So you’ve spent the big bucks to have your e-commerce site/template designed, and you’re feeling great about your professional-looking online store.  But possibly even more important than having that well-designed site is having great photos of your products.

Wait, did I just say that?

But yes, it’s true.  Nothing kills a professionally-designed site like poor product photos, for two big reasons:

• Your site design may rock, but if your photos look like snapshots taken with my kiddo’s Fisher-Price camera, as a potential customer I’m wondering it I can trust the quality of your product.  Your pretty site seems like high-quality wrapping paper on a potentially low-quality item.
• Buying online is a giant leap of faith if the customer has no previous experience with the product.  They can’t hold it in their hands, feel the quality of it, try it on, smell or taste it.  Without the ability to do those things, the customer has to rely on YOUR images to convince them that they need to hit the ‘add to cart’ button.

Now I know some of you are saying “But I’m using the pictures the manufacturer sent me!”  And I feel you there.  Unfortunately, sometimes those pics aren’t the best, especially if they’re a small business.  We won’t go into why this happens (it befuddles, I know), but the fact is you are the one now needing to sell these products, and you can do something about it.  And no, you don’t need to hire a professional photographer (though if it’s in the budget, most definitely…and building a relationship with that photographer will reap big benefits).

Camera

I’ll address this first, as it’s always been the first thing I’ve been asked in regards to DIY product photography:  Do I need to have one of those expensive DSLR’s to get a professional-looking picture?  While I consider it a great investment in your business and something to consider down the road if it’s not feasible now, the answer is no.  I’ve seen plenty of great product pics using a simple point-and-shoot camera (and don’t underestimate your smartphone…especially the newer ones…I’ve taken some fab shots on my iPhone, particularly outdoors with lots of good light).  But if you are using a P&S (or smartphone), the next few points become especially important.

K.I.S.S.

When you’re taking the shots, this is the single most important thing to keep in mind.  Keep.  It.  Simple.  My favorite principle for both my design and my photography.

Even if you’re selling a lifestyle item that benefits from an action shot (think hiking boots), the customer still needs to see a nice, clean, uncluttered image of the product.  I recommend shooting on a white background, especially if you don’t have a photo-editing program to go in and remove the background from around the product (though again, another great investment…and you don’t have to splurge on Photoshop, there are many good, less-expensive options out there).  This is a great example of this type of shot from Anthropology’s site.

There are some wonderful portable photo studios you can purchase, but if it’s not in the budget now, grab a roll of white butcher paper and tape some on a wall (making sure a section is on the floor as well) for smaller items, or a nice thick cotton sheet for larger.  Get into a brightly lit room for your photo shoot and start playing around.  You may find that shooting with the flash turned OFF gets the better shot, especially if you’re using a P&S or smartphone.

Angle It, Baby

When an item catches your eye in a brick-and-mortar shop, what’s the first thing you do?  You pick it up, turn it around and look it over.  Give your online shoppers the same experience and consider offering a few different views of the product.  It’s also a great idea to zoom in and get a close-up of certain details (for instance, the unique detailing on the hem of that cute toddler skirt, or the unique pocket on a camera strap or baby carrier).  For reference, think about Zappos.com…you can see these shoes every which way, brilliant!

A few other tips…

• Make sure your shots are crisp and well-exposed (not too dark, not too bright or washed-out)
• Get up nice and close…you want the object to almost fill your viewfinder.  Especially if you don’t have good editing software to crop it in…you don’t want to lose image quality in cropping.
• For jewelry, clothing and accessories, consider using a live model in one of the shots.  I know I’m terrible at envisioning how something will look on, so it’s helpful to see it on someone else (don’t necessarily think full-body…many times just a tight shot of the item on the model will do nicely).
• For bath & body or food products, consider shots that evoke the senses.  A dry, straight shot of a container of body cream isn’t doing much to entice the viewer…open the lid, add some relevant items that bring the idea of scent and taste to mind (notice the fab shot at the beginning of this post from Bella Lucce).
• Shoot your images in high-resolution.  It makes image editing much easier, and the files can always be saved at a lower, web-friendly resolution (you can’t go low to high).
• If you don’t have or aren’t comfortable using photo-editing software, consider sourcing it out.  Many web/graphic designers, including myself, offer image editing and enhancing for a very reasonable cost.  It’s a much less expensive option then hiring a professional photographer, and will give that professional oomph to your pics (though we can only do so much, so don’t expect miracles on an out-of-focus shot).
• And if you still aren’t comfortable behind the camera (or simply can’t find the time) another terrific option to consider is finding a budding photographer that’s looking to gain some experience and pad their portfolio.  Hit the photography department at local colleges…chances are you’ll find a handful of students that would be thrilled to be of assistance!

