Rangefinder Magazine
January 2005

Footprints in Cyberspace by Charmaine Beleele
Seven Steps from Foresight to Insight to Web Site Design!

When I met Paul and Jean Holland-Rose, owners of Orlando Website Design, at last year’s WPPI Convention, I had three arrogant insights concerning web sites for photographers: One, I believed a quality site would be too expensive for a small studio. Two, I thought that the care and feeding of a web site was impossibly complex. Three, I was drawn to the sleek techno-glamour of a web site, but in no way did I consider it would be essential to my studio’s success. Within the first 15 minutes of our first conversation, Paul and Jean proved that all three of these judgments were misconceptions.

Lukens Photography, www.lukensphotography.com/

This article has taken almost a year to write and in that year the Roses have given me three new insights while they built my web site! One, web sites are available in various price ranges. Two, the care and feeding of a web site is not much more complex than caring for my collie. And three, the site is as essential to my business as my telephone.

Paul and Jean are much more than web designers. For their photographers and other clients, they are marketing experts, business advisors, mentors and friends. They nurture photographers through the process of building their web sites but they do not stop at that point. Education is their mission. They empower photographers to adapt or create a comfortable amount of their own magic. Orlando Website Design built the web site for my little “mom and pop” studio, www.angelkissedphotography.com/, with the same care and attention they gave to master photographer Rick Ferro’s site, www.rickferro.com/. As my home page began to develop, I began to understand the difference between an “ego” site with a ton of Flash–animation, and music and the kind of a web site I needed: a money-making marketing tool. Seven major steps in cyberspace took me from this point to the happy web site owner I am now.

Rick and Deborah Ferro’s Signature Studio, www.rickferro.com/.

STEP ONE: My Rude Awakening!
As he created the graphic “look” for my site, I learned from Paul that “the average web site visitor stays only 60 to 90 seconds.” From Jean I learned, “They aren’t going to stay if the load time is too long, if the homepage is hard to navigate, or if they can’t read the font.” I also learned that every color, space, box and word has an almost subliminal meaning to the client. Jean wrote, “Most folks have no clue that there is an entire world other than the original design of a web site. Web sites have now become marketing tools that bring us kicking and screaming into the new millennium.” Thus began my first lesson. The Roses taught me, “Not only is the design and functionality of the web site important, but action elements are paramount in gaining a viewer’s interest and encouraging them to ask for your services.” Jean explained, “All of us enjoy looking at great images and a nicely designed web site. However, when it comes to convincing clients to spend their hard-earned money, they need to be prompted by strategically placed text on the web site—words asking for action. Action means the client completes the information form.” She added, “Without this reply/response form being completed, your site is no more than a calling-card to share with your friends and family and to show off your images.” Within six months, the information forms have become the backbone of my little studio. I can hardly wait to check the email for them and find out who my next client will be. My husband, Larry Beleele, very much a part of the Angel Kissed Photography team but very much a skeptic about marketing tools, is elated at this newfound source of monetary reward. He says, “I began to believe in this program when I saw the dollars rolling in!”

STEP TWO: Trade Secrets (the secret page)!
Orlando Website Design created a page of pricing, packages and special information, a cyber-packet I could send to select clients, especially brides who requested details and pricing. Jean taught, “Your pricing page is an actual web site within your web site. You access it by typing in the web site address you have assigned.”

Tim Laney Photography, www.timlaney.com	About Face, www.bridalbeauty.com/

STEP THREE: The Waiting Game!
Throughout last spring I tried to be patient while the search engines began to pick up my site. I learned this could take 3–5 months. First came the listings, and then the great day came: my first information form arrived! From her home in Houston, a bride perused my work on her computer, went to the secret site, saw some details and general pricing, telephoned, booked, and three months and $3000 later she became an Angel Kissed bride. Without the web site, she would have never heard of my studio. As a client views your online portfolio, they can decide if your artistic technique matches their style, not just their budget. A bride’s budget can be adjusted in a number of ways if she perceives the value of your art before she starts counting dollars.

STEP FOUR: Going “On Call”
My fourth step in this seven-step journey was a no-brainer and simply required reprogramming my vintage answering machine. Jean said gently, “CharMaine, you have got to do something about your greeting! Just mention your web site and see what happens.” Now my greeting invites callers to visit my site. Almost over night, this simple lesson caused more people to visit my site. In fact, Angel Kissed Studio has been almost officially renamed www.angelkissedphotography.com/. That is how I answer the phone, and it’s the largest printing on my business card.

STEP FIVE: Links In A Chain!
My fifth step in this journey is Reciprocal Linking! I learned to trade links with other vendors and friends. It validated the professionalism of my site when people began to ask if they could be linked. Paul said, “When you link another web site, make sure you also open the target window and choose new window. This way when a viewer clicks on the link the web site will not completely replace your web page.”

