Beware of Bad Web Hosting

One can use a free blogging or free web hosting service to promote photography and art. Using a paid web hosting is even better. Or is it? Well that all depends on the web hosting provider. Free blogging sites such as blogger may be limited but I have never seen downtime or website errors with them. That more than likely has something to do with Google and its powerful servers. Recent experience has taught me a lesson not to be so hasty even when it comes to renewing your web hosting. Web hosting companies sometimes improve for the better and some become slack especially with their customer service. It just so happened that I found a discount coupon from affiliate website that would help lower my web hosting costs. Great! I enquired with my web hosting provider if this coupon would be valid for an existing customer. I was informed that it would be but I would have to sign up rather than paying directly from my account. Again, I thought, great. Well, what a mess after I had just given them an xx amount of dollars. It just so happened when I renewed my web hosting with them under the same domain that I somehow ended up with two different accounts on my file that were under the same domain. It just so happened. that I also wasn't credited for the original invoice and that it said I was still owing an xx amount of dollars or I risk losing my website. I told them I would not pay twice and asked them why it wasn't applied properly to the original invoice because I also had a coupon discount that I had used. All they could tell me was to send a support ticket or email and they would basically look into it. I asked them for a refund on the recent payment since there is a 30 day money back guarantee on new accounts. Seems that they kept beating around the bush and telling me over and over to get a hold of customer support which I was speaking to in the first place. It just happens to be that I now I could be out an xx amount of dollars and with no website tomorrow in which I had already paid for. It is obviously that this web hosting service has some kind of messed up payment system that does not apply coupon codes properly to the account. On top of it all they make you feel like its your fault and when you try to reason with them they just tell you to send a support ticket message. This just irks me so especially when you want to get busy with your photo site and updates. Internet web hosting reviews about web hosting has told me that people have had issues with this company. At first, I had just thought maybe it was an individual experience but a deeper internet search told me that many people have had issues with the unnamed web hosting provider. So, beware of bad web hosting companies. Reviews written by others generally are fairly accurate. After all we are the ones forking money over to these web hosting parties. Bad customer service is a real turn off and feeling like you have been hoodwinked is even worse.

Cloud Based Graphics Software Too Restrictive

 It has been many years now since Adobe has adopted the new cloud based software for their graphics programs. They no longer sell physical discs of their programs such as Photoshop, Illustrator, InDesign among many others. These days users of these programs must use an online based subscription to access the Adobe Creative Suite. These subscriptions also must be upgraded which would require more money coming from the user's pocket. This can be a very frustrating issue especially for students and small businesses. Adobe no longer sells a perpetual license where the software is bought on a physical media with a one time payment to use the software indefinitely. This cloud based approach is a much more restrictive approach Adobe has taken which enables total control and more profit for the company. It is probable that big companies who use Adobe software will not have a problem using subscription cloud based software but the little guys will likely seek out cheaper or free alternatives for graphics software. 

Surveys Paying Pennies on the Dollar

Answering online surveys was at one time a great way to help finance a potential photo business. This has changed over time. Many survey sites now require a long process of preliminary questions before acceptance into the main survey. It happens more frequently that one can experience a near completion of answering a lot of questions and then one is suddenly screened out of the survey because they do not qualify. It so happens that the survey has collected plenty of data that already has the answers needed. This is a deceptive practice that is being used by survey marketers to avoid paying the survey taker. To add insult to injury many surveys are paying pennies on the dollar like ten cents, twenty five cents and fifty cents for extremely long and time consuming surveys. Many survey sites also take a lengthy period of time to cash out with a sometimes limited daily amount of points or dollar value accumulated. This is where it is best to narrow down the best paying and easiest payout survey sites and stick with those. These survey sites will offer Paypal and Amazon gift cards for rewards as they are the most useful as these rewards will buy an artist their needed art and photography supplies.  An experienced survey taker will know what survey sites to avoid that are  merely survey scams extracting valuable data and time from vulnerable individuals only wanting to make extra money.

