Pricing.. The Basics

Posted on 31. Mar, 2010 by David Wolf.

This video covers SmugMug pricing. This is part one of two. Part two should be done shortly.

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SmugMug Help is Here!

Posted on 22. Mar, 2010 by David Wolf.

My wife (an instructional designer) and I have been toiling for some time coming up with outlines, organization and flow for a new series of video tutorials we’re creating. We’ve released the first one which covers everyone’s favorite topic: Categories, Sub-Categories and Galleries.

I’d LOVE to get some feedback on the video; the first one is always the toughest! So, watch the video and leave some comments below. These videos will be free forever. We will be offering a DVD once we have the entire series completed. It’ll be in a format that’s easily transferred to your iPhone to watch on your commute, etc.. But, that’s a bit down the road.

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Cool stuff is coming.. Soon!

Posted on 26. Oct, 2009 by David Wolf.

Just a teaser… I’m going to be launching something really, really cool.. Very, very soon. So, keep checking back and it might be here pretty quick!

Want a hint? It’ll be a place to learn about the business of Photography.. It’ll be a unique blend of a few really cool topics.

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Want to Book More Weddings?

Posted on 19. Sep, 2009 by David Wolf.

I get asked all the time by Photographers.. “How do I get more bookings?”

It’s actually pretty simple to get more clients–get more eyeballs on your website. Eyeballs on your site typically translate into more people inquiring about your services, and that translates into more bookings. The real question you need to ask is, how do I get more eyeballs to my site?

Intuitively most people know the way to get more eyeballs on your site is to advertise–in some way. Trouble is, Google Adwords gets to be expensive and it doesn’t keep people coming back to your site. They don’t “know” you. So, how do you get people to start to know you? How do you reach new people in ways you haven’t done before? The answer is through the use of SEO (Search Engine Optimization) and Social Media.

In my 5-hour webinar, I’ll show you how to make your websites be found on Google; how to get new eyeballs on your site, and keep people coming back. And, most importantly–how to turn eyeballs into clients!

Book more weddings and you’ll make more money. It’s easy when you know how.

Register before September 26th and you’ll save $500!

Why take a workshop from me? I’ve been doing computers professionally for over 13 years. I am a Microsoft Certified Systems Engineer and Systems Administrator. I am also the world’s largest SmugMug customizer. So, you know I know a thing of two about the internet I’ll show you techniques that are fresh and new; I’ll give you the real facts about:

• Keywords: More is not better!
• Keyword Density: What you think you know can hurt you.
• Link backs: It’s not always about quantity. Quality counts more!
• Build a brand: I’ll show you how!
• Use Social Media like Facebook, Twitter and more to enhance your brand, strengthen your message and reach more people.

You’ll learn how to get clients, and keep them. Target your advertising dollars to exactly the right people. Get on the front page of Google!

Not convinced? Robert Evans and Candice Cunnigham two of the top wedding photographers in the country were at my last SEO workshop. They loved it! But, don’t take my word for it, listen to what Candice had to say about the workshop:

Peter Garr, the LA SmugMug user group leader also attended my last workshop. He had this to say:

Still not convinced? Well, until September 26, 2009 we’re offering 33% off the normal registration price of $1500. Registration also includes a 30-minute private consultation with David Wolf, the owner of SmugSchool.com and WolfSnap.com. Registration is easy. Register for our SEO and Social Media Webinar on October 18th starting at 10:00AM PDT today and save $500. Hurry though, while the results of this webinar will last a lifetime, this price won’t! Seats are limited. Register today.

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Make a Homepage Slideshow in 30 seconds

Posted on 11. Sep, 2009 by David Wolf.

Ok, so, I asked on Facebook what tutorial people would like to see me do. I got “Slideshows”. So, here’s how to do a slideshow in 30 seconds. It’s so easy, even a caveman can do it!

You may also want to add this:

#bioBox .photo {display: none;}
#userBio {text-align: center !important;}

to your custom CSS box in the Advanced Customization screen.

