I'm sure you already know that personalised, custom-made photo mugs are great for any age – people who receive a cool lil' photo coffee mug tend to hold on to it for years… and why not?

Just so we're clear though, when I talk about (things like) respecting your grandfather with a custom-printed photo mug of his family, I'm not meaning those photo mugshots that police stations distribute looking for criminals…

After All, Your Grandfather
Wouldn't Be Like That, Right?

Of course not. But anyways, what's cool about those photo coffee mugs is that they make great gifts… yep, REALLY great gifts…

Like, for example, you can do stuff like gift your spouse a keepsake of your wedding, or gift your child's teacher (only if the teacher's been good of course!) a custom-made photo mug with an image of all the bad kids in the class on it.

I guess, if you were to get all soft for a minute, you could even say that a photo mug captures a moment to be cherished forever.

(But isn't that what photographs do anyway?)

Still, it's a pretty smart idea, right? Take a photograph and slap it on an everyday household item, and…

BINGO!
Instant individuality!

And something that everyone will LOVE!

But anyways… I know you've been waiting patiently for the instructions how to create your own photo coffee mug… so without further ado:

Very Easy To-Implement Stuff

There's a couple of ways to make a photo mug. The easiest way is to go online and let Snapfish or PhotoBox handle it.

(Just have your photos ready beforehand).

The ridiculously easy way (the Do It Yourself approach) is by creating it yourself through your PC (or Mac for us enthusiasts) and trusty inkjet printer. This is the way we've documented below.

But hold on cowboy – before you think about starting, ensure that you have the following:

A) A Mug – You can choose any color as your wish, but white is best. For inspirational ideas check out how Cafepress create their photo mugs. They've got it down to a fine art. And you guessed it — white displays the images real well.

B) Waterslide Decal Paper – You probably need some sort of waterslide inkjet decal paper that should be either white or clear. If your mug is dark colored, then white decal paper is perfect; alternatively clear decal paper is good for white and light colored mugs. Some people say transfer paper is similar to decal paper, but inkjet decal paper is preferable when creating a photo mug. (Apparently transfer paper is used in transferring images to fabrics). 

C) Computer - You should have a PC (or Mac!) to design an amazing image that you'll be printing on your photo coffee mug.

D) Free Photo Editor or Image Editing Tool – You kind of need to have a good image editing program to do all the photo design stuff. Good free photo editors like Picasa and Gimp are pretty effective and you don't need a PHD in Business Technology to understand them.

E) Trusty Inkjet Printer – If you're planning to use decal paper, make sure that your printer accepts that type of paper. Some backdated printers will throw a hissy fit when you try to feed them decal paper. Check that.

F) Great Image for the Mug – goes without saying, right?

G) Scissors – come in handy if you are having a bad hair day.

Go At Your Own Pace

So anyways, now you're ready to make a photo mug that everybody and his brother will love. Here's how to go about that…

Step 1: Select your image – Firstly, choose a beautiful (and clean image). Ensure that your chosen picture is well focused, properly exposed and not noisy or blurred. And it's got to look the part too. Someone will be drinking coffee out of that every day for the unseeable future!

Step 2: Edit your image – You might need to do some basic edits like cropping, resizing, bring out the brightness and removing anything unwanted. Anyone you don't want in the picture? Just edit them out.

Step 3: Print your image on Decal paper - Your printer should have options that say something like "paper type" and/or "media type." See that? Choose the suitable option or close your eyes and hope for the best.

Step 4: ADVICE: Allow the paper to dry completely.

Step 5: Outline your photo – Cut out the image as closely as possible to the design.

Step 6: Drown it – Keep your image under lukewarm water for approximately one minute, or until you realise that the photo has begun to slide away from the defensive backing and it's not actually another earthquake.

Step 7: Remove it - Remove the defensive backing and carefully place the photo on to your photo mug. Important: Before applying it confirm that the mug surface is clean. Make sure there's no water behind the decal paper. You know what to do!

Step 8: Bird Dog – Let the decal dry completely. It requires at least 4 hours drying fully. No peeking.

It Looks All Wrong!

No it doesn't. It's fine. Just imagine the permanently damaged look smiles coming over your parents faces when they start their day with a cup of coffee while your cute face beams up at them…

Or how proud your wife might be when she shares a cup of coffee with her friend and her friend NOTICES that the guy on the mug is ACTUALLY you!