If you’re a DIYer with product photos, please share helpful tips and things that have worked for you in the comments!

If you’d really like to get serious about studio product photography, here’s a great post about set-up and lighting!

If you’re a current or past client (or will be in the future), I’ve begun a Client Referral Program to give my thanks for sending wonderful people like yourself my way.  It’s a win-win…you earn some free moolah towards your next design project, and I get to work with the best of the best.

I’ll keep this short and sweet…get all of the deets here!

‘Tis the season for resolutions!

Yes, I admit, I’m a resolutioner (yes, totally a word).  I always swear up and down that “this year will be different, I’m not jumping on the resolution-making-train, I’ll live like everyday is Jan. 1: continually setting and achieving goals, keep my eye on the ball(s)…” etc., etc., etc.  But inevitably I get sucked in, and find myself making those big, this-is-how-I’m-going-to-do-better-this-year resolutions with the best of ‘em.

Last year I kept it pretty simple…lose weight, spend more ‘quality’ time with the rugrats, and focus on my photography love with the assistance of a 365 Project.  2 out of 3 ain’t bad (my 365 lasted 46 days…oops).  So this year I’ll follow suit and keep it simple, adding a biggie though:  getting more fit (lots of yoga is my goal!), enjoy family time to the fullest, try my best to make more time for my fave hobby AND…grow my lovely little business!  Last year was a fairly busy one, but in analyzing my overall year, I realize I don’t spend enough time putting myself out there.  I can market the heck out of my clients, but I don’t do it for myself *hangs head sheepishly*.

In realizing where I was coming up short in my own business, I thought that many others are probably in the same boat.  You get caught up in the day-to-day, and your business is enough to keep afloat, but time might not be managed to incorporate that all-important-to-a-small-business marketing and networking to not only keep you afloat, but send you on a tropical cruise!  So this year, I’m going to do my best to actually SCHEDULE that into my work week.  Yes, schedule.  For my design business, I schedule email-answering, photo-editing, client site maintenance, etc. in blocks of time, and now marketing will have it’s own little block.  Now sure, some weeks it won’t be feasible if I’m working a lot of print deadlines or have a last-minute rush job.  But if it’s on the calendar, it’s going to remind me, and it won’t go by the wayside (for long…).  And I’ve already begun, by jumpstarting my blog!

So what are you planning to do this year to grow your business?

(By the way, found a great reading list for small business and entrepreneurs.  What’s that?  Yes, yes, of course I’m going to make time for reading….)

I’ve mentioned I love this job, right?  And one of the things I love the most about it is that it’s allowed me the opportunity to contribute my time and skills to extraordinary causes and groups, and to work with the amazing people behind them.

I recently had the privilege of designing the logo for a new organization called Tingly Toes.  The minute, the second I learned about Tingly Toes, I knew I wanted to be involved in some way.  In brief, this non-profit group provides a lending library of baby carriers for families whose children are fighting cancer (children + cancer = immediate arrow through my heart).  Many children going through cancer treatment experience a numbing/tingling sensation in their hands and feet, which makes walking uncomfortable, and so many of them just don’t…thus the name Tingly Toes.

So please take a few minutes and visit Tingly Toes (the fab site design is not mine…that’s the work of the brainmama behind TT!).  The blog posts are heartwrenching, but truly inspiring, and if you’ve got a carrier that needs some love, they could sure use it!