Remember.. You need to surround the code you got from the “Show Off” screen with:

<html>

and

</html>

or it won’t work! Oh, one last tweak.. You’ll probably want to add some text so your Google results don’t look strange. Here’s what to do:

<html>
<div id="bioText">
Your text here
</div>
**INSERT YOUR COPIED SLIDESHOW CODE HERE**
</html>

Then… add this to your CSS box:

#bioText { display: none; }

Enjoy!

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Find Your Path to Internet Success: SEO Unleashed Webinar

Posted on 07. Sep, 2009 by David Wolf.

I’ve been offering a few free SEO (Search Engine Optimization) webinars in the past few weeks — all of which have been leading up to the ‘main event’. But, a lot of people don’t quite understand what SEO is or why it’s important. In fact, probably a fair amount of people look at the price and are immediately turned off. But don’t be — let me show you why my webinar will make you money!

Paying for ads is expensive

Whether it’s in the Yellow Pages, on wedding websites, or magazines, paid ads are expensive and do not guarantee a return on your investment. You can easily spend thousands and have absolutely nothing to show for it!

Word of mouth advertising is free

Everyone knows the best source for new business are clients you’ve done business with before. The bride who absolutely adores you and tells all her friends is worth her weight in gold. Frankly, you just can not buy that type of advertising! Google can be just that friend. In my webinar, you’ll learn exactly how to get Google to index your site and refer people to your business–for FREE!

People want to hire you; they just need to find you first!

You’re good at what you do. Once you get a new client, you can keep them happy and deliver the goods. But how do you get new clients? That’s always the challenge. I’ll show you multiple ways to extend beyond Google to find and attract new business. We’ll teach you the skills you need to succeed in a heavily competitive market.

Using SmugMug?

We’ll show you exactly what to do to get the maximum benefit from “Nice-Names”. We’ll give you code to make your site attractive to Google. You’ll finish the webinar with specific skills and tasks you can do right now to improve your rating.

No matter how much business you have, you can always have more!

We’ll show you how to:

• Keep in constant contact with your clients
• Get a higher placement at Google
• Use Social Media to reach your market
• Enhance your SmugMug site to maximize search engine indexability
• Keep from getting DE-LISTED by Google! If you follow advice given by others, your site could be delisted! That means Google won’t index it at ALL! Possibly, forever!

After our 5-hour webinar, you will have the tools, skills and know-how to make your site work better!

We cover WAY more than SmugMug!

We’re going deep in SmugMug, WordPress, social media sites, Google and many more sites to give YOU the inside information you can’t find anywhere else. You’ll learn:

• How to make people care about your blog
• Build community
• Keep people informed
• Reach new people who have never heard of you before–and sell them your services!

I promise, even if you think you’re an SEO Guru, you will learn something from this webinar. This webinar can change your life!

Register for our SEO Unleashed webinar today!

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The Friday Roundup

Posted on 04. Sep, 2009 by David Wolf.

For a site that’s been around for about a week, it’s gratifying to see the number of people that are already falling in love with what we offer. In fact, we’ve gotten a ton of positive reviews on our free webinars.

But, don’t keep all the goodness to yourself. Let others know! This type of site only works when lots and lots of people come to watch the webinars and read the content of the blog. The more readers/attendees, the more stuff we’re able to do for free.

Anyways; this week at SmugSchool…

• Our kick-off event was a 2 hour intro to SmugMug. Almost 100 people attended. An amazing turnout considering we had only advertised the webinar for less than a week prior to the event!
• SEO Primer was our 2nd webinar, and lasted for an hour. A respectable 60 or so people showed up to it at 10AM. I actually wonder if the date/time had something to do with the lower turnout, or if people don’t understand just why SEO is as important as it is! Great feedback though and a number of people already signed up for my full SEO Unleashed workshop on Sept 16.
• We just recently announced that Nikolai, the creator of Star*Explorer will take our stage and talk about his uploader for SmugMug. I’ve used it since I got my first SmugMug account. He’ll be with us Sept 17 at 6PM Pacific.
• It was my Birthday on Sept 3, so I gave everyone a birthday present Now, my whole family was sick yesterday (really.. I’m being honest. This isn’t a marketing gimmick!), and they said, “When we’re better, we’ll celebrate your birthday properly!” On the day my family actually celebrates my birthday, I’m going to be giving away another birthday present to my followers. Here are some ways to ensure you don’t miss the birthday gift!
  1. Make sure you’re following me on Twitter
  2. Post comments to this article
  3. Add yourself to my mailing list
  4. Keep checking this blog daily!

