As summer draws to a close, we want to share five different tips, resources and tools that will help you get back to business for a strong finish to the 2011 calendar year.

In this newsletter you'll find new educational resources from some of the most trusted sources in the industry; tips from experienced photographers on how to promote your work and turn your persional passions into photographic success; four new featured photographers; PhotoShelter tools you can use to improve your business, and more.

- The PhotoShelter Team

Tip #1

Add New Revenue Streams By Selling Personal Use Licenses

Selling Personal Use licenses for your photos is a great way to give your clients more value and to make more money from your existing body of work. Since the files are delivered to your client online (there's no physical product to be created or sold), Personal Use licenses are both hassle-free and high margin.

Personal Use licenses are appropriate for images you'd like to sell to individual consumers for their personal use, which may include, using the image for at-home printing, screensaver slideshows, wedding announcements, online personal profiles, etc. A Personal Use license prohibits the buyer from using the image for anything but strictly personal or limited educational use.

Photographers Nico Morgan and Iain Weir are two PhotoShelter members seeing success with personal use licenses.

» Learn more

Tip #2

Pursue Your Passion

Sports photographer Ed Mulholland has been fascinated with boxing since childhood. In this video interview, PhotoShelter Co-Founder Grover Sanschagrin learned about Mulholland's work and how he used a life-long passion to find success as a photographer.

» Watch the video

Following your passion projects is easier with a little (or a lot) of help. In our recent business guide, Crowdfunding Your Photography Project, we asked eight experienced photographers about their successes and failures using community platforms like Kickstarter, Emphas.is, and IndieGoGo to raise funding and awareness for their passion projects. Hear what worked and what went wrong.

» Get the guide

Tip #3

Get The Word Out

Pet portrait photographer Carli Davidson inadvertently accomplished the marketing fantasy of photographers around the Internet. In the past few months, her gallery "Shake," featuring dogs and cats caught shaking off water, went viral, increasing her website traffic by an astonishing 37,000%. Find out how it happened and what you can learn from her experience.

» Read the article

Build a following for your work using the social media and marketing tools built into PhotoShelter - post photos to Facebook, tweet about your newest gallery, or instantly add photos to your blog using the PhotoShelter WordPress plugin.

» Learn how to send galleries to social media sites
» Get the PhotoShelter WordPress plugin

Tip #4

Stay Educated with These new Business Resources

Here are 3 new educational resources that will help you stay current on the latest industry trends:

• The American Association of Media Photographers has launched CameraCake.com, a new social bookmarking resource for photographers. CameraCake will help you keep up with the best resources for photographic technique, business, and everything else.
  » Visit CameraCake.com
• Develop technical skills and a sustainable business at Business Blitz, a series of workshops from the National Association of Press Photographers. PhotoShelter Co-Founders, Allen Murabayashi and Grover Sanschagrin will be leading workshops on SEO and photography websites in St. Louis on September, 29, in San Jose on October 7, and St. Petersburg on November 10.
  » Register online
• Industry veterans Stella Kramer, Julie Grahame and Allegra Wilde have launched In The Loupe, a new web tv show featuring photographer profiles, industry event coverage, and dialogue on the latest trends in professional photography.
  » Watch InTheLoupe

Tip #5

Improve your Products

Adding a new product or service can help you improve sales and gain a competitive edge by offering something both valuable and unique. It also gives you a great reason to get in touch with clients to remind them about your existing services.

You can offer local service and custom high-end products from dozens of professional labs using the PhotoShelter Print Vendor Network. Browse all 140 member labs by location, country, or product keyword.

We caught up with Jody MacDonald and Hagai Nativ, two PhotoShelter members, to learn more about how and why they're using the Print Vendor Network.

» Read the article

Community

The IPad2 Winner is...

Napa Valley wedding photographer Keith Simonian is the winner of our summer Refer-a-Friend contest. Congratuations Keith!

When you Refer-a-Friend, they'll receive up to $30 off PhotoShelter and you'll receive an account credit of up to $40. Account credits can be applied to your PhotoShelter subscription, additional storage, upgrades and more.

» Refer-a-Friend

Community

Friends of Anton Hammerl

Anton Hammerl was a freelance photojournalist who was covering the conflict in Libya when he was killed by Gaddafi loyalists. He leaves behind a wife and three children.

Family, friends and colleagues of Anton helped to construct a website, friendsofanton.org, with print contributions from notable photographers David Burnett, Kenneth Jarecke, João Silva, Bruno Stevens, Q. Sakamaki, Greg Marinovich, Andrew Testa, João Pina, Matt Black, Teun Voeten, Teru Kuwayama, Leonie Marinovich, and Jody MacDonald. Proceeds from the sale of these prints and donations will go directly to the Hammerl Family to help secure the future of Anton's three children, 11 year-old Aurora, 7 year-old Neo, and 6 month-old baby Hiro. We hope that you can consider purchasing a print to help his family.

» Buy a print or make a donation

Community

New Member Profiles

We're pleased to feature four outstanding members this month: Jimmy White, a talented nature photographer working both over land and under sea; Megan and James Horan, a dynamic husband and wife wedding photography team based in Dublin, Ireland; and Matt Brandon, the "Digital Trekker, whose stunning photography documents the humanitarian work of NGOs throughout asia.

» Learn more