almost ready to launch~

coming soon...very soon!

We will have a week full of giveaways and fun things happening at the launch of the new Savvy Blog and Savvy Store~ don't miss it!

special from Kotori ends tomorrow~

I just wanted to remind everyone the offer from Kotori expires tomorrow...here's the post in case you missed it. This is a great line of photo jewelry and now is the perfect time to get your sample set at a discount and have it ready to show your clients for their holiday gift giving.

Kotori Photo Jewelry is joining the birthday celebration!

Savvy readers will receive 25% off the Virtual Studio Packages {Code: SavvyVirtual}

and 25% off Studio Package Lites {Code: SavvyLite}

Both packages come with editable files, so you can show clients a preview image of their jewelry using your own images. Perfect for your slideshows, on-line galleries & blogs.

Expires Aug. 31, 2010

Savvy discount from Shutterbox Designs~

Visit Shutterbox Designs and use the discount code savvy for $10 off the video posing guide.

The discount expires August 27th, 2010.

domo arigato {thank you very much}

Thank you all so much for the wonderful emails and comments concerning my post "goodbyes".

I am touched to have so many people who took the time to write me and share your compassion and best wishes for our family. Thank you, Thank you~

Multiply new clients with search engine optimization tips from Zach Prez, photography SEO expert

Your competitors already do SEO. Search engine optimization makes small changes to a website or blog site to improve the chances of ranking in Google. Simple steps toward an optimized site will payoff huge. Page 1 ranks in search engines deliver a consistent stream of potential new clients to a website. Those satisfied customers refer new business and deliver exponential growth for new or even veteran business. Learn how to apply the basic principles of SEO and increase your chance of a successful rank. How many new clients per month would it take to pay your mortgage? Maybe 1 for a wedding photographer or 3 for a portrait photographer? And most photographers don't stop there. I've helped double and triple the size of their businesses in a matter of months through my Photographer's SEO Blog and free SEO email class. With this post I hope to educate you on what's possible for your business, starting today.

What Does it Take to Rank Well?

Google doesn't make it easy to rank, but does offer simplicity in how to rank. Google's job is to return the best possible results for every search. Satisfied searchers continue to use Google, who earns lots of money from the small percentage of people who click the sponsored (paid) results along the right side of the search page. Take a sample search like "San Diego wedding photographer." Users typing in that search don't want to see San Diego portrait photographers, or Sacramento photographers. A search engine that spits out misaligned results like that will quickly lose all of its searchers to another engine. Thus the top 10 results for that phrase or any other phrase have very specific pages about the exact topic that was searched. When your page talks about multiple topics, like wedding photography and portrait photography, your chances of outranking a specialized page quickly decrease. Again, it's because the person searching wants just wedding photography in San Diego (not wedding and portraits) and Google knows it. I talk briefly about how to become laser focused on a page's topic in a moment, but assume you nailed it already. Your page is EXACTLY about the search phrase with keywords in all the hot spots. Chances are, 10 or 100 other sites did the same thing. How does Google know which page to rank #1 when keyword placement is the same? It goes with the most popular site as measured by the quality of links pointing to it from other sources. Site A has 100 inbound links pointing to it from across the Internet. Site B has 10 links. Search engines quickly assume more people like and refer to Site A thus rank it higher. Think of links coming into your site like Facebook friends or Twitter followers. Everyone easily knows who's popular, connected, and preferred. Keywords and links... its that simple.

Keyword Placement Explained

Most people think a page needs keywords everywhere to rank well. In fact, search engines only check a couple places for keywords (the phrase someone typed into search). I can assess a page in under 2 seconds and know if it has a chance of ranking by checking the following locations:

• Page title (in the blue bar at the top of the browser)
• URL
• First sentence on the page, and perhaps repeated once or twice
• Alternate texts (the image description in HTML code)

A page only has one title, URL, opening sentence, and typically a couple of images. The words used in these locations are obviously what the page is about. No need to look at meta keywords or text at the bottom of the page. Great search engine optimization chooses the one phrase to rank for and places it in those locations. Where I help people take it up a notch is picking the right phrase, creating other pages for additional phrases, working around Flash where text is hidden, etc. That's a whole workshop so don't get overwhelmed. You're off to a great start just knowing the locations and not wasting time with placing a key phrase everywhere else.

The Importance of Link Building

I guess they call it link building because the website creates a foundation of links pointing to it in order to earn reputation in the eyes of a search engine. Every additional link adds quality and improves the chance of that page ranking as well as the overall site ranking. The majority of Google’s process assesses all the links. Google ranks sites higher that have lots of links pointing to it, including:

• The number of websites linking to a site
• The popularity and importance of the website that has the link
• The text used in the link

A link from a reputable source with the words San Diego photographer get a site ranked quickly for that phrase. Why? Because a search engine trusts the other website and if they say your site is key phrase X (via the link) then everyone believes it. It's way more difficult to manipulate what others call you than it is to update the text of your own site for search purposes so links become ever so important.

