Even though I have an ‘About‘ Page I reckon there would be a fair few people who have never bothered to look at it and so they wouldn’t know that apart from some other blogs I also have two photo blogs, Scenic Adelaide and Photo2Blog as well as  Top Sexual Aids blog which is just starting to pick up steam. This post has nothing to do with SEX, I just thought I would give it a little plug, and all to do with the right things to do with a photo blog.

I’ve seen a fair few photo blogs that have some fantastic photos but very little traffic and there is a very good reason for this. All the blogger has done is paste the photo with little or no dialogue to support it. One thing you have to remember is that the Googlebots don’t have an eye for photos at all, so unless you write something about the photo they’re never going to find it.

Let’s take the following example;

It’s a nice enough photo but those damn Googlebots aren’t going to pick it up at all so it will never get indexed unless you write something about it. Googlebots aside you really should give your visitors some information about the photo as they more than likely want to know something about it.

That particular waterfall is known as First Falls and it can be found at Waterfall Gully which is a suburb of Burnside. The falls itself is part of the Cleland Conservation Park and is about 15-20 mins from where I live.

It really is a lovely spot, one where you can take long walks along the tracks or even stop in for a bite to eat at the Waterfall Gully Restaurant which is only metres away from the falls itself.

Unfortunately it’s not open all the time. Last I looked it’s open Thursday to Monday 11.00am – 5.30pm and Friday evenings but bookings on that night is essential.

Of the two Photo Blogs Scenic Adelaide gets a hell of a lot more search engine traffic and that’s probably because the subject matter involves places of interests rather than photos of flowers and stuff. As can be seen from Cool Blog Links it rates in the top 10 blogs.

Speaking of Cool Blog Links, Google has seen fit to give it a PR3 on the last PR update so if your the kind who’s interested in increasing your PR you may even consider joining and get some of that link juice.

Sorry about that, I got a little sidetracked with some self promotion Let’s get back to the photos shall we. I know that there are some of you who are thinking that you’re wrotten photographers, well guess what, so am I. The thing is today’s digital point and shoot cameras are so good it’s not all that hard to take a good photo. That and the fact that you can take virtually hundreds of photos using different angles and perspectives means that your bound to get a few really good shots.

The fact that you can post it straight onto you blog means that there aren’t any development costs. Another thing to remember is that every photo can be a story unto itself and so they can make great filler posts when you’re stuck for something to write.

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We used to have a Cavalier King Charles Spaniel and her name was Leisha. She was a beautiful dog with the best temperament and the family loved her. Unfortunately when she was about ten years old she developed cancer and we had to put her to sleep.

After Leisha I didn’t really want another dog, but once my daughter got over her grief she begged for another pet and so we acquired Zak. Zak was completely different from Leisha, where Leisha was a pure breed Zak was half Maltese and half Shitzu. Where Leisha was calm and love-able Zak had a bit of a temperament, but my daughter loved him all the same.

The thing with Zak was he was adorable when he as in a good mood, but your wouldn’t want to get him angry, because you just wouldn’t like him if you made him mad. You see if you piss Zak off he would turn from a love-able dog into Zak The K-9 Hulk!

Just kidding he’s adorable no matter what. He got this way by rolling around in the wet grass after I mowed the lawn. This was what he looked like after he saw his reflection in the mirror, before that he looked like this.

I was reading Brian’s post on Zero To Three In 90 Days – Thanks Flickr!, but the thing that interested me wasn’t his miraculous PR jump from ‘Zero to Three’. Nope, the thing that interested me was the mention of the term watermark. Watermarks never used to bother me before because I hosted my photos on Photrade and they automatically placed a watermark on all my photos. The problem was that the site has been acting up and many of my photos were no longer showing up on my photo blogs. Naturally that was unacceptable.

I thought about going back to Flickr but I would only do that if I could protect my photos by placing a watermark them. I questioned Brian about that and he put me onto GIMP, he even graciously provided a video on how to use it to place a watermark on my photos. Thanks Brian, but I found that the whole procedure involved to much fart arsing around and I wanted something simpler.