Or gee, how happy your kids are when you give them a photo coffee mug with their OWN picture on it!

Expect a firestorm to hit as everyone kicks in the office doors keen to make a photo mug for themselves! Don't believe me? Try it for yourself…

And by the way, I'm dying to know your thoughts so comment below and LETTUCE know what YOU think!
 

The first time I heard about photo books being created I thought to myself "this is horrible!" (I could have sworn that I came up with that idea a few years back!) But, it was inevitable… take a couple of great photos, print them into a book, add cover and wait patiently for…

The Look On Your Friends Faces
When They See Your Photos!

But how many people do you think are actually using public domain photos to create their photo books?

My guess is, probably very few. Now in my humble opinion using public domain images is a cool little untapped resource that you can milk as much as you want and need…

Except for one minor problem…

Most folks have more than enough of their own photos!

But if you don't have your OWN photos then using public domain photos is the NEXT best thing.

You see, using the public domain (free to use images) means you can focus on creating "niche" photo books that a) you can potentially sell, and b) have absolutely nothing at all to do with…

All Those Weird Family Photos
You Have In Your Photo Album!

See what I'm getting at here?

It's OK if you want to create a photo book for your own family, say a wedding book, family reunion, collection of your favourite handguns, vacation to the top of the world (etc) type book… Because that's the kind of book you would normally want to share with family (…well, most families at least!)

But what if you want to sell your photo book online?

Here's where using public domain photos takes the cake. Once you've got some ideas about what sort of theme you want, then it's just a matter of using a site like www.sxc.hu to source the right images.

Having said that – you might need to add some bylines in your photo book to give credit to the photographers whose photos you are using — read the download restrictions regarding what you can and cannot do with your photos.

Sidenote — you don't want a photographer getting all nasty on you claiming you didn't credit her for that photo book you've been selling all year on eBay… You want her calling to say thank you for all the extra promotion I got from your book dude!

Alternatively just fork out the extra expense and grab these wickedly effective stock photos that will really blow your photo book out of the water!

There is a catch though (isn't there always?)

You may be rustling around inside that great photo site I mentioned above and come to a startling conclusion…

A Lot Of Great Photos But Gee,
Thanks But No Thanks!

This is the rub with using public domain photos… there's a LOT of photos out there and it can take a LONG time to source the right photo for the job.

But still, it's always worth a test run.

You might just be able to create a photo book filled with images of a particular niche… like model trains and railways for example. Or poodles at play, or 20 photos of my favourite eatable flowers …

And then when folks order it on eBay you can immediately fulfil the order through Cafepress, Snapfish or Lulu, and get it in the next mail to them…

Actually the whole process of creating your photo book has pretty much been perfected with sites like Snapfish, Photobox or Shutterfly. These guys have nailed it – made it easy and simple to upload your photos, choose a great photo book template, purchase your book and get it mailed.

Whichever way you go, public domain photos are still going to be the cool dude's option…

Here's a few public domain image based sites to boogie down with:

http://www.ars.usda.gov/is/graphics/photos/
http://www.sxc.hu/
http://www.public-domain-photos.com/

Got comments? Don't be shy… go ahead and make my day!

Actually I really meant “too busy creating your own photo blog” but “taking photographs” sounded better at the time!

And if you’ve ever tried to create a website or build a blog (somewhat like this one) then you’ll probably know that…

It’s Easier Said Than Done!

And you know what? It’s not the actual writing part that’s difficult either. That just flows out… think of what needs to be said… to nimble fingers… to keyboard and into WordPress… that part couldn’t be easier!

What’s tricky is the actual nuts and bolts of setting up the look and feel of your photo blog…

Things like RSS feeds, social media, choosing the right plugins, themes and widgets, where to put stuff on the page, making sure YOU can read the important posts… and all that behind the scenes stuff that few really know about (unless you’ve actually done it!)

WordPress (bless her heart) does make things a WHOLE lot easier though! Actually WordPress is a bit like riding a classic Ducati… most of the time it rides beautifully… but now and then you’ve got to do some extra tweaks to the engine…

So… anyways… I’m glad to be back, with a whole new super-theme, and will be writing my usual mad-capped blog posts on a weekly-enthusiastic-basis.

