I worked with Big Folio which just happens to be THE best website company I have worked with. I had originally hired a custom website designer, and that experience didn’t really work out. It left me a little bit broke, and a little bit disappointed in myself, because I felt like I had no idea what I wanted. I erroneously thought that custom website designer meant they would come up with the design for you – but you need to have ideas and know what you like – and I just wasn’t there. Yet.

When I saw Big Folio’s Artist Series, I knew exactly what I wanted. I loved the flexibility of the design – it reminds me of the ProPhoto Blog template that I also love, just because there are so many ways to customize it to make your site unique. I was thrilled because it was *like* a custom site, but already done, and at template prices.

I’m not sure where to start with the love, so I will just dive right in. I’ve used other templates for my website throughout the years, and either the design was lacking, the backend was confusing or the customer service was absolutely scary. With a Big Folio site, it’s basically idiot-proof. It tells you how to size your images, how to upload them (right through the site – no ftp’ing necessary), how to arrange them in the galleries (drag and drop, hurrah!) and pretty much how to change every aspect of your site. If you do have problems with figuring something out, support tickets are answered crazy fast. I don’t think I ever waited more than a few hours for an answer. Seriously.
If you’ve used some other companies, you know how unheard of this is.

One of the things I was most wary of was the fact that you have to host with them to have a site. I was happy with my hosting (GoDaddy) but I have to say that I have been equally happy with my hosting at Big Folio. They are so willing to help – it’s fantastic to be able to ask someone how to do something, or even have them do it for you!

After working with a custom designer, I am also now very appreciative of how affordable website templates truly are. My site has video included, tons of galleries and pages – all which are separate costs when going custom. Those costs add up fast, and it makes it harder to truly have your “dream” site. I might someday again try custom, but I will be sticking with Big Folio when that time comes. It’s a great company with amazing ideas and fantastic people.

Those fantastic people are offering readers a discount code: BFSAVE50 will save you $50 on a new site! Their prices are super reasonable, but not super cheap (meaning not every new photographer on the block will have the same site as you – a big plus!)

So go take a look at my new site: www.freshsugar.com and tell me what you think! If you get yourself a Big Folio site, let us know – we would LOVE to see what you’ve done with it!

I’m absolutely in love with them, they are adorable! She is so great to work with, and came up with something I loved right away.
She has a special on these – they are $40 until May, when the price goes up to $75. Her blog says that they are only available to past logo clients, but she will do them for new clients as well. You can check mine out on my blog.

She’s also generously offering a 10% discount on her design work for Two Photog readers. Her prices are already very reasonable, so this is really a great deal. Use code 2P10 at checkout to redeem. If you get some custom blog buttons, make sure you come back and show them to us!

I’ve been using Moo for some cool uses of my own for the past year. Because my business name is not my actual name, I need to find ways for people to associate my own name with Fresh Sugar Photography. One of the ways I do it is with a Moo sticker on the bag of each print. I signed my name using my Wacom and made it into a cute little sticker. This way I am letting my clients know that they have purchased one-of-a-kind artwork, and I am also keeping my own name in their minds, as well as my business name.

I use the Moo MiniCards as a way to incorporate new faces into my portfolio. I made “you’ve been spotted” cards to give out anytime I see a child or family that I would love to photograph. They are cute and fun, and a less-creepy way of saying “Are you a model?”.

I also ordered sets of cards for myself and Danna before WPPI. At $19.99 for 100 cute little cards, it was the perfect solution for small run needs. The cards are seriously yummy, so thick and sturdy – you won’t believe them until you see them. Plus, you can have 100 different images on 100 different cards. So cool!

So if all of this hasn’t convinced you to give Moo a try, then how about a discount on your first order? Moo is generously giving our readers 15% off their first Moo order. Use code 2RB2CK at checkout, and anxiously await your order! You’ll love their packaging too, totally cute!

For me personally, I back up with Time Machine on my Mac, I backup all client files on another external hard drive, and I also use a company called Backblaze to store my images off-site. You back up online, just by installing the software. It does it all for you, for unlimited files.

I just recently needed to use Backblaze to get a handful of files, and it was very easy. Just login, find your files, and they will send you an emails when the files are all zipped up and ready to download. The whole process took about 10 minutes.
Backblaze has a couple of minor downsides – you can only view file names, so if you are looking to see thumbnails of images, you will be out of luck. Also, the download takes awhile – it took me about 2 hours to download 8GB. They don’t recommend even trying to download anything larger than 20GB at a time, so it could be time consuming to recover a lot of large files. You can also get them to send you a DVD or USB of your data – but it costs more. Although $189 for every 400GB would be a very small price to pay to get back ALL of your info and not have to pay a specialist to recover it for you. Also, don’t freak out if it takes weeks or even months to intially backup all your info. It WILL happen eventually, and then it will be very quick after that. I never noticed any type of slowdown on my internet while backing up which is great.

It costs $5 a month per computer, or if you purchase a whole year they knock it down to $50. That’s extremely reasonable for this type of service and it’s so easy to give yourself the extra peace of mind.

Backblaze has given Two Photogs readers a 10% discount for the month of February – just use code FebTwoPhotogs at purchase. Happy backing up!

** Complimentary Daily Internet
** Complimentary Daily Gym Access
** Complimentary Nightly Admission to Studio 54 or Tabu
** Complimentary local and toll free phone calls

I think I remember the internet being at least $12 a day, so this is a great deal if you need to stay connected. Offer ends December 31st, 2009 so book now and don’t forget to let us know you’re going!