Sticking Your Neck Out

Giraffe Looking For the Camp Fire by Jay Scott

First, let me apologize for the recent hiccups in images being displayed. 500px.com, the site where my photos are hosted, have been making some big changes including an even more attractive layout, flow of image display and a marketplace. Of course, that means outages and bugs in the short term. I have also noticed some images not loading, just the alternate text showing up. You can still click that text to be taken to the photo on 500px, but it's one more step in the reading process and interrupts the flow of my posts. Often a forced refresh (pressing Ctrl+F5) will resolve it.

I have not dug that deep into it yet but it may make it possible to automate print sales. I will see how their pricing is, the commission they will likely take, the print lab they use and product quality before I decide to activate it. The one reservation I have is the 150+ photos I uploaded that have a watermark on them. The market will not allow sales of watermarked photos and I wouldn't want to sell them. The watermark is to deter thieves, not penalize paying customers. I will decide if the time it will take, the cost of lost ratings and feedback and careful organization is worth it. Of course prints can still be ordered through me, knowing I have inspected your product before you receive it and that we are both supporting a local photo lab.

Speaking of supporting local business, I saw a tweet/Facebook post from Hot Racks Bakery a few days ago that despite a number of advertising and awareness initiatives on their part they could use another 30 or more customers to feel confident about making it as a business. They asked for marketing suggestions and referrals. That is sticking your neck out. But it is honest truth. It a world where businesses and corporations, even people, typically pretend everything is perfect until they are in way over their head, I respect their request for help. I have a mutually beneficial idea, but it needs further consideration before presenting it.

In the mean time, I'm going to try to buy something from them at least once a week and ask that if you're ever in the Stonebridge neighbourhood to give them a try.