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….

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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Do you lie awake at night ‘imagineering’ potential ideas in your mind… mulling over the creative possibilities of where you could go with a digital photography blog?

Photo blogging is actually one superb way to start making money in photography. Of course though, you DO need to put the effort into it (like anything, right?)

Although it’s easy enough to set up a WordPress blog (like this one), keep in mind you’ll still need to post (write) to your blog often, be willing to work hard at it, learn the basics to blogging, and make sure you keep firing questions to passionate marketeers like me!

However it’s not always as easy as it sounds. You kind of need to have your own ‘mission’ and blog purpose – and continue working on it no matter what. Otherwise you can have “…unrealistic expectations of how fast your readership will grow and how much money you will make, and when these expectations are not met, the disappointment can crush the desire to continue blogging.”

To counter-defend yourself against the frustrations that inevitably sneak up as you look up to the summit and see how far you’ve STILL got to trek, you need to have a realistic plan and stick to it. Everyone has their own plan, but in any case, it can be something as simple as writing a blog post, or contacting another related photo blog for a reciprocal link once a week.

And if you’re serious about making money in photography from blogging, then you’re going to have to do a little bit of photo marketing too… Stuff such as taking the time to let other folks know about your photo blog, posting comments on other related blogs, making comments in photo forums, and so on.

More often than not though, you’ll automate some of these processes to save you time. A really good example of hands-free, easy-automation is Jonathan Leger’s 3 way linking tool that’ll help to get your digital photography blog ranking highly in Google. But all in all, prepare to work at it for a good while before you start seeing results.

Once you understand that it does take work, you’ll know that to cultivate the regular visitors, you’ll need to keep posting on your blog, and continue the photo marketing side of things as much as the actual writing part.

You can also do things like drop a subscription form into your blog that invites your visitors to join your mailing list, or promote affiliate products through writing reviews or using banner advertising. When a website visitor clicks and buys one of these products you’ll earn a nice little commission.

The key to all this is staying committed to your project. To stay motivated, set goals for how often you will update your photo blog, and how many readers you want to attract, and then reward yourself for sticking to your plan. By mastering the basics, and taking action, you’ll be ahead of 99% of the market…

So, a digital photography blog does a few things well… It’s a creative ‘canvas’ for your ideas, a good way to ‘put you on the map,’ and a potential (and very cool) way to start making money in photography too!

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If you take a quick peek at their site (see link below) you’ll notice the black background works well – especially when presenting photography. By the way, they have an impressive little photo slideshow on their intro page too. One stunning image in particular stands out – look for the lone yellow tree bathed in it’s own magical light by David Beatson.

Click here for your SmugMug photo sharing FREE trial

In summary: You pay a yearly fee ($40 – works out to about $3-4 a month) and for that get unlimited photo storage and bandwidth, photo sharing and photo upload, great photo based galleries where you can sell your photo creations and photo calendars etc. There’s no advertising (ie. nothing to distract viewers away from your photos!) and you can take a free 14 day trial too, as a taster. (See link above).

Here’s what some other SmugMug users said:

“I have been using smugmug since they launched. They are hands down the best photo sharing site I have come across for those who care about their photos. Since they charge a fee, there is no advertising or gimmicks, just great display and organization of photos. They allow viewers to download the full file size so it is easy to do photo transfer. It is worth $40 for me to have solid photo storage and great UI.”

Things I love about Smugmug and why I chose it over other competing services:

• They allow you to try the service free for 14 days. You can try EVERY feature they offer without any restrictions
• Your photos are safe and secure. They keep 4 backup copies of each photo in 3 states so you’ll always have access to them
• You can lock galleries with passwords to keep them private
• Smugmug doesn’t send you SPAM and there are NO ADS on the site
• You can share your photos with friends & family without them having to register with Smugmug
• A+ customer service. It’s fast, friendly, and professional
• Basic account offers UNLIMITED storage
• Prints can be ordered right from Smugmug. No need to get them ordered with a different company
• Comments, tags, keywords, and compatibility with blogs and forums – very convenient!
• Video clips are allowed with a Power User account
• Very helpful and friendly forum called “Digital Grin” who can answer just about any photo related question you can think of
• The company is FAMILY OWNED and not run by some internet conglomerate like Yahoo or Kodak

NB. Hey, on that last point… I emailed one of the team from SmugMug and received a friendly reply within a day. I don’t know about you but I certainly felt a real ‘family type’ feel to this site (think ‘accessible’). Maybe you’ll pick that up too. SmugMug keeps it nice and simple… “We dream of an independent company devoted to nothing but your priceless photos.” Way to go guys.

Need unlimited photo storage and photo sharing? Try this…

“SmugMug, a family-run business that will celebrate its fifth year anniversary this Friday, says it has over 450,000 paying customers and makes over $10M in revenue per year. There are no free accounts on SmugMug; users must pay a minimum of $40 per year, but they have access to unlimited photo storage and photo sharing. The company has yet to take any outside money, and seeing how well things are going, probably won’t.”
Quotes and user comments thanks to Techcrunch:

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Image via Wikipedia

Just a quick post today as I have been one very SLACK bunny. For some weird reason it’s easy to get waylaid never mind the fact that it only takes about 10 minutes to post a blog comment!

So, let me update you on new projects.

The first is a complete redo of my Digital Photo Toolkit guide – I re-wrote the sales page basing it on a story about me being stuck at the Kumbh Mela festival in India, with a Pentax K1000 and not much else. That was a few years back now, but nevertheless still a memorable and adventurous week. See that selling photos online guide here.

I’ve also busied myself with writing articles. I encourage you to do the same if you have a website setup and/or an information product. Articles? What’s writing got to do with photography? Well… you’d be surprised!

A bunch of my recent articles have touched on digital photography tips, but with a slight twist. Check this out for a title… Digital Photography Tips – How to Raise and Train Your Camera! These articles DO bring interested visitors through to my blog, and it’s a great way to become an ‘expert’ in your field too…

You can see exactly what chaos I’ve been creating by checking out the photography tips articles here.

Enjoy…

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Image via Wikipedia

But for some of you, you’ll really get into how the camera works, depth of field, the best new lens, etc, etc…

I, on the other hand, ‘trained’ myself to look for situations that were suitable to shoot. I looked for the right times of the day, locations, objects and materials that were noticeable enough to take note of.

So this means I’m unable to give out photo tips…

But I CAN go for hours on how you can expand your ‘brand-of-one,’ super-charge your website or blog, create multiple information products from what YOU do…

And now, after inserting a huge and overwhelming dosage of Internet marketing into my blood, and carefully mixing that with the vision of a ‘portable’ digital photography business, it has come to be.

Well, almost anyway.

Anyways, no matters what I think, the whole point of all this is about you. Let me help you build up your portable empire, your passive income photo business, so that you are free to do what you darn well want to do, everyday…

The best way to start is by firing your questions at me…

Look for the little ‘comments’ link and click that… and ask away.

Whether you want to sell photos online, sell photos to Alaskans, get your own funky and terrific photo blog, do screen savers or slideshows, create podcasts, or whatever… It’s all DO-able…

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