Getting Back To Business with theimagefile…

Everyone has been affected by Covid-19 and the lockdown in some way or another, but particularly as small business owners it has been harsh and will take time to rebuild, re-book and recover. Although it is likely to be a while yet before the lockdown is lifted or even relaxed, we wanted to share some new features, ideas and inspiration that we have been working on so that you can hit the ground running and get back to “business as usual” (and making money!) as soon as possible.

New Features

Gift Vouchers

Gift vouchers are a great business and marketing tool, helping you increase your customer base, generate more income and give you cash up front. All of which we could do with at any time of year but particularly during these quieter months.

Theimagefile has redesigned our vouchers from the ground up, and now provides two types of voucher for you to offer clients. This allows you to choose between:

A voucher where the buyer chooses the amount, much like a traditional gift card, which could be used to purchase anything through your website. The voucher owner just uses it like real money at checkout.

A fixed amount voucher which is typically used to offer an experience such as a family portrait session, makeover photoshoot or photography tutoring weekend again the voucher owner just uses the voucher code like real money at checkout.

We understand that every client and job is different and therefore, we developed our voucher system so you or the buyer can tailor things for a customer or event. Like adding a bespoke message, as well as adding a collection link so purchasing is a breeze for the voucher recipient. theimagefile will handle all the details from the sale of the voucher to the balance-tracking and final redemption of the voucher.

Easy SEO Functions

Search engine optimisation has always been incredibly important for any business with an online presence. Of course, you want to keep showing high in search results so you need to keep working on your website SEO.  To make things simpler and easier to keep relevant we have implemented a new SEO flag that shows on the vital areas that should be addressed for SEO. If the flag is yellow, it needs work. If it is green you have it sorted.  Remember your SEO is an area that is never finished. Your competition will be working on there’s – so should you!
You can now also edit all browser titles and meta descriptions for your whole site from one simple page saving a ton of time.

15% off with Exhibbit

With lockdown, some users expressed a desire to hold an online exhibition of their work… so we negotiated a special 15% discount for our members to use their software.  Using Exhibbit you can:

• Create exhibitions of your work and set it to publish on a particular date. 
• Embed your interactive and dynamic 3D gallery on your website and add links to the friendly URL for sales
• Create an invitation containing an image, message and link which you can then digitally send to customers.
• This is a wonderful piece of software for any photographer but could be particularly critical at this time when many events have been postponed until later in the year.

Ideas and Inspiration For Right Now 

In addition to the new features we mentioned above we have also been working hard to bring some inspiration and ideas for things you could be doing to help prepare your business for post-lockdown and boost your business today.
We have discussed: 

• Considering offering digital downloads to customers. Not only do they provide an instant option to your clients but are also a great way of wrapping up any jobs still left to be fulfiled from before lockdown.
• Making it easy for your customers to contact you by implementing contact forms with additional options, social profiles and Facebook Live Chat.
• Updating your website to be responsive making it more cost-effective and easier to maintain for you, the photographer. Not to mention, giving a better user experience and a boost to your search engine optimisation too.
• The importance of addressing visitor’s needs, establishing yourself as an expert and boosting your sales through an FAQ page. As well as how to write great frequently asked questions so that you know your efforts are well focused.
• The vital part your on-site SEO plays in your overall search engine ranking and how you could be improving with keywords, high-quality content, links, page loading speeds, browser titles and meta descriptions all while in lockdown.
• The increasingly important role of off-site search engine optimisation and how you could be laying the foundations for great SEO for your business right now.
• Loads of ideas for content you could be sharing on your own blogs, social media platforms and websites to keep clients interested and invested in your business. Not to mention, keep your search engine rankings high with new, high-quality content.

Just before lockdown

In case you missed some of the new features introduced just before lockdown, there is the Proof Delay feature – adding a delay before the order is sent for fulfilment giving you a chance to check everything is perfect for your clients. The new Responsive larger thumbnails with multiple watermarks so your photos show the size you want them and with the security settings you need, and don’t forget the new Cover Photos, making your galleries beautiful for your clients.

And it goes on…   we are still working hard to deliver new features and will soon be introducing our Announcement Bar – a really simple way to display a custom message at the top of your website, announcing a flash-sale, a special offer, new product or a new service!

We hope that these features, ideas and inspiration will help you plan and prepare your business for returning to usual. In the meantime, we will continue to work hard to keep you working when possible. 
We hope you all continue to stay safe and healthy, and we wish you all the best from all theimagefile team.