Professional Site With Gallery Set Up for Sales...

[Oakley]

OK, I have a site www.thepupil.ca (http://www.thepupil.ca) that I am very happy with. I have sorted out my "Private" photos from my "Public" photos so that people coming to my site to see the "great" shots get what they want, while all my friends and family have their spot to see the "every day" stuff.

Now with the public shots, I decided to set up ONE gallery to minimize the amount of clicking. But I created a drop down mean so that users could choose to see "All Photos", "Most Popular", "Recently Added", or do a "Keyword Search" (which leads to another drop-down menu offering popular keywords). I've added a "How to Purchase Prints" to remind people that my photos are for sale.

To date, my sales have totaled = $0. This is not surprising since friends and family = 90% of my hits, and I am not marketting my site...yet. That, and I haven't figured out who my market is and what photos they want. Obviously, that's the bulk of the work and I have a long way to go. I am getting there....slowly but surely

So onto the point of the post --- I was hoping to get some input from the pros regarding the set up of my site. Specifically,

Does it have that professional look and feel?
Should I get rid of the "Private Galleries" and set those up as share groups? (Because it takes away from the professionalism)
Does the one gallery system make sense, or does the category, sub-category system work for you pros?
Does anyone have a set up which they feel is working? Or better yet, which clients/customers have given positive feedback on?
I have been thinking of setting up a two tiered system. One section for Stock photos (which would be broken down by People, Places, Things) and then another section for Assignment photos (specific weddings, portraits, ect. shoots). Has anyone seen that kind of system set up before?I really appreciate your time in helping me out.

Thanks,

[MikeM]

Well, I have one easy comment: when I opened up the public photos, they were in the "original" size. These took far too long to load and they were far too large for the page. Suggest you reset the default opening to medium.

Regards

Mike M

[Oakley]

Well, I have one easy comment: when I opened up the public photos, they were in the "original" size. These took far too long to load and they were far too large for the page. Suggest you reset the default opening to medium.

Regards

Mike M

Thanks for your comment Mike, but when I open up a photo in the public gallery, they come out "medium" not "original" size. I wonder if it's set to the individual computer viewing the photos. Cause I can't see where I can change that in smugmug.

Do you know where I could change this???

Cheers,

[colourbox]

If you want to see your site the way a first-time visitor would, delete all smugmug cookies. I usually don't want to do this to my main browser (Safari) because it also contains my preferences and my login cookie I need to work on the site, so I open up another browser that I use as a test bed (Firefox) and blow away all the smugmug cookies in it before pointing it to my own site. That resets the viewing size, viewing style, etc.

[Oakley]

If you want to see your site the way a first-time visitor would, delete all smugmug cookies. I usually don't want to do this to my main browser (Safari) because it also contains my preferences and my login cookie I need to work on the site, so I open up another browser that I use as a test bed (Firefox) and blow away all the smugmug cookies in it before pointing it to my own site. That resets the viewing size, viewing style, etc.

I did that -- and I'm still getting my viewing size as either M or L --- not O.

Could someone else confirm that they are getting a viewing size of Original when they click on a photo in my public gallery (http://thepupil.smugmug.com/gallery/813631/)?

Thanks,

[TomaS]

I did that -- and I'm still getting my viewing size as either M or L --- not O.

Could someone else confirm that they are getting a viewing size of Original when they click on a photo in my public gallery (http://thepupil.smugmug.com/gallery/813631/)?

Thanks,

I get Medium.:):

Site and photos looks very good to me. I have had a Pro account and site up for months with no sales. Not nearly as customized and slick as your homepage. Lots of great stuff out there, so maketeing is a real big factor I am sure.

I am going to try a crafts fair next. I do sell event photos but that is a very different market with a targeted audience.