As mentioned in my last post on this site, I have a new site. The Picture Pundit is now online and contains its first few articles.

Head over to Picture Pundit and get photography news, articles, and commentary that should make photographers think a bit.

Continuing the Conversation: Picture Pundit is a post from Social Photo Talk. Subscribe to the free Social Photo Talk e-newsletter

Photographers want easy ways to show off their work in online galleries. Clients want user-friendly systems to check out photos from their event or portrait session. Everyone wants prints from professional labs delivered in a timely manner. There are variety of ways to go about reaching these goals, but one increasingly-common scenario is for a photographer (either a pro or a serious hobbyist) to use an online gallery and image delivery system such as SmugMug or Photoshelter.

Both sites offer the ability for photographers to create customized galleries that can mirror a photographer’s look/feel/branding of their existing website. Both sites partner with processing labs for print and product orders. Both sites offer some form of electronic image delivery.

And, to the benefit of all, both sites are currently going through growth periods.

SmugMug has recently added several new features for their Pro accounts, including shipping coupons, thank-you prints and stickers, and improved analytics. Photoshelter is teasing members with some news about significant upgrades coming later this week. I’ll review those changes once they happen; I’m glad to see each company is currently innovating in this space.

Do you use a hosted gallery system? What do you like? What do you wish could be improved?

Innovative Times for SmugMug, Photoshelter is a post from Social Photo Talk. Subscribe to the free Social Photo Talk e-newsletter

While they got their start with books, the folks at Amazon.com have expanded to a wide range of products including some great deals on camera gear. For three days only (today through Wednesday, June 9th), Amazon has some special Father’s Day deals going on – if you’ve been thinking about a new camera, lens, or accessory, now might be the time to make the purchase and save money.

The deals include everything from SLRs like the Nikon D90 and Canon EOS Rebel T1i to Lensbabies to related accessories such as digital picture frames.

Browse all of the Amazon Father’s Day Deals and pick up a nice photo gift for yourself or a loved one.

Great Camera & Photography Deals for Father’s Day is a post from Social Photo Talk. Subscribe to the free Social Photo Talk e-newsletter

Last week, Twitter announced Promoted Tweets, their first venture into the advertising world.

Instead of giving you a bunch of my thoughts, I instead point you over to Black Star Rising, where Marc Benton has taken a look at the issue and offered his thoughts.

From what I can tell, his impressions are correct, and we’ll have to wait and see how things play out once the services has been around for a bit.

Photo by kevincole, used under Creative Commons licensing

A Photographer’s Look at Promoted Tweets is a post from Social Photo Talk. Subscribe to the free Social Photo Talk e-newsletter

One of the biggest concerns for photographers (especially those who have been in the industry for quite a while) is the risk of photos posted online being stolen for unlicensed uses. In the last year we’ve seen a few software solutions developed that address some of the image tracking issues, but there has been a disconnect between the tracking and a solution for potential photo buyers to license those images.

Starting today, that gap is being bridged by PicScout and PhotoShelter. A new partnership will give individual PhotoShelter photographers access to the PicScout ImageIRC (index, registry, and connection platform) which is used by quite a few image libraries. The integration will allow potential buyers using PicScout’s ImageExchange add-on to click directly to a photographer’s PhotoShelter website which can host the e-commerce transaction. Buyers will be able to see photos, click through to more information, and land directly on the PhotoShelter site for purchase. The streamlining of the image browsing/inquiry/purchase process should allow PhotoShelter photographers to see increased sales while also knowing their images are being tracked by PicScout.

I’m curious to find out more… I haven’t used PhotoShelter or PicScout much although I’ve dabbled a bit with each. There’s a free webinar on Tuesday, February 23rd at 3PM EST… if you’re curious, register to learn more.

Does this sound like a useful service? Would it increase the number of images you attempt to share and sell online?

