BIG Folio is Mike Caston, Erik Dungan, Jeff Caston, Lauren Smith, Charlie Ussery and a host of other cool people.
BIG Folio Forum
BIG Folio TV
BIG Folio Wiki
WED Shooter.com
Cameron Ingalls
Bambi Cantrell
Jim Garner
Michael B
Jose Villa
Karla Fountain
Angelica Glass
Kevin Meyers
John Michael Cooper
BIG Folio websites for photographers
Photographers–get your own BIG Folio Blog
Create cool slideshows with BIG Show
Aurora Way, the winning BIG Foliolympics site, is now available on our website.
As promised, this site is currently half-priced through May 18.
To purchase Aurora Way and save $375, use the coupon code AURORAGOLD when signing up.
by Erik Dungan
One of the cooler features we've built into NextProof is the ability to sell high-resolution files from any gallery or event. The great part is: you can do it but you don't have to do it.
It's a product ... or several products
High-res files (digital negatives, if you prefer) are simply products that you define in your NextProof account. Simply create a product and check the appropriate box.
You can create several digital products. For example, you may want to charge $100 for files from a wedding, but $250 for files from a senior portrait session.
Fulfillment is automated & secure
When a gallery has a digital product attached, it can be added to the shopping cart–just like a print. When a customer purchases a file and completes the checkout process, they are then given access to download the file. It's that easy.
Benefits
We think the ability to sell and automatically deliver high-res files will have at least two major benefits (I'm sure we'll think of more).
First, we feel it will increase your profits without increasing your workload.
Second, photographers can leverage NextProof to license stock, editorial and news photography. You set the price. You set the terms. You don't lose 30% of your revenue to a microstock agency.
Hey, we know selling digital files is not appropriate for every event or job. When it is, NextProof delivers.
by Erik Dungan
This month, NextProof–our new online proofing service–goes into public beta. In fact, a small team of photographers is testing NextProof as you read this. I thought it would be nice to start giving some sneak peeks of the service over the next week or two. In this post I'll briefly discuss the philosophy behind NextProof.
Why another proofing tool?
Every year, more proofing products and services spring up (the same goes for websites, in fact). Suprisingly, we are still continually asked by photographers if we offer one. Until last year, we hadn't given it much consideration–we just continued building great websites and taking care of our customers.
Last fall, we conducted a customer survey. It's primary purpose was to gauge customer satisfaction. But at the end of the survey, we asked our customers "if we offered a proofing tool, would you consider using it?" 75% said "yes". That was the clincher.
Are there several proofing options for photographers? Yes. Are some of them exceptional at what they do? Yes. Is there a need for what we're building? We think so.
Flexible and simple
We're not big on bloated software. We want to be flexible but we know we can't be all things to all people. We set out to build a proofing platform with essential features. We want photographers to (a) spend less time and (b) make more sales. We also needed a system that can grow–fast. Given those goals:
Affordable
Look at the existing proofing landscape and you'll see an array of pricing structures–often confusing (at least for me). There are setup fees, monthly fees, per-image fees, per-gallery fees, credit-card processing fees, and transaction fees. Not to mention the hosting fees, certificate fees, and merchant account fees required if you choose an installed/self-hosted platform.
Our main goal was to provide a service that is affordable and transparent. With NextProof, you'll choose a monthly plan (based on storage) and pay a low (as in, single-digit low) transaction fee. There is no setup fee, no contracts, no limits on galleries or events, no hidden fees of any kind. Upgrade, downgrade, or cancel at any time.
Oh, there's also a free plan.
The hosting dilemma
The biggest dilemma we wrestled with was where this application would live. Would this be a completely hosted service? Or, would we allow photographers to install this application on their own hosting account? We even considered both. In the end, we decided to keep NextProof as a hosted service. We know this alone will keep some people from choosing NextProof. For those who have reservations about using a hosting proofing service, here is how we addressed some of the cons of hosted proofing:
More sneak peeks to come.
by Erik Dungan
The first annual BIG Foliolympics was a huge success for everyone–except me. The people have spoken and its time to crown the winner.
Gold medal: Aurora (developed by Kent)
Silver medal: Monroe (developed by Eric B)
Bronze medal: Flagline (developed by Lauren)
Tin foil medal: Lakeside (developed by Erik D)
Monroe will be available for sale today on our website.
Aurora–the winning site–will be available on May 12 and will be half-price for 1 week only.
A special thanks to the hundreds of people who voted and voiced their opinion. We drew names and its time to announce the prizes.
Free Aurora site: Nathan Walker
Free Monroe site: Kate Baker
REI gift card: Ed Stone
Victoria Secret gift card: Jen Thompson
Starbucks gift card: Tim Halberg
iTunes gift card: Cheryl Spelts
It is always exciting to see what clients come up with in their 'vision' of how to use the designs we have created.
Today i would like to commend the folks over at McConnell Photo for how beautiful their Front Street site has turned out.
by Erik Dungan
Every four years, you can count on a few things: an extra day in February, a ton of annoying political commercials, and the Olympics. In the spirit of competition, teamwork, and winning stuff, we're proud the announce the BIG Foliolympics (previously known as BIG Folio Idol). This month, BIG Folio's 4 developers will each create a cutting edge new website design from scratch. Then, you will vote on your favorite site. Finally, after Erik wins, a winner will be announced and we'll dish out prizes to the people who voted (including new websites). It's just like Beijing-except we don't torture Tibetan monks.
How it works
On the week of April 21st, we'll post links to the 4 new website designs. You'll send an email and vote for your favorite (details to come).
The rules
None, really. Our developers are basically given free reign-each site must integrate with our website control panel. Other than that, anything goes.
What do you want in a website?
Do you have an idea for a killer website feature? Leave a comment here. Our developers just might include your bright idea.
Stay tuned!
by Erik Dungan
Don't forget–tonight I'll be hosting the first live SEO chat for users of our SEO DVD for photographers. The chat session will take place at 9pm Pacific Time and last approximately 90 minutes. To get access, make sure to drop into the forum and check the thread.
If you haven't yet purchased the DVD but you have SEO questions, send an email to erik[at]bigfolio[dot]com. If there is room, I'll grant you access.
UPDATE: tonight's session has been postponed after a few photogs expressed scheduling conflicts. Next session is Thursday at 3pm PT.
We went back and made some changes to our Redmond design–improving the overall performance and adjusting the aspect ratio to a more reasonable 3 by 2.
Remember, this is a standard design–only $250 and you're off to the races.
Is it really April already? Summer is around the corner and this means all you are gearing up for the busy season. We are following suit and coming out with some incredible designs in the very near future. But more on that later. We currently are going through our designs and placing some in the vault. Before we lock them away we are offering them at a 50% off discount. One small stipulation, if you sign up for a design that is being 'locked up', you can't use your 'one free design switch' for 6 months.
So, whats keeping you? Go check the designs out here
All too often we see clients with gorgeous photographs on their website surrounded by some of the worst color combinations on the planet.
We ran across a nice design article that should provide some great suggestions to you when it comes to putting together the 'final touches' on your website.
Thanks to Kenny Kim for providing the below image of Jose Villa and Jim Garner.
Jose and Jim have been BIG Folio clients for about two years now and continue to take the wedding industry by storm. Jose is touted as one of the finest film photographers in the world and Jim keeps shocking the world and taking Album of the Year from some of the very best competition in the world.
Congratulations to both of you on your continued success. We are proud to be a small part of it.