Public Domain Photos Are For Lazy People

Need a specific photo for your website or blog? Take a photograph or draw it yourself and publish it on your site. This is the only way to be sure that you are 100% sure that you are using an image legally. Sure, there are thousands of public domain pictures for use but some of those photos may contain trademarked objects or a model release required to be fully legit. Many of these free pictures also want a linkback. What good is that. It just cheapens your website. In my opinion, there are some exceptions especially if you want to use an image that is very difficult to obtain. For example, it could be an image of an exotic culture. That is fine and it is always good to give a link to the photographer or creator of the photo. Simple images such as fruits or everday objects can be created yourself using simple snapshots from your own camera or cellphone. That is why most public domain photos are for lazy people unless the photo is very unique, rare or hard to find. There are many terms and conditions to using free photos and these terms must be read carefully to keep you out of potential hot water. It is not even worth the small risk unless the image is more than a hundred years old. Even then, it is always best to read the terms just to be safe.
One can be legit by purchasing royalty free pictures from a stock photo site or private artist in their set terms. Royalty free means to pay one time only and use the image multiple times in many cases. Some of these images are very inexpensive while others are much higher in cost depending on where the image came from and is allowed usage. This also helps the artist or photographer put their bread and butter on the table when images are purchased direct from the artist.
It can be sometimes annoying when a search engine like Google that will give priority to these free photo sites. It is also obvious that these public domain and free images sites have heavy traffic for those too lazy to be creative themselves. Even so called paid stock photo sites obviously use free keyword search terms to describe their site to take rankings in the search engines. This can be somewhat frustrating for solo artists and photographers who wish to promote their work. There is a lot of competition out there in the art and photography world. No need to despair. Just keep creating unique artworks and keeping them exclusively for your own website. This can help offset the competition a little bit knowing that no third party site has use of your images on their site without some sort of recognition and or compensation.

Photo See Your Own Business Rises From The Dead

It has been awhile since anything has been added to this blog. I tend to be that way sometimes. I'll tinker with my blogs and pamper them for awhile and finally forget (not intentionally) about it for an extended period of time. This photo blog has had nothing added to it for sometime. Yea, well we as people have our non internet lives to live and circumstances that become a priority. Oh, but what about the poor blog. Google has probably archived the poor blog deep in the pits of the internet to the point where I could no longer google it unless I actually typed the blog name in the search bar. That is bad! Oooooops! I suppose it was time to rescue my blog and bring it back to life. A dead blog is not a good blog. Beside I notice I have a few followers out there and they probably would not mind seeing some fresh content added to this poor old blog. This is originally an art blog about photography and art tips as well as some of the marketing aspect that comes with any website or BLOG. What is this blog trying to say to others when heck it has just come back from the dead! You know the saying the blind cannot lead the blind, well it also holds true that the dead cannot lead the dead. Well, its time for this little old blog to rise once again. A little artistic humor can go along way to brighten someone's day. Perhaps a piece of artwork may come out of this in the near future. You know, transfer words to pictures. Sounds like a heck of an idea. Anyways, I have created and added several more pieces of art and photography to my main art website which has also been through changes like web hosting services, domain name changes and so forth. The little banner at the top of this blog is still functional. Just click on the photography banner image and it will greet you with an awesome digital art images and photography gallery. Stay tuned for more to come to this little old art blog. Hopefully it doesn't take as long this time to throw up a paragraph or two on a more steady basis. Google does prefer fresh content and sooner or later Google will leave an unattended or neglected website or blog lying in the dust. So the tip of the day no matter what kind of website one has, is to be regular in adding new content and or images because the internet is always changing and moving non stop. It does not wait around for too long. I hope this helps and especially for this poor little bloggy. Welcome back Photo See Your Own Business! Well, at least I didn't have to write instead photo dead your own business. LOL. Oh, jees if only others could see the images running through my mind as I write this. Yes, writing can also be a great inspiration for creating art or snapping photos. Go ahead, give it a try. Turn your written thoughts to actual image creations using art and photography.

