Zenfolio

What do you like best?

Their site/portfolio designs are lovely. Very elegant, simple and professional. Nothing about this site says “cheap”, yet they really are pretty affordable. Their Starter plan is only $5 per month, and offers enough to work with (for now) but they do create a need to upgrade. The second plan up (Pro) makes it MUCH easier to interact with my clients. I don't proof, but with Pro I can sell digital downloads right from my site. I'd love to be able to do this with my macro florals. This would be a second marketplace for me next to Etsy. It almost feels like the Starter is a personal portfolio only. That's all I have right now, because that is all I can afford, but to efficiently run my business through Zenfolio, I'd need Pro. I'm still using Dropbox to share digital files. Pro also has a ton of customizable marketing tools. I'm missing out on plenty with Starter, when for $7 more per month I could have the world at my fingertips. I'll upgrade when I can afford it. I'm impressed with Zenfolio. They honestly have everything a photographer could need to succeed.

What do you dislike?

I like, and don't like the way they handle photo albums. They sort of take over and work with my client “on my behalf” then I make “a commission”. Why would I be okay with only making a commission on my own work? I'd rather do albums elsewhere. There are so many places online that will allow me to drag and drop images into album pages. I can charge whatever I'd like to for an album without another company interfering. On the other hand, I can see how this service might be useful to a different photographer. A photographer who isn't me. Sometimes things are a little confusing as far as navigation. More than once, I've found myself in situations where I felt like I needed to do something super simple, but could not figure out how to do it. I'm rather tech savvy. I usually find my way around quite easily. Other than these issues, I like Zenfolio very much. It's a “full-service site” so-to-speak.

What problems are you solving with the product? What benefits have you realized?

Zenfolio is a nice “hub”. I can organize my work in an attractive way, and yes share it, but its ORGANIZED. Rather than all my best sets being in folders, I can see everything, and I can use it. After shooting for over 20 years, it's easy to forget what I have? Also like that I'm not dealing with renewing a domain. I had a beautiful site at one point, and loved it, but then when I wasn't able to pay the steep new price to renew, I had a bunch of business cards out there with the address to a parked page. Ugh.This is really working well for me right now. A great alternative.