has a storefront. Facebook deals works along with Facebook Places and allows business owners to offer a “Deal” to Facebook users as shown above.

FREE 8×10 Anyone?

For those of us that mostly do weddings or have a home office the usefulness would be rather limited but I can see potential for anyone with a studio space. What do you guys think? Is there potential for photographers here?

Read more on the Facebook blog.

]]> http://www.digitalweddingforum.com/blog/facebook-introduces-deals/feed 0 http://www.digitalweddingforum.com/blog/facebook-removes-a-photographers-friend http://www.digitalweddingforum.com/blog/facebook-removes-a-photographers-friend#comments Thu, 21 Oct 2010 13:42:20 +0000 Mark Lutz http://www.digitalweddingforum.com/blog/?p=18838

What’s missing from this photo? The “view comments” link that’s what. A rather useful tool for anyone who shares images via Facebook but especially useful for photographers who like to reply when clients or their clients friends comment on photos. So now you have to go thru your hundreds of photos manually just to check for comments unless you use the notifications feature. Turning these notifications on will alert you to new comments but….

(facebook-account-account setttings-notifications)

… it was nice to see all photos with comments in a nice orderly page which was what the “view comments” button allowed. What do you guys think of the new change?

There is also talk that the new photo uploader doesn’t work so well but I haven’t had a chance to test that out as of yet.

Facebook uploaded a video yesterday highlighting the new photo features they rolled out. Probably the same update that removed the “View Comments” links and many are using that video comment section to voice their protest as there is no official way of contacting Facebook to make a complaint.

DWF Pros are discussing this one in the Pro Photography Business forum. Not a member? Grab a Free trial. (no CC required)

Well I knew people were using smaller and smaller computers but as I sit here in front of my 2560×1600 pixel 30 inch “MONSTER” I can’t help but notice that maybe my sites might not be optimized for the small screen so well.

Google Labs browser size page will help you decide where and how your content should be placed.

Google Browser Size is a visualization of browser window sizes for people who visit Google. For example, the “90%” contour means that 90% of people visiting Google have their browser window open to at least this size or larger.

This is useful for ensuring that important parts of a page’s user interface are visible by a wide audience. On the example page that you see when you first visit this site, there is a “donate now” button which falls within the 80% contour, meaning that 20% of users cannot see this button when they first visit the page. 20% is a significant number; knowing this fact would encourage the designer to move the button much higher in the page so it can be seen without scrolling.

To view your own Web site with this same visualization overlaid on it, simply type its URL into the “Enter URL here” textbox at the top of the window and click Go.

And there you have it. The way people search the internet has just changed quite dramatically.  Google now provides instant search results for every letter you type along with suggestions. Consider this, Susy goes to Google in search for “wedding photoraphers in Altoona” but halfway thru typing the info that has popped up in front of her has changed and based upon her search history and some Google magic she’s greated with options other than Altoona.

I’m sure that if you, like me, search while logged into Google will see a much different search result if you start type “wedding photographers” into your browser.  That means that more than ever browser history will play a role in results because this will change the way people search the internet for information. It might become harder to reach brides that aren’t local to you. It might be easier given your rankings for certain keywords.

Blogger Steve Rubel goes as far as to say that Google Instant makes SEO irrelevant.

Here’s what this means: no two people will see the same web. Once a single search would do the trick – and everyone saw the same results. That’s what made search engine optimization work. Now, with this, everyone is going to start tweaking their searches in real-time. The reason this is a game changer is feedback. When you get feedback, you change your behaviors.

What do you guys think? Even Google is saying that things are going to change around organic keywords.

We expect Google Instant will help users find what they’re looking for faster. With this change, you might notice some fluctuations in AdWords impression volume and in the distribution of organic keywords. For example, you may find that certain keywords receive significantly more or fewer impressions moving forward.

I guess it’s time to pay attention to your SEO now more than every.

via|webpronews

Once your archive (portfolio) is well stocked, back off and write less stuff, but way better stuff.  You can apply the same logic to any output, whether it’s posting links, portfolio images, or photos of your cats playing with yarn.

The innerwebz today is a sea of white noise in which people put out so much unnecessary information, that it all starts to look the same.  Some of us photographers virtually vomit out daily photo postings, full sessions published everyday for everyone to see.  Maybe instead take a moment and carefully choose fewer images to post.  If I see hundreds of images posted per week by a photographer I don’t ever bother clicking.  I know that I will have to swim through so many that I will lose interest before I find the gems.  Potential clients have the same thought process, though not usually consciously.  Cut back on the noise and when I see you have posted I will KNOW it’s an image worth looking at.