Yep, this whole photo blog is going to be giving you a…

Serious Flow Of
Insider Information!

So stay tuned….

Basically, you get your hands dirty and go build yourself a funky little homemade website that hopefully does everything you need.

Now, granted, you may master your website building in a short afternoon. And that’s cool. However it’s when your whole online business starts evolving into a huge portable-empire (it CAN happen!) that you suddenly find challenge on your hands.

The challenge is thus:

Do you, humble entrepreneur, get making a website all by yourself (with help, such as using XSitePro – we’ll get to that in a minute), or do you throw risk into the wind and just find a (hopefully good) web designer?

Of course, there’s NO EASY answer…

That’s because it depends on EXACTLY what you want!

When you hire a web designer to make a website for you, you are doing more than just handing over the “dirty job” to someone else. In fact, by paying a few doll-hairs, you can let the designer concern themselves with getting the site ‘looking’ right.

That’s one less thing to think about when you’re out on the town!

On the other hand, you may feel that by doing it yourself you’ll have more control over the whole project – plus you’ll get to understand how the big ‘website building’ picture fits together.

There’s also the XSitePro web design software alternative.

This is one website building tool that allows you to become your own web designer, astonish your friends and create awe-inspiring websites – without having to watch 300 how-to videos or get intimately familiar with someone’s help desk!

It’s kind of like the secret weapon that the top ‘players’ use (and keep using) – to build websites that send them spinning into completely new tax brackets – in every niche they play in!

So… now that I’ve tickled your fancy, you best go and give her a trial run, or test her out…

Look here: XSitePro web design software

It’s either that – or sit down for the next 3 hours and explain patiently to your web designer exactly what you want done… (And hope she gets it right!)

Seeing as this is my photo marketing blog and all, basically means I can pretty much do what I choose, right?

So, with that said, I decided to take a new approach and just start answering some of the questions that rock up to my inbox. Expect more videos too shortly, and other stuff, including a whole new blog design.

By the way, if you’re Philippino, contact me! I’ve got something for you…

So here goes…

JoAnn emailed me with the following thoughts…

“My idea is to promote the marketing area, like your ebook says to do, eBay, Amazon, and the other ideas you suggested, ideas for assignments, helpful tips, places of interest. I enjoy doing night photography on my SLR Film camera. My goal is to return to doing night photography now that I have a better digital camera. It’s a Cannon Rebel EOS XT.

I have some other affiliates which will be beneficial in setting up websites, finding the different niches, using keywords and other helpful information.

I would like to use make videos, using my photographs, possibly make them to sell, or download for people to use, or for T-shirts, and other products. I’m still in the process of what I would like to do. I just need to start making something even if I’m not quite sure of all the things I would like to do. I’ve made the investment on all this, and researched and studied. Just need to do it and make it start working for me.”

Here’s my passionate little reply…

One way to turn your photos into videos is by using Animoto.com I have made some colorful videos on Youtube using Animoto which you can see here: http://youtube.com/thehurley

I think video is indeed the future (and the NOW) so if you could ‘get known’ or be the ‘queen of your niche’ or brand yourself as a video/photo expert that would be good.

The photo/video niche is huge and lots of people like to learn about it – so tutorial type stuff always works well. Ie. how to shoot night photography… step 1, step 2 etc.

Then lead folks to your blog/site with opt in form to get subscribers.

The key is to give folks what they want… and what they’re willing to pay for…

So tutorial videos, ‘how to’ videos on Youtube, then they get to know you, trust you and like  you, then they buy your t-shirts.

In fact you could take it a step further and if you have enough passionate fans you could set up a low cost monthly membership site and show them personalized tutorials, exactly what they want… plus give them affiliate related products too.

You could also invite others to send in their best make money with photos ideas… and reward them with say $20 or $50 or maybe a gift of some sort.

This takes the pressure of you to create content – readers will create your content for you – and brings interest and so on to your blog – as well as helping all the other folks out too. Then you add other forms of monetizing to your blog too.

Anyway just some ideas – I could go on all day!

…

And, you’ve heard that ClickBank is the place to go for finding digital products to promote…

So, here’s a step by step guide to using ClickBank to make this happen.

(BTW, to get to the ClickBank marketplace just click on the link above and look for ‘marketplace’).

Here’s what you’ll need to do…

Ready?

Good.

