If you don’t have a Gmail account, you should get one. You get 7GB of space and that is a TON of emails. I’ve been using Gmail for my business for the past two years and I have only used up 8% of my total space. Which means that I have ALL of my emails from the past two years safely stored. I don’t empty it, ever – just on the off-chance that I delete something in my regular email program (Apple Mail) and I need it back.

The great thing about Gmail is that you can use it to combine your other email accounts. I use it for both my info@freshsugar.ca account and my brandy@twophotogs.com account. Which means that I get my emails not only to my regular computer email program, but to my online Gmail account as well. Added backup, and extra portability – I use Gmail on my iPhone. Now to take it one step cooler – you can also SEND messages from your Gmail account that look like they come from another account (such as your main business email). All you need to do is go to “settings” at the top right of your Gmail screen and click on “Accounts and Import”. Here is where you can add other email accounts for Gmail to check (make sure you check “Leave a copy of retrieved message on the server” so you can still get your emails through your other programs and webmail), and add the email address you want to send messages from Gmail from. Make sense? For example, at home I send emails from my Apple Mail program. On the road, I send them from my iPhone and even though I use Gmail – it appears to the recipient that I sent it directly from my info@freshsugar account. Pretty neat, right?

There are a lot of other really great features to Gmail, email forwarding, themes, chat, etc but I’ll let you discover those on your own!

Firstly, if any readers are Lightroom experts, we’d love to hear from you. Brandy is attempting to teach herself Lightroom over the holiday break and some guidance would be much appreciated. Any Lightroom tips or tricks? Leave them in the comment section below!

Secondly, we had a call out on Twitter last month for photographer workspaces. We want to showcase your space, so please send images of your fab workspace to brandy@twophotogs.com.

Lastly, we are finally having our next inspiration challenge THIS WEEK! The only rule is that you can’t use your DSLR. So drag out your iPhone, polaroid, toy camera, medium format, pinhole, whatever and load up with film. Think outside your comfort zone! We will post the details later this week! Brandy has a pink Diana F+ on the way, will it arrive in time or will she be using her Zumi, or her new Fuji Instax?

If you follow my Fresh Sugar blog you will know that I already have had the app for a couple of weeks now. I am what I like to call an “early-adopter” but my husband likes to call a “one-woman solution to the recession”.

I have to say that the idea is so genius that I am kicking myself that I didn’t think of it first. That honor goes to our friend Joy Vertz of Shoot The Moon Photography. She developed the app with two other partners and the site just went live TODAY! Like minutes ago.

The website to get your own app deliciousness is www.prophotoapps.com and you can get most of the info there, but I will give a quick run down here for you impatient folk.

MyDailyPic – A new image pops up every day for each client. I email the client the day that their photo is on there and let them know to download it and check it out. They can then save said image on their phone for their wallpaper. My clients are going bananas over this feature, checking their app everyday!

List your studio specials – When my app launched I had a gift certificate prize for the first 10 app downloaders. I sent them all a $100 gift card (ok, I haven’t yet but I am going to this week, lol) and wowsa, guess what? With the exception of one person – they were all NEW clients! Whee!

One touch access for iPhone app users to call, email you, text you, or go right to your website – One caveat, if you have a flash site – your website won’t actually show up on the iPhone, except for your splash page. But guess what? My favorite website company, BigFolio has developed smallFolio, an iPhone integrated website for your biz!

Automatically integrated with Facebook & Twitter – For those like me who are addicted to all things social networking.

Provide complete info about your studio to iPhone app users – I got to write all sorts of lovely things about myself and have the world at large believe it to be true!

Custom branded – you call the app whatever you want and use your logo – It’s your very own custom iPhone app! – It’s awesome. My little cherry looks so happy next to my Bejewelled app.

As a studio owner – you don’t even need an iPhone. We have a state of art web portal for you to maintain all of your studio information and images – we make this extremely simple and fast for you. – But the bigger question is WHY THE HECK DON’T YOU HAVE AN IPHONE? Don’t say you are a Blackberry person or I will make you go sit with my husband. Danna’s too for that matter.

So there you have it! The scoop, the dealio, the 411. I’ve got a TON of emails from photogs clamouring for their own app since I launched mine, so now you can all stop emailing me and start emailing Joy. Or just go to the site and buy it. Ta da!

Oh, and I suppose you want to go check mine out now, right? Fine then, off you go:Fresh Sugar

Zach over at Photographers SEO Blog and Book agreed to answer some questions for us and all of you. Make sure you read all the way through so you don’t miss the generous gift Zach is offering.