Protect Your Images From Social Media Websites

Social media networks can be a useful option to get more exposure for your images. There are pros and cons to this method. Always read the terms and policy of social media sites before uploading your pictures.  This way you can prepare to protect your images from illegal usage and copyright issues more easily if this route is taken. Social media websites such as Flicker, Facebook and Pinterest have an agreement policy that you must agree to their royalty free license terms. In other words you give them authorization to use your photos as they see fit say for example such as advertising purpose in which the artist or photographer will receive nil in payment. In my opinion this is just too much of a giveaway just because they allow you to use their service for free by storing your images on their server. The free price tag is simply too high and there is also a risk of losing total control over your photos. If the need of using social media to promote your photos is a strong desire then by all means do so. There are a number of things one can do to protect your images when using social media websites. For starters, never upload the original high resolution of an image. Using an extra large thumbnail image with a full sized watermark will act as a deterrent from image theft and social media administrators from wanting to use your images for commercial gain. Instead, upload only a small quantity of low resolution images to the social media site and provide a link back to your own website if it is allowed. That way if viewers are interested in seeing more of your photos they can visit your website through the link provided from the social media site. Some photo sharing sites such as Flicker will not even allow a link back to a website if it is a commercial site where images are being sold.

High End Point and Shoot Cameras at Cheap Prices

New or level entry photographers with very little to spend will be happy to know that a starter camera such as a point and shoot camera model can be found at very reasonable costs from big name electronic stores. Noticing the other day on one store's website were high end Canon camera models including Canon DSLR models can now be purchased for 500 dollars and much lower for the less complicated point and shoot camera models ranging at about 250 dollars for a high end point and shoot camera model. It appears that camera prices have fallen quite a substantial in the last few years. Of course it is always good to research camera features and camera user reviews to be sure one is satisfied with their choice. Either way one will undoubtedly get great value for their money. The other good thing, it is nice knowing one can upgrade to a new camera for a cheaper price than originally paid for an older model camera. This should be a cause for some very enthusiastic camera owners to start clicking away while at the same time saving money.

Simple Ways To Generate Exta Money

Is your photography or art not generating enough income to keep up with the cost of living? This discussion aims at an audience where finances are an everyday struggle. There are steps you can take to supplement your income to help make ends meet.
Starting an online business selling your niche of a product is a good place to start. This could be selling your unwanted household items on Ebay or perhaps turning a hobby into a profitable business. For example if you make your own jewelry, why not sell your pieces online. There are many services online that offer free space or low cost shop space where you can establish your own mini shop. This would also be ideal if you are an amateur artist or a writer.
Write blogs on topics of interest. Blogger is a free service which allows you to set up many blogs for free. Your blog sites can then be setup with Google adsense or another advertising alternative to help generate a little extra money. This may take some time to establish till your blog becomes more known and is generating ample traffic. There are are also free and inexpensive web hosting sites to set up a website. It is recommended to pay for a low cost web hosting service rather than a free one because free web hosting is quite often very limited.
Participate in online surveys. The payouts may be small but it does add up over time. Normally one must have a minimal amount of dollars to cash out with surveys. Some surveys sites credit you with points which in turn can be converted to cash.
Collecting bottles and cans is another income generator. This may not be everyone's cup of tea but it can generate that extra money needed to pay for those unwanted bills. It is very possible to make hundreds of extra dollars a month with this approach. This can make a huge difference in a low income household.
A newspaper route can also give one a few extra dollars a month. It is usually quite easy to secure work delivering papers because of the availability of openings for this kind of employment. No one really wants to do this type of work for the simple fact that it does pay little. However, it is another choice of making extra income when the purse strings are tight.
Volunteer at your favorite organization or charity. This can sometimes lead to a paying job offer although this does not always work. This helps connect one with others in the workforce with the prospect of obtaining paid employment. A few hours of your time a week could lead to a pay off with real paid work.
In the meantime always keep an eye open for secured full time employment. It is never easy because of the down turn of the economy. Make use of the internet and newspapers for job seeking. Post free classifieds in the employment sections. Mostly importantly, never give up. Stay positive and always look at the bright side of the coin. Perhaps you will even make enough extra money for that new camera you have been wanting.

