Content Outsourcing

Photography outsourcing: Why you should go for it !

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Photographers, generally gets uneasy when they hear the word “outsourcing”. Noway you would want to ruin your concept of the image by letting anyone do the post production. I mean how could you be a photographer and outsource your work, is it even your work anymore? How can anyone else implement the vision you had while taking the shot? 

We think the concept to outsource photo editing is one that is very hard for most photographers to tell themselves that it is the right choice, but we’re here to tell you, that at a certain point in your career, it most certainly is the right choice.

If you’ve ever read the E-Myth (and if you haven’t go pick it up now!) it talks about how the death of a business is when the technician is always in control, that you need the manager and entrepreneur to play equal roles. When you, the photographer, spend all your time sitting at a computer editing your sessions, the technician is in control and consumes the time you could be doing management or entrepreneur work.

The time would be much better spent putting your face out in the public, booking more clients, shooting additional sessions, or collaborating with other members of your community. Your time has value, and there comes a point that you are actually holding your business back by doing that type of work. There will become a point when your time holds a much higher value than the cost of paying to have your edits done by somebody else, you will in fact be saving your business money!


So when is a good time to consider it?

  1.  You need to know your style.

    You need to have it nailed because if you’re going to be outsourcing that job, you need to be able to tell the company or person how to get the job done. And being able to describe your editing style is also something that you should feel comfortable doing and if you don’t know how to answer that, then take a step back and evaluate your work some.

  2. Have your SOOC pretty consistent and streamlined.

    This goes along with the above. But we do think it’s worth mentioning, that it has been our experience, that even when you feel pretty good about your SOOC shots, once you start to outsource, we can almost promise you that they will get even better, consistent if you will. It just kind of happens that way.

  3. Evaluate your time.

    This next piece is up to interpretation as each of our lives are filled very differently. But you need to evaluate how much of your time is consumed and if that’s at a level that you’re wanting it to be, maybe you’d like another hour per day to spend with your family. Have you run out of hours in your day? It’s time to asses when the number of sessions is

    a) consistent
    b) at a point where you have run out of time to ‘do-it-all.’

  4.  Maybe you don’t enjoy editing!

    Well this one may throw you off, but if you’ve got your style figured out and you’re rocking your SOOC; maybe you’re not a ‘professional’ maybe you’re shooting for YOU! But just like that other photographer, your time is precious and maybe, just maybe, you don’t enjoy the editing. Yes, I think even as a hobbyist, choosing to outsource is totally reasonable and ok!

    Now do you need all four steps checked off the list to decide to outsource? Absolutely not. We think 1 & 2 are essential to make the switch but then I think you either fall in category 3 or 4, not necessarily both.
    Outsourcing shouldn’t be a big scary word that you avoid, and it shouldn’t be something you take lightly either, but it is something that should make you happy. At the end of the day you should feel good about your choice, own it and start doing all those other things you could be doing with your time and business.

Top 7 Reasons Why Product Photos Need Editing For E-Commerce Stores

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We are living in an era of e-commerce now.  E-commerce business is growing rapidly.  The main reason is that if a customer want to buy something, she or he can choose the product in the comfort of their home.  They have the option to compare it with the other e-stores.  It is not mandatory now to look for a product walking or travelling from store to store.  When they find the product that matches to their necessity and taste, they can order the product online with just few clicks.

But how can they see the products?  Not an intelligent question, right?  The answer is simple, from the product images e-stores display.  Virtually every photo for commercial display need one or the other kind of editing.  Generally speaking, a bright, polished and crisp image catches our attention easily.

For e-commerce websites, to improve the product images using product photo editing techniques is really very important.

The top 7 reasons are –

1. Images Should Be Appropriate In Quality

Photo editing makes an image bright and appropriate for displaying on an e-store.  A product image may need various types of manipulations.  Most common requirements are changing unwanted background, Adding and/or removing objects, color corrections, exposure adjustment, neck joint or ghost mannequin effect for garment products to name a few.  Aside from the image manipulation techniques mentioned, there are numerous techniques and affects you can apply to your product image to make it stand brilliant in the crowd.