Imagine attempting to login to Facebook only to find that your profile has been disabled! DWF Photographer Brian Tao is living in this extra special level of social networking hell right now. Why hell you ask? Because there was no warning and there really is no recourse. If you’re account is disabled by the Facebook powers that be you’re left with really only one option. To contact them via a webform and given Facebook’s track record for customer service (or lack thereof) that’s a sketchy proposition at best.

Further reading in Brian’s DWF Pro Business Forum post reveals that he’s not the only photographer to share this special brand of surprise Facebook rejection. As it turns out more than a few photographers have been vanquished from the popular social networking site.

The real question is why and one potential reason might really surprise you.

Per our Statement of Rights and Responsibilities, Facebook profiles must represent an individual. Users aren’t permitted to maintain an account under the name of their organization, or use personal accounts to advertise or promote themselves professionally. If your profile was listed under a non-individual name, or was used primarily for professional promotion, this is probably why it was removed.

Everyone who just joined me in the collective “Holy Crap I Had No Flippin Idea” category is mentally reviewing their Facebook activity right now and wondering if they’ve crossed the imaginary boundary of too much business promotion via their profile page.

Given the growing trend of ditching a business page in favor of using your profile to promote your photography business just became infinitely more risky than many of us thought.

What do you guys think of this relatively unknown Facebook policy? Will you move your business promotion solely to your Fan Page?

]]> http://www.digitalweddingforum.com/blog/a-facebook-warning-for-photographers/feed 32 http://www.digitalweddingforum.com/blog/shutterfly-the-future-of-photo http://www.digitalweddingforum.com/blog/shutterfly-the-future-of-photo#comments Tue, 17 Aug 2010 12:51:16 +0000 Mark Lutz http://www.digitalweddingforum.com/blog/?p=17433 Any photographer who’s been in the business for more than a few years can tell you that the old business model has changed. It used to be that photography clients had only one option.

To buy from their photographer!

Today more than ever clients want the rights to their images and each day more photographers are willing to oblige.  That in and of itself is not a problem except for the fact that many photographers undervalue their work and sell “the rights” way to cheap. But I digress… that is a discussion in and of itself.

The real question is what are those clients doing with those “Digital Negatives”?  Well I can tell you. They are going straight to companies like Shutterfly and buying direct. Remember the good ol’ days and all the backend sales that used to come directly to photographers? Well those profits are now going to online services like Shutterfly. Is it any wonder that the CEO of Shutterfly wore a huge smile to this CNBC interview?

What do you think of the future of photography? Is it services like Shutterfly? Discuss it in the Pro Forums.

Basically it’s a marketing app. A way for Jerad’s clients to share, show and contact him. Nicely done! You can snag a copy here if you’d like to play with it first hand. You probably won’t keep it on your phone (unless you happen to be a client or huge  fan Jerad’s work) but it’s worth checking out just to explore the marketing possibilities that Jared is already utilizing.

Many photographers are really good about properly tagging their still images when sharing them on their blogs or websites but with more and more photographers sharing videos online it’s more important than ever to properly TAG your video content so it can be found by easily by Google and it’s users.

What are the five things Google is looking for when it comes to video content?

1. Title
2. Brief Description
3. Play Page URL
4. Thumbnail Image URL
5. Raw Video File Location

So how do you get all of that to Google? With a video sitemap of course! Especially important for those of you who have chosen to host your own videos without using a third party streaming service.

Also click over to Google Videos Best Practices for some additional info and discuss this article on the DWF Pro Fusion Forum with your peers.

]]> http://www.digitalweddingforum.com/blog/help-google-find-your-videos/feed 1 http://www.digitalweddingforum.com/blog/dear-photographer http://www.digitalweddingforum.com/blog/dear-photographer#comments Mon, 26 Jul 2010 11:55:39 +0000 Trent Ernst http://www.digitalweddingforum.com/blog/?p=16716

Becca over at Offbeat Bride has posted an open letter to you, dear photographer. And it’s kinda critical of your website. She doesn’t like it very much. And considering the discussion that follows, there’s a lot of people who agree with her.

All in all it’s a must read for every photographer with a website.

Here’s point one:

First of all, turn the freaking music off. Seriously. I’m probably looking at your site at work and it’s hard to find the off button and I probably don’t like the music you picked nor do I care since I didn’t come to you for music. Don’t do it — it’s downright annoying!

Go read for yourself. And read the comments, too. Arial has closed comments (after four pages!), so if you really feel like ranting, do so below.