What You Can Do Today to Rank Well

Start with your homepage because that page has your best shot of ranking well. Take a look at the top 10 results for big, competitive phrases and you'll find mostly homepages in the top 10. Does your homepage use the 1 or 2 phrases that you want to rank for? Are your phrases hidden in Flash or images that Google can't read in the HTML code? Most photographer sites don't have enough HTML text on their homepage or try to rank for too many things with their homepage (and lose that lazer focus). I created a Splash Page Builder to help users optimize their splash pages in all the right keyword places. Next step - get links. Links from great sites (like this one) are weighted more than a link from Twitter or your friend's blog. I offer dozens of recommended link locations and lots of link building stratgies in the Photographers SEO Book, but you are probably already thinking of a few friends, forums and bookmarking sites that can start linking to you today. Lastly, setup free Google Analytics and Google Webmaster Tools to track web stats. Even if the data is confusing, the accounts can at least collect it now until you figure out how to take advantage of it. For example the keywords reports that show everything you currently rank for!

Outline an SEO Plan

I recommend starting a document that outlines which key phrases you want to rank for and the websites where you plan to get links from. Put these in priority order help you focus on the most important and not waste time (or lose track) of your targets. Believe me, confusion happens really fast. One final tip. Search engines value sites more that have a consistent stream of activity, whether it’s fresh content or links coming into the website. Space your links over time because it tells Google that you are not "spammy". Guess what will happen if you get 50 links in one day, and then no new links for the next month. You may rank high for one day, then disappear into oblivion. I hope you don't disappear. Follow me @photoseo on Twitter or Zach Prez on Facebook to stay connected with my latest suggestions for a better rank.

{Thank you Zach for the article! So much great advice for photographers!}

have a seat~

When we think of decorating on a budget, we instantly think of Target.

Take a look at some of our favorite Target finds for decorating your workspace or studio...get inspired!

more fun from Target...gotta love em~

If you love decorating, here is a previous post with decorating ideas for your

workspace from Target.

goodbyes...

It's evening time here in Japan {most of you are just waking up} and we have already had a full day here.

Today we said goodbye to my husband as he left for cruise...he'll be gone for 4 months...not long compared to the amount of time many military families have been separated from their loved ones. But it is a long time for my four year old daughter to understand. We watched the ship pull away early this morning~ we had the pleasure of watching it leave from our backyard. Our house sits on a hill that overlooks the water where the ship was docked. It was neat to look down to see "daddy's ship" so close to our house. Watching it pull away was exciting and sad. This is his first cruise as commanding officer of the ship {a pretty big job and we are super proud of him}. My daughter watched as he left and I explained he would be gone a long time and we would see him in about 4 months, which is a really long time but we will get to talk with him and skpe with him on the computer. She completely understood...so I thought. Within an hour she started to cry about something she couldn't do {remember she's four and she's a girl so this happens often} and she said tonight when Daddy gets home he will help her~ bless her little sweet heart. She will have many sad nights waiting for her daddy to walk through that door. She loves him...she LOVES him...with all her heart. As I type this she is curled up sound asleep at my side. Such a wonderful feeling to be next to her and know I will get to be here with her everyday. I cannot imagine how hard it must be for the Dads and Moms that must leave these precious children to do their job...my heart breaks for them.

Say a prayer for all of those who are separated from their children~ they would give anything to hear that laugh and smell that sweet smell of their child. And also say a prayer for all of those children who have to say goodbye to a mommy or daddy...it must be harder than we realize.

Be safe Captain...we will miss you!

decorating your walls~

Kelli France sent us images of her new wall with three gallery wrapped canvases...

we love these!

Thanks Kelli for sharing.

We also wanted to share with our readers some info on the workshop that Kelli {from Francypants Academy is hosting in October. I wish we could be there~ maybe next year!

The Shoppe offers a special for Savvy readers~

The Shoppe ~ Design for Photographers is proud to introduce the beginning of this year's holiday product line!

Get an early jump on booking holiday portrait sessions using our wide selection of new and beautiful holiday designs.

The Shoppe offers a variety of holiday items including holiday cards, holiday papers and holiday-themed Photoshop brushes to accommodate any photographer's needs. With a unique and extensive array of holiday items continually added through the end of November, Subscribers at The Shoppe will have all of their holiday needs met conveniently in one place! Subscribers are able to download any and all items in The Shoppe for one low monthly fee, making it very easy to book early holiday portrait sessions without having to choose design offerings to clients up front and pay for them individually. Shoppe customers may also purchase items a la carte if they choose, but the best value is, of course, the Subscription!