2. Visitors See Only The Images Of The Products

Visitors of an e-commerce store can only see the images of the products.  They cannot touch, test or try it like a physical outlet or showroom.  They take their buying decision seeing the pictures, price, and the short specification/description provided on the website.  If the picture is attractive customers go for the further details like price and specifications.  If they feel like they want the product, they places an order for that product

3.  It Is More Applicable For The Garment Products

 Shooting a proper garment product is a bit tricky.  A flat garment hanging on a hanger does not look so appealing.  If the garment is put on a mannequin and then shot, it gives a better look but the mannequin becomes distracting.  But if ghost mannequin or neck joint technique is applied the garment becomes prominent in the picture.  The prospective customer can get better view about the shape and look of the garment.  The label on the neck also becomes more clearly visible.  Ghost mannequin technique is also suitable and excellent for jewelry pictures.  Very often the jewelry pictures are taken after putting it on a jewelry holder mannequin or necklace holder mannequin.  Jewelries look better when there is no mannequin on the picture.  This effect can well be achieved by editing the picture with ghost mannequin/neck joint effect.  Even if the product is shown using a human model; some image improvements, retouching and manipulation is very often necessary.

4.  Visitors Skim Through Dull Images

As a customer we tend to overlook the dull images on the website.  Raw images can convey misconceptions.  A product may be useful and cost-effective, but because of the low quality image it may convey little impact to the buyer.   Even if the product is useful for the customer, there is a great chance that the buyer may skip the product.  On the contrary, we are inclined to stop when the image catches our eyes.  If the image is dull and dark the visitors tend to pass through those products quickly while browsing.  As a result, customers will not click on the product image, so the sale of that product will cease to increase, eventually the web store will be deprived of sell.

5.  Bad Images Will Lower The Impression Of The Web Store

Business is decreasing because of unimpressive images

If a web store contains a lot of low quality product images, ultimately, it may affect the impression of the website and it’s branding.  The competing e-commerce website with glittering pictures will gain more interest of the visitors.  As a result they will be popular than the website which contains lots of dull and gloomy pictures.  To increase the reputation and ranking an image quality assurance team should be there to decide if the product is publishable to the website.  Or, if some editing of the images is required.

6.  Fancy Products

To increase the sale of fancy products, photos of the stuffs should be eye-catching and tempting.  Buyers of decorative and fancy products focuses on the look of the product.  This is why it is important to showcase these types of products brightly, sharply and smartly.  For this kind of items, people tend to order which looks better and attracts them.  While buying fancy products people sometimes get impulsive.  To catch customers’ attention it is wise to display a luminous and attractive picture of the products.

7.  Ultimately Better Images Increase Sell

We all like to see clean, clear, bright and perfect images.  The same thing reflects in the case of product pictures of e-commerce websites.  Delightful images catch our attention and increases sell.  It is better to invest very little money on image editing and enhancement to increase the sell by thousands of units, than to let the product get unnoticed and have thousands of units remain unsold in the warehouse.  The main objective of e-commerce websites is to sell more products to increase the revenue.

If you are an e-commerce shop owner, you must need a large number of finely edited product photos. We have more than 30 years of experience in image editing services. We have been working with many world famous media, fashion and printing houses. We provide free trial offer, quality services and 24/7 customer support. For the best quality and experienced workmanship, please contact us.

Why Outsource Clipping Path Services?

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Clipping path is now an important service for all kinds of online based company that provides online promotional business like online shop, E-commerce business, design house etc. clipped images are also most useful things for e-commerce trades which have a group of product’s images to attract the probable customers. Clipped images are being used in Posters, flyers, brochure, websites, catalogs, magazines, newspaper, photo house, advertising and all different sector where images are used frequently. That’s why clipping path service is becoming very useful thing to Advertising agencies, e-commerce business provider, photographers, design house, publishing companies, affiliate marketer, graphic house and web developers.

Digital Agency:

In the digital agency, using of photo editing service is very high. A large amount of clipped images are used in advertising agencies, promotion agencies, marketing agencies, design agencies, social media agency, media planning agencies, branding or identity agencies and public relation agencies. Some of them are fully depended on photo editing techniques where clipped images are their raw material.

 E-Commerce Business:

This Types of Company needs clipping path service very effectively because all e-commerce business sites are fully online based. They outreach their information and products by internet. Product’s clipped images are being used in business to business communication, business to consumer communication, consumer to consumer relation, consumer to administration connection and others e-commerce businesses sector.

Online Shop:

Online shop is known as electronic retail service or e-shop service where consumers buy products or services directly from online sellers over the internet. E-shopping is the best alternative way to physically going in market. In online shop, shopkeepers sell their products to customers through product’s image with text. So all web stores and E-shops need clipping path service at widely. Generally Online Book Keeping Shop, Online Grocery Store, Online Bakery Shop, Online Delicatessen, Online Liquor Store, Online Drugstore, Online Hardware Store, Online Newsstand shop, Online Boutique house displays their product’s image on their web-shop.

