If you are just starting out with us or you are not yet familiar with the business solutions we offer photographers, knowing what the first steps with Arcadina are like will help you to have a much clearer vision of how far you can take your digital photography business.

There are so many options that we offer you at the moment that we thought it would be very interesting to develop a guide for photographers with the first steps with Arcadina so that you can easily set up your own online photography business.

Because, in case you didn’t know, with us you will be able to: create a professional photography website, offer your clients a private area where they will be able to manage their images, sell digital and printed photographs in your online shop, offer your clients the possibility to book their sessions and pay for them from the web and many more options so that you can boost and develop your digital photography business as far as you can imagine.

Now with Arcadina’s first steps guide for photographers, setting up your digital photography business will be a breeze.

We help you to take the first steps with Arcadina

If you don’t know us and think that we can only offer you a website, we have fantastic news for you, because Arcadina is much more than that. We are an all-in-one solution specially designed to improve and boost the digital business of photographers and for that we offer you the possibility to create your own website in a simple way:

• Fully customisable professional website, adapted to photography businesses and with a choice of 7 designs.

• Private customer galleries where your customers will be able to: buy, select, view, download their images and many more options.

• Public galleries where you will be able to offer the sale of prints and digital files at any time and place in the world.

• Booking sessions (Booking) where your visitors will be able to book one of your reports and pay the deposit directly from the web.

We could say that these are the 4 fundamental pillars of Arcadina, but the truth is that we offer you many more options to personalise your photography business as much as you want.

Once you are clear about all the options, the next step is to customise every element of your photography business. And to help you in this process, in addition to creating this guide for photographers with the first steps with Arcadina, in our help section you will find all kinds of articles answering the most common questions. Here is the first article you can take a look at.

>> Arcadina Help – Where do I start?

You can also check out the video tutorials we have left for you on our YouTube channel.

And if at any time you need our advice, you can contact us. We are available every day of the year at any time.

Before you start: Learn your way around the management panel

One of the first steps you have to take with Arcadina and the first thing you have to familiarise yourself with is the management panel of your website. The panel will be your centre of operations and the place from where you will be able to create all your digital business.

Through this internal part is where you will be able to shape the different parts of your site by uploading content to the web and blog, offering your clients a private space from which to interact with their images, creating an online photo sales system and setting up a calendar for booking photo shoots (among others).

In addition, from the panel you will also be able to customise each element of your website through the different entries that you will find in the side menu, for example:

Shop and Customer Area

From here you will be able to manage all the tasks corresponding to the customer galleries, such as: generate private galleries so that your customers can act with their photos, manage their orders, personalise your price list and the formats that you will have available for your customers, etc.

And you will also be able to carry out a series of actions related to your online shop, such as: creating different public galleries, controlling orders, payment methods, enabling, for example, the sale of images in different sizes and formats, defining discount codes, etc.

Booking

This section of Booking is very interesting because from here you will be able to configure all the photo shoots you want to put on sale on your website, set booking prices, check the bookings you have planned each week and keep a detailed control of your agenda.

Web

Through your photography website is where you will be able to manage all the content of your website such as image and video galleries, text pages or landing pages (hidden in the menu) introducing yourself, explaining your services, showing your rates or the latest awards you have won.

Blog

In this section of the blog, as well as being able to customise it completely, you will also be able to upload the latest articles that will help you to improve your positioning on the Internet and you will also be able to create categories to differentiate your topics.

You will also find a series of sections such as General, Settings, Design and Account where you will be able to choose the design of the website, blog, galleries or menu, select colours, fonts, covers, watermarks, choose the menu entries, configure a series of pages, such as contact, opinions, personalise forms, etc.

And these are just some of the most relevant options that you can manage in each section from your management panel, but the truth is that there are many more.

Your digital photography business ready in just 5 steps

When defining your digital business you will be able to give shape to a series of sections that, on the one hand, will give potential customers all the information they need, and on the other, you will be able to do business through Booking’s booking calendar, the customer area and the public galleries. Let’s take a look at some of the options available to you.

1# Websites for professional photographers

Your photography website will be like your photographic studio with the advantage that it will always be open. With Arcadina, having an elegant website with personality will be very simple thanks to the content editor so easy to use and with all kinds of options.

Some of the first things you can do when creating your photography website are: choose the different designs, create galleries with the best images of your photo shoots, introduce yourself and offer your visitors all the information they need to know about your services, explain how you work and what really differentiates you from other photographers.

It is also very important that you personalise your contact page with all the information and a form for interested people to contact you.

In the following help article we detail these and other steps.

>> Arcadina Help: First steps to create your website

2# Private galleries for the convenience of your customers

The customer galleries, or what is the same, the private customer area, will be another of the pillars of your business because we know that your customers increasingly demand an online service where they can place their orders at any time and from any corner of the planet. This possibility, along with many others, is offered by your private customer area.