And a special mention:

• Peter Garr has thoughtfully donated about 20 photos for us to use on the site and during webinars. His wedding photos are gorgeous!

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Star*Explorer: Super Fast SmugMug Uploader! (Windows only)

Posted on 03. Sep, 2009 by David Wolf.

On September 17, 2009 at 6 – 7 PM (PDT) SmugSchool welcomes Nikolai Sklobovsky – the creator of Star*Explorer.

He’s going to show how to install, configure and use Star*Explorer, a super-fast SmugMug uploader!

• Create hundreds of albums with a single click
• Automate image retrieval
• Replace corrected images
• and much more!

Sign up today to learn all about Star*Explorer, and how it can help you with your SmugMug workflow from Photoshop and Bridge.

While this Webinar is FREE, you must pre-register to attend! To register for the Star*Explorer Webinar, hosted by SmugSchool, click here.

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Happy Birthday to Me! (But, the gifts are for you)

Posted on 03. Sep, 2009 by David Wolf.

SEO Unleashed is the most anticipated Webinar SmugSchool has offered yet!

Don’t miss learning the secrets no one wants you to know. We’ll give you code for your SmugMug site, show how to SEO your blog, understand Analytics, and so much more!

With over 13 years of professional experience working with computers, and as the leading SmugMug expert in the world, I’ll show YOU how to do stuff that no one else can do. You will profit from my knowledge, and use Social networks to attract new business.

This is a FIVE HOUR live web event. This will be the best, more informative, more eye-opening webinar you’ve ever attended. We’re going to help you unleash your web sites’ potential and help you to MAKE MORE MONEY!

My background:

• Over 13 years experience as a professional network engineer. I am a Microsoft Certified Systems Engineer and Microsoft Certified Systems Administrator
• I personally built Wolf Snap Designs and SmugSchool from the ground up into the businesses they are today. I spent almost NO money on advertising to do it! Almost all my business came from Organic searches and word of mouth; things that YOU’LL learn to do too!
• We are the largest SmugMug customizers in the world. Lots and lots and lots of happy clients.

Every Webinar we’ve done so far has had GLOWING reviews.

Our SEO Unleashed Webinar event costs just $1500.00 to attend. Consider for a moment what you spend on advertising in the phone book, flyers, etc.. Then, realize that after taking my webinar, you’ll be able to obtain fresh clicks, new leads and placement on Google for *FREE*. This webinar will SAVE YOU MONEY!

But wait! There’s more! Sign up before 11:59pm PDT September 3, and as my birthday present to YOU (no, really.. Sept 3 IS REALLY my birthday!), take $500 off the registration fee! That’s only $1000.00 for a full 5-hour webinar! I’ll even give you code that you can copy and paste into your SmugMug website to improve your ranking and Google description immediately!

But, this offer expires 11:59pm PDT Sept 3. One minute later, and you’ll be spending an extra $500 on this webinar.

One more thing… Sign up before the deadline on Sept 3, and we’ll let you transfer your registration to ANY OTHER DATE we schedule for our Webinar! So, if the weekday webinars don’t work for you, you can choose to transfer to a weekend webinar. It’ll have the same content, just a more convenient time.

Don’t delay. Sign up today!

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Recording the Webinars… I’m trying!

Posted on 02. Sep, 2009 by David Wolf.

Probably the most common question I’ve been asked is if I’m recording the webinars to play them back later. I’m trying to do that! But, for a variety of technical reasons, it’s actually quite difficult to do. I’m confident that I’ll have the technology working soon, and I’ll be able to offer re-plays of the webinars. But, for now; you’ll need to show up!

