WordPress Themes for Photographers
Previously we shared how to optimize your Facebook and Google Plus posts for usability and reach. Today we want to talk about Twitter.
At Photocrati, we are always testing new ways to organize a tweet. Below is an Infographic that MarketingThink created to help guide for your proper Twitter etiquette. After the Infographic, we will share some additional thoughts.
In summary:
Keeping your Tweets clean and with enough space for retweets should help improve its reach.
For example:
Targeting 1 hashtag is much better than stuffing many hashtags into a tweet. Think of it like SEO and including keywords. Too many is a turn off. You are much better off creating multiple tweets (original) using different hashtags and sending through out at different days and times.
Write something catchy, add your personal touch to the tweet, and don’t be afraid to ask for a retweet.
GOOD info here! : How To Help Prevent Your WordPress Site From Breaking & Being Hacked bit.ly/WpGM2M #wordpress Retweet pls!
— Photocrati (@Photocrati) February 26, 2013
…and don’t forget to test. In fact, using Buffer App can help improve overall reach.
Thanks for reading,
Scott
Thanks to my friend Mike, I have a great tip to share with Photocrati users and readers.
One year after shooting a wedding, Mike posts on his Facebook page a congratulations note to his clients. In addition, he will include a photograph from their wedding or engagement session if he photographed that as well.
Check this out:
Click the image to view the Facebook post. Photo © Mike Olbinski Photography
How to go about it?
So how can you take this concept to a blogging level?
What do you think of the concept, both Mike’s and my expanded view?
Have you done something like this?
Please comment below to share your thoughts.
Thanks for reading,
Scott
The Walking Dead is a television show on AMC. The show is the most realistic film with zombies ever made. (for how realistic zombie movies can be)
While catching up on some of the episodes, I had one of those “ah ha” moments, and thought I’d share them with you.
You see, The Walking Dead reminded me of a few photography and photography business things. So here goes.
Television shows can inspire some interesting thoughts. Have you been inspired by The Walking Dead or any other show? Please comment to share.
Thanks for reading,
Scott
There are two iPad apps that do a fantastic job of selling prints to photography clients. Preveal is one and Shoot and Sell is the other. Both are extremely similar, but there is one huge difference between the two. Shoot and Sell comes packaged with a few stock photographs of “client rooms” where Preveal requires you to take room photographs on your own. The nice part of about forced to photograph your own rooms is that it pushes you to photograph your client’s room.
Here are the video descriptions of each:
Preveal brings the power of projection sales to the coffee shop, allowing you to show it small to sell it big.
Shoot and Sell is an iPad app for photographers to help their clients “picture their pictures” on the walls of their home.
These apps are not your typical iPad app prices, however if you are the type of photographer who often hand delivers products to clients, then they are both perfect fits for your business.
I originally shared my own videos on through my website, so if this interests you please head there and read some comments about iPad sales.
To see what other iPad and iPhone apps can be useful in your photography business, check out my free course on Udemy.
Thanks for reading and enjoy,
Scott
If you have been wanting to add a video introduction to your screencasts or videos, then this tip is one you will enjoy.
Using Apple’s Keynote, I have successfully created a video introduction for my video marketing efforts. After creating an animated slideshow in Keynote, I added sound effects using Screenflow.
I can then easily add the introduction template to future screencast recordings or export the introduction as a hi-resolution .mov file and add to any video using iMovie.
If you are a PowerPoint user, you can still do something like this, so don’t be discouraged by Keynote.
The final video introduction
At Photocrati, we hire professional video teams to create our product introduction videos. (which you can see on our homepage) But as you can see, without a budget for a professional intro clip, you can still create something with quality.
Thanks for reading,
Scott
Nicholas Pappagallo Jr is a photographer originally from New Jersey, now residing in Arizona. He was on a mission to optimize a website and photography club he runs called the Photographer’s Adventure Club. The website, blog and event section was to be transformed into a branded design.
In this case study, you will see what was happening in the original website, what the goals were for the new website and how the Photocrati theme filled the gap that Nicholas needed.
The original Photographer’s Adventure Club website is a custom-built site from one of the club members. For a blog, TypePad was being used. It worked, but unfortunately did not match the look of the main website. The meetup page is a separate event calendar, using the Meetup system and also did not match or fit with the main site.
The front page of Photographer’s Adventure Club
As you can see, the main website is big and beautiful, showing off some beautiful photographs. Clicking on the “About Us” page (below) brings a two-column style page with clean typography and a gray color scheme, drawing your attention to the content and photograph.
Single page design of Photographer’s Adventure Club
The Meetup page, while keeping with the color scheme, did not flow with the main site. The typography was different and the layout was not similar in any way.
Meetup page for Photographer’s Adventure Club
The TypePad blog for the club did not match the color scheme or layout as well. But that was going to change with the redesign.
Typepad page for Photographer’s Adventure Club
To have easier to navigate site – currently everything was separate, website, blog & calendar … now they will all be in one place and a better user interface than before!
When deciding on a theme, Nicholas researched possible WordPress photography themes and came to a decision, picking the Photocrati theme for the new blog. After installing the theme, some customization needed to be done in order to match the width, color scheme and unique menu structure of the main site.
The new Photographer’s Adventure Club blog
The Photocrati support team was happy to lend a hand and after some theme option changes, custom CSS and adding the club’s logo, the blog looks very similar to the main site.
WordPress has a TypePad importer that made the transition of blog articles very easy. The tool doesn’t import images, so those had to be done manually.
The only thing left was to tackle the events section, in order to replace Meetup. After additional research, Nicholas decided on Events+ as the new event management tool and Membership for subscription levels.. Like the Photocrati theme, Events+ was able to be branded to match the look of the main site. The site is also using the NextGEN WordPress gallery plugin to enable galleries for events with the ability for attendees can upload. In addition, BBPress was used to add a community forum to the website.
The Photocrati theme was able to resolve the problems that Nicholas had with his the Photographer’s Adventure Club, mainly the lack of branding between site, blog and events. With a customizable WordPress theme, and two additional plugins to add additional functionality, the new website is complete and live.
It was fun seeing the process from start to finish and we’re happy to share this club with the photography community. Nicholas is slowly converting future events to the new website so check out the site and be a part of some fun events.
Thanks for reading,
Scott
Have you been wanting to add a cleaner print experience for your website visitors?
In the video below, you will see how you can add a simple CSS script in your Photocrati theme’s Dynamic CSS area.
Here is the PrintFriendly button I mentioned in the article.
Here is the snippet of CSS that you can paste in your Dynamic CSS section.
If you have any questions please feel free to comment below.
Thanks for reading,
Scott
When it comes to social media, many photographers (including us) want to save time by using automated tools. For example, using Buffer App can save time posting spontaneous links to your Facebook page. Using IFTTT can automatically share your newest blog article on your Facebook page.
Using automation tools are definitely valuable with how busy we are as photographers. But when you are ready to post something on Facebook or Google Plus, there is a simple trick that can increase the views, likes, +1s, clicks and re-shares.
Here are the steps for both Facebook and Google Plus:
When you’re done, the post should look something like this:
After you’ve posted the article, you can feature it on Facebook by making it the full width of your timeline.
Want to see more effective Facebook strategies? Check out this article from Amy Porterfield.
I also want to mention that you might have a preference for including the URL to your article/page at the bottom of your social post. That is also effective, and looks a lot nicer. However, it will decrease the click-through rate because it won’t be as prominent as having the URL at the top.
That’s about it. This simple technique will increase the conversions you are hoping for. If you have questions please feel free to comment.
Thanks for reading,
Scott
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