360Photography

A huge thank you to everyone who entered our recent contest to win one of five prize packs from Defrozo.

The response was great with numerous valuable suggestions left for the Defrozo team in the comments. The Defrozo founder, Demetrio Fortman, even decided to add a bonus offer for ALL of the Digital Photography School readers (details below).

And now to the winners. . .

Below a list of the five winners, their comment, and a note from the Defrozo team to each of them:

Winner #1 – bv

“At 51, my initial foray into a more serious version of my photography as me a top 20% popular photographer on ViewBug, a Facebook page with 2K+ fans, and the ability to sell and donate a couple of items.

I need something serious that elevates my game to a viable new level. I would love to see a one-stop command center that unifies everything a photographer may be doing. Uploading photos to multiple sites, contact with friends lists and email contacts with newsletters/messages featuring my contact information, it would be awesome to tie-in to invoice program, calendar, run contests, Somebody needs to step up and create a Photography Business Mothership! Are you that company?”

Note from Defrozo: Photography Business Mothership? We couldn’t say it better. We look forward to creating one together with you.

Winner #2 – Domien De Clercq

“I do however have some questions before making any decisions.
Will there be a plugin with lightroom to ease exports? With inclusion of metadata such as tags?
Will the images be uploaded in raw or jpg?
Will the images be protected with a watermark?
Will there be a separate image bank (not all pictures go on your website) to which clients can search and purchase images?
Will the processing of different image resolutions happen on the server side or client side?
How is the pricing, commission and rights handled? Do the images stay property of the photographer or is it like Facebook and they become property of the site via some loophole?
If an image is sold for 6 months, will it automatically reappear in the stocklist after the contract is completed?
If you upload images to the site, can you mark them as sold (images taken for a paid shoot) for a given time so they appear in the stock after this time without us having to worry about this?

I could go on but these are the main questions for now.”

Note from Defrozo: Domien, this is just the beginning for both of us, we look forward to making Defrozo your best companion as your grow your business.

Winner #3 – MelissaL

“I am at a point in my life ready to switch careers, and make the scary leap from photo enthusiast to professional. Defrozo looks like it might make my venture a little less intimidating, since I really have no business background, and want to hit the ground running. I would like a way to optimize my name and future website to be at the top of search lists for people looking for a photographer in my area, with easy and fast downloading of my work, and I want a beautiful aesthetic quality to my site. A critical element is also making sure my clients can see the products and framing they will purchase in detail, and having easy, safe, and robust payment options at their fingertips. I am excited to learn more, and also find out if the pricing listed is per year or month, beyond the free site, and what bonuses are included. Storage is such a key part of online photos, that I would want to be sure that I have enough spade for high res files and that the images can be password protected for the privacy of my clients. I am excited to find Defrozo and learn all about it. By the way, what’s with the name “Defrozo” anyway?”

Note from Defrozo: Melissa, hopefully, we’ll make this leap towards your professional photography career together!

Winner #4 – Andrew F

“Defrozo looks like it could have a lot of potential. As a professional photographer it is important to keep all your client interactions in one place. Otherwise you waste a lot of time trying to manage a mess of relationships. I am currently using ShootQ and ShootProof as my CRM and Gallery. Here is what I would like to see in the full version of Defrozo:

1) Fully interactive CRM with:
• Lead management – follow up reminders (with alerts sent right to your phone), lead workflows with auto emails and tasks, appointment requesting, calendar sync (with google AND iCal), & relationship management/group marketing
• Online booking – online contracts and auto invoicing, proposal and estimates, image usage options for business and corporate clients, auto emails, client portal for payments and shoot progress
• Client management – Shoot workflows, auto emails, invoice reminders, email templates, etc.
• Email marketing capabilities to specific groups or client types
• Easily understandable interface

2) Online gallery with:
• intuitive yet easily understood interface
• client collaboration
• easy to download images – setting a limit on # of image downloads, allowing download of web and full res files.
• auto emails and templates
• ability to show photographer’s favorite images
• Print fulfillment through partner labs
• Image archiving/ cloud storage

3) Interactive client or event websites

4) Everything must be mobile friendly and easily accessible

I don’t have much use for the website site of things, as I would imagine most photographers don’t. There are plenty of affordable options out there on that spectrum.

I would use this in my everyday workflow. I’m sure there are a ton more options you could add down the line, but I think these are the main ones to get people to switch over to your product.”

Note from Defrozo: Andrew, your comment was a goldmine of valuable suggestions. We hope one day not so far in the future we’ll become your ultimate tool for managing your business.

Winner #5 – Emily M

“I have been venturing into photography for the last year now, an enthusiast who wants to turn a hobby into a successful business. I have a two year plan of which I am in year one, one of the goals for this year was to start up a blog as I build my portfolio; Unfortunately starting up a blog from scratch for a newbie is kind of complicated from the loads of research I have done. Defrozo seems to be an awesome way to go; especially being a marketing platform tailored for photographers. Marketing has never been easy but with the right tools you can get your product right onto the doorstep of prospective customers. Defrozo’s setup is very chic and professional. I honestly think that Defrozo is the partner I need to transition from my day job to a fully fledged photographer.”

Note from Defrozo: Emily, with a clear game plan and goals, you’re on the right track to becoming a successful photographer. We look forward to walking this route together with you!

Winners will be emailed with details of how to collect their prize by the team at Defrozo.

A message from Defrozo and a special bonus

We’re excited to receive so many great entries on this contest. Your feedback and suggestions help us create truly useful software for enthusiast and pro photographers, so thank you for all the valuable tips you sent us via comments!

If you were not lucky enough to win, don’t be upset. Here’s our extra bonus for ALL Digital Photography School readers:

50% OFF our most popular Kickstarter reward ($ 50 value)

To receive your special discount, pledge $ 50 toward the Defrozo Kickstarter campaign by April 17th. Leave your Kickstarter username in the comments below this post, and we will immediately DOUBLE your reward to the $ 100 level. You get our juiciest pack of goodies with 50% off – an opportunity that will never repeat again.

Thanks again for all the awesome entries,

The Defrozo Team

Thanks again to everyone for entering and to Defrozo for sponsoring this competition. Don’t forget to sign up for your free Defrozo membership and contribute to creating the ultimate photography business platform.

The post Winners of the Defrozo Contest Plus a Bonus for All dPS Readers by Darlene Hildebrandt appeared first on Digital Photography School.

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