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But Wait, There’s More!

Posted on 02. Sep, 2009 by David Wolf.

Our first two webinars have been fantastic! We’re getting RAVE reviews! There’s bigger and better Webinars coming!

• Sept 8 @ 6PM PDT you won’t want to miss our Advanced SmugMug Smuginar! We’ll be going over advanced usage to make SmugMug bend to your desires. It’s only $20! Register today!
• Sept 9 @ 10AM PDT we’re repeating our totally excellent SEO primer! You won’t want to miss it! Register today — it’s FREE!
• Sept 9 @ 6PM PDT we’re going to be spending 2 hours going in detail over the Easy Customizer. We’ll show how to create transparent logos, and lots of other customization tricks. It’s only $50 — and money WELL spent! Register for our Easy Customizer Webinar now!

We’ll also start doing some WEEKEND webinars! Starting at 11AM PDT on Saturday; these should fill up quickly! So, make sure you register as quickly as possible for them! New topics coming soon to SmugSchool:

• Using Social Media sites to promote your business
• Keeping in touch. The art of mailing list generation and constant-contact.
• and much, much more! Make sure you’ve subscribed to our mailing list which can be found at the bottom of the right hand side of the site.

Want me to cover something I didn’t mention? Let me know in the comments below.

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Polling for Apples

Posted on 02. Sep, 2009 by David Wolf.

I want your input. What topics do you want to see covered by SmugSchool? Let me know by voting in our poll over —>> there.. AND, also, leave some comments on this post to let me know if I missed a topic you’d REALLY like to have covered!

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SEO Webinar: Don’t miss it!

Posted on 01. Sep, 2009 by David Wolf.

So, it should go without saying that SEO (search engine optimization) is one of the most important things you can do to your website. SEO can make or break your ranking in Google.

Tomorrow’s Webinar will focus on explaining SEO, what the main issues are with SEO, and cover what to look forward to in the full Webinar.

There is a HUGE discount on the full 5-hour webinar if you reserve your spot within the first 24 hours. Also, I’m going to be restricting the number of attendees so that every single participant gets a chance to interact.

The full workshop/webinar will be on Sept 16 at 10AM PDT. It is scheduled to last 5 hours.

Still haven’t registered for the FREE Webinar at 10AM Sept 2? There’s STILL time! Register NOW!

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We’re iPhone Friendly

Posted on 31. Aug, 2009 by David Wolf.

So, it’s no secret that I have an iPhone (as does my lovely wife and father). And, I can often be overheard saying things like, “That’s a flash site! You can’t view it on an iPhone!”

In order to make this site as accessible as possible, it’s now been lovingly made to work with an iPhone perfectly! Visit the site from your precious iPhone (Android’s and Blackberry’s work too), and you’ll see that *everything* works properly!

Enjoy!

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Our First Webinar Rocked the House!

Posted on 31. Aug, 2009 by David Wolf.

We had an amazing turnout for the first Webinar that SmugSchool has ever put on! Turns out, we’re filling a HUGE need!

Here is just a small sampling of our fan mail:

Thank you very much.  This awesome that you are doing this and sharing so much valuable information.  You ROCK! (Staci Wisherd)

Thanks David!  Good job!  Look forward to the next one! (Joe Merrill)

I hate you. (James Henline)  [Whoops.. must have been a typo?]

But, anyways.. The people who came LOVED the Webinar (I swear, I need to start calling it Smuginars. I actually already got the domain names!). Lots and lots of really cool people spent two hours listening to me teach them stuff they never knew about SmugMug.

Wanna get in on the fun? Register for my Webinar on Sept 2 (the day before my birthday!) which will be all about SEO! Now, it is kinda a teaser webinar; but, you’ll still get lots of good stuff from it. Want to just skip to the main course? You can do that too! I’ll have details on how to sign up for the paid SEO webinar shortly. It’ll be SO worth it!

Did you attend the Webinar? Let me know what you thought!

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