This is a guest post by Iurie Vlasov, a Marketing professional at Vitriol Consult LLC specializing in SEO and Innovative web-marketing.

On August 23, the world of photographers was touched by a piece of news that created quite some buzz – a totally new and innovative proofing system was to be released in October – ProofPress. You may be wondering what is the point of another photo cart when there is a myriad of different other products for online proofing available out there. Read on and you will understand!

“Design is not just what it looks like and feels like. Design is how it works.” ~ Steve Jobs

The creators of ProofPress, two young dashing individuals from Florida with an extensive experience in web-development and who specialized for years in e-commerce systems have come with an idea to create something different for the photographer. There is nothing new when it comes to photo proofing systems, and most of them already out there are very similar in functionality, but different in quality and price. ProofPress on the other hand was created with the end user in mind. But there are two end-users to a photo cart system you will say. Indeed, there is the photographer on one end who has the task of managing the system and the customer on the other end. Many photographers today are just too busy to deal with all the “advanced” functionality their current photo proofing cart provides, and may give up on using one for the sake of saving time and use the old-school “on-the-phone” method to get their print orders from clients. So much for saving time.

Now back to those two guys in Florida. What they did is to have an idea that was revolutionary. Being developers and not photographers they got in touch with a few portrait and wedding photographers and spent time talking and understanding what their needs were and what is that they miss most in their current systems. After many hours and tens of pages of sketches and charts and mockups etc. they finally decided to give the modern photographer a system that would work directly out of their WordPress blogs. Not bad, because 85% of the photographers out there use WordPress for their photo blogs, because it's reliable, because it's easy to use, because it's safe, because it's constantly developing and updating, and yes because – Google loves WordPress.

Well, here we go, why not have a proofing system that will work as a plugin from your WordPress administration back end. No need to remember different passwords for different admin accounts, no need to have a multitude of admin urls to remember, but instead just one plain WordPress backend. And that is what ProofPress does, installs as a plugin in your WordPress and opens a whole new system in there. The guys jokingly call it, “a system inside a system.” But be aware that you need to have a self hosted blog on an actual domain that belongs to you and NOT one of those “johndoe.wordpress.com” blogs.

That is all good you will say, but what makes it so special? My answer is simple here, it will indeed offer what most of the systems out there do right now but will also be packed with other features:

a) Full front end customization, you as a photographer will be able to customize your proofing site by editing a multitude of options, like changing your logo, background, fonts, colors you name it… and the system will also be compatible with custom created templates. Now you will be able to apply your branding and design and have a unique photo cart.

b) Per client management. No more gallery grids. Each of your customers will be provided with his own client site where he will see only his galleries and information that you provide, including a text page which you can edit the way you want by adding a model release form, or maybe some what-to-wear information

c) A revolutionized way of managing collections (packages). ProofPress will offer the most flexible way of creating a collection. Managing print credit, discounts etc has never been easier and you know what, you can even let your clients create their own custom collections.

d) You will also be able to manage your financials and send invoices directly from your administration panel which gives you some basic accounting features and you will always know the state of your expenses and profits. A great feature for beginners who don't really need a bookkeeping system like Freshbooks etc.

These are some of the many features that ProofPress will offer. Stay tuned for the official press release the guys will publish in the beginning of October. Meanwhile you can contact them via email at info@proof-press.com and sign-up for a 30% discount at ProofPress.

The Front End:

The Back End:

Win on 10/10/10! ProofPress is generously offering ONE free license to a Tiffinbox subscriber. Here is how you may be able to win this WordPress plugin: First, Tweet the following: “I just learned about a very cool WordPress plugin called @ProofPress on @PicSeshu's Tiffinbox. #ProofPress Please RT!” Second, comment below and tell me WHY you deserve to win. Don't forget to mention your Twitter handle so that I can make sure you have done both. I need to see a minimum of 50 real, honest, entries before I can give this away on October 10, 2010. So whatchawaitinfor?

WINNER ANNOUNCED – Kate McKenna – from Medford, MA has won ONE license of ProofPress, the forthcoming WordPress Plugin. Follow her on Twitter. Congratulations Kate!

This is a guest post by Michael Rheaume, co-founder of SnapKnot.

SnapKnot is a website dedicated to helping engaged couples find the perfect wedding photographer. SnapKnot is photo-centric, showcasing the work of photographers such that a bride can compare and contrast style and quality side-by-side. Couples can select their location and budget range and browse through photographers who match their criteria.

SnapKnot is easy, fast, and fun to use, and free for interested couples to contact photographers they like.

SnapKnot was founded by Mike Rheaume and Reid Warner. We were freshman year roommates at Dartmouth College and have remained good friends since. Most people ask if we are photographers or have experience in the wedding industry – neither, in fact!

