Can you show me your Exposure Manager galleries and tell me your likes/dislikes?

[boxofrocks]

I'm thinking of leaving smug mug, and wanted to see some examples of EM galleries. I expect they will have much less customization available, and the few I've seen have extremely low res proofs.

Also, what do you love/hate about working with them? Smug mug has always proven to be a nice bunch of folks, but they are currently lacking in tools I need, and even with stuff on the horizon, appear to be lacking in the near future, as well.

Any and all feedback or links to galleries, custom or otherwise, is greatly appreciated!!

[CaptainTom]

http://tomthompson.exposuremanager.com

likes: they are always up and running
an easy URL to remember
once you figure out the interface for pricing, you can easily change product prices. options for coupon discounts, package discounts, etc.
If you have your prints sent directly to customer it appears that they came directly from you and not a third party.
E-mail notifications when prints are 1- ordered 2- printed 3- shipped
complete order information for each customer (minus CC info)
upload hi-res file = no more required to complete order
upload low-res file = they notify you if an order is placed, at which time you upload the hi-res file for printing.


dislikes: The interface is not always intuitive unless you use it more than once a week .

I haven't figured out exactly how to get gallery previews to all be the same size....

[Debbi]

http://bphotographix.exposuremanager.com

I will second Tom's likes and dislikes but will add another like. I have never had a customer have any problems ordering what they want. It is very intuitive in that regard.

Now, I actually have a CMD website but links to exposuremanager for client galleries.

[boxofrocks]

What about watermarking? Currently, I do a custom watermark with SM like the ones seen here. Can you do that? Debbi, I noticed yours was just across the bottom of your images.

Also, I had a hard time figuring out the commission they charge on vouchers, which is one reason I would switch.

Their website says with vouchers, the 10% commision is:

"Assessed on "sales" (discounted pre-sales) price, which cannot exceed 75% of the full retail price. If sales price is lower than 75% of full retail price, commission is assessed on the 75% value."

I can't figure that out.

Am I right in assuming the following?

Assuming they charged $0.25 for a 4x6 (don't know the real price):



My retail: $5.00
less print cost -0.25
Net $4.75
less EM 10% -0.48
My profit $4.27

Is that correct?

Would that price be the same if a customer used a voucher? If I pre-sold a voucher good for 10 4x6 photos for $50 (I'd probably give a quantity discount, but that screws up my math), each print would be $5.00. Would my profit work out as noted above?

[AndrewCCM]

Watermarking is easy with EM...

[Debbi]

I believe you can do custom watermarking as you can customize a lot of things. Honestly, regarding your question, I would shoot them an email for clarification. I have had problems in the past trying to set up discounts and such and had them email me back very quickly, including weekends.

[boxofrocks]

Thanks for the advice. I'll stay tuned to this thread for further input.

[Steelsun]

I've been with EM a few years now (since before TPF was a forum) and still have an account, but no galleries up at the moment.

I've been debating canceling and switching to someone else.
1) Too damn hard to customize a gallery away from the standard layouts. You almost have to be an HTML guru to do it.
2) Setup/behind-the-scenes mechanics are just not smooth - too many archaic and almost anarchists steps to do simple things. They really need to revise their old style control panels/interfaces. Kinda feels like I'm still in a dos program in the modern world.

Now that there are many competitors out there with similar pricing but better interfaces and execution, I may be jumping ship.

[CaptainTom]

The obvious question is --- drum roll ---- who are you jumping ship to ?

[boxofrocks]

Originally Posted by CaptainTom

The obvious question is --- drum roll ---- who are you jumping ship to ?

I started a thread a while back about options in this arena, so I'm all ears.

If SM came out with vouchers, they'd keep me.

[Roy]

Tom, if we could meet, I'd bring my laptop as long as we could get connected to the internet somewhere and you could see exactly how Exposure Manager works. You could even load a gallery up to my EM if you want. I've had a couple of issues but they are quick to respond and the took care of the issues right away. I don't ususally keep my sessions up there forever. Once it's sold all it looks like it's going to sell, I'll take it down unless it's family so I don't have too much up right now.