In addition to our holiday products, Subscriptions also include thousands of dollars' worth of:

Full Branding Packs

Thank You Cards

Save The Date Cards

Photoshop Actions

Textures

Album Designs

Blog Backgrounds

...and more!!

FOR ONE WEEK ONLY Savvy readers can sign up as a Subscriber for just $35 per month for their first year!! The regular rate of $40 per month is waived

for Savvy readers that sign up by August 25th!!! This savings of $60 for the year is a great way to get started using the extensive inventory of Shoppe products.

Use code "savvyfive" upon checkout.

savvy savings from ifolios

ifolios~ Android/iPhone Website Template for Photographers

WordPress CMS included
Mobile browser detection
Editable website logo
Editable homepage image
Editable website background
Unlimited number of content pages
Unlimited number of image galleries
Create sub-galleries/nested pages
Unlimited images within each gallery
Hosted on your server at your-domain.com/mobile
1-finger scrolling
Compatible with iPhone, BlackBerry & Android
Recommend gallery image width 224px, unlimited height
#1 smartphone website template for photographers
One-time fee, no recurring charges
Javascript independent**

Use the code SAVVY to get $20 off your purchase.

more walls to share~

The walls of Catherine Clay~

waiting...

We are so excited to launch the new site but it's just not quite ready yet...hopefully soon!

So many things are involved in this process and we want it to look great before we show you!

{soon...very soon}

I also have so much to tell about our new home in this far away land~ I'm just not sure I'm ready for that post. Things are so different~ life is good here~ just a completely different world! I will share so much soon...just don't know where to start.

I have some favorite previous post to share this week...and some exciting new things to announce...and then the launch of the new blog and The Savvy Store! So stay tuned~

Here are some favorite images of how fellow photographers decorate their walls.

These are from the sweet Rachel Clare~

The walls of Kristen Brown~

our Birthday winners..

We had so much fun looking through all of the fun entries for the Birthday contest!

We found it hard to choose just three~ but we did. Our top three winners really did show savvy style! Here are the top three winners~

Amanda Star Photography, Taylor Made Messages and Stefanie Cascio

Didn't they do a great job celebrating Savvy style!

We had many favorites! I had to show more...the pinks and greens just make my heart happy!

We also had so many entries that made us smile! The first year birthday cake seemed to be a favorite~ enjoy the pictures!

Want to see more of our favorites? check out our facebook page for more images we had to share! Thank you so much to all who entered!

The top three winners will receive our three most popular digital products~ The Beach House Collection, The Savvy Canvas Collection and the Savvy Size Guide.

And as a BIG thank you to all of those who entered, we are giving you half off for the entire day of all of our digital products! {This is good until midnight tonight and it is only for our digital products} Please, please don't email me asking for the discount if you did not enter the contest...I won't give it to you...sorry! IF you did enter {i know who you are} email me for your discount code...remember it is only good until midnight tonight {August 8th}.

Have a wonderful Sunday!

special extended

We wanted to extend our 25% off Birthday special throughout the weekend!

Enter the code savvybirthday and you will automatically get 25% off your total of our digital products~ The Beach House Collection Canvas Templates

The Savvy Canvas Collection Templates

The DVD/CD Template Collection

The Savvy Size Guide

Thank you to Beautiful Baby Photography for lovely flower image!

Kotori Photo Jewelry joins the celebration...

Kotori Photo Jewelry is joining the birthday celebration!

Savvy readers will receive 25% off the Virtual Studio Packages {Code: SavvyVirtual}

and 25% off Studio Package Lites {Code: SavvyLite}

Both packages come with editable files, so you can show clients a preview image of their jewelry using your own images. Perfect for your slideshows, on-line galleries & blogs.

Expires Aug. 31, 2010

joyeusc anniversaire~

The sweet and adorable Kelly France from Francypants Academy is offering Savvy readers a $10 gift card to the Francypants Template Store! We just love her and her french inspired site!

Check out the goodies..the gift card expires Sunday, August 8th, 2010.

Use the coupon code birthday.

savvy beach party~

We love a party...especially when it's a Savvy beach party! Check out the fun video from some of our crew...I wish I could have been there!

Pretty Savvy celebrating...

Pretty Presets is celebrating by giving Savvy readers 25% off your purchase! Hurry...it ends Saturday night {August 7, 2010} at midnight! Use the coupon code savvy.

celebrating with Sandy Puc University...

Sandy Puc University is celebrating with super savings for the Savvy Birthday!

This sweet savings ends August 13th, 2010 at noon!