Domain Name Search Engine Ranking

A good domain name for your photography or art website is a must. If you are a solo artist or solo photographer you can simply just use your name for your website. Search engine ranking is achieved with proper keywording. Try to create keywords that are closely related to the most common words yet at the same time unique in itself. For instance take the word artist. This is a top level keyword in which likely will be somewhat difficult to take first rankings in the search engines. If you add your name and or a descriptive word about the type of art or photos you offer will be much more successful at finding a better search engine placement. Use as unique descriptions as possible for best results. Submit to artist and art directories. This is also important in establishing relevant links to your website that are similiar in topics. Be choosy who you link to and who also links back to you. You dont want to be caught up in a bad neighborhood of useless and potentially harmful links. If you submit to general directories be sure to submit your art site or photography website to the proper category because quite often many directory administrators will not correct this for you or they will simply just delete your site for improper category placement among many other directory submission errors. Be sure to use accurate spelling and avoid keyword stuffing when submitting to these directories. Well established and high ranking directories will not be easy to get placement as some of the directory owners can be quite choosy. Keep your description simple and straight to the point as to who you are and what you have to offer. Use the proper official name of your website if requested rather than loosely strung keywords. It also looks much more professional when using proper titles and accurate descriptions. Be sure to read all the rules, terms and conditions when submitting to a website directory.

Home Based Photo Studio Lab

Many artists and photographers prefer to sell only prints, cards and other stationary items from their images instead of licensing their original images for commercial use. Many thirds party print on demand websites offer services that will help with the production of the prints and cards themselves. There are free options but usually there is always a catch and limitations. Paid services allow for room but overall it will still cost plus commission. Retain all your earnings by setting up a home photo studio lab. This will require some time and investment but then the artist or photographer will have complete control with everything including all control of costs.
 One can get started on a low budget by purchasing a good quality photo printer to produce smaller and sellable 4x6 or 5x7 prints or perhaps spend a few dollars more and purchase a level entry professional wide format photo printer that is capable of larger sizes and more features. Suitable printers can be found for a thousand dollars or much cheaper if one is really lucky to come across a good deal over the internet. Canon and Epson offer high quality photo printers that produce excellent results.
 The problem with using third party print on demand websites is not knowing what your photos will look like before they get to your customers. You can always order your prints before hand from the third party being used to be sure that your prints will be sellable. This normally requires purchasing your own prints sometimes with a discount but can be inconvenient because of a waiting period for shipping. It could also be very expensive if you have a lot of images you would like to sell. In many cases when it comes to the photography and art industry there is simply just very few cheap cuts when it comes down to selling your images as prints. However, all is not lost. One can invest in a high quality wide format photo printer for much less in the long run. Photo printers in this price range are capable of printing fairly large images and creation of greeting cards if so desired. If you decide you would like to sell your images as posters then this would require a much more expensive printer because of the poster size itself. Remember the larger the image the more costly it will be to produce which in turn affects the retail price of the print itself. One must consider the cost of ink and type of photo paper that is to be used when producing the images to print.
 The advantages of owning your own photo printer is that you will be able to judge what your images look like before selling and if changes are needed to improve the image itself before putting to market. This in turn makes the whole process much easier, faster, simpler and much less expensive. You will also appreciate having total control over the printing production of your photographs and art in the comfort of your own space.   