STEP SIX: Baby Steps
The sixth step in my journey was to master the magic of a program called Front Page. I followed the step-by-step procedures in my “CharMaine Training File,” a collection of emails and lessons from Orlando Website Design. I also made use of their Amherst Media book, Web Site Design for Professional Photographers. I clicked into my site and began making changes. Such power! Jean emailed me the minute the text showed up on the screen. She bragged, “You did it!” I felt like I had reinvented the wheel.

STEP SEVEN: Getting Picture Perfect
Step seven was the placement of images on my own site. I love the sense of control that putting my own photographs in my own site gives me. Just as their book says, “We hear from… photographers that it might be nice to occasionally (when the mood strikes) replace, add, or delete an image. When you can make your own changes to an existing web site, you will be able to update your site as often as needed without waiting for a webmaster who might be inundated with other web site work.” The wizards of Orlando Website Design have created a business system that empowers photographers to “Focus on Internet Magic”—the title of their WPPI Program this year. They give photographers three magical gifts in addition to beautiful web sites. Through my new web site, I have gained more than clients. My studio has gained credibility, the first gift. Like expensive stationery, my site enhances my business image. The second gift is that working with the webmasters has forced me to concentrate on the business side of the studio, to centralize my marketing and sales efforts. Through this project, I have focused on targeting the perfect clients. The third gift is the most surprising one of all. Working on the site has inspired me to become a better photographer. The first rule at Orlando Website Design is that you “display your finest images and keep the number to a minimum.” That puts the pressure on!

Paul Rose is the primary multimedia designer and programmer behind the company. He is an expert in search-engine submission and a specialist in java script programming, Macromedia Flash, Dreamweaver and Microsoft Front Page. He is also a “chemical engineer, classical pianist and composer.” He and Jean own Orlando Wedding Group, a close-knit group of wedding vendors. The Roses began meeting and working with wedding photographers as they performed ceremony and reception music for weddings.

Jean, a veteran public relations expert, and the creator of many award-winning advertisements, is the “marketing strategist and PR professional” for the team. It is Jean who “is responsible for making sure that each web site is properly programmed for success by offering marketing and internet tips to each client to improve and maintain client interest.”

Also a talented member of the team, Stephan Barrett is a graphic artist and multimedia web designer. This young man has designed over 100 web sites with a wide variety of features— motion, sound, theme and e-commerce. Some of his work reads like a Fortune 500 “Who’s Who.” His graphic designs include signage for Universal Studios and Subway. Stephan is the winner of the 2005 ADDY award for Central Florida web design. He says, “I look to find the unique quality of each company and use this as a platform for the overall web-site design.”

You have the opportunity to meet all of these experts when you attend the WPPI 2005. You will also hear from programmer Tyler Gee who specializes in programming solutions and interactive elements designed for photographers. Just so you don’t get overwhelmed by META tags, ISPs and FTPs as you watch the program, you’ll hear from another WPPI guest speaker, professional make-up artist and stylist Kari Larsen, who owns the Orlando-based Company, About Face Design Team. She will explain the difference members of her profession can make in your clients’ appearance. Her expertise in make-up techniques for photographers has been showcased on many photographers’ web sites. See her work by viewing the lovely faces shown in the web sites of Curt Littlecott, Jeff Hawkins, Rick Ferro as well as John Unrue, and JR Sterling. Emceeing the program entitled “A Focus On Internet Magic” will be Orlando’s Woman of The Year In City Government, Mary Alicia Johnson (Jean's daughter)..

In the acknowledgement section of their book Web Site Design for Professional Photographers, the Roses write, “Leave a footprint you can be proud of for others to follow. Enjoy each day and strive to become the best at each endeavor. Never stop learning.” Jean herself says, “The reason we decided to write a book was to leave something of ourselves behind, something that would last forever.” Books, however, are not the only place the Roses have left their “footprints.” They have left them in cyberspace, within the elegantly crafted web sites of their clients. And they have left the indelible footprints of friendship and encouragement in their clients’ minds and hearts. The first seven steps you take in building a the web site might not be the same as mine, but the first step in your own cyberspace journey into the techno-glamour of the web site world is to visit www.orlandowebsitedesign.com/. Get your share of the magic!

Paul and Jean Holland-Rose and company will present a program at WPPI ‘05 at BALLY’s Las Vegas. The title of their program is “A Focus on Internet Magic.”

CharMaine Beleele, with an MA in Communication, owns Angel Kissed Photography Studio in Arkansas. She teaches Communication at the University of Arkansas in Fort Smith. She is also a regular correspondent for the Arkansas Catholic newspaper. Contact her at her web site www.angelkissedphotography.com.