I’ve been working with the creators of StartUpNation since 2001 when I was hired to shoot Rich Sloan doing yoga on the conference room table in the Birmingham Michigan office of the up and coming StartUpNation.  I was recently offered the opportunity to blog about photography if I thought I could contribute to entrepreneurs and start ups. I think I can so I’ll give it a shot.  I’ll be talking about all things photography, from how to do a shoot in the office, to what’s the best stock agency for what your needs are, to rights and usage contracts.  I’ll be answering questions about any thing relating to the business of photography and photography in your business. If I don’t know the answers I’ll look to the vast knowledge base of my peers and will share what I learn with you, so post your questions and comments about you’re photographic quandaries here, and I’ll help you along the image driven super highway of successful businesses.

I should tell you a bit about me.
I began my career as a photographer early in life.  My brother had a darkroom in a closet at our house when I was a sixth grader.  It didn’t take long for my teachers at school to see an opportunity to recruit the next news paper and yearbook photographer.  That’s when I learned that you can have fun and provide a needed service at the same time.  I could get credits for graduation if I work on the year book and news paper staff!  Life was good.  Then one day I was handed a press pass to cover the cheerleaders for a story for the news paper, that was all the motivation I ever needed to pursue my career.  When I was a senior in High School I was introduced to an advertising photographer in my home town of Detroit named Ameen Howrani.  He let me watch him work one day, he was shooting a news crew for the local ABC affiliate.  It was very glamorous, they had food there!  I was face to face with the local anchor man!  That’s when I decided that advertising was where it’s at.  Fast forward 25 years.  I have photographed some really great people, some incredibly beautiful places, and some of the most interesting stuff you’ll ever see.  I picked up a few professional sports teams along the way as well.  Namely the Detroit Red Wings, Detroit Tigers, Detroit Lions, and currently Tampa Bay Ray’s as well as the NHL, NFL, MLB and other editorial venues related to sports. I’ve had unprecedented access to closed door behind the scenes events in the NFL, NHL, and MLB to name just a few. I was given the opportunity to shoot a book for the Detroit Red Wings called “48 Hours with the Detroit Red Wings”. Its a chronological documentation of what happens in forty eight hours in the world of the Red Wings Hockey team.  I was able to travel with the team to photograph players, coaches, and staff. We took two days to shoot the book so we could show the travel aspect of how the team lives on the road (and above the clouds).  During that shoot I was given access to coaches meetings that had never been photographed before.  One of the best experiences I had with the Red  Wings was Flying on the team jet to Washington DC to the White House to meet President George W Bush.   I was given an assignment by the Detroit Tigers Baseball team to shoot an eighteen page photo essay of Tiger Stadium during the final home stand ever to be played there.  The parting shot was Al Kaline in his nineteen sixty eight world series uniform (it still fit), pondering his days playing in that historic stadium.  The cover shot was of the stadium from the corner of Michigan and Trumble on a Friday night with fireworks lighting the sky.  I was able to get images never before captured, such as the neon Tiger Stadium sign from the roof of the press elevator.  I’m currently team photographer for the Tampa Bay Ray’s Baseball team, and have a nice client list of local and national companies and agencies as well.  I live in the St Petersburg area of Florida where I’ve lived for the past six years.  Before that I lived mostly in the suburbs of Detroit with a few years in New York city.  Please feel free to see some of the photographs I mention here at www.kovich.com

If your site traffic is low (check your Google analytics to find out), it’s time to take a closer look at your site.

The good news is, you can make a few, free changes that result in drastic improvements. To start, ask yourself these questions:

1. Do you answer visitors’ questions immediately?

When people visit your site, they are looking for solutions. Give them the information they need right away so they don’t go elsewhere.

It’s important to be succinct and focus on the benefits your business offers. It’s all about your customers.

2. Is your site user-friendly?

When visitors arrive at your site, do they know where to get the data they need, or is your site a confusing mess of graphics, videos, links, audio, and more?

Keep things simple, and make it easy for your site visitors to know what you have to offer in just a few seconds. Provide the most important information at the top of your screen so people don’t need to scroll down your page to get it.

And don’t forget to put ample space between headlines, paragraphs and graphics. You want your site to be easy to navigate and read.

