NEW WEB HOSTING

[rickyc]

I was with Digital Railroad for several years, and when they went under, I let my website go with them. I haven't found another hosting site that could compare. Does any professional photographers have suggestions on a good, reliable site that may be similar to Digital Railroad?

Thanks -

Rick Cooper
Rick Cooper Photography

[asysin2leads]

Never heard of digital railroad, but I use The Linux Fix (http://www.thelinuxfix.com/) for my hosting.

[rickyc]

Thanks Kevin. I will check them out. I also had Photoshelter referred to me, but don't know anything about them either. Anyway, appreciate your response!

[NickSpratlen]

I have been researching Exposure Manager, PhotoShelter, SmugMug and Zenfolio in depth. Each has lots to offer. At this point, I am leaning towards PhotoShelter, but they have been slow as molasses in January to respond to less than half of my questions. The other three have answered my questions quickly, never taking more than 4 business hours, and often much faster than that. I have waited for days to hear back from PhotoShelter (other than their automated response) and had to submit questions a second time to get a response. I have checked my spam mail folder to make sure their answers were not being routed to it, and they are not. So, here are my two questions:
1. Is slow response to a fraction of questions typical of PhotoShelter?
2. Is PhotoShelter more responsive after one signs up with them?
Thanks !
Nick Spratlen

[asysin2leads]

I have been researching Exposure Manager, PhotoShelter, SmugMug and Zenfolio in depth. Each has lots to offer. At this point, I am leaning towards PhotoShelter, but they have been slow as molasses in January to respond to less than half of my questions. The other three have answered my questions quickly, never taking more than 4 business hours, and often much faster than that. I have waited for days to hear back from PhotoShelter (other than their automated response) and had to submit questions a second time to get a response. I have checked my spam mail folder to make sure their answers were not being routed to it, and they are not. So, here are my two questions:
1. Is slow response to a fraction of questions typical of PhotoShelter?
2. Is PhotoShelter more responsive after one signs up with them?
Thanks !
Nick Spratlen

I have 2 Exposure Manager accounts and haven't really had any issues with them. I actually had an issue today w/ my premium account. I contacted tech support via live chat. Jack asked if I would e-mail him the issue so he could look into it. About 10 minutes later, the problem was resolved. I'm sticking w/ ExpMan.

[NickSpratlen]

Comment appreciated. My thoughts follow below. My original questions still stand. What experience have others had with PhotoShelter's responsiveness, and does PhotoShelter's responsiveness improve when one signs up with them?

Exposure Manager has lots to offer. Out of the four I am researching (ExMan, PhotoShelter, SmugMug and Zenfolio) I find ExMan's list of print and product offerings, and their cost prices, to be one of the best offered by a single lab. Unfortunately, no one lab covers the water front with their print and product offerings. EZ Prints, for example, has an extensive list of prints and products, but SmugMug does not offer all of them. PhotoShelter has four labs (including ExMan), but I have been unable to find any listing of PS products and prices. aaarrrggg!

Jack, at ExMan, has been very responsive in helping me find more information about selling images and photos through ExMan. So, what's holding me back on selecting ExMan? Well:

1. When customers order cropped enlargements, the photographer has to do the crop. (That does not apply to trading cards.) One of the most important things I am striving to accomplish is less time tied to the computer and more time shooting additional images. While being able to crop for my customer has advantages for portraits, it often would not for events. At times, ExMan's methodology on this would be a useful option, but an impediment as a standard requirement.

2. Search engine optimization (SEO) and social media marketing. PhotoShelter seems to be well ahead of the others in these two areas. While I could choose another vendor and break these two trails on my one, would that be good use of my time? Again, I want to be tied to the computer less so I can shoot more images. In my research, I found information on the following web site to be interesting. <http://www.docstoc.com/docs/8505395/10762752%282%29> This website ranks the 12,000 most active websites by their popularity. I was unable to find ExMan. SmugMug is tops, and PS is ahead of Zenfolio. As I recall, PS is a younger company than Zen, so it seems they are making rapid strides. Will they surpass SM someday? Only time will tell. Yes, I realize that the number of visitors to my gallery is more important than the number who visit the online company's website. That's why I am interested in the aspects of SEO and social medial marketing through PS.

3. How customers pay for their orders. I am not sure what payment options ExMan offers, but I like the ability for them to pay for orders with PayPal. Accepting payment through PayPal makes good sense as a payment option, because PayPal can handle payments in many different foreign currencies. Why should my marketing efforts be constrained by anything less than that?

4. Multiple labs vs. one lab. SM is affiliated with two labs in the US and a third in the UK. No one lab covers the water front completely, although ExMan may come the closest to doing so as a single lab. While ExMan's support of self fulfillment is a big plus, I would rather not do lots of that. The fewer distractions, the more time I can invest in shooting images.

In closing, my original questions still stand. What experience have others had with PhotoShelter's responsiveness, and does PhotoShelter's responsiveness improve when one signs up with them?

Thanks!
Nick Spratlen