Name of your website?Your Photo Tips
Your name?
Damien Franco
Your Location (city, etc)
Midland
Please give us a short summary of your website?
Resource for digital photography tips, techniques, and more.
What inspired you to launch your own website?
I wanted to share my knowledge about photography.
When did you launch your first website, and what was it?
The first website I launched was for my photography studio. It was nice and included flash and all of that nonsense. After I sold my studio I wanted to start blogging about photography and learned that flash isn't the best way to get noticed by the search engines.
How did you decide on a name for your website?
I wanted this website to be about community. "Your Photo Tips" is designed around the concept of community participation. I haven't had much response from my readers yet, but am starting to get a little more participation. I'd love to be able to have Q&A's and do polls and maybe add a forum sometime down the road.
What makes it different from other, similar offerings?
It really isn't much different except that I am an accomplished photographer in portraits and weddings. Most of the other similar sites are run by hobbyists. Nothing wrong with that, they have just as much passion if not more.
What is your eventual goal? (To sell it, keep it for income, secure a book or other mainstream media deal?)
I'd like to keep it for income and am thinking of using it to help launch a book in the more distant future. I didn't go to school for journalism, but I'm getting better at writing.
How does your investment of time and money balance against your success?
It isn't too expensive, and the time doesn't really amount to much. I spent much time on the internet reading about photography anyway, so the research aspect was there anyway.
If you had an unlimited development budget for development, how would you change your site?
I would probably hire someone to take care of the SEO stuff and the Design aspects.
If your site got really big, really quickly, would you be able to keep up with the demand?
I think I could. I've only commited to doing 2 posts a week, and could easily double that if I needed to.
What unexpected costs and headaches have you had to deal with?
Learning SEO has been a challenge. Also, I've had to learn a little html and css along the way.
What has been your biggest challenge?
Coming up with catchy titles for my articles.
What method has been most successful for promoting your website?
Blogging communities. But you have to work at them.
How has running your website differed from your expectations?
I don't think I had unrealistic expectations. I was reading blogs about blogging for about a month before I started mine. I like to do my homework first!
How long have you run the site already, and how long will you continue to keep it up if you don't enjoy big gains in traffic, income or popularity?
I've had the blog online since the beginning of 2008. While it hasn't been long I don't see myself being burned out quickly. I know that if I want it to be successful I have to think abou it in the long run.
What is your website address?
Your Photo Tips
