Spring newsletter
After a seemingly endless winter, spring is finally upon us! At ExposureManager we've been working hard on getting ready for the upcoming season. We recently moved into a much larger facility, which will allow us to start offering additional services like framing, mounting and plaques later this year. To celebrate the opening of our new facility, we are, for a limited time, once again, offering our prepaid bundles, an easy way to save anywhere from 17.5% to more than 50% in discounts on print pricing. Buy yours today, as they are only available until April 15th.
Maximize your sales!
In this newsletter, we'd like to share a few tips on how you can maximize your sales by making a few simple changes to your galleries. While every account is different, here are a few settings that we have seen make big differences for sales:
Use the 'sales' or the new 'sales modern' template
These templates were designed with easy purchasing in mind, and make browsing and buying your photos easier.
Limit the number of photos per gallery
In today's busy world it is both critical that your customers can find their photos quickly and that their choices are limited to the best photos. If you upload 20 almost identical photos of the same person, that person now needs to take the time to look at every photo, and then compare the photos and make a selection. It is best to take a critical look at your photos prior to uploading and cut down those 10~20 photos to maybe 2 or 3. Obviously if you have 20 very different but brilliant photos, then by all means, go ahead and upload those. However, by separating the wheat from the chaff, your clients will only see your best shots, and be even more impressed. On top of that, you made their selection process easier, and that leads to more sales!
Limit the number of products you offer
With our new 'per product' reporting tool, you can quickly see which products sell and which ones don't. Long 'laundry' lists can make it harder to find the product that your customer wants. For sports accounts we recommend sticking to the basics. For prints this means 4x6, 5x7, wallets, 8x10, 11x14, 16x20 and 20x30. For merchandise: mouse pad, mugs, magnets, cut-out statuettes, t-shirts and postage prints.
It also helps to make proper product groups for the different products. This will make your price list more readable, and your customer will find it easier to make a product selection.
Don't sell yourself short - set competitive pricing
The mistake that we see many new accounts make is setting their pricing too low. When you set your price, it is important to keep in mind all the costs that go into taking your valuable shots. Your time, your camera and computer equipment, travel costs, etc. It is equally important to realize you are selling a memory, from a moment in time that cannot be repeated. So set your price accordingly, and don't worry about print pricing at the local grocery store.
Offer a 2 for 1 package
The most successful promotion we see is the 2 for 1 package for a 4x6 or 5x7. These are often marketed as 'Share with family' or 'Share with a friend' depending on the type of event. We can recommend offering those at a 25 to 35% discount, and place that package at the top of your price list.
We have many more tips on how to increase your sales and we're working on an FAQ post listing them all. Meanwhile, feel free to ask support for suggestions!
New features and products
Besides moving into a larger facility, Rhesa and I have been working hard at improving the underlying infrastructure for ExposureManager. This enormous undertaking requires us to go over almost every single line of code. While not yet complete, we are nearing the end of this project. The benefits will be immediately obvious when we launch the new code. The site should get faster, and we will have the foundation in place with which we can rapidly roll out new features, like the much requested 'favorites' feature.
There is plenty of new functionality to announce though.
New sales template
We're very excited to announce our new 'sales modern' template. If you are looking for a quick way to improve the look of your galleries, go check it out. Besides the new look, we also added a few color schemes that you can pick from.
Several 'at cost' ordering improvements
To make 'at cost' orders easier, you can now enter into a specific 'at cost' mode by selecting one of the 'purchase at cost' options in the gallery and photo menus. You can still browse your galleries as you normally would, but all pricing will now be wholesales pricing. If you need to purchase an entire gallery, perhaps for proofs, there's a quick 'purchase entire gallery at cost' option. All you need to do is make your product selection and all of the photos in the gallery will be added to the cart. No more browsing multiple pages!
Based on many requests, we have also added the ability to purchase at cost orders with your sales balance. If you are in 'at cost' mode, the shopping cart will give you the option to use your sales balance, if sufficient for the order.
Last but not least, you can now see all your (future) at cost orders in the sales reporting section. This will include at cost orders placed by your customers.
3.5x5 photo magnet
Back by popular demand is the 3.5x5 photo magnet. This magnet is printed on luster photo paper and die cut for a professional finish.
New sales reports
We've added new sales reports that will give you more insight which products and photos get sold.
Keep your feedback coming
All of the new & improved functionality discussed above is the direct result of your feedback. As always, please keep it coming. It is your input that makes ExposureManager succesful and we look forward to continuing to add features and help your business grow in 2008.
Have a fantastic and profitable spring season!
Donovan Janus
Chief Executive Officer
ExposureManager.com - Focus on Sales
April 1, 2008 in News by Donovan Janus| Permalink
Support Help Wanted
UPDATE: April 8, 2008
We have received well in excess of 30 letters of interest from many very qualified users. Thank you so much for your overwhelming response!
