In an era of digital imagery, the means in which my clients received their images is so important! I have searched high and low for a system that is beautiful, customizable, able to provide both downloads and products, and user-friendly!
There are so many systems to choose from: Flickr, Behance, Google Photos, 500px, Unsplash, Exposure… the list goes on and on! But after over a decade of experience with these online platforms, I’ve settled on two: Zenfolio and PicTime. Those are the ones I personally use and recommend! (I’ll explain more on how I use each toward the end of this post!)
I could go on and on about why you should utilize an online gallery system and how much it could benefit your photography businesses, but I’ll stick to these major key points:
- Online gallery systems allow you to access and share your files on the fly (I can’t tell you the number of times I’ve texted a client or planner a gallery from my cell phone)
- Cloud-based galleries allow you to present your images in a professional way (say good-bye to drop-boxing your photos)
- Delivering & providing access to your galleries becomes 10x easier (these systems are so intuitive)
- Hosting your galleries on one of these sites gives you the ability to sell prints (that’s right..passive income for work already completed)
Online gallery systems allow you to access and share your files on the fly:
As a photographer, being able to access photos anywhere, anytime without delay has been absolutely wonderful! It allows me to pull up photos for current and potential clients during client meetings so easily and quickly! I do NOT miss that feeling of rifling through my files to find that specific example and leaving my clients waiting. Plus, hosting your images in a cloud-based gallery also frees up a TON of space on your hard drive.
Cloud-based galleries allow you to present your images in a professional way:
These galleries also allow for you to present your images in a clean, organized, and professional way..especially gallery sharing sites geared towards professional photographers (like Pic-Time or Zenfolio) as opposed to a program geared to simply save space and provide easy access (like Google Photos, for example). These galleries really take into consideration that designed workflow that photographers and creators are looking to display their work alongside! All of the features included in these programs make the process of delivering photos much more interactive and customizable, both for the photographer and the client!
Delivering & providing access to your galleries becomes 10x easier:
Gallery hosting features not only make things easier on myself and on my photography clients, but they’ve also been very useful to my team! For example, if I would like to share a specific set of photos with my assistant, all I have to do is put them in a folder and send her the link! She doesn’t even have to make an account to view them. It’s incredibly easy and fast. Having these photos available also makes grabbing them for social media posts/content creation such a smooth process…from my cell phone!
Hosting your galleries on one of these sites gives you the ability to sell prints:
The last thing I want to mention is the ability to sell prints and other products. A client can choose photos directly from your gallery and order those products straight from Zenfolio! You can set your own price and even generate coupon codes and promotions. This has been a nice source of income for me; last year, on Black Friday alone, we made $3500 in print and album sales from Zenfolio!!
Earlier in the article I mentioned that I’d share how I use Zenfolio vs Pic-time:
I use Zenfolio primarily to archive and store my images (their price/year is incredible!) So, for unlimited storage this site is a no-brainer. I have been able to customize the layouts over time but it’s not quite as beautiful as Pic-Time. So, I use Zenfolio for archiving and accessing images for myself! I use the mobile app to download images for social and show clients in person. And I use Pic-Time for my client-facing galleries and image delivery! I find Pic-Time easier to download from so that’s helpful as well! Why both? Well, all of these reasons above..plus, Zenfolio and Pic-Time use different backup systems for their online servers! <<–This is huge for me!
I hope you found these tips hopeful and I highly recommend checking out some of these sites for yourself!
Thanks for reading!
P.S, If I’ve convinced you to start using at least one online gallery system, I have a Zenfolio deal right here, just for you! 😉