What is SEO?

SEO stands for search engine optimization. If they had just called it Google-boost or something I think there would be less confusion. It’s the process of updating (optimizing) your website or blog so that you have a better chance of appearing higher in search engine results. If you update the phrase of your homepage title to include a couple of the keywords you are trying to rank for, that is SEO. If you add your blog link to a couple of blog directories, that is SEO. Pretty easy, huh?

How important is SEO?

I guess that depends how many visitors you want to your website and ultimately how many new clients you want for your business. Some photographers are happy with posting a website or blog and maintaining a business via word of mouth referrals. That is all that will happen if you don’t actively put SEO effort into your site. Your site won’t rank for anything.
If you do some minor SEO work like choose the right keywords and add links back to your site, you can quickly rank for most local search terms.
Google will typically generate 50% or more of your site traffic, and the links you build (called referral traffic) can generate another 25%. That means SEO can multiply your website traffic by 3-4x. For me that is 3-4x more NEW client requests per month and they in turn refer more clients. Search traffic is the starting point for so much business that I can raise my rates 25% or even 50% and still keep the same volume of new client requests. For me SEO is the easiest, cheapest, and most important marketing a photography business can ever do.

Is doing my own SEO hard? I don’t know anything about it

SEO is not hard. An oversimplified Google takes the search text and looks for sites that use the similar or related text. Then it returns the websites that are the most popular (have the most links pointing to them). In concept this is easy to understand and just using quality keywords and getting good links to your site can take you a good distance. There are other considerations that also help like URLs, image names, etc. But a focus on text and linking is a great start and can be done relatively quickly for any type of website.
Since almost 50% of the clicks go to the top 1-2 results, there is a big difference in ranking #1 and #10. The payoff comes in learning the extra little details to boost your position from ten to one and that usually takes a lot of trial and error or online research. Hence why I wrote my book.

What is sandboxing? What causes google to sandbox a site?

If Google is the parent of my website then it would put my new website on timeout (in the sandbox) by not allowing me to rank high for pretty much anything. You might get put in the sandbox for adding a bunch of links on spam sites, purchasing lots of links in a short time frame, or throwing mashed potatoes in your brother’s face. Stay away from link offers that are too good to be true and your site will be fine.

How important are meta tags or keywords to SEO?

How do I choose the best meta tags/keywords for me?
Ask a normal person if they are optimized for search and they will say “Yeah, I’ve updated my meta tags.” Unfortunately, the easy way to optimization was so often exploited that almost all search engines stopped using meta tags in their rankings.
But there are 2 types of meta tags. Meta keywords and meta descriptions. Meta keywords are worth less than… hmm… something not worth anything. They do not help your rank, expose your words to competitors, and too many of them can be seen as spam so I do not use or recommend them on any website. Meta descriptions, however, appear on the search results page. Although they don’t help your page’s rank position, some good marketing text might entice a user to click your link, and therefore it can be important.
I wrote a post on my blog Meta Tag Gems for Photographers that talks about writing the best meta data.

Do blogs help SEO?

Blogs are the Viagra of SEO for websites. Did I answer the question? I think more people are signing up for blogs than Viagra now too. If you are a photographer, then you need a blog ASAP. Blogs are highly valued by Google, quickly appear in results, pre-optimized with links, and the list goes on. It will give you a completely new website that can rank in Google (that means 2 listings and double the traffic). Plus it will help you rank for a lot of niche terms that you would not talk about on your regular website. For example if you write a blog post about a specific wedding venue that you photographed, then your blog post might rank for searches about that venue and brides will be calling you to book their event. Whoa! By the way, WordPress is the best blog system for SEO and Thesis is the best WordPress template for SEO purposes.

My website is built in flash, can I get better SEO with a flash site?

Oops. Not counting the Terminator, machines like Google can’t read Flash. That means all the great text and pages within your Flash site are probably invisible to search. Non-flash sites have a greater chance of success, but Flash sites can still rank very easily by putting text at the bottom of your homepage and building some links to your site.

