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Family Photo Projects

I’m always looking for ways to rationalize my photo hobby expenses, and I believe that I have found at least one great use for my favorite photographs.

In my business we began a marketing campaign last year.  We purchased a mailing list of businesses in our area, and for one year we have been sending postcards to advertise our services to the list each month.  We’ve been using my photographs on the front of postcards.  We’ve had some success attracting interest by using interesting pictures, taken during my travels around the world.

And people remember the photos - I’ve been to clients where every postcard I’ve sent is hanging in the recipient’s cube.

• A strong photograph that works well in a 4x6 inch postcard format, in a digital format (scanned or from a digital camera).

• A computer with Internet connection.

• Photo editing software, I use Adobe’s Photoshop 7.0, but  most any photo editing program will do.

The first step is the hardest – choosing a picture that you’ll commit to the front of the postcard for all to see.  Strong, attention-getting photographs often work the best, especially if your goal is to compel the recipient to turn the card over to see what’s on the back. Another consideration is the size of the photo.  Postcards are typically 4 inches by 6 inches so you need to choose a photo that can be sized to those dimensions and retain good composition.

Many photo printing paper manufacturers like Epson make postcards that you can run through your favorite photo printer.  This is very straightforward, similar to printing a photo. Just pay attention to the type of paper (glossy, matte, etc.) that the postcard is made of. This will work for limited quantities of your card, but can quickly become a chore to print if you do very many.
 
If you’re really happy with your postcard there are numerous printing services that will create various quantities for reasonable prices – expect to pay about $150 (plus shipping) for 1,000 full color postcards with blank backs.

The following websites have full information and pricing on their postcard printing services

• www.psprint.com/ (will print as few as 250 cards for about $60)

• www.printingforless.com

• www.gotprint.com

• www.modernpostcard.com  (offers reduced prices on reprint orders)

It’s important to choose a service before you get too carried away – each offers slightly different ways working and requires different things from you… For example, Modern Postcard requires that your photo be at 355 dpi resolution, while the others ask for 300 dpi.  Modern’s standard image size is 4.375 inches by 6.125 inches whereas gotprint.com asks for 4 inches by 6 inches. Each of the sites listed above have full information on how to submit a file for printing.

You may need to send your files in a special format called ‘CMYK’ – this is a set of color specifications used by the big printers – your files will almost always be in ‘RGB’ color format.  In many photo editing programs this is an easy change to make. In Photoshop the action is Image > Mode > CMYK Color

I have ordered the postcards from www.gotprint.com and www.modernpostcard.com with great success.  I usually order 1,000 postcards per order.

I order my cards with blank backs, and use Microsoft Word to mail-merge the addresses on my mailing lists with text.  This takes a while to print on my inkjet (I’ve successfully used an Epson 1270 and a Canon i850).  The blank backs give me a lot of flexibility in using the cards - I can order them in advance before I even know what I want to say.

Photo postcards are useful for several purposes – I have used them as:

• Marketing pieces

• Photo Business cards (I put my photo ‘bio’ on the back)

• Thank you or note cards

• Invitations

• And, they sound great slapping against the spokes of your bicycle

Even if you aren't in a business situation where you can make use of the cards, there are people around you that could; try teaming up with someone like your dentist or veterinarian - who sends out appointment reminder cards.  Nearly every business could use a cool picture to send ‘front’ for their message.

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	your photographs are gorgeous. can't believe you don't SELL them. Posted by: megan Apr 25, 2008 @ 11:21 PM EST
	Hello! I was looking at websites under the keyword "digital postcard printing" and came across your takegreatpictures.com. I see that you're ranked 183 on page 19 in Google. I'm not sure if you're aware of why you're ranked this low but more importantly how easily correctable this is. There's no reason you can't have a top three ranking for this keyword based on your site structure and content. You have a very nice site. You need significantly more one way anchor text backlinks. If you're interested I can help you with this... I'm talking about getting you ranked for ALL your keywords. Adding new backlinks on a steady and consistent basis from high PR quality websites is what produces the rankings you are looking for. The right kind of links are very critical in getting top ranking....and I can hand deliver these quality links to you. My partners and I own 1000's websites and offer private linking to hundreds of website owners just like yourself. I didn't send this email out to thousands of people but I am currently reaching out to a list of your "keyword competitors"as well. But you're my favorite and you are the one I really favor and the one I see can monetize the targeted website traffic this can deliver. I have a very simple way to prove that what I do works where I remove all the risk for you....... NOTHING beats seeing the results with your own eyes. Also, I only work with one client per market, so if I don't work with you, it more than likely will be with one of your competitors. I am VERY good at what I do and am willing to prove it. The bottom line: WE CREATE TRAFFIC and TRAFFIC = CUSTOMERS. Sincerely, Andrew Wroblewski 315-926-5034 P.S - If the tables were turned and somebody I didn't know came to me with a proposition, even one that was appealing, I would be hesitant because I would be wondering - what's the catch? What does this guy know that I don't. Posted by: Andrew Wroblewski Jul 14, 2008 @ 9:33 PM EST

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