Building a successful photography website might seem like a daunting task, but it doesn't have to be. Depending on your clientele and addressable market, your website will need to focus on some features more than others (e-commerce vs. file delivery, for example). But regardless of your specialty, all photographers should bear in mind these 5 pillars of a successful photography website:

1. Separation of Church and State. If you have multiple lines of business, like shooting weddings and politics, create a separate website for each. If a potential new client comes to your website looking for coverage of the latest political debate and sees a galleries full of wedding photography, they're likely to leave and move on to another photographer who's more closely specialized in what they need. Don't lose business by mixing your audiences - instead, maintain separate websites that are focused on one specialty.

Photography BlogSites has announced a partnership with internationally acclaimed digital photo sharing hub SmugMug. As the only website option with the ability to instantly synchronize its designs with SmugMug, Photography BlogSites is taking another step in becoming the premiere website service for photographers.

Through Photography BlogSites' instant sync ability with SmugMug, the design of the photographer's website will carry directly over to SmugMug - allowing photographers to retain their branding when customers make purchases. In addition, this service is available to all SmugMug Pro and Power users.

Read more here.

Everyone has experienced that sinking feeling. You know the feeling you got in the pit of your stomach when you were 7 years old and just broke one of Mom's or Dad's prized possessions?  That's when you look around and try to blame the dog, the cat, the wind...even the kid down the street.

Chances are, you're probably no longer at risk of having to explain yourself to Mom and Dad when accidents happen. On the other hand, as a photographer (and a small-business owner), you could find yourself sitting in front of a client with this very same feeling. You are the end of the line when it comes to decision making for your photography business, so it's going to be quite difficult to convince a client to blame someone/something else, even if the matter was out of your hands. And the client probably won't be satisfied with just sentencing you to one week without TV.

In situations like this, your wallet and, more importantly, your reputation are on the line.

This is where PPA's Indemnification Trust program can step in to help. When clients start to point their fingers at you, use yours to pick up the phone and request the assistance of an attorney experienced at talking photographers through a variety of client complaints. Read more here. 

SMS Business Workshop Comes to Atlanta, March 12-14

You probably know the importance of adding business smarts to your artistic skills (you need them to keep doing what you love!). So, are you ready to increase your sales? Keep more money? Take back your life? Take the next step with PPA's Studio Management Services.

Our Business Breakthroughs Workshop can help you get to that "elusive" next level. The three full-day sessions teach you to manage your finances, attract your ideal client, get comfortable selling and more...all to help you better run your unique photography business.

The most amazing thing? This workshop includes a private consultation with an SMS mentor and PPA accountant, meaning you'll walk away with actionable business and marketing goals AND a custom financial plan. It's the one-two punch that can push you onwards and upwards!

You know that old saying, "If at first you don't succeed, try, try again"? Well, the same is true for PPA and PPA Affiliate photographic competitions. With progressing levels (local, state, district, international) and critiques at every stage, these competitions can help you improve your entries and your chances of earning high marks...until you do succeed. That's why we don't want you to miss out on your PPA District Photographic Competition!

Let's say you enter a case (four images) at your district. If any of those entries earn a score of 80 or above, you will get a Seal of Approval. That means your image would automatically merit and be judged for PPA's Loan Collection...if you enter it in the next International Photographic Competition.

However, if your images don't score that high, you might have the opportunity to listen to critiques. The district jurors can point out the good areas and areas for improvement in your images. Then, take that advice and tweak your images before entering them in the International Photographic Competition, the next competition level up!

By entering an earlier competition (like your district competition), you have a chance to fine-tune your images and hopefully do even better at the highest level of all. And that can lead to more merits, more recognition and better imagery for you. Are you ready to get a good start on competition? 

Whether you are an old hand at charitable marketing or want to get started but don't know how, now's your chance! PPA Charities, in association with Marathon Press, offers the perfect opportunity to gain new clients and repeat business through a brand-new charitable marketing event. As a PPA member, you can participate in "Celebration of Smiles," set for April 21, 2012. (Or choose another day that works for you.)

What It Is
Participating photographers will host an event where clients donate a minimum of $24 for a portrait mini session and desk-sized portrait, and 100% of donations go to support Operation Smile. This worldwide children's medical charity (focusing on facial deformities) can perform a surgery for as little as $240. So, for every 10 sessions a studio photographs during this Celebration of Smiles event, one child will receive the life-changing gift of surgery.

Think how many smiles you could help save by joining in this one-day event! Think how your name recognition and repeat business could grow! (Plus, you might even win the opportunity to document an Operation Smile Mission!)

Get Involved
Register with only a $25 PPA Charities donation, and you'll receive . . .

• The Celebration of Smiles Marketing Guide that takes you step-by-step through how to market, prepare for and execute your promotion. (You'll also get predesigned promotional elements and materials for marketing to your clients and prospects.)
• Your studio name and website link on the Celebration of Smiles consumer website.
• Weekly "timeline" emails, so you'll stay on track with marketing and operating your promotion.

Learn more and register at ppacharities.com.

