Recently in Internet Category

The OurPPA forum committee has been working to improve the user experience on the forums at ppa.com. The forum conversation topics will soon be grouped into one of four sections:  Welcome, Member, PPA and Community. The total number of forum topics will be reduced as well. For example, forums with similar topics or with low activity will be combined. Work on these changes should be completed in the next few days, so you will soon be enjoying the "leaner, meaner" version of OurPPA Forums.

In the meantime, here is the layout of the new, simplified forum structure:

Professional photography and search engine optimization (SEO)...they seem like very diverse skill sets. But there is a connection between them, and if photographers can learn how to strengthen that connection, great results may come.

"I always ask my photography callers how they found me, and I'm amazed at how many say it's from Google or Yahoo! searches," says Blake Discher, a Detroit-based professional photographer and SEO consultant. "Because I am consistently in one of the top three positions for my search phrase, I get about 60 percent of my new clients each year because of good SEO. I think that number will only go up as more people become more comfortable using search engines instead of more traditional business search tools like the Yellow Pages."

As you can see, Discher has firsthand experience with the powerful effects of SEO in the photographic business realm. He's even willing to share that knowledge in the upcoming PPA webinar, "Drive More Clients to Your Website: Tap into the Power of SEO" (March 31, 12pm ET).

Discher was a very early adopter of the Internet as a marketing tool for his photography business. Even though websites for photographers were a "novelty" at that time, he was already doing well when Yahoo! and Google got their starts. He was in the perfect position to stay on top of what the search engines were looking for in a website, constantly tweaking his own site to remain at the top of the listings.

Take advantage of all the online solutions BIG Folio has to offer, from SEO to logo/branding design services to online proofing and sales. They have everything you need to successfully present your photography business to your valued clients, all under one roof. Plus, PPA members get $100 off any Premium design OR $50 off any Standard design. Visit the Extreme Details page in the Benefits section of PPA.com for complete details on this offer.Offer expires September 30, 2009.

We are launching a new Imaging USA Fan Page, and the old Imaging USA Facebook group will be closing soon.

Make sure you don't miss out on any of the excitement! Go to http://www.facebook.com/home.php#/pages/Imaging-USA/82819519050 and become a fan now!

A friend forwarded me a link to this New York Times article today: "Mom-and-Pop Operators Turn to Social Media." It is a look at how small businesses are using Twitter to create digital word-of-mouth marketing. If you are new to Twitter or not using it yet, the article may give you some good ideas on how to begin.

Even more exciting than the article (at least for me) was its link to a blog called "Small Biz Survival, the rural and small town business resource." It has a wealth of resources and ideas for small business owners in--you guessed it--small towns and rural areas. In addition to the well-written articles, Small Biz Survival offers a newsletter, podcasts, a free downloadable booklet: 20 Small Business Ideas for Small Towns, and a community of readers who share their ideas on the articles--the comments following the articles can be as useful as the article itself. Take a guided tour of the site to see all they have to offer.

Yesterday (April 16), Facebook's new Terms of Service (TOS) statement was opened for voting. This new document is an improvement over Facebook's existing TOS and the impromptu change made earlier this year.
 
Take a look at the statement and voice your opinion with a vote. After all, even if you don't use Facebook all that much, some (or most) of your clients do! But you better vote quickly--the voting period closes April 23. (You must have a Facebook account to vote.)
 
Read Facebook's TOS here: http://www.facebook.com/topic.php?uid=67758697570&topic=7569.
Vote on the Facebook TOS here: http://blog.facebook.com/blog.php?post=76815337130.
 
Click here to learn more.

Buckeye Color Lab expands its educational resources with their new professional level learning portal at www.theMentorBlog.net.

TheMentorBlog.net is a free website that features six of the country's top professional photographers who share new insights each week on what and how they are shooting client jobs to stay as profitable as possible.

This refreshing new resource is updated weekly and features fresh posts from an all-star team of photo talent including:

• Children and family photographer AUDREY WOULARD,
• Portrait, editorial, and wedding photographer TAMARA LACKEY,
• Studio business and marketing expert ANN MONTEITH,
• Wedding, family and seniors photographer GREG SCHRADER,
• • Photo Marketing expert CAROL ANDREWS,
• Successful studio management educator SUSAN ROWE,

Steve Troup, CEO of Buckeye Color and the creator of this new concept explains "Each author brings a variety of talents to the site and is encouraged to post an item of interest on whatever they happen to be doing that week. It's a great way to share how photographers of all disciplines are keeping their businesses growing no matter what the economic climate is."

theMentorBlog.net is online now, proving to be unusually popular with thousands of hits each day, and is open to everyone.

Professional Photographers of America (PPA) is serious about the business of photography--so serious that they redesigned their entire website for photographers, receiving an international honor from the 13th Annual WEBBY Awards in the process.

Of the nearly 10,000 entries submitted to the WEBBY Awards, fewer than 15% were distinguished as an Official Honoree for their standard of excellence. PPA's website (www.PPA.com) was one of the few.

Hailed as the "Internet's highest honor" by the New York Times, The Webby Awards are the leading international awards honoring excellence on the Internet. Honorees and Nominees were chosen by The International Academy of Digital Arts and Sciences (IADAS), a global organization of industry experts and technology innovaters, such as David Bowie, Harvey Weinstein, Matt Groening, Jamie Oliver, Internet co-inventor Vinton Cerf, RealNetworks CEO Rob Glaser, R/GA CEO Bob Greenberg, and Crispin Porter + Bogusky Partner and Chief Creative Officer Alex Bogusky.

The judging body chose to recognize PPA's site and others as Official Honorees due to their exceptional quality, even though they were not selected as one of the five category nominees. This honor signifies an outstanding caliber of work in regards to content, structure and navigation, visual design, functionality, interactivity, and overall experience.

There are always improvements to be made, and PPA is working to fine-tune the website every day. In the meantime, celebrate PPA.com's honor here:http://www.webbyawards.com/webbys/current_honorees.php?media_id=96&category_id=81&season=13

About The Webby Awards
Hailed as the "Internet's highest honor" by the New York Times, The Webby Awards is the leading international award honoring excellence on the Internet, including Websites, interactive advertising, online film and video, and mobile web sites. Established in 1996, the 13th Annual Webby Awards received over 10,000 entries from all 50 states and over 60 countries worldwide. The Webby Awards is presented by The International Academy of Digital Arts and Sciences. Sponsors and Partners of The Webby Awards include: Microsoft Silverlight; The Creative Group; .ORG; Getty Images; The Barbarian Group; Digital Kitchen; Variety; Wired; IDG; PricewaterhouseCoopers; 2advanced.Net; KobeMail and Museum of the Moving Image. For more information, visit www.webbyawards.com.

We will be installing new hardware on Saturday, February 28. Work is scheduled to begin at 8am EST and should be completed by noon EST.  During this time, access to online profiles, event registration, merit reports and other web functions that are tied to our Atlanta servers will be interrupted. We apologize in advance for any inconvenience.

We will be installing new hardware on Saturday, February 28. Work is scheduled to begin at 8am EST and should be completed by noon EST.  During this time, access to online profiles, event registration, merit reports and other web functions that are tied to our Atlanta servers will be interrupted. We apologize in advance for any inconvenience.