Firstly, take yourself to the ClickBank marketplace and in the ‘keywords’ box, search for ‘photography, camera dollars, sell photos’ (we’ll use Camera Dollars as an example).

After you’ve done a search, you’ll see a list of digital products…

Select ClickBank Product

The top product is the funky Camera Dollars guide. (See above). Now what you need to do is create your own little unique hoplink (so that ClickBank knows who to pay!)

Click on the ‘create hoplink’ link (see red arrow).

You’ll then be presented with a small pop up page like this one below…

ClickBank hoplink

Add your ClickBank affiliate nickname where it says to do so…

If you haven’t got a nickname, sign up to ClickBank here and get yours (for free).

BTW, you can promote any product on ClickBank using your nickname. (Your nickname might actually be a number, but that works the same as using a name).

You don’t need to add anything in the ‘Tracking ID’ box. This is just for tracking your links.

Once you’ve done that, you’ll click on ‘create’ and get a window like this…

ClickBank complete link

See the red arrow? Next to that is your unique link (hoplink).

Copy that link into a text editor and then get it out there into the BIG wide world.

Your goal?

You want people to CLICK on your link…

See my link?

Did you click it?

It is a ClickBank hoplink that is ‘cloaked’ so that it looks more tasteful.

You can use http://tinyurl.com to cloak your links.

There are other ways, we’ll get to them soon.

But for now, just get your link setup.

There are a thousand different creative ways to get your LINK out there.

BTW, you need a UNIQUE link so that ClickBank knows that you ‘recommended’ the digital product and that way you will get paid when someone buys through your link.

This is the start to making money with photography…

YES you CAN promote your link anywhere but you have to be careful you don’t spam anyone and that you do it carefully and tastefully…

So now that you have your link you could…

a) set up a WordPress blog and start posting (writing) articles…

b) write a small review or a few pages talking about your niche/passion/interest… then add your link into that report/review, do it in Microsoft Word then make it into a .PDF….

Then you could give this guide to other folks (who are interested in this subject)…

Or you could set up a hubpages.com site or a squidoo.com site and talk about your interest and sometimes you mention your link or include it in your posts… (Tastefully though)

Got the idea?

Great…

ONWARDS!

.

Basically this video is an introduction to getting your ClickBank affiliate link set up so you can then promote any digital photography book you want. (It doesn’t just have to be CameraDollars!)

Although I used Brian Moore’s CameraDollars because his product is such an excellent example, and, from I can see, converts very well.

Have a look at this video and let me know your thoughts in the comments section below…

If I get enough comments I’ll create another video. If not, I’ll go and talk to my friend Robert Plank about why his marketing methods are not working.

…

…

What is a digital photography blog and how can you get one in 10 minutes?

Let’s break it into steps. Here’s how Wikipedia describes a photography blog…

A photoblog (a.k.a. photolog or phlog) is a form of photo sharing and publishing in the format of a blog, but differentiated by the predominant use of and focus on photographs rather than text.

In the case of PhotoMarketeers we use a WordPress template blog, and add the occasional small photo attachment to every post. (The excellent plugin that automates the ‘add photos’ part easily is Zemanta).

You could do a similar thing of course by starting out with WordPress. You can download WordPress for free at http://wordpress.org/

And when you get to the ‘writing’ stage,  (like I’m doing now) remember you can add more than just images too… Use bullet points, graphics, etc, to break up the text and make it easier on the eye when your visitors ‘speed browse’ your site.

But I digress…

To keep things simple, what you’d do is add thumbnails or small photos to your photo blog, with links out to your FlickR photo folio, or to SmugMug photo sharing (so the viewer can go see more snaps if they desire).

All this depends on what YOU want your viewers to see…

In our case the emphasis is on the content, and we support the words with images.

But if you wanted to put the focus more on the images themselves then you’d use a photo blog template that’s specifically designed to display photography work. Do a Google search for ‘WordPress photo blog templates’ to find a list of these.

You can also invest in a digital photography blog that’s pretty much plug and play.

That means it’s all set up and ready for you to just add your photos, your content, and then go hassle everyone you know about it.  Go here to see one of these (never used this – can’t confirm how good it is!)

If what you’ve just read sounds good then why not take it further and get your hands on my ‘How To Make A Stunning WordPress Blog‘ (for photographers)?

