It could be called MurphyZ Law. You know, the one where good things happen, just because.
I had a four day weekend coming up when I read on Murphyz blog that some new top level domains (TLDs) had been released, including one of personal interest, dot-photography. A quick investigation revealed that none of my regular domain registrars (Dotster, PairNic) were handling registrations for the new domains. The one I did find was a company I’d prefer not to use, so, dreams unfulfilled, I went on with my day last Thursday.
That evening I started doing some more research and found a registrar with a good reputation that handled the .photograpy domain. I set up an account at namecheap and began pondering just exactly what domain I wanted to use, and how I might use it.
I considered a few different choices for names and then inspiration moved me brightly! A quick search revealed that no one was using what I thought was an obvious name given our location and soon the smokyvalley.photography domain was registered, and Smoky Valley Photography was conceived as a business.
For years I’ve both considered selling my images and have been encouraged to start selling them, but other than some half hearted attempts, had not made any real progress towards that goal.
Now, 4 days after learning about the availability of .photography domains, Smoky Valley Photography is ready and open for business. Click the link and order your first print today!
To get to this point took a few steps. Nothing like a busman’s holiday for this long weekend. (Who am I kidding? I love this stuff!)
I confirmed zoning and business license compliance with the city.
I obtained a Kansas Retailers’ Sales Tax Registration Certificate; for a sole proprietor, no registration of the business is required beyond being able to collect and pay taxes.
Now I had my paperwork in order and a domain that I was ready to use. Hmm, what to do?
Point it to one of my pair.com sites and try to sell via a blog?
No. I decided what I really needed was a one-stop fulfillment solution. A place where images could be viewed, selected, commented on, shared and purchased. Somewhere that would handle payments, printing and shipping.
Yes, such solutions cost more than doing everything myself, but I already have a full time job, have no picture-framing skills, don’t want to be personally responsible for handling credit card transactions, so on and so on.
So, I turned to a site I’ve used in the past, SmugMug. That’s where you’ll find Smoky Valley Photography and where you can view, select and purchase prints of some of my favorite images.
Of course, this being the 21st century, one doesn’t stop with a simple (or even not so simple) web site. Oh no. So I’ve set up a wide range of social media accounts to support Smoky Valley Photography. They include:
- Smoky Valley Photography on Facebook (drop by and like our page !)
- Smoky Valley Photography on Twitter (follow me for updates from Smoky Valley Photography)
- Smoky Valley Photography on Flickr
- Smoky Valley Photography on Tumblr
- coming soon(maybe), Google Plus
So I encourage you to head over to Smoky Valley Photography and order your first print today! And because I prefer posts with images, here are 3 of the first shots I uploaded to the new site. Enjoy 🙂
Windmill at sunset, southeast of Lindsborg. Click image to purchase.
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Snow at sunset, southwest of Lindsborg. Click image to purchase.
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Red Barn Studio, Lindsborg. Click image to purchase.
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