We will review them all and maintain a list of possible candidates that we will refer back to throughout the year as the need arises.
Regards,
Bruce Fairclough, Director, Customer Support
ExposureManager.com
Help us grow in 2008!
Your Exposure Manager Support team is potentially looking for some new members to join us in 2008. As always, we like to draw on current users to help us in Support.
This is an hourly position and you can work from the comfort of your existing office or home. Openings generally start off being part time and range from 10-20 hours per week, with a commitment to some nights and partial weekends being the focus. If you come on board, we'll pay you to learn our system. Obviously, we would need you to have a high-speed (non-dial up) Internet connection and reliable email access.
We have a back-end proprietary Support tracking and Order Management system used by our Support staff. That is what we would train a person on if they came on board with our Team. No "web design" or coding experience is required.
We have an FAQ called "Getting Started."
http://faq.exposuremanager.com/2007/01/getting_started.html
On that page, we have a section that gives photographers a list of areas of proficiency that they might find helpful. You can use that as a good guideline for the Support position as well.
If you have any interest, please send me a direct email (bruce@exposuremanager.com) giving a brief background of yourself, why you think you'd fit in with our team, and what qualifications you could bring to the team. (Especially in the areas of customer service, any computer experience, and, of course, photography)
We will work on developing a short list of candidates from your responses to keep on file for the upcoming year and get back to you in the near future as our needs grow.
Thank you for your interest.
--
Regards,
Bruce Fairclough, Director, Customer Support
ExposureManager.com
Reply to: "bruce@exposuremanager.com"
February 6, 2008 in News by Donovan Janus| Permalink
Happy Holidays and A Prosperous 2008!
Happy holidays! As another year draws to a close, I want to personally thank you for your choice to use ExposureManager for your online sales and fulfillment. 2007 has been an exciting year for us, and we couldn't have done it without your support. I'd like to take this opportunity to fill you in on all that has been happening at ExposureManager, and what our plans are for next year.
Starting our own lab
2007 was a real building year for us. During 2006 it became clear that in order to give your and our customers the highest quality in print finishing, we had to bring most of our lab fulfillment in house. So in August of 2006 we set out to build our lab. Kerry and I looked at several locations until we finally found a space in Torrance, California that had both enough warehouse space for shipping, an area for printing and an office area.
After we found a suitable space, the hard part started. Because of our experiences with outside labs, we knew exactly what functionality we wanted in our lab. Besides excellent quality printing, we wanted a system that would process orders quickly and to have the ability to fully brand orders with your name and logo. And since order mix-ups were prevalent at our partner labs, it would need to have multiple checks to ensure customers get the correct order every time.
Finding the right printer/mini-lab was easy. An excellent Fuji reseller happened to be close by and on September 13 our Fuji Frontier was delivered. Next on the list was selecting the software that runs the Frontier, and that would allow us to feed it orders our way. After looking at several options, we settled on Frontline software. With this software and the Frontier, we could actually print photos. It was very exciting to see the first prints roll off the machine!
Of course the actual printing is only one small, albeit important, step in the process. In order to print, we required a system that could collect orders from the ExposureManager servers, feed it to the printer, keep track of its internal status, print packaging slips upon completion, print shipping labels and finally, report back to ExposureManager that the order has shipped. It will probably not surprise you that a system like that was not available, and we had no option but to code it ourselves. Over the next month, we worked feverishly on getting this system into place. Chris joined us particularly for that reason, and he did absolute wonders. On October 16th 2006, just a little over a month after receiving the Frontier, we shipped our first order!
Since then, EMLab, as we like to call it, has shipped over 65,000 orders. While initially we only did regular photo printing, during 2007 we started doing our own mugs, mouse pads and magnets. A much requested product, die-cut wallets, was also added to our available products.
Starting our own lab was the big risk, both in a financial sense and in terms of workload. But even the best online service will fail if customers do not get high quality prints and timely fulfillment. Judging by the comments you and your customers have made, I am thrilled to conclude it was the right decision. Here are a couple of comments that we recently received:
"I have had nothing but happy customers all year and I owe it all to you. You have made my fledgling business so much easier."
"I get rave reviews about the prints when customers get them. :)"
Scaling up
On the website side of things, it might seem like it has been a relatively quiet year. But looks can be deceiving! Early in the year it became clear that due to our explosive growth, we were running into a bottleneck with our file architecture. In a typical case of "in theory practice works, and in practice theory doesn't", the site itself became rather sluggish during busy periods and image processing was suffering as well. Needless to say, this was unacceptable and something had to change.