You’ll be able to download this (free) rockin’ guide within minutes once you sign up to my free photo marketing ezine.

That guide explains how to set up your digital photography blog in greater depth with step by step screen pictures showing you exactly what to do, and how to do it.

It’s not that difficult to set yourself up with a photo blog. You can get yourself started in 10 minutes. Next week we’ll explore how to host your photo blog too.

What do you think?
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Here’s an interesting list of 50 favorite photo sites, articles and photo news from 2008 from one of my most favorite digital stock photography sites, Crestock

Take particular note of the Magnum photographer’s blog and also Simon Robert’s brilliant and surreal real-time photo book about Russia which you’ll find at www.motherlandbook.com (Great idea for a website by the way!)

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Photos above from:

www.telegraph.co.uk/news/picturegalleries/pictures-of-the-year/

Related articles:

• 5 Sites Where You Can Sell Your Photos (lifehack.org)

1. Explore digital stock photography… Cast your eyes over iStockphoto or Fotolia… Learn more from Yuri Arcurs who makes an exceptional living from selling his stock photos. Yuri says “…branding yourself by having a unique style that is recognizable and consistent is probably the most important aspect in microstock.” Here’s a list of 10 popular microstock photography sites to sell stock photos.

Read more photo articles about digital stock photography…

2. Nurture your brand of one… Create stunning t-shirts, calendars, greeting cards, clothing etc that makes folks go wow. Use CafePress to sell your photography, photo image or photo illustration you created in Photoshop…

Right now if you look around you’ll spot lots of t-shirts, prints etc that are inspired by President Obama and are probably still going to still be popular for a while to come… How can you tap into this? Turning your photos into a photo product WORKS…

3. Stand in front of the hungry crowds… Use eBay to sell your photos on CD or DVD. Take a selection of interesting photography you have… find out what is selling well on eBay… then automate the whole eBay to DVD to buyer process by using Auction Acrobat.

4. No time to reinvent the wheel… Know about public domain? This means photos and illustrations and music etc that is copyright free and freely available to be used by you (the public!) Dig around the public domain until you find an amazing image or two, then re-idea them to your heart’s content… Think t-shirt designs, logos, website photography, blog headers, etc. Tony Laidig is the master of public domain and his picture project will get your visual IDEAS clock spinning madly…

5. Get a name for being unique… Use boutique photo galleries or photo agencies like these friends of mine (www.farmboyfinearts.com) to get your abstract or landscape photos lining the walls of restaurants, resorts, billboards, upscale hotels, etc… Create custom artwork… site specific artwork… Every wall needs a photo, right?

6. Create free desktop wallpaper screen-savers… Create screensavers or other popular downloadable ‘toys’ – stuff such as wall papers, desktop screen savers etc that put your photos on other people’s computer screens… Look at http://www.download.com for more…

7. Take the photos that no one else wants to take… and then get paid for it! See what I mean here: $200 A Day… Think of all the folks that need insurance, home, vehicle etc ‘photo documentation’ and then you BE the one who does it…

8. Tap into people’s passions… Everyone is enthusiastic about something right? Hobbies, enthusiasts… think modified cars, trucks, motorbikes, sports, homes, vacation spots etc … Make the necessary arrangements then shoot… After which you present said collection of images in a beautifully bound digital photography book using PhotoBox

9. Explore the 7 seas… Travel based photography ring any bells? Be the wordsmith and wield the camera, or just shoot and then develop a working relationship with another writer (they can live almost anywhere too)… You’ll want to be familiar with posting the images you take on blogs, using web 2 sites etc. Think ‘how to’ articles, either for photo blogs, or offline publications… Photo/text features easier to sell than individual photos… Plus you can on-sell this photo article to other magazines…

10. The wide world of pets… Folks LOVE pets like nothing else! And they’d like a photo of them too, wouldn’t they? Here’s some thoughts on the matter… “Before you hire yourself out, though, practice with your own (or a friend’s) pet – when people are paying money for photos, they want good ones. Some tips: Don’t use a wide-angle lens at close range unless you want an elongated, distorted look. Enlist the pet’s owner as an assistant to help manage the subject. And get some shots of the pet with the owner too…”

OK that’s 10 quick ways to sell more photos online (and off)… Comments?

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• 5 Sites Where You Can Sell Your Photos