Reid was married in 2007, and he and his wife had a very frustrating experience trying to find a wedding photographer. They spent a lot of time and effort in their search, only to be disappointed time and again by photographers they liked who they later discovered had prices that were out of their budget. (Fortunately they ended up with a great photographer who they were very happy with: Jim Kennedy

Because of that largely frustrating experience, Reid felt that there was a better way for couples to start their search for a wedding photographer. This is how the SnapKnot idea started. Mike used to work for a small marketing firm, and was looking to use his knowledge and experience in a new venture. We jumped in with both feet from there!

We launched the site in February of 2010 and have experienced tremendous growth so far. We have just over 1200 photographers on the site worldwide. This makes the site a great resource for just about any couple planning a wedding in either the US or abroad.

Our primary focus over the last few months has been increasing our bridal-related traffic to the site, to get more potential clients to view photographers on the site. To this end we are engaged in a variety of strategies, including website SEO, online advertising, partnerships with bridal blogs/websites, and a particular emphasis on social media marketing through our presence on Facebook, Twitter, StumbleUpon and Flickr.

In fact, we have been pleasantly surprised by the number of photographers who range from active to *very* active in social media. Perhaps this is because of the largely independent nature of the business? We were immediately able to tap into an extended network of photographers, and in turn we are able to more easily promote new content such as new engagement shoots, weddings, special offers, and more to our own growing network of engaged couples. One of the benefits our Premium members receive is that SnapKnot acts as a marketing extension, effectively amplifying their brand's voice in the marketplace.

One of the benefits our Premium members receive is that SnapKnot acts as a marketing extension, effectively amplifying their brand's voice in the marketplace.

SnapKnot makes it easier for couples to find and contact photographers who match their criteria, and it's also quick and easy for photographers to create an account (5 minutes or less).

In addition to the online world of social media, we've also found that “old school” networking has worked wonders for us as well. Fresh out of the gate we made it to WPPI in Las Vegas this March, where we were fortunate enough to connect with some great people in the industry.

We met Becker of the [b] School, and recently appeared on his weekly Study Hall.

Mike was able to attend the Beantown Bride and Two Bright Lights event in Boston, in July.

Folks like Mark Stagi of Digital Photo Buzz, Chris Gampat of The Phoblographer, and the guys over at BridePOP have been very helpful and supportive as well.

We appreciate you all! It's a great industry to be working in.

We encourage any wedding photographers reading to at least create a Free account – test out the service and see how you like it.

For those interested in trying out the Premium version we are offering a special discount code for Tiffinbox readers: SESHU1 (only applies to new Premium accounts & upgrades; expires August 31, 2010). Use this code to receive 1/2 off your first month of Premium service for $24.95.

You can read about the details of Free vs. Premium features.

Please leave a comment below with any questions or general feedback, and also do not hesitate to email us: contact@snapknot.com

Duluth, Minnesota-based photographer Max Caven posted this quick guest blog about using his iPhone and the WordPress application to publish articles to his blog.

I just wrote this short tutorial so that you may post anything to WordPress (your blog) from your iPhone. It doesn't have to be just images, however.

1. Grab your iPhone and download the WordPress app from the Apple app store. It's FREE!

2. On your computer head over to your WordPress Admin console, and click the ‘Writing’ section under the ‘settings’ tab. Check the box next to “XML-RPC” to allow mobile publishing.

3. Open up your newly downloaded WordPress app, click the ‘+’ button to add a blog, and then input your credentials.

4. Hit the ‘Posts’ button on the bottom on the screen, hit the new post button on the top right of the screen and write your post!

5. When you’re all done and ready to post, change the status from ‘Local Draft’ to ‘Published’, hit ‘Save’ and you’re all done!

This is way too cool and I had to share right away.

Pixelpipe is a new service that allows you to send one image, tagged and captioned to multiple accounts at once, so that you don't have to manually upload to each of your accounts.

A huge time saver, right? Right. Go check it out and sign up.

[Via Photojojo]

Optimizing my wedding photography website for search engines has been a passion of mine. So much so that I sometimes dream about it. No jokes. I want to be on the first page of whatever search engine tickles you. Google. Yahoo! Or, the new Cuil. Being number one would be awesome, but I could settle for being on the first page, within the first six options please.

Recently I stumbled upon Washington, DC-based photographer Lara Swanson's blog. She also works at a firm full time dealing with the same SEO issues that have spurred on my REM cycles. Her article SEO for photographers was a God-send and I am already incorporating a few of the suggestions she makes there.

I went out on a limb and called her because she does offer limited number of free audits of photographer's sites. If you wanted her to actually implement the changes for you and optimize your site (why wouldn't you?), she does charge a nominal fee.

Whether you wanted to get a hold of her for a free audit or take your optimization to the next level, email her at lara@laraswansonphoto.com. Tell her I sent ya.

And, see you on page one too.