Rhesa did an amazing job to overhaul our entire infrastructure in a matter of weeks. We managed to get image processing times to run faster than ever before, and the site itself would respond instantly.
During the year we made several other technical improvements to keep up with our growth. A great test came during the live telecast of Miss Universe. This year we hosted the photos for all three Miss USA / Miss Universe / Miss Teen USA events, and the Miss Universe telecast was by far the largest of the three. Despite the millions of visitors, the site's speed remained fast during the entire event.
Based in part on the functionality required for the Miss Universe events, we introduced two new features this year. One is much better product management through our price sheet functionality. If you are not using price sheets yet, I can highly recommend taking a look at them. They can be a great sales booster! Second, we introduced our 'border' feature, which allows you to sell photos with event borders. It's a great way to remember that special event, and in combination with our product questionnaires, makes for great photo personalization.
Thank you
Looking back, 2007 was a really good year for ExposureManager. With the improvements in the infrastructure, the new product management features and the addition of the lab, ExposureManager is stronger than ever!
With that strong foundation in mind, we look forward to get back to developing more functionality for the website. Much requested features like favorites, saved shopping carts and 'e-mail required to view' are already in the works and expected to be released early in 2008.
I want to thank you for using ExposureManager. Your continued support and feedback is very much appreciated and we will work hard in 2008 to help you grow your business. I also want to thank Bruce, Paul and Mike for their unwavering enthusiasm with assisting our photographers. Customer support is never easy, especially not during a transition year. I think you will agree that they did an outstanding job.
On the lab side, Keith, our lab manager, Brian, our shipping manager, and Stephena, QC, all worked countless hours getting orders out accurately and on time. It is their work that has made our lab such a big success!
Along with the rest of the EM Team, I wish you happy holidays and a fantastic 2008!
Donovan Janus
Chief Executive Officer
ExposureManager.com - Focus on Sales
December 24, 2007 by Donovan Janus| Permalink
Upload smart(er)
Over the last few weeks you may have noticed that processing times have been slower than usual on Sunday nights and Mondays. We know the importance of getting your events up as soon as possible. Behind the scenes we’re working hard on removing bottlenecks. Meanwhile, there are a few things you can do to make your processing time -- and that of others -- much faster.
First and foremost is to reduce your total number of photos uploaded to good to great shots only. Sure, some people will order shots that you personally would not have ordered. The temptation is great to upload any shot as you never know which shot is going to sell. Judging by the galleries of our top sellers, that theory is flawed. The more photos your customers have to browse through in order to find the shots they are interested in, the less likely they are to do so. You may indeed sell a not-so-great photo once in a while, but think of all the good photos you are not selling. The old adage of what makes a good photographer is still true today. A good photographer is one who throws away his bad photos!
Uploading sane resolutions is also important. If you have a display only workflow, be sure to upload images that are no greater than 250kb in size. Use our web uploader to automatically resize, or use an FTP client that has resize options built in, such as PhotoMechanic. Even when uploading print ready files, try to keep your file sizes within reason. Recently we’ve seen people upload files resolutions as high as 150(!) megapixels. Anything more than 10 megapixels is overkill. Except for rare cases, how likely are you to sell a 40x60 print? Try taking advantage of our ‘print ready’ product setup in the price sheets. That will allow you to upload smaller print ready files for those products you sell most, like 4x6s, 5x7s and 8x10s and still get notified for that 40x60.
Watermarking an image is what takes most of the actual processing time. Image watermarks especially are server intensive. For fastest processing we recommend you apply the watermark prior to upload. Programs like PhotoMechanic can do this during uploading. If you do use our watermarking functionality, try using a text watermark instead.
To summarize, follow these points to make your jobs process faster:
- Throw away the not so good photos. Less is more!
- Upload sizes inline with your workflow.
Display only? Less than a 250kb file.
Print ready? Try to limit your print ready products to the products you sell most and scale accordingly. If you have questions about this, please contact support.
- Try watermarking before uploading, or else use a text watermark.
We’ll continue to improve the servers as well as the code to make things process as efficiently as possible.
Have a great season.
September 22, 2007 by Donovan Janus| Permalink
Die-cut wallets are now available
I am very excited to announce that die-cut wallets are now available for glossy, matte and luster finishes. Four die-cut wallets cost $1.50 and eight die-cut wallets cost $2.99. Die-cut wallets have been a much requested product and I am happy that they are now available through our new price sheets.
For those interested in Metallics, these too are now available through the price sheets.
September 6, 2007 by Donovan Janus| Permalink
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Rapid uploading with Aperture
If you use Aperture for your photo management, you will be happy know that Aperture now supports uploading through FTP. To do this, you will need the free plug-in, which can be downloaded directly from Apple.