3. Are you stuck in the past tense?

Take a quick look at your content. Do you talk about things in the past? If so, change all of your verbs to the present tense.

For example, replace copy like this:

“Our customers saved over $2,500.00 when they used our Widget.”

with:

“Our customers save an average of $2,500.00 per month when they use our Widget.”

You’ll add a boost of action to your online copy by changing your verbs to the present tense.

Small Edits Can Lead to More Traffic.

These are three, small things you can do to improve your Website right away. Take some time to make these updates, and then check the results.

• Are site visitors spending more time on your site?
• What links are they clicking on most?
• Are you making a better, first impression?

You may be surprised at what a few, small changes can make!

Having a good site doesn’t need to be difficult.

When it comes right down to it, customers want solutions to their problems.
Provide value and an easy way for them to find answers, and you’ll significantly improve the overall results of your Website… without spending a lot of money.

Do you need help boosting sales, awareness and credibility with SEO copywriting and publicity? Please write to me here or check out the free information at www.rembrandtwrites.com.

Perhaps, you spent hours writing the copy yourself?

Or maybe you hired a big, Web company to design a site with all the bells and whistles?

Either way, you are not finished…. unless, you did this one, key step…

Did you have outsiders give you their opinions of the site?

After all, you are probably too close to it… and you’ve spent so much time and effort (and maybe money)
preparing it, that you may miss some important errors.

With this in mind, have some outsiders and potential customers answer these questions (and your Mom or spouse doesn’t count)!:

1.       What is the first thing you look at when you open the site?

2.       What does this business offer?

3.       Does the site provide a solution to your problem?

4.       What are you supposed to do when you visit the site? What is the call-to-action?

5.       If you want to purchase something, do you know what you are supposed to do?

6.       Is it easy to find what you need on the site?

7.       Does the site have too much going on, or is it easy to get the information you need?

8.       What did you like most about the site?

9.       What did you like least about the site?

10.    What suggestions do you have to add value this site?

Once you have a good collection of responses, review them carefully.

Are you surprised at the answers?

You may discover blatant mistakes and key data that you overlooked. And while you may be disappointed, it’s great that you have this information.

Now, you can use this “insider” insight to help you create a site for your customers that works. Once you make the changes and update your site, run this test again.

Did your updates work?

If you receive the responses you are looking for, move forward with a big launch for your site. But if information is still missing and potential customers are not getting the value and data they are looking for, your site still needs changes.

Take the time and effort to review what your customers want on a regular basis. Then, provide the appropriate information they are looking for. After all, you may think you have a great site, but if it doesn’t meet the needs of your target market, you don’t!

Yes, this may be time consuming. But think what will happen if you don’t take action. Your site will not be the best it can be, and sales and site visitors will go to the competition.

Do you need help with a site review and search engine optimization to boost awareness, visitors and sales?Please let me know here or at www.rembrandtwrites.com.

Are you guilty of these three Web site sins?

1. Visitors can’t get the information they need.

This is pretty obvious, but often overlooked. It can be enticing to use fancy videos, too many keywords, big graphics, pop-up ads, and more to have an interesting site.

But don’t forget that the whole purpose of having an online presence is to provide information to visitors! Let your visitors know that they have arrived at a site that will give them what they need without having to wait for graphic downloads and video fluff.

2. Your site is hard to use.

Can visitors find solutions to their problems quickly and easily? If potential customers need to dig through your site to find information, you’ll lose them to the competition. Make your navigation and content easy to follow.

3. There is no value.

In addition to key benefits, go that extra step and provide your customers with valuable information they weren’t expecting. This may include tips, expert insights, links to pertinent resources, articles, free reports, and more.

After all, customers don’t necessarily want to hear about your extensive, business success and the specific features of your products and services. They want to know what’s in it for them and how they will benefit from what you have to offer.

Keep it Simple.

Web sites are a great way to bring in new customers, and it can be easy to fall into the trap of offering a lot “bells and whistles” on your site. But you don’t need them.

Just provide valuable information for your customers that is easy to find and read. Solve their problems with fantastic customer service, and your sales, and word-of-mouth, will increase dramatically.

Do you need help optimizing your site for the search engines and bringing in new customers? Please send me a note here or at www.rembrandtwrites.com. I’m here to help!