I ended up buying WinWatermark which I found to be exceptional. I didn’t even bother with the free trial version. It also had the extra benefit of saving the photo at a lower resolution of choice which I reckon is great. That way if someone wanted to buy the high quality version they would have to ask me for it.
The photo below shows the watermark at the bottom of the photo. Notice the web address at the bottom. That way if someone uses the photo on a blog or website or something, and forgets to link to it the address is still displayed on the photo itself. Got that idea from Brian.

Another tip I got from Brian was entering the following into the description of each photo.

You may use this photo for your website or blog as long as the watermark remains visible. You are also required to link to Wassup Blog with due photo credit.

The software allows me to past it anywhere on the photo. I can even tile and rotate it so that I get the following effect.

Notice how I even changed the color of the watermark. Everything is so easy with this program. I can put the watermark on a single photo or I can place it on every photo in any folder.

I’ve even listed this program in my Top Software Online Store and you may want to visit it if you are interested in more than just protecting your digital photographs.

I have always wanted and decent online store but have never really had the time to start one up. The reason for having an online store is that if you set one up and market it properly you are almost guaranteed a passive income. The difference with putting a link on your blog advertising a product and having that same product advertised on your store is that the chances for a sale is greater at your store than on your blog. The reason being that people who are browsing your store are potential buyers where those reading your blogs are just browsing through.

Today I’ve finally realized my dream because I’ve just found out that RegNow has now got an Affiliate Site Builder Tool! This tool allows the affiliate to create a search-friendly affiliate site populated with up to thousands of RegNow products quickly and easily. It was so easy that I was able to setup my store in no time. All I had to do was select my template and then customize it with my logo. I then used their simple drag and drop system to install the content widgets of my choice. Once I was happy with the way the store looked I just downloaded the files to my computer and then uploaded it to Top Software Online, my new online shop.

At the moment the shop is fairly basic and I have a bit of work to do with it when I get the chance. Even though I’ve only got three pages that I’ve configured, including a section for bloggers, the standard set up has already got hundreds of products ready for online sale. I have complete control over what product I sell and the knowledge that my margin from sales can be as high as 70% is a pretty good feeling. I was even able to add Google Adsense to it and later I will use it to promote other affiliates.

The next step is to market it and I reckon I will use the normal methods that I have used to promote my blogs. I think it is also time that I start getting stuck into my Squidoo Lenses, something that I have been meaning to do for a long time now but have been too slack to do anything about it. I remember that John Dillbeck wrote a post on Promoting a CafePress Store On Squidoo, so I feel that would make a good start. It’s times like these when I wish I didn’t already have a full time job so that I can devote all my time on several online enterprises.

The good thing about being a blogger is that not only can you share your experiences with others you can also share theirs. This is all possible through interaction with those who visit your blog and by visiting the blogs of others. I believe that interaction through commenting is the key to a successful blog which is why a lot of my posts are dedicated to different facets of commenting.

Blogging is also a great way to discover new things which brings me to the crux of this post. In South Australia we have a phenomena known as the Whispering Wall which is a great little stopover when visiting the Barossa Valley, our premier wine region.

Work on the dam commenced in 1899 and was completed in 1903. The design was so new it even made the Yanks sit up and take notice. At a height of 36 meters and length of 144 meters it was remarkable for the time, but although the wall offers great views of the Barossa Reservoir and surrounding area that is not what makes it one of the most visited attraction in South Australia.

What makes The Whispering Wall so popular is its unique acoustic effects that allow you to whisper at one end, and have your friend hear your whisper 144 meters away. If you were to continue the dam it would form a perfect circle and it’s the perfect curve of the dam wall that bounces the sound waves, along the wall.

I believe that other phenomena exists in other parts of the world and I am asking you, my readers to enlighten me as to what they are and where they can be found. Perhaps, if you are a blogger, you may want to do a post about it and link back to this post. I will then add a link to your post within this post.

Just to finish off, a little poem that I put together.

The Whispering Wall
Stands strong and firm
For many years its waters held
Many a word it has heard

A lover’s promise
A villain’s curse
A child’s laughter
A bully’s boast

Yet careful you must be
What one end says
The other end hears
No secret does it hold dear

Follow this link if you would like to learn more about the Whispering Wall.