After installation of the plug-in, uploading to ExposureManager will go faster than ever! Just follow these steps:
1) Select your images
2) Go to File->Export->ApertureToFTP Pro
3) The first time you do this, you will need to add our FTP server. Just click on the '+' on the right side of the screen, about 1/3 of the top. Now add our FTP details. You can get those by logging into your account and clicking on 'FTP Settings'.
4) Select the version of the JPG you want to upload. I recommend using a size close to the maximum image size you have set up in your gallery. If you cannot find a size that works for you, just select 'edit' at the bottom of the 'version preset' drop down.
5) Select 'Export'. Your images will now be resized and uploaded to ExposureManager.
When the upload is complete, just log into ExposureManager, and process your images into your galleries.
April 28, 2007 in Tips by Donovan Janus| Permalink
Upload API now available!
With the advent of new image management software that allow for plug-in support, we decided to build an upload API. The main use for this API is so that we can access the required functionality for plug-ins we may develop ourselves, but since we have many very tech-savvy users, we figured we would release it.
If you build an uploader that you think could be useful for other users, please let us know!
The API can be found here:
http://www.exposuremanager.com/api-doc/index.html
If you have questions, please e-mail us at rest-api@support.exposuremanager.com
April 28, 2007 in Technical by Donovan Janus| Permalink
Book recommendation: Digital Photography Book
While browsing a local bookstore this weekend, I came across the Digital Photography Book by Scott Kelby. Most 'help' books tend to focus on the technical aspects of photography, and then use example photos to illustrate the results. Not this book. In short, easy to read, chapters it deals with scenarios in every type of photography, from portraits to weddings to sports.
Though easy to read, the book contains a wealth of information on how to shoot photos that sell. If you are looking to get tips that will increase your business, then the $11.99 cost of this book will be your best investment of the year. Well, besides your ExposureManager subscription of course!
Get it today from Amazon or your local bookstore.
April 16, 2007 in Tips by Donovan Janus| Permalink
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Folded Cards - product info updated
We're happy to announce that the folded cards are back! As of now, you can create the folded card product again. We offer 5 different folded card products.
1 5x7 Folded Card w/ envelope for $2.50
10 5x7 Folded Cards w/ envelopes for $14.95
25 5x7 Folded Cards w/ envelopes for $29.95
12 3.5x5 Folded Cards w/ envelopes for $9.95
24 3.5x5 Folded Cards w/ envelopes for $18.95
Just to clarify - The dimensions (5x7 or 3.5x5) are for the FRONT (image) page of the card and represent the overall dimensions of the card when folded.
PLEASE NOTE! We recommend uploading the optimized file cropped as an exact aspect ratio for a 5x7 or a 3.5x5 as you normally would for any other images that size. It is important for the image to be exact in order to be placed properly in the card format.
If you have set up a logo in the packaging slip screen under 'sell my photos', this logo will be used on the back of the card. If you want to have control over the back of the card, you can upload a 10x7, for the 5x7 cards, or a 7x5 image, for the 3.5x5 cards, that will then be folded in the middle. In that case, please put your main image on the right if it is a vertical card, and on the top, flipped, if it is a horizontal card. Note: The back of the card is for logo purposes only. A bar code is printed on the bottom of the back of the card. Please allow for 1.5" of white space at the bottom. Cards that do not allow for the whitespace will be rejected.
Sample of a vertical card:
Sample of a horizontal card:
If you want to offer customization, like a seasonal greeting template, we recommend using the product questionnaire functionality that we released recently. For a great package deal, considering offering folded cards in combination with our postage prints product.
October 11, 2006 in News by Donovan Janus| Permalink
Product Questionnaires!
Just in time for the Fall sports season, product questionnaire allow you to easily obtain
additional information at the time of an order. Product questionnaires (PQ’s, for short) were designed to add customized
functionality to any product offered.
What can Product Questionnaires be used for?
There are two primary uses of PQ’s, based on the input and
requests received from our photographers:
- Custom Sports Posters:
Get all the information you need to create a custom poster for all the
sports you photograph. Now, a player’s parent can see a great action
shot and turn it into a custom poster with a player’s name, team name,
team colors, uniform number, etc. With the PQ option on any given
product, you can totally automate the process, having them input all
the pertinent info at the time of sale online.
- Photo collages: Photographers
who create collages always looked for a way to ask a customer for
additional images choices. The PQ option can be used to do this
automatically with the initial order.
Other uses for PQ? You can use your imagination! Use
them on any special product you offer that requires additional information from
the customer. Offer NEW products that
you never could before!
See complete information about using Product Questionnaires here:
http://faq.exposuremanager.com/2006/09/product_questio.html
September 8, 2006 in News by Donovan Janus| Permalink