Web Developer:

Clipped images are an important portion of any website. Maximum amount of e-commerce and online shop’s websites are filled with product’s image. Image processing service is most relevant sector with web development sector. Clipped images are used in website’s visual content, product or service part, alt tags, portfolio, blog page and other Purposes.

Printing House:

There are many printing house like Digital printing company, electrostatic printing house, flexography, gravure printing house, letterpress, offset lithography, thermography, screen printing and photo printing company needs clipping path service hardly. A large amount of clipped images are used printing sector frequently.

Photo Studios:

Photo Studios are involved with different types of photographers and photography house where clipping path service is used hugely. This sector needs large amount photos individually or corporate purpose which are processed by clipping path technique.

Design Studios:

Advertising design studio, in-design house, fashion design house, architecture design house, factory shape design house and other design studios are quite depended on clipping path service. Clipping path is the fundamental step for any kinds of composite design. It is also use in product design, interface design, visual design and engineering design sectors.

Publishing House:

Clipped photos are appropriate part for all publishing sectors like photo publishers, book publishing house, printing publishers, newspaper publisher and magazine publishing Company. Maximum numbers of publishing companies have photo editing sector where clipping photos technique is used as a large volume from others editing service.

There are no found any online based companies in the world where processed images are not used frequently. Processed images are most useful object for different online stages like online community, online media, online service provider companies and different social media sectors. Not only online purpose but also traditional marketing techniques need this service. There are some photo outsourcing company that provide image manipulation service like clipping path, photo retouching and color correction services to individual clients. So all the outsourcing company is fully depend on this service who outsource clipping path service mainly.

 

Why Your Company Should Consider Outsourcing Content Creation

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Outsourcing content to the experts at an agency that specializes in exactly what you’re looking for has some major benefits:

1. You can scale your efforts quickly and in bursts.

When you build an internal content team, you risk being forced to hire quickly when it’s time to scale up your efforts or make major layoffs when you want to scale down. But if you’ve outsourced your content to a trustworthy agency, your ability to scale is limited only by budget, not your team’s time or personnel resources. And for a fast-growing startup, this ability is helpful.

2. Custom technology can empower your team.

Hiring an agency focused on effective, collaborative content creation and management means you can gain access to that agency’s tools rather than use general software that doesn’t meet your specific needs or build your own tech, which requires significant time, talent and financial investment.

For example, Influence & Co.’s clients have access to CORE, our proprietary content technology, that allows them to access their content, view their content’s analytics and even showcase their published content on their public profile, which makes the entire process easier, more enjoyable and more transparent.

3. You can save time and money.

No matter how much confidence you have in your marketing team, if it’s already focused on executing 10 other marketing initiatives, content creation, management and distribution won’t be as timely, as high-quality or as efficient as an outsourced firm that specializes in content marketing. If you’re in a time crunch, consider using a knowledge management template to streamline your content creation efforts.

Now that you understand a few key benefits of outsourcing content, it’s important to really think through what type of agency relationship you’re looking for. Here are three kinds of agency relationships to help you decide what you need to make outsourced content marketing work for your team:

The curator

Content curators collect, organize and deliver published content that’s relevant to you or your audience to help you grow a following. They’ll usually deliver content for your social platforms, blog and email newsletter on a weekly or monthly basis. Normally, this is content that’s been published before in online publications and may be tweaked a bit to fit your branding, but it’s not unique to you, exclusive to you or bylined by you.

The implementer

Implementers take your documented strategy and execute the content creation. It’ll normally be a network of freelance writers who turn around articles based on your parameters, such as cost, quality and time. This is a good option for companies looking to churn out high quantities of average-quality content very quickly.

The partner

Content marketing partners handle everything from strategy development to content creation, editing, publishing, distribution and analytics, and they act as true partners in your team’s marketing efforts. Partner agencies often assign teams of account managers, content strategists, writers and editors to work with you to understand your company, your audience and your goals and to create content in collaboration with you.

While I’m biased toward a partnership firm as the best kind of outsourced agency relationship (as my team and I built Influence & Co. to act as a content partner), only you and your team know what type of relationship meets your needs.

Outsourcing your content means you understand your team’s limitations and want to be confident that your content marketing is as high-quality and effective as possible. And delegating it to the experts at an outsourced content marketing agency can achieve just that.