Why do my site rankings fluctuate so much? One day I will be on page 1 and the next I will be on page 3 then back again? (slight exaggeration :-P )

Actually, I wouldn’t expect that much fluctuation, but ranks do vary from day to day. In one tiny example I posted something on my blog that I added to some social networks including my Twitter page. That day I help the top 7 ranks for one particular term, but later in the week most of them fell off of search. Why? Probably because the text was no longer on the top of those social sites anymore so Google didn’t see it. That is one illustration of how the people ranked below me were affected by new posts and new text that was posted on the Internet for a short time. The best way to maintain a steady rank is to have lots of links pointing to your website.
More important than your rank, is how much traffic you get from the rank. I would rather be ranked #10 for a broad term that gives me 100 new visitors per month than #1 for a very specific thing that nobody searches for and drives no traffic. So don’t get caught up in watching your rankings.
I check mine once per month using a tool called Rank Checker. It’s a Firefox plugin that allows me to save all my key phrases in a list, then click a button to see where I am ranked across the 3 major search engines for each phrase. I also follow which keywords are sending me traffic from my Google Analytics report. If I start getting traffic for “best San Diego photographer” that means I probably rank for it and maybe I will write some more content with “best” at the beginning.

Can you tell us a little about your book and what kind of info it has in it?

Photographers SEO Book gives photographers the best advantage for getting high in Google without the need for technical skill or time to do a lot of online research about SEO. It offers step-by-step instructions that I have followed successfully across pretty much every different photo website system and blog there is. It not only explains Google, but offers cut and paste keyword examples, optimized homepage text, 50+ recommended photographer link locations, Google Analytics setup steps, and lots of tidbits of advice.

Let’s say you spend $100 on your website per year to get 2 new leads per month ($4 per lead). What’s the ROI when you invest $39 one-time on SEO and double that to 4 new leads per month? I said it earlier about myself, but it applies to everyone: the photographers who invest in SEO will get more business and be able to charge higher rates than they did previously.

Thank you SO much Zach!

I now have my own copy of The Photographers SEO Book and I can personally attest to the fact that it is full of quality information and so many awesome ways to help your SEO, and the best part is it is easy to understand and follow for someone like me who is not very tech savvy! :-P

Zach has so generously donated 3 download copies of his book to twophotogs to give away to our readers..how amazing is that??!! Who out there does not want their site to be easier to find?

All you have to do is post your comments (yes, you can enter twice by leaving 2 comments in a random order) below, and maybe leave a little love for Zach to thank him for his time. 3 random winners will be chosen  on Monday next week. If you don’t win, or are super eager to get started on your SEO today head on over to Photographers SEO Book and get a copy.

Good luck!

First off, if you are buying a mac for the first time, or even a new mac – I highly recommend making a personal shopping appointment at your local Apple store. Personal shopping appointments are FREE and give you uninterrupted, unlimited time with an Apple Genius. I spent 1.5 hours with mine yesterday, learning all about what the best options for me are.

I walked in knowing what I wanted to look at: MacBook Pro, the new 27″ iMac, and a Mac Pro with 30″ Cinema screen. I knew that my average photo file size is 10MB out of camera, and that I wanted to try to be as cost-effective as possible with my laptop (since I was replacing one only 2 years old) and get the best machine for photography for my desktop.

Armed with this information, Mohan, my personal shopper and part-time photographer, took me through all the specs of the computers. I wrote down everything I could, so I could share it with all of you. Let’s go through the list of what specs and features  your new Mac will be offering you:

Processor: This is the crazy-looking number thing that looks like this: 2.66GHz. Contrary to what you might think, the processor is not as important to us as other parts of the computer. In most cases, you should be fine with the processor that comes standard with the Mac you are buying. No need to upgrade this. Really. If you are doing Hollywood-style video editing or hard-core music editing, then you want to upgrade your processor. Photography? Stick with the status quo.

RAM: This is one of the important ones. You want to get as much of this as you can reasonably afford. You *can* upgrade this later, just how much depends on the Mac you are buying. RAM is expensive straight from the Apple store, so you may want to install more later yourself, if you are so technically inclined. I am not, so I just buy it upfront from them. RAM is also called Memory, so look for something around 4GB in a laptop, and 8GB is nice in a desktop. Photoshop runs just ducky at 4GB though and 16GB is pretty much overkill, so you needn’t spend that extra 1.5K to get it.

Graphics Card: Another important one for photographers. This is super pricey to upgrade later, so when deciding between two similar machines, go for the one with the better graphics card.

Hard Drive: This helps with overall performance, but size is up to you. It’s basically for storage, and with cameras these days creating bigger and bigger files, you are best to get as big a hard drive as you can. Remember though, that you can also use external hard drives for storage, so if your budget won’t allow the 2TB Serial ATA Drive now, don’t worry. You need to keep your hard drive less than 70% full for optimal performance.