The Pros on the DWF are discussing this one already. Be sure to stop by the Pro Photography Marketing and Sales forum when you get a chance. (remember trials are FREE)

Don’t be alarmed NYC! The giant pigtailed girl in the Forever 21 billboard isn’t about to go all “Cloverfield” on you. Instead she snaps photos of the crowd who appear to be ignoring every other billboard and or advertisement in Times Square.

Along with taking random polaroids she also: plucks people from the crowd, kissed them and turns them to frogs and otherwise trots around the screen.

via|fastcompany

]]> http://www.digitalweddingforum.com/blog/times-square-interactive-photography-billboard/feed 1 http://www.digitalweddingforum.com/blog/att-smartphone-credit-card-processing http://www.digitalweddingforum.com/blog/att-smartphone-credit-card-processing#comments Fri, 09 Jul 2010 11:16:21 +0000 Mark Lutz http://www.digitalweddingforum.com/blog/?p=16244

An interesting alternative for all you non-iPhone users who want to process credit cards on the go. The Pro service has an optional printer and card swiper so you can avoid those “virtual terminal” fees often associated with using Apps to collect payments.

AprivaPay™ AND AprivaPay Professional from AT&T turn your mobile device into a portable credit card terminal. With a compatible AT&T smartphone, AprivaPay or AprivaPay Professional software, and a merchant account, your mobile workforce can process credit or debit card payments from the field.

Click to read more and watch their video.

With this new feature, tagging is faster since you don’t need to select a face. It’s already selected for you, just like those rectangles you see around your friends’ faces when you take a photo with a modern digital camera. All that’s left for you to do is type a name and hit enter. Cool, huh?

According to the Facebook Blog there is more to come…

The tagging feature is just the start of improvements we’re trying out. Stay tuned for future posts about other work on browsing, uploading and tagging.

As a photographer it would be pretty darn cool if Facebook could find all of the “Bonus” people in my photos and identify them so I could spread the word about Mark Lutz Photography but until then this is a pretty cool piece of tech to mess with. That is if everyone doesn’t get sick of FB and leave before they implement it.

via|facebook blog

Uh oh… Could we be losing a generation of potential clients errr I mean Facebook users? More and more I’m hearing that the only place to find business these days is Facebook so it’s semi alarming to hear this news. In a recent survey as reported by Roiworld. Of the teens  surveyed (13-17)  19% are spending less time or NO TIME due to the following reasons:

• 45% lost interest
• 16% left because their parents are there (saw that one coming)
• 14% say there are too many adults
• 13% are concerned about privacy

We might be ripe for the next big thing soon so perhaps we should think twice before putting all our marketing eggs in the Facebook basket long term. Or then again… maybe not!

What do you guys think? Comment below or discuss the topic with working Professional Photographers in the Pro Marketing Forum.

via|mashable

Trying to influence a decision? Embodied Cognition is a phrase you should know according the Journal of Science and Wired.

Philosophers, cognitive scientists and artificial intelligence researchers who study embodied cognition and the embodied mind believe that the nature of the human mindis largely determined by the form of the human body. They argue that all aspects of cognition, such as ideas, thoughts, concepts and categories are shaped by aspects of the body. These aspects include the perceptual system, the intuitions that underlie the ability to move, activities and interactions with our environment and the naive understanding of the world that is built into the body and the brain. (wikipedia)

Wired says and I quote “sitting in a hard chair can literally turn someone into a hardasss”.  Read more to find out how your choice of furniture might “turn on” or “turn off” a potential client.

What to see what some DWFers offices look like? Click Here (login required but trials are FREE)

via|lifehacker

Call me a dreamer but I really like this idea. Disney and Pixar have introduced a first of it’s kind Facebook application which allows you to buy tickets to Toy Story 3 tickets without ever leaving the Facebook site. According to the NYT this new app not only allows you to purchase tickets without ever leaving the safety and security of your virtual friendship bubble, it also allows Disney to market to your friends via alerts and prompts.

That’s great Mark, it will replace Fandango (actually it won’t as it’s tied into Fandango) but what does this have to do with selling my photos via Facebook!

Well my thinking is this. If Facebook is going to allow people to purchase “Things” from within the site shouldn’t we expect that some enterprising individual will some day wake up and say.

OMG there are like 4 jillion photos on Facebook. What if people could purchase hard or virtual copies of the photos they are viewing on my profile/page/group! Gosh darn it I’m going to build that app!

Mark my words that guy (or girl) that makes that happen will be filthy rotten stinking rich nearly overnight.

What do you guys think?  If Facebook builds it will they come? Will we all be selling our photos via Facebook some day?

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