Outsourcing for Positive Results

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Simply defined, outsourcing occurs when a company, government agency, or organization contracts an outside vendor to perform a service. This service can be outsourced from its inception or transferred from an in-house operation. When considering outsourcing an area of fleet operations, a fleet manager’s most important step is determining the reasons for such a step. Are the reasons positive or negative? Examples of

Outsourcing solely to reduce head count is a negative reason. Even when implementing outsourcing for positive reasons, the perception of possible job loss among fleet employees is a negative. Emphasizing the positive aspects of outsourcing throughout the project is critically important to the entire operation. When contemplating outsourcing a particular fleet function, clearly define the objectives. Outline the function or service. Will it be totally or partially outsourced? Whatever the function is, never give up total control. View outsourcing as a partnership venture. Consider several important factors in outsourcing: the total cost involved, transaction time, interruption of service, training, and interim operation. Fully evaluate the in-house costs versus outsourcing the function. Such an evaluation requires good, concise data on in-house operation of the function or service. Developing an actual worksheet will help the evaluation process.

Consider Non-Core Functions

When assessing functions to be outsourced, consider only non-core functions. Never outsource such core function as key customer relations and interactions, policy and procedure strategy, or financial strategy. Cost reduction should never be the sole objective since outsourcing simply to reduce expenses can lead to performance decreases. Overall performance should be the motivating factor. Determine realistic expectations that result in true benefits in outsourcing functions. Decide how your organization will measure results, level of service, true costs, and projected savings versus hidden costs.

Carefully Craft RFPs

Once the function or service has been clearly identified and the decision to pursue outsourcing made, the request for proposal (RFP) must be carefully written. Outline the specifics under which this function will be outsourced. Maintain control of the criteria development process. Inform prospective vendors of your organization’s structure, its operations, limitations, restrictions, and internal and sub-structures. Identify objectives and scope. Provide information that will help vendors meet your needs. For the most positive results in outsourcing, it is critical to become familiar with potential vendors. Visit facilities for a first-hand view of their operations. Contact references and past or present vendor clients. Develop a standard questionnaire to query all references, a tool that will help in the evaluation process. Interview all involved: vendor company management and contact personnel, potential workers, and location staff. Develop performance criteria, using a comprehensive point system to evaluate RFPs. Clearly define service expectations. Investigate proposed vender company histories, financial stability, operations, problem resolution and solution procedures, and industry reputation. Try to predict potential problems and determine the people and process for dealing with them. The ability to negotiate is critical to the success of outsourcing. Build into the contract or delivery of services a method to accommodate mutually beneficial changes.

Review Cost/Payment Structure

Study the cost and payment structure closely. Look for hidden costs. Calculate projected savings based on realistic expectations. Confirm that the defined quality control measures are clearly understood by all parties. Incorporate checks and balances and include sufficient monitoring processes. Create graphs, charts, or other tangible methods to compare in-house performance to the vendor’s proposals. Use the criteria that prompted a consideration of outsourcing the function, employing realistic projections and analogies. Develop an on-going evaluation process to assess performance. Once the selection has been made, keep the implementation process positive. Develop a strategy and a paper trail of all transactions and any changes to documentation or adjustments to the contract. Ensure that a good clear audit of all transactions is developed before implementation is in place. In the transition to outsourcing, develop step-by-step increments for a smooth changeover. Include a timetable, assigned responsibilities, and a method to measure and evaluate progress. A big factor in successful outsourcing is “buy-in” from staff, top management, customers, staffed personnel, and all vested parties. Ensure that you have final approval in the selection of all vendor personnel who will work with you. Disseminate information clearly and often. In both written and verbal communications, be careful to avoid misconceptions. Develop written procedures and review them with your staff and the vendor. Develop standardized forms as part of the written procedures. Plan for any eventuality, and develop a back-up contingency plan. In some cases, conducting a parallel test is advisable. Have alternatives in place. Know whom to contact if problems occur. Develop a “back-track” process should the venture simply not work out.

Greenwich Provides Example

The Town of Greenwich, Conn., provides an example of successful outsourcing. The fleet operation outsourced its parts room function. The idea met positive criteria and the parts room is a non-core function. We had clear expectations: labor hours saved and maximizing resources. The outcome was positive. More labor hours were shifted to core fleet functions and service improved. Fleet staff no longer had to chase parts, track or maintain costly inventory, handle storage issues, or process stock orders. We were able to establish a true partnership with the vendor, with mutual flexibility to make changes. A clearly defined pay structure, with audits and crosschecks, kept everything easily accountable. With careful planning and implementation, outsourcing non-core fleet functions can positively impact the entire operation. You can be part of making the change – or be left behind.