At least this way you could see what you get. Just a matter of time in getting together since your way out there in the boonies.......LOL.

[CaptainTom]

Originally Posted by Roy

Tom, if we could meet, I'd bring my laptop as long as we could get connected to the internet somewhere and you could see exactly how Exposure Manager works. You could even load a gallery up to my EM if you want. I've had a couple of issues but they are quick to respond and the took care of the issues right away. I don't ususally keep my sessions up there forever. Once it's sold all it looks like it's going to sell, I'll take it down unless it's family so I don't have too much up right now.

At least this way you could see what you get. Just a matter of time in getting together since your way out there in the boonies.......LOL.

No thanks Roy. I can't get away from my TPF postings long enough to meet with you about EM.... What? Not ME ? The other Tom !!!!
I'm just dumber than a box of rocks.....

[Finepixdude]

I love the quality of the pics and the customer service you get with EM.

www.cyourpics.com

[Sonny]

Originally Posted by boxofrocks

but they are currently lacking in tools I need, and even with stuff on the horizon, appear to be lacking in the near future, as well.

That is the main reason I left Smugmug three years ago. They kept promising bigger and better things, but never delivered soon enough for me. I will agree...they have amazing customer support!

http://photos.gametimephotos.com/

LIKES

• The biggest positive for me is that EM only takes 10% commission. Other site would take 3% credit card fee plus 12%-15% commission. Switching over to EM equals HUGE SAVINGS even with their $99.95 yearly fee.
• In three years EM has only been down twice and not for more than one hour...if that.
• Love the fact you can create any type of photo package.
• Promotional Tools are flexible. EM offers customer volume discounts, reprint discounts, and coupon/vouchers.
• A new feature that added last year was Pricesheets. This is an easy and flexible way to create and save multiple pricing scenarios, you can designate specific products that are appropriate for each market, and save a pricesheet for each segment of your site.
• EM will direct ship to your customers.
• Email notifications when customer orders, their order is printing, and their order ships. This is great for documentation purposes.
• If a customer ever says they never received their order...EM (no questions asked) will ship it again. I've had this happen 4 times in three years.
• A new feature EM added this year...allow customers to link photos from your galleries to social networks like Facebook, MySpace, Twitter, and blogs.
• One unique tool I love is Product Questionnaires.

  There are two primary uses of PQ’s, based on the input and requests received from our photographers - posters and collages - but other uses are possible:
  
  1. Custom Sports Posters: Get all the information you need to create a custom poster for any of the sports you photograph. Now, a parent can see a great action shot of their player and turn it into a custom poster with a player’s name, team name, team colors, uniform number, etc. With the PQ option implemented on any given product, you can totally automate the process, having them input all the pertinent info at the time of sale online.
  2. Photo collages: Photographers who create collages always looked for a way to ask a customer for additional images choices. The PQ option can be used to do this automatically with the initial order.
  3. Commemorative Photos: Get custom information to create special photos that commemorate a special event, a tournament, a competition or a performance.
  4. Adding special instructions: Certain products you create may require an added explanation prior to purchase. The description field in the Product Questionnaire is perfect for this, and you can simply ask a question: "Do you understand how this works?"
  
  Other uses for PQ? You can use your imagination! Use them on any special product you offer that requires additional information from the customer. Offer NEW products that you never could before!

• And of course how can I forget....unlimited EVERYTHINIG! Bandwidth, storage space, posted galleries, and no time limit on how long you leave an event posted.

LIKE A LITTLE LESS (but in no way a deal breaker)

• Initially the leaning curve is somewhat difficult.
• Not as much customization as I would like, but then again you want your customer to focus on spending money...not distract them with fancy graphics.
• I wish the Sales Reports were way more details and flexible.

[boxofrocks]

Thanks, Sonny. Well though out reply, and much appreciated.