Photo by Leonski, used under Creative Commons licensing

PhotoShelter and PicScout Announce Partnership for Easier Sales of Images is a post from Social Photo Talk. Subscribe to the free Social Photo Talk e-newsletter

Trey Ratcliff, best known for his HDR work on his Stuck in Customs blog (and book), gave a talk last week at Google. It’s about an hour long and is a great overview of his take on photography, a look at quite a few of his photos, art and science, and attention as currency. Check it out:

Trey Ratcliff Speaking as Part of the Authors@Google Series is a post from Social Photo Talk. Subscribe to the free Social Photo Talk e-newsletter

I love it when I run into a photographer who is thinking in new ways with a social marketing venture. I recently noticed the oncemany project by photographer Shane Rich. It’s a 365 day project, and Shane is selling each day for its numerical value. January 1st is $1, the second is $2, and so on up through December 31st which is $365. In exchange for the payment, Shane tells your story through photography.

What is “your story”? It could be a business promoting a brand or product. It could be a personal brand. It could just be a crazy concept. He’ll create photography and then promote it via the blog as well as on Twitter, Facebook, Flickr, and his email newsletter.

It’s an interesting idea. Shane produces some great work as evidenced by the gallery of his January photos for the project. Petapixel compares it to the Million Dollar Homepage project and I can see similarities; looking at Shane’s booking calendar it appears the early dates are selling well, I can only wonder if the later dates will fill up as well. I’m definitely thinking about purchasing a date once I come up with the right idea.

We’ll be interviewing Shane as a guest on the Social Photo Podcast soon. What do you think of his idea? Any questions you’d like to ask him? Leave a comment with your thoughts.

Photo by Shane Rich, used by permission.

Another Day, Another Dollar: the oncemany Project is a post from Social Photo Talk. Subscribe to the free Social Photo Talk e-newsletter

Jason Falls posted an interesting piece yesterday on Social Media Today in which he notes there are Four Styles of Marketing on Twitter ranging from the Conversationalist to the Spammer.

I’d suggest you check out Jason’s piece. I’d argue that if you’re purely in his “Spammer/Broadcast” category that you’re not really participating in social media at all, but rather you’re blasting a one-way message much like traditional PR campaigns.

What’s your Twitter marketing style? Are you engaging in conversation? Tomorrow I’ll have a significant post that challenges those who want to use social media without the inconvenience of having to actually, you know, interact.

Photo by carrotcreative, used under Creative Commons licensing

Marketing on Twitter? Which Style are You? is a post from Social Photo Talk. Subscribe to the free Social Photo Talk e-newsletter

A couple weeks ago, I noted that if your goals for 2010 included improvements for your blog, the best bang-for-your-buck program is Darren Rowse’s 31 Days to Build a Better Blog. What I didn’t know at the time was that he was going to make his workbook even better. For one week only, he’s releasing additional content as part of the workbook. If you buy 31DBBB in the next seven days, you’ll receive three special bonuses:

1. 9 Things to Do to Get Your Blog On Track in The New Year – a short report that gives bloggers an extra 9 tasks/exercises to help get you focused for the new year (based on the process that Darren uses at the start of every year).
2. Interview with Leo Babauta – just under an hour of a podcast interview with Leo from Zenhabits.net.
3. Interview with Neil Patel – a 45 minute podcast interview with traffic generating and personal branding genius from Quicksprout.

Since I’ve been extolling the virtues of his program in the past, I felt like I should let you know that if you’ve been on the fence, now is the time to buy. Find out more and purchase the workbook including the added bonuses.

Photo by stephmcg, used under Creative Commons licensing

One Week Only: Special Bonuses as Part of the 31DBBB Program is a post from Social Photo Talk. Subscribe to the free Social Photo Talk e-newsletter

Last week blogger Paul Cunningham polled a bunch of other bloggers about productivity tips. If one’s social media strategy includes blogging regularly, it can often be a challenge to balance that along with the various other duties of a photographer. I could rehash a bunch of what he said, but it’s a lot easier to just head over and read How to Manage Your Time and be a More Productive Blogger.
Photo by woodleywonderworks, used under Creative Commons licensing

Paul Cunningham Rounds Up Blogging Productivity Tips is a post from Social Photo Talk. Subscribe to the free Social Photo Talk e-newsletter