Put gear on website?

How much traffic does DJ's website get do you reckon cwphoto ? How many photographers and wanna be photographers visit his website do you reckon ? If its a decent number like I imagine it is then whether he makes any money or not from it at the moment the fact remains that its a potential revenue stream, whether its hard cash or gear .... right sort of traffic = potential revenue.

Out of interest cwphoto, how much traffic does your website get, whats your goal conversion rates compared to your bounce rates ?

Banbert wrote in post #2355894
Out of interest cwphoto, how much traffic does your website get, whats your goal conversion rates compared to your bounce rates ?

I dunno. All I know is that I have more work than I can poke a stick at.

cwphoto wrote in post #2355921
I dunno. All I know is that I have more work than I can poke a stick at.

And thats the true test of course and thats doesnt surprise me because you have a really nice portfolio, but if your spending money elsewhere on advertising or promotion to get/maintain that business then spending some on the non visual side of your wesbite could possibly be a more cost effective method of gaining business. if its all referals though happy days and respect to you for achieving that.

Banbert wrote in post #2355931
And thats the true test of course and thats doesnt surprise me because you have a really nice portfolio, but if your spending money elsewhere on advertising or promotion to get/maintain that business then spending some on the non visual side of your wesbite could possibly be a more cost effective method of gaining business. if its all referals though happy days and respect to you for achieving that.

My that's a very nice thing to say, TY. My advertising budget is now very small - I live and die by referrals and I'm a good networker. Lucky for me because I'm a lousy marketer generally. What I really need to do is rationalise my non-shooting photography work (ie; editing) so I can take on a few more of the jobs as a shooter that I currently need to knock back - need a good PS expert, that part bores me to tears.

But you won't be feeling so complimentary when I tell you that your Cricket team just lost the 2nd Ashes Test!

And after declaring their first innings closed at 6/550-odd. My my...

cwphoto wrote in post #2355946
My that's a very nice thing to say, TY. My advertising budget is now very small - I live and die by referrals and I'm a good networker. Lucky for me because I'm a lousy marketer generally. What I really need to do is rationalise my non-shooting photography work (ie; editing) so I can take on a few more of the jobs as a shooter that I currently need to knock back - need a good PS expert, that part bores me to tears.

But you won't be feeling so complimentary when I tell you that your Cricket team just lost the 2nd Ashes Test!

And after declaring their first innings closed at 6/550-odd. My my...

Aye I have just been reading about the cricket, dont really follow it closely but didnt really expect anything but a crushing defeat this tme round after our flash in the pan last time .... I dont think we have improved that much in recent years but last year we performed better than what we truelly are....... getting the follow on and then trying for a draw would have been a realistic result for us to aim for in this match but we missed that by quite a bit.

Have you invested much time in your PS and PP training ? I only ask that because even just starting out I can see that I will be investing time and money in PS and PP training down the line on top of the courses I am already doing, I like the approach DJ has to PP. Investing money back in your own skills is sometimes one of things people forget about in what is typically smaller business enterprises like photography.

My wife has never done any PS stuff but she is showing an interest in doing some now that she can see how much time it takes me so I am hoping she develops an interest and the skills to help us in that area.

Do you do your album design and layouts yourself or do you already farm that out ? Were currently very cheap but a couple of brides for next year want Graphistudio books additional to their weddings and I love the approach they take in doing the album layouts for you for very little extra cost ..... thats the sort of album design and lyout I want to be involved in ... someone else making the albums.

Banbert wrote in post #2356009
Have you invested much time in your PS and PP training ? I only ask that because even just starting out I can see that I will be investing time and money in PS and PP training down the line on top of the courses I am already doing, I like the approach DJ has to PP. Investing money back in your own skills is sometimes one of things people forget about in what is typically smaller business enterprises like photography.

My wife has never done any PS stuff but she is showing an interest in doing some now that she can see how much time it takes me so I am hoping she develops an interest and the skills to help us in that area.

Do you do your album design and layouts yourself or do you already farm that out ? Were currently very cheap but a couple of brides for next year want Graphistudio books additional to their weddings and I love the approach they take in doing the album layouts for you for very little extra cost ..... thats the sort of album design and lyout I want to be involved in ... someone else making the albums.

I wa trained on PS (fairly lightly) back when I did my Diploma (around ten years ago). I should probably do a course to lift skills but to be honest I'd rather outsource as much as I can to give me more time back to shooting and family.

I decided a long time ago that I wanted to be a Photographer and not a Graphics Artist expert if it meant that the former would suffer. I see the two discplines as obviously related but not necessarily important to be good at both if you wish to specialise like me - providing you can engage others that can match my vision in post then that's a perfect world for me.

My Magazine albums are entirely out-sourced in terms of design and manufacture. My clients get to evaluate a draft online (example: http://www.dreamproduc​tion.com.au/e_albums/a​020/03/finish.html), and then the supplier builds it for me. My Matted albums are still designed by me, although the supplier (a different one: Queensberry) is able to build for me too.

cwphoto wrote in post #2356026
I wa trained on PS (fairly lightly) back when I did my Diploma (around ten years ago). I should probably do a course to lift skills but to be honest I'd rather outsource as much as I can to give me more time back to shooting and family.

I decided a long time ago that I wanted to be a Photographer and not a Graphics Artist expert if it meant that the former would suffer. I see the two discplines as obviously related but not necessarily important to be good at both if you wish to specialise like me - providing you can engage others that can match my vision in post then that's a perfect world for me.

My Magazine albums are entirely out-sourced in terms of design and manufacture. My clients get to evaluate a draft online (example: http://www.dreamproduc​tion.com.au/e_albums/a​020/03/finish.html), and then the supplier builds it for me. My Matted albums are still designed by me, although the supplier (a different one: Queensberry) is able to build for me too.

Cheers for the info, i see where you coming from and if its the photography that you love then I guess thats the way to do it.

I have the details for Queensberry but havent looked into it too much yet as most of the B&G's we have booked so far have been on a tight budget or interested in the graphistudio books we are also offering instead ..... is it purely a cost reason why you dont get queensberry to do your layouts, or do you still want to retain more control of them yourself ?

p.s thats a really nice way of viewing the album layout from the supplier.

Banbert wrote in post #2356050
I have the details for Queensberry but havent looked into it too much yet as most of the B&G's we have booked so far have been on a tight budget or interested in the graphistudio books we are also offering instead ..... is it purely a cost reason why you dont get queensberry to do your layouts, or do you still want to retain more control of them yourself ?

p.s thats a really nice way of viewing the album layout from the supplier.

Yeah, I find Queensberry a bit pricey so I just get them to do bare minimum and I never really got my head around PhotoJunction anyway (especially as they wanted me to pay for it - WTF?).