SmugMug... is it time?

Well the time has come and I just signed up for a free 14-day trial. I REALLY need an easy way to upload my photos, watermark them and offer them for sale and SmugMug seems like the best bet.

Audi Fashion Houston went really well for me with 4 top designers requesting my photos specifically so I'm pretty stoked. I also have TONS of models wanting copies of their shots etc...

If you haven't seen the recent stuff I've been shooting, check my blog or some of the links on Houston Press.

http://www.jaymarroqui​n.com/blog/
http://www.houstonpres​s.com/slideshow/index/

So, what do you SmugMug users think? Also was suggested PHOTOSHELTER, anyone here using that?

Jay, it's great for that stuff. I've been using SM for a couple of years and they keep getting better.

I signed up for SM Pro recently after being with Zenfolio for a few years. I am very happy so far.

S-Man wrote in post #11103589
Jay, it's great for that stuff. I've been using SM for a couple of years and they keep getting better.

Awesome, thanks Sam

nicksan wrote in post #11103697
I signed up for SM Pro recently after being with Zenfolio for a few years. I am very happy so far.

Why the move away from Zenfolio?

Oh and I use a template company (photobiz) for my website, and use the SM just to sell prints. WOrks pretty well.

Smugmug Pro user here. About to come up on my first year with them and I've flat out loved them. Quick, easy, and very effective for delivering images, prints, and having backups of full res jpegs. Also have the ability to upload HD videos.

S-Man wrote in post #11106702
Oh and I use a template company (photobiz) for my website, and use the SM just to sell prints. WOrks pretty well.

Yeah, I think that's what I'm going to end up doing. Does SM get a big percentage of the sales on how do you get the payment from SM?

Hotrodguru wrote in post #11106755
Yeah, I think that's what I'm going to end up doing. Does SM get a big percentage of the sales on how do you get the payment from SM?

They take a 15% cut of your profits. They also fairly recently changed their payment method to direct deposit from mailing checks if I'm not mistaken.

^Yeah, the do take a cut, and 15% sounds like a lot. But they do all the leg work behind fulfilling orders. Plus they accept credit cards and drop-ship. All you do is have the money dropped into your bank. I say it's worth it.

I've thought about doing print fulfillment from my computer via Millers, but that would take SOOOOO much more time. Plus, if you still want to deliver prints yourself, you can make the print order from Smug, and hand-deliver the photos (or even have them drop shipped) and save the 15% that would be taken out if the client made the order directly from the website. This is how I fulfill print orders that are included in packages. I have them pick out what number photos they want and in what sizes, then I place the order and have it shipped to them.

S-Man wrote in post #11109426
^Yeah, the do take a cut, and 15% sounds like a lot. But they do all the leg work behind fulfilling orders. Plus they accept credit cards and drop-ship. All you do is have the money dropped into your bank. I say it's worth it.

I've thought about doing print fulfillment from my computer via Millers, but that would take SOOOOO much more time. Plus, if you still want to deliver prints yourself, you can make the print order from Smug, and hand-deliver the photos (or even have them drop shipped) and save the 15% that would be taken out if the client made the order directly from the website. This is how I fulfill print orders that are included in packages. I have them pick out what number photos they want and in what sizes, then I place the order and have it shipped to them.

Yep...definitely more pros than cons. Going to mess with it a bit more then sign up

Alright, trial ends in 2 days and I'm pretty much sold. Will sign up tomorrow. Now what the hell do I do with my Flickr? I LOVE MY FLICKR!!! Only have like 20,000+ photos on there.

Guess from now on, all business related photos (event photography, client shots, proofs, etc...) will make it to SmugMug. I'm also going to create a few albums with some of my best stuff such as urban shots, landscapes, cityscapes, etc... that I think I might possibly be able to sell on SmugMug. Everything else will be on Flickr. Guess if I have time I'll also throw everything up on flickr as well since I have it paid for the next 3 years or so. Still like the layout, navigation of flickr better.

If I remember correctly, SmugMug had a migration tool to let you bring your entire flickr library over to your smugmug account.

I love my SmugMug Pro account. It's paid for itself in sales since I opened it.

ChrisRabior wrote in post #11180793
If I remember correctly, SmugMug had a migration tool to let you bring your entire flickr library over to your smugmug account.

I love my SmugMug Pro account. It's paid for itself in sales since I opened it.

Oh ****! If that's the case, that would ROCK! Going to research. Thanks C

YES!!

Zac Williams [SmugMug Hero], Oct 28 10:15 am (MDT):

Hi Jay,

Thank you for emailing SmugMug. YES! We do have a migration tool that will move your photos from Flickr to SmugMug. You can find the program on the link below. Welcome to SmugMug!

http://smugglr.smugmug​.com/

All the best,
Zac
SmugMug Support Hero

Jay, Oct 28 08:33 am (MDT):

Hey Support Heroes,
I'm using Firefox on Windows.

The question is:

PLEASE for the love of god tell me that there is a import or migration tool which will allow me to bring over my whole collection (20,000+) photos from flickr?
I was told this perhaps could be the case from one of my photo forums. My trial ends in 2 days but I'm sure I'm signing up. A few things I still prefer about flickr but more than likely that's because I've been using it for so long. The options with SmugMug from a business perspective seem endless

Thanks,
Jay

I don't see why it wouldn't let you import so many photos. As a Smug Pro user your storage is unlimited.
There have been some huge updates in the past year that you'll want to check out. You kind of have to dig for information on Smug though, it's not out there, in your face. They have an information wiki that they update regularly, and an entire forum- Dgrin.com
It's a bit of reading but it's worth it to scan over and pick out what details you can use most.
I like one of the updates they did recently to allow Branding on your items. You can sign prints, and also the shipping packaging can be branded with your logo and optioned to include a thank you card from you. It's great.