Not a PPA member, but want to take part in the Celebration of Smiles? It's easy to join: ppa.com/joinppa.

For more information contact:
Bert Behnke
20600 S. Old Wolf Road
Mokena, IL 60448
(708) 267-0657
bbehnke@ppa.com

It's almost February and the New Year's resolutions you promised yourself are already fading into the background of daily life. But don't worry, we still have one resolution that's never too late to accomplish: backing up your hard drive. Although it's one of those tasks that rates somewhere between flossing your teeth and checking the air in your tires, it's a necessity that can cause great regret if not done regularly.
 
Backing up is the first rule of thumb for protecting all your important data (like all those images!) and, clearly, it has real benefits. Yet it's surprising how many people don't do it...or do it improperly. A suitable backup means that a duplicate copy of your data resides on a different storage medium than your main hard drive. Copying your data to another folder on the same drive doesn't count because when (not if) your drive crashes, you may not be able to access any of the data.
 
What's Your Backup Plan?
A good backup plan starts with deciding what files you want to back up. This can take awhile if you have a large hard drive and thousands of files collected over the years. To speed up the backup process and reclaim valuable space on your hard drive, it's a good idea to do a little digital housekeeping and archive old data to semi-permanent storage media, such as DVD-R, BD-R or even CD-R. Although these media are "write-once," the expectation is that they will last about 100 years before deteriorating.
 
Once you've archived data to your discs, it's recommended that you verify and check the data on them to ensure that everything was properly transferred and that none of the files are corrupt. Lastly, you should make more than one set of these archive discs and store them in different locations. You might keep one at your office, another in a safe deposit box and perhaps an additional copy at the home of a family member.

Read the full article here.

PPA member and award-winning photographer Jim DiVitale will soon have an exhibit of his recent photographic work displayed at the Marietta Museum of Art in Marietta, GA.

Titled "Home and Heroes", the display will feature DiVitale's black and white photographs of historic homes from the Civil War time period located in the city of Marietta.

The images also appeared in DiVitale's recent book collaboration with author Doug Frey, Marietta: The Gem City of Georgia.

The exhibit will run from April through the summer. Read more about the exhibit on DiVitale's blog.




IMAGE © JIM DIVITALE

We know that many of you have been following the developments with the Stop Online Piracy Act (SOPA) and the Protect Intellectual Property Act (PIPA). There has been some confusion over the proposed legislation, which frankly is the intent of the bills' opponents. We wanted to take a moment to correct some of the bad information, and to let you know where we stand.

We were disappointed by some of the heavy-handed tactics used by opponents of the bills. The objective of those tactics was obviously to create fear and hysteria, while at the same time spreading false information about what the bills would actually accomplish. We want you to know the following:

• Both pieces of legislation (SOPA in the Senate and PIPA in the House) targeted off-shore pirating of works produced in the U.S.
• We do not feel that the measures were perfect--no legislation is. But the greater good demands that measures be taken to protect the rights of creators like you.
• It is true that those mega-corporations opposed to the bill could possibly have been inconvenienced by the legislation. It is their job to make money, and their actions merely represented those purposes.
• It is not true that the public would have been deprived of works to which it has rights, but rather, only those works that are copyrighted and being sold illegally by rogue off-shore websites.

Read the full article here.

Wild Sorbet Frame & Design, the highly respected makers of large, handcrafted, custom wall frames, sold exclusively to professional photographers, has merged with Willowfly Designs, manufacturers of small, unique frames, designed primarily for tabletops and wall groupings. The official announcement took place at this year's Imaging USA in New Orleans.

Tana LeMay, owner of Wild Sorbet Frame & Design, is extremely excited about the line extension. "Since we started Wild Sorbet seven years ago, our customers - professional photographers all over the world - have been asking us if we have any smaller frames, ready for table-top display, in our line. Our answer was always the same. We focus on larger, custom frames, perfect for wall display. At long last, we now have the affirmative answer they've been hoping to hear."

This directional change did not come easily for LeMay. While demand was high for smaller frames that coordinated with the beautiful, handcrafted styles and wide array of colors - now 150-plus - of Wild Sorbet, until recently LeMay had steadfastly refused to stretch beyond the boundaries of her company's mission to only sell custom-made, wall display frames exclusively to photographers.

However, when colleague Kerry DeLay McCane approached her with a fresh line of tabletop and ready-to-hang frames that clearly complement her own frames, she recognized the possibilities. "Photographers have been asking for this for so long," says LeMay, "and finally, we've found a line of quality, less expensive, smaller frames that integrate beautifully with Wild Sorbet."

Willowfly's signature frame and ledge collections will soon be available alongside Wild Sorbet frames through professional photographers' studios and a very limited number of carefully selected, boutique retailers. "You won't find Willowfly frames at Target, K-mart or even Dillard's," says Kerry DeLay McCane, LeMay's new partner.

"The unusual colors and shapes of our Willowfly frames," she continues, "are designed to coordinate with the imaginative displays and awe-inspiring response that Wild Sorbet frames already generate in photographer's galleries around the world. It's a perfect fit."