Through your galleries you will be able to offer your customers the possibility to:

• View images of their reports.
• Select the photos you like the most to make a photo album.
• Download the selected photographs from the comfort of your own home.
• Buy extra photographs, enlargements, prints or even offer the possibility to buy a complete gallery with digital download.
• To be able to share the download link with your guests or, for example, with the participants of an event in a convenient and easy way.
• Etc.

See all the options in this help article.

>> Arcadina Help: First steps. Customer area

3# Public galleries to sell even more

Adding an online shop to your business strategy will bring you a series of passive income with little effort thanks to the sale of printed and digital photographs through your website. This way, when you cover a large event, for example, a sports race, and the participants or even the attendees want to have a photo as a souvenir, they will be able to buy it from your website without having to contact you. They will only have to choose the image, the format and pay. It’s as simple as that.

And if in addition to your photo shoots you take pictures for decoration, artistic or of the best corners of your city, more than one visitor will end up buying one of your images if you offer them for sale in your public galleries.

When it comes to setting up your online shop, you can follow this article of our help where we explain the first steps with it.

>> Arcadina Help: First steps. Online shop

4# Selling sessions automatically with the Booking service integrated in your website

This is another service that, if you know how to make the most of it, can become one of the main pillars of your digital business. This is the Booking booking service where your clients and visitors to the website will be able to book the day and time of one of your photo shoots without having to come to your studio or talk to you on the phone.

As well as being able to keep track of your booking calendar thanks to the built-in calendar, you will also be able to manage the payments made by clients for each photo shoot, contact them from the panel and have much more time available thanks to the automatic sale of your photo shoots.

In the following article of our blog we explain this fantastic option in more detail.

>> Would you like to have a booking calendar on your website? The Arcadina Booking plan is here!

And in our help you will find all the steps to set up this interesting business option.

>> Arcadina Help: First steps to activate Booking

5# Integrated photo blog to give you more visibility online

Another of the first steps with Arcadina that you should not neglect is the creation of a photography blog. Thanks to this section is how you will really get a good visibility on the Internet if you dedicate a little time to write quality articles.

One of the features that our clients like most about this part of their business, in addition to the fact that its design is fully integrated with the rest of the website, is that they can include full-screen photographs and small image galleries. Undoubtedly, a great point in their favour when it comes to attracting new visitors to their websites through the blog.

In addition, if you have several styles of photography on the website, you will be able to create different categories also within the blog to sort all the articles much better. In the following help article we explain how to start shaping this section of your business.

>> Arcadina Help: First steps. Blog

Need more extras? Thanks to integrations set up the photography business you need

In this guide for photographers, besides being able to know in depth all the elements that can become a pillar in your digital business, we also want to make space for the most important Arcadina integrations that make your photography website a rounded business.

• WhatsApp Business: thanks to this integration your visitors will be able to contact you through this communication channel that works so well through the icon that will appear on all the pages of your website. And you, through the panel, will be able to send all kinds of WhatsApp messages to notify your customers of any important information.

>> WhatsApp Business service now available in Arcadina

• Direct connection with Lightroom: the vast majority of photographers run their photographs through the Lightroom program, so through the panel of your website you will be able to connect your website with this program to export and manage directly the photos of each session.

• Instagram galleries: we know that the social network most used by photographers is Instagram and that is why we have added the option to create a gallery where all the photos you publish on this network are displayed. This way, in addition to having these 2 communication channels connected, your visitors will not have to leave your website to see your latest publications.

These are just 3 of the integrations that you can use in Arcadina, but the truth is that there are many more: connection with Google Analytics, social network integration, SSL security, YouTube and Vimeo videos in your galleries, etc.

Learn to take the first steps with Arcadina and live for what you really love

Taking the first steps with Arcadina is very easy, you just have to spend a few minutes reading some of the articles in our help and this guide for photographers can be a good start. The important thing is that you do not leave for later to improve or create your digital photography business because it is the future of your career as a professional photographer.

At Arcadina you can contract the business solution you are most interested in independently.

Yes, at Arcadina we make your life very easy and that is why, if you have already contracted a website with another provider, with us you will be able to manage your private and public galleries or the other way around.

This time we are going to share with you the testimony of a great photographer and friend who has been with us for years. She is Maru Serra.

>> “The best option for photographers who want to move forward”, Maru Serra

And to finish this guide for photographers, let’s ask a question: What do you find most difficult to configure on your Arcadina website? We’ll read you in the comments.

Headache for your photography business? Take an Arcadina

Headache for your photography business? Take an Arcadina

Fulfil your dream of becoming a professional photographer with the help of our business solutions. Now you can create a website and business for free for 14 days with no commitment of permanence.

Thanks to Arcadina’s business solutions for photographers, your business headaches will disappear.

If you have any queries, our Customer Service Team is always ready to help you 24 hours a day, 7 days a week. We listen to you.