Don't Sell Your Photos For Next To Nothing

There are a variety of ways one can sell their art and photography. The trick is to watch that you don't allow usage or sell your art and photographs at a mere pittance of their actual worth. In other words don't settle for just pennies. You deserve much more than this for the images you create. Why should someone else be the one to profit more than you off your creations? Print on demand photo sites such as Red Bubble, Imagekind, Deviant Art and similar sites offer prints for sale using your images. There are pros and cons to this approach. It is easy to get started using a free account, uploading photos and hopefully to make a few bucks or cents when someone buys a print of your image. The downside of this is the amount of money you receive is virtually next to nothing unless you are very lucky to sell an awful lot of prints of your images. This is also goes for greeting cards, posters and any media where your art and photos are used as the basis of the product. Quite often many of these print on demand sites want exclusive royalty free rights to your photos. In other words you will have to agree to their terms not to sell your images in the same fashion from another print on demand site. This also holds true for stock photography sites. In my opinion this is totally unethical and is totally a disadvantage to the rightful copywriter owner of the image itself. Therefore it is very important for an artist or photographer to read the fine print, terms and conditions before signing up with a print on demand photo website or stock photo website. Do research on the sites and read user reviews by googling everything you can find out about how such sites work. It would be well worth the time before its too late and the artist falls into great disappointment. It is just not worth it otherwise to jump into a sticky situation in hopes of making a few measly bucks from your hard work. Yes, creating art and obtaining that perfect photo shot can be time consuming. Don't just give it away. Artists and photographers have to put bread on the table too! This is especially true when one is new to this type of business. The newcomer of an artist or photographer can be easily duped into an uncomfortable situation because someone wants your images for very little or at worst free maybe in return for a simple credit. Don't fall for it. This will not pay the bills nor be good for your self esteem. However, there are those individuals who don't mind these technicalities of selling images from print on demand and stock photo sites. Much all depends on the person's desired niche if they wish to sell their photographs and artwork as cards, prints, posters, mugs, keychains, etc. Remember that the company or person with the printing business will prosper more than the artist who allows usage of their images for very little in return. A decent premium home printer with premium printing paper can do the same thing. This way the artist can print as needed when someone requests a print. Even greeting cards can be created from home with a home printer. The only limitations of a home printer is photo sizes. Posters for example would require a commercial sized printer which can run in the thousands of dollars which is probably not feasible for those on budget. Another and probably the best alternative is to sell your art and photos from your own domain and website as digital art downloads and photo downloads. This way one can set their own license terms, prices and have complete control over the images. That way if another company or individual wishes to use one of your images for mass production of products such as posters, mousepads, postcards, etc, the artist or photographer can state his or her usage license and fee for the usage of the photo. This way a much higher price can be asked for the photo art or photograph requested according to quality, style, popularity, size and type of usage (non-commercial or commercial) of the image itself.  

Transform Your Photos To Art

Photography itself is a wonderful art form in itself.  Amazing images can also be transformed to photo art using graphics software. This can produce some very unusual and interesting photos which in turn provide more pictures for your photo album or online gallery. Photoshop and its cheaper alternative the Gimp provide many fine tools and filters that can turn a plain photographic image to a fine piece of art. For example why not add some digital painting effects to that boring old landscape image to produce a museum like painting. Perhaps that common photo of everyday trees and flowers could become an abstract art form with added colors and distortions. Why not just simply turn a photo to a black and white image with added grain for that old fashioned look. The possibilities are endless. One single photograph can be taken to produce a photo art series collection if the objects in the photo itself allow it. From experience some photographic images simply produce better photo art images than others. Its all a matter of testing colors, filters etc to produce that one of a kind photo. The important thing is too have fun and only keep the best of photo art pictures for publication and selling. Study the image closely. If it doesn't look quite right it probably isn't. Usually one will know in an instant if a photograph is suitable for a photo art piece after applying a few effects. Most photographic images are useable for photo art creations. More experienced Photoshop users will likely find it much easier than novice users. Novice Photoshop users can simply experiment with the various filters till they see something that catches their eye. That is okay too because some of the best photo art is created at random.

Photoshop Versus the Gimp

Every digital and graphic artist knows about Photoshop. There is also the open source bitmap editor, the Gimp which is completely free to use for personal and commercial use. It is just a matter of preference. Here we will discuss the benefits and downfalls of both graphics programs.
Photoshop is commercial and very expensive. It is almost always considered the standard for a professional artist or photographer. The upgrades are not free and thus adds another cost in keeping up  with the latest Photoshop updates. The benefits outweigh the cost if one can afford it. Photoshop has many excellent photo editing tools but also has a steep learning curve. The good news is that there are many free tutorials to be found on the intenet on using Photoshop to its fullest potential. The Gimp, on the other hand also has many tools and filters that is totally free to use. Updates are always free and thus is the most economical graphics editor for the casual artist to the professional. 