The Extras: Chances are that you use a Wacom tablet and don’t need to worry about the mouse. The new keyboards that are shipping with the new iMacs have NO NUMERIC KEYPADS, so if you rely on that keypad for your Photoshop shortcuts, stick with the old Apple Keyboard with Numeric Keypad, not the new fancy wireless one. You can get a number of software titles pre-installed on your new Mac, it’s pretty much personal preference. Right now I use iWork, and FileMaker, so I don’t need those pre-installed. I now do fusion slideshows for my clients though (photo+video) and have been editing them in iMovie. I’ll be moving up to Final Cut Express 4 for my new machine.

Apple Care: This is a must. Don’t question it, don’t doubt it. It just is. It protects you for three years if something happens, and trust me, you want that protection. Macs aren’t cheap computers, and you want to protect your investment. Apple Care is more expensive for notebooks, around $400. You need this. Don’t think you don’t. Awesome photographer Angela Calderon gave me this little tip to save money, she buys her Apple Care on Ebay. It’s completely up and up, and often half the price. She stresses that you need to make sure you find a reputable seller though, one with lots of great feedback.

What Mac to get? I need a laptop and a desktop. I like to do any non-editing biz work on my MacBook Pro. In bed. Watching TV. For my main editing computer, I have a 3 year old iMac. I know a lot of photographers who work on iMacs, and a lot who work on Mac Pros. (which are different than MacBook Pros. MacBooks are the notebooks, or “laptops” and Mac Pros are the towers. They do NOT come with a monitor, it’s the tower only)

Some questions you want to consider are how often you like to upgrade. Personally, I like to have the newest stuff. I just like it. My 24″ iMac is being replaced this year for the new 27″ iMac. I was considering the Mac Pro, but it just didn’t make financial sense to me, with tower and monitor it would cost me at LEAST double the price of the iMac. Most of the power of Mac Pros is lost on photographers. Photoshop just isn’t as labor-intensive as a lot of video editing and music editing software. The Mac Pro is designed for use as a server, with more power than Photoshop alone can ever take advantage of. The 30″ Cinema Screen that I was considering is 3 years old. Is anything in Apple-land 3 years old? It’s massive and gorgeous, but it’s older technology. It’s using LCD technology when virtually everything else in the Apple store is using LED.

What may worry you: Glossy screens. If you look around an Apple Store, you will see a whole lot of gloss. Most photogs will tell you that glossy is your enemy. It is, and it isn’t. Glossy is no good outside. If you use your laptop a lot outdoors, stay away from the gloss. The other problem with gloss, is that it makes things look a little TOO darn good. The blacks are deeper, the colors richer and this may give you a bit of trouble calibrating. You can pay extra on the MacBook Pro to get a matte screen. The new iMacs though are ALL glossy, no choice about it. However, the new screens have something called IPS Technology which means your screen will look great from any angle – which is music to my ears. The new 27″ iMac actually has better-than-HD resolution, which is just absolutely amazing to see. So don’t be too afraid of the glossy screens. Apple is the leader in computers for photographers, graphic artists, video editors, etc. If they didn’t think what they were doing was the BEST choice for these people, do you think they would do it?

Another worry may be transferring over your info from computer to computer. If you are going from Mac to Mac, there is a nifty program included free on all Macs called Migration Assistant. It helps you transfer everything from one comp to another. Easy peasy! If you are going from PC to Mac, it can be a little daunting. Apple has something called One to One, and for $99, you have a one year membership that includes transferring ALL your files from your PC to Mac, training, and help with personal projects. It’s a pretty sweet deal.

Final tips: Ask your Apple store about their business partner program. Once registered, all your Apple purchases are logged, and after you reach a certain amount, you are eligible for a discount! There is also Apple Care Pro for businesses which is $99 a year. If something happens to your computer, you can get an appointment with a Genius, even if they are all booked up, and you are moved to the head of the line for repairs. Could be well worth the $99 if your livelihood is on the line.

All in all, the Apple store is a pretty fun and straightforward place. It’s especially great if you make a personal shopping appointment. If you don’t have an Apple store nearby, hopefully some of this info has helped you, or will in the future. Not every photographer uses a Mac, and I’m not saying Mac is better than PC (but it is, just like Coke is better than Pepsi, lol) but if you have been curious about Macs and what computer(s) to buy, you have some extra knowledge to help you make your decision. Happy shopping!

PS – My choice of the iMac over the Mac Pro is what works best for me, because I like to change things up sooner rather than later, and the iMac is cute and fairly inexpensive. Plenty of somewhat-decent people have Mac Pros – for example, Danna has one! LOL The Mac Pro is a kickass machine that is well-worth the price. It’s up to you to decide if you need it.