I just ran across this website, and immediately knew I had to share the info here. Since I specialize in working with small businesses, I think this is SUPERB! What a great way to support each other and get the word out on some truly spectacular, inspiring small businesses. I know I’ve been inspired by so many of my wonderful clients….

Click on the banner below, and nominate your favorite small business! And send the scoop on to your friends and customers, so that they can support YOU .

In the great words of Will Smith, “Summer, summer, summertime!”

That being my excuse for not blogging .  But along with all of the summer activities, visitors and entertaining the kiddos, I’ve been very busy with many new clients, which is great!  And better that I’m working on someone elses’ projects than my own, right? (that’s what I’m telling myself, anyway!).

So here’s a sampling of some of the wonderful clients I’ve had the pleasure of working with these past few months:

Along with many a logo design, I’ve done quite a bit of ad and print work lately, which I greatly enjoy (will post new business cards and ads on my portfolio soon).  But I’ve also had the pleasure of designing for a few projects I’m quite honored to have been a part of:

• This wonderful gal is a previous client of mine (and a friend!), and I was so happy to help her with this blog.

• And I’ve also been tickled to provide the template design for the 2010 International Babywearing Conference!  That awesome logo is not my work, but I did design the template from which these wonderful gals are creating their uber-informative site.

(I’ve got another very special project I’m working on right now, but we’ll save that for next time )

More to come!  Working with some really fabulous people right now, and while juggling it all can get pretty nuts, I love what I do, and I’m loving seeing all of these new businesses get started with such wonderful people.  Truly inspiring!

In between client projects these past few weeks, I FINALLY got around to spiffing up my own site a bit.  Namely, my poor portfolio.  When I put my site up initially, I was so busy with clients but knew I needed to get something up, and quickly.  And (thankfully!!) I’ve stayed busy, so my site remained…unfinished.  Not that it doesn’t still need some work, but I’m definitely happier with the portfolio lay-out (and finally got the logo gallery working correctly!).  I also added a page showing a few of the ads I’ve done recently, both animated and static, for print as well as web.  I’ve had so many more requests for these lately, so figured it might be a good idea .

Now granted, other than the ads, I haven’t added the latest logos, business cards and other projects, but I have posted many of those here.  I’ll get to it, soon….

Check it out!

Gosh, is it too late to say ‘Happy New Year’???  Time has…zipped past me at warp speed.  But I hope everyone’s holidays were fun, safe and heartwarming.  It’s such a jam-packed month, December, and I know it’s hard to stop in your tracks and take a few seconds to just enjoy a moment.  Probably something we should be doing all year long (a resolution, perhaps?).

Though this blog nor my portfolio shows it, I have been busy working with some fabulous people!  I know I won’t get around to prettying my own site anytime soon, so will show some of my latest work here once again.

This client had an already-existing site design, but wanted a fresh, new, professional logo for her site and marketing materials.  We needed it to work with her current design scheme, so the challenge was to create something that popped, but was simple enough as to not clash with the background pattern.  She also wanted to tighten up the overall look and feel of her site, so I created a new header/banner that tied the logo and the site together, giving it a more hip look that flowed well. Still working on ads and business cards!  ::www.momandbabynaturally.com::

This client also had an existing site design, but hadn’t had a true logo designed yet.  So we needed to create something that flowed with the site, didn’t compete with the existing design, and  felt “…classy, unique, slightly whimsical and happy”!  Again, she wanting something on the simpler side, nothing to busy, and really wanted to incorporate a fun flower.  We also made a version of this with a bracelet that represents her lovely lampwork bead pieces for various marketing materials and watermarks for the photos of her work.  At time of publishing, Robbon doesn’t have the new logo on her site yet, but you can see the existing site design that we were working with :: www.ddbyrobbon.com:: .