The Gimp however lacks a shape tool that is similar to Photoshop. One can make very basic shapes in the Gimp. Photoshop, however has a much more advanced shape creator which is a very important tool for artists especially graphic artists. This is probably one of the major differences in Photoshop and the Gimp. Other than that both programs are both excellent for digital imaging and photo retouching.  It is just a matter of how much one wants to spend on graphics software. If one is just starting their out new, the Gimp is the way to go. Another alternative would be to find an older version of Photoshop which would be cheaper. This can be done by searching on Ebay or Amazon. This is not easy to do these days because those rare older copies of Photoshop still maintain their value. People are hanging on to their prized possessions and when they do appear they are snatched up as fast as they are listed. 

Software and Tools For New Artists on a Tight Budget

Are you and or artist and photographer who is wanting to promote your work but are on a limited budget?   Here are some tips and suggestions.
First of if you cant afford a new DSLR camera, go for a high end point and shoot camera such as Canon.  Some of the high end point and shoots are better than the lowest price DSLR cameras.  You can find a high end point and shoot for around 3 or 4 hundred dollars and perhaps even cheaper.  You will also need a photo editing program such as Adobe Photoshop or the Gimp.  The latest version of Photoshop CS5 is very expensive but there is an alternative if you prefer Photoshop over the Gimp.  You can still buy an older version of photoshop 7 from Ebay for much cheaper.  It does run on Vista if you set your compatibility mode correctly.  This version of photoshop does not require the annoying activation that the newer versions require.  There are tons and tons of free filters that run well on Photoshop 7.  Just Google it.  Photoshop 7 has all the basic photo editing needs you can want.  I have found that the only difference between this version of Photoshop and the newer version of Photoshop is that there are a few more features such as content aware and 3D tools.  However, you will pay much more for the latest version of Photoshop just to get these features which is really not necessary if you only need to do simple image editing to prepare your photos for the market.
There are many photo stock sites where you can sell your photos.  Many of these sites have a strict criteria for the photos that you submit which can be somewhat discouraging.  Photos can be rejected often and it is very time consuming.  There are sites where you have much more control over the photos you submit.  One such photo site is Clustershot.  You can upload your photos for free and set your own prices.  If you have your own website or blog, you can sell prints, cards and downloads with FotoMoto.  All one has to do is sign up for a free account with FotoMoto.  They give you a script and you paste it into your website.  It grabs your photos that you want to sell and adds them to your secure online store with FotoMoto.  The FotoMoto script then adds buy buttons automatically underneath all your photos located on your website.  One can also have many websites registered with Fotomoto to sell photos.  People can then choose to buy your photos from your website.  Once they have selected their order it takes them to the secure checkout with Fotomoto.  This is a super idea especially if your site does not have SSL which is required to accept credit cards.  Both Clustershot and Fotomoto take approximately 15 percent from your photo sales.  This is acceptable considering selling photos on one of the major stock sites may only give you a few dollars each or less for your photos.
It is never easy one way or the other to sell photos and artwork.  It is a lot of work, time and effort on the part of the individual.  Most will not make any money overnight because there are factors such as the bigger competitors, search engine optimization, setting up a website and many other things.  It definitely can be a  24/7 job.  However, if you love photography and art time will have no meaning.  

Getting Backlinks To Your Photography Site

Finding good quality or even lesser quality backlinks to your website  is no easy task.  After all links means more traffic and a higher search engine recognition with a higher page rank.  All new websites always start at the very bottom.  It can be at times a very slow crawl just to even move up a little especially on the Google ladder. 
There are many directories where one can submit their site  There are thousands of directories which means it would be very time consuming unless you are willing to pay a high price for a SEO company to get the job done for you.  Even then there is no guarantee.  For a lot of us money means a tight budget for the business.  
Most free submission directories are very slow to review and list a new site unless of course you are willing to pay for it.  Sometimes it takes months to get listed.
My theory is if a lot of unknown or new websites and blogs get together and link up to each other with similar topics and interest then this will help in getting more SEO quality page rank and backlinks for everyone.  Then one way is just to sign up with all the free directory services you possibly can.    

Just beware that submitting to web directories is very time consuming. Generally, the more established directories are not free. There is normally a backlink required or a submission fee to get your photo website listed if it is approved.