One of my lovely previous clients referred Cheryl to me (thanks again, Erika!).  This was a lot of fun as she knew she wanted something with a flower/garden, but really let me run with it from there.  Again, simple was the key with this one, as we wanted to make sure that her site showcases her bags, but also popped on her marketing materials, etc.  I also created a web template for her new shop (at time of publishing it’s online, but not stocked =)).  With limited html experience, we needed to keep it easy for her to work with and update (set-up with Watersweb Hosting and the Iris Marketbuilder cart).  Her business cards were a lot of fun, mimicking the site design (I’ll get that up on my portfolio soon… fun double-sided design incorporating the ‘stitching’ from her site). ::www.onegardenstudio.com::

When my youngest came along, I basically stopped taking on site design.  Many reasons, but the primary being that logo, print and web graphic/ad design are smaller projects, thus I’m able to turn them over in a more timely manner.

Lately I find that many small businesses are utilizing the various e-commerce hosts that allow the user to apply a template design to ones’ shop and consequently create the pages of their site from a simple WYSIWIG editor built into the admin area.  A beautiful set-up for those that are fairly computer savvy and maybe even know a bit of html (or are willing to learn the basics), as they are able to then manage their site on their own without paying someone else to do it.  Especially fabulous for those on a budget, and here’s why:  paying to have someone design an entire site is costly (and unless you are comfortable using a program like Dreamweaver to make modifications to your site when necessary, you’ll have the additional cost of paying someone to maintain and upgrade it for you).  But the fees for these hosts/carts are EXTREMELY reasonable, especially given that it provides an easy way to keep track of your inventory, sales, etc. So instead of paying to have an entire site designed and maintained, you pay to have a one-page template created that provides you with the overall look and structure of your site.  MUCH easier on the budget.

So why am I going on and on about this template stuff?  Because I’ve discovered that it’s a terrific way for me to do a bit of web design again!  While I’m still not taking on entire site design, I am doing individualized template design.  I’ve worked on 3 recently, all of which were new designs for currently existing sites.  Refreshers!

Katy at Regarding Peanut was my first ‘official’ client, way back last year when we created her logo!  I just love working with her, and am always so pleased when she comes to me with new projects.  Her ‘old’ site was blog-based, and when she made the leap to a full e-commerce site and the hosted cart, we leapt in together!  Katy carries wonderfully stylish, functional products for parents and kiddos.

Naturally Nurslings is owned by Erika, a fabulously talented lady whom I’ve had the pleasure of doing several projects with (keep ‘em coming!).  She was already using a cart, but wanted a new site design with a bit more oomph and style, pulling from the colors of the little baby graphic/logo (baby not designed by me).  Along with the basic template design, we created coordinating ‘boxes’ to contain her Customer Service links and blog feed, as well as several other ‘containers’ for various text and images.  And then luckily she loved her new design so much that we spiffed up her blog as well (that’s the blog on the right)! Along the the wonderful natural parenting products that Erika carries, her site is also home to her fantabulous Nurslings Hemp Tai.

And my most recent project was for Silje of Bittebror!  Silje wanted to brighten up her site a bit to better spotlight the items in her shop, as well as add a bit of fun.  Again, we worked the design around the colors in her already-existing logo/graphic (not designed by moi), but made the overall design a bit more ‘mod’.  Silje is in Norway, so we had to create both an English and a Norwegian version of the template.  Bittebror is carries toys, clothing, baby carriers and skin care products, but it’s also home to Silje’s own exquisite carrier, the Bittebror Hybride!

I’ve had the pleasure of working on some really great projects lately!  My most recent was for a wedding and event planner (what a fun job, right?).  Peacocks have some special meaning to her, so she wanted them somehow incorporated into the design.  We’ve both been quite tickled by ‘Gertrude’.

Two other projects I’m extremely happy with on a personal level.  One is a logo for our recently organized group, The Merry M.A.C. (Mamas Against Cancer).  Like many, cancer has touched me personally, so I’m very excited about this as I feel rather passionately about cancer awareness and research.  Early detection and research for cures are supremely important, both of which cost money.  The Merry M.A.C. will do various fundraisers and walks throughout the year, and our first walk as a group will be for the Light the Night Walk for The Leukemia & Lymphoma Society.

The other is for another Light the Night Team, Ashton’s Army.  Ashton is a little guy that has battled a rare form of leukemia and has thankfully been in remission for 4 years.  I was so happy and extremely honored to design the logo for his team.

I’ve mentioned I love my job, right?