Thank you Trish :)

I'll probably end of testing out both the one you vouched for and the other one (top left) that has far and away the most installs and such.

ttys,
Tim

It looks like I'd have to buy a premium membership in order to have an ecommerce solution to sell my photos. Is that what your customer did over the summer? As in, did they sell their photos?? And did they buy the premium version?

No, my client's business is service based. Offering examples of the work done in the past is the way this plugin is used.

It was me that did major work on this site this past summer, bringing it up to date (what a job THAT was too!). The site was no longer being tended to by another person previously.

The free version is still in use today.

Gotcha. Well ok. What was the name of the site? I'd like to see your work :)

Sorry Tim but that is confidential and I'm sure you can understand.

oh ok sure no problem :)

Thank you so much Sherry for your input and suggestions. I will check on everything you said. I'll go check out your web site now and see how it grabs me and then comment again...

I tried to leave a comment on your site but it said I was submitting too soon. Weird.

I do like your images. Are they chalk? Or paint? What mediums do you use??

Hi Tim,
Thanks for checking it out! That's so awesome of you and thank you too for the kind words. I've never had that happen for comments before...I'll have to check into that and see what's going on, thanks for letting me know!

As for my images, the ones up in the main sliders are a mix of mediums...the rose is an oil painting, and the other two are done using digital software. The rest of the images on the site range from colored pencil, graphite pencil, oil paint, and lately quite a bit of digital, especially for the book illustrations since it's a little faster to use.

I still have so many I haven't yet uploaded to my site, especially pencil drawings since I can do them anywhere...but, I do prefer oil paints the most. Just to find time to get to it though, lol!

Thanks again for checking it out and letting me know about the comment issue...might be something I'll have to fix in there.

Anyways, I hope the suggestions I had help you out in some way or another...I'd definitely look into which ones offer more of a payment to the photographer or artist, and I believe some also offer affiliate programs to join as well...Zazzle is one I believe that does and I think I noticed a couple others as well.

Let me know when you get yours up and running and I'll check it out too, btw! Just send a PM if you want with your link.

Best wishes :) ~Sherry

Hey again Tim,
Just thought I'd let you know I got your comment...I guess it worked anyways! Thank you so much again, and let me know where I can leave a comment for you too, btw...I'll have to get to it once I get back here later today though.

Anywhere is fine on theeverettandaustinproject(dot)org. Thanks and you're welcome :)

Thank you so much Sherry and I will certainly stay in touch. I look forward to seeing more of your work when you get to it :)

Hi Tim,
Thanks again Tim, I'll go over there and leave you a comment as well...and yes, that'd be awesome to stay in touch. I'm looking forward to it! :)
Best wishes and have a great weekend :)

you too. blessings....

Hey Tim,
I left you a comment on your site and I'll be sharing your story as well on the social sites. Blessings to you too! :)

Thank you very very much. You are a true sweetheart. Your kindness is much appreciated :)

I'm quoting from fundable dot com...

"Crowdfunding at a Glance
Crowdfunding is a method of raising capital through the collective effort of friends, family, customers, and individual investors. This approach taps into the collective efforts of a large pool of individuals—primarily online via social media and crowdfunding platforms—and leverages their networks for greater reach and exposure.

How is Crowdfunding Different?
Crowdfunding is essentially the opposite of the mainstream approach to business finance. Traditionally, if you want to raise capital to start a business or launch a new product, you would need to pack up your business plan, market research, and prototypes, and then shop your idea around to a limited pool or wealthy individuals or institutions. These funding sources included banks, angel investors, and venture capital firms, really limiting your options to a few key players. You can think of this fundraising approach as a funnel, with you and your pitch at the wide end and your audience of investors at the closed end. Fail to point that funnel at the right investor or firm at the right time, and that’s your time and money lost.

Crowdfunding platforms, on the other hand, turns that funnel on-end. By giving you, the entrepreneur, a single platform to build, showcase, and share your pitch resources, this approach dramatically streamlines the traditional model. Traditionally, you’d spend months sifting through your personal network, vetting potential investors, and spending your own time and money to get in front of them. With crowdfunding, it’s much easier for you to get your opportunity in front of more interested parties and give them more ways to help grow your business, from investing thousands in exchange for equity to contributing $20 in exchange for a first-run product or other reward.

The Benefits of Crowdfunding
From tapping into a wider investor pool to enjoying more flexible fundraising options, there are a number of benefits to crowdfunding over traditional methods. Here are just a few of the many possible advantages, which we’ll cover in greater detail later in this guide:

Reach – By using a crowdfunding platform like Fundable, you have access to thousands of accredited investors who can see, interact with, and share your fundraising campaign.

Presentation – By creating a crowdfunding campaign, you go through the invaluable process of looking at your business from the top level—its history, traction, offerings, addressable market, value proposition, and more—and boiling it down into a polished, easily digestible package.

PR & Marketing – From launch to close, you can share and promote your campaign through social media, email newsletters, and other online marketing tactics. As you and other media outlets cover the progress of your fundraise, you can double down by steering traffic to your website and other company resources.

Validation of Concept – Presenting your concept or business to the masses affords an excellent opportunity to validate and refine your offering. As potential investors begin to express interest and ask questions, you’ll quickly see if there’s something missing that would make them more likely to buy in.

Efficiency – One of the best things about online crowdfunding is its ability to centralize and streamline your fundraising efforts. By building a single, comprehensive profile to which you can funnel all your prospects and potential investors, you eliminate the need to pursue each of them individually. So instead of duplicating efforts by printing documents, compiling binders, and manually updating each one when there’s an update, you can present everything online in a much more accessible format, leaving you with more time to run your business instead of fundraising.

Types of Crowdfunding
Just like there are many different kinds of capital round raises for businesses in all stages of growth, there are a variety of crowdfunding types. Which crowdfunding method you select depends on the type of product or service you offer and your goals for growth. The 3 primary types are donation-based, rewards-based, and equity crowdfunding (this guide will focus mostly on rewards-based and equity).

Donation-Based Crowdfunding
Broadly speaking, you can think of any crowdfunding campaign in which there is no financial return to the investors or contributors as donation-based crowdfunding. Common donation-based crowdfunding initiatives include fundraising for disaster relief, charities, nonprofits, and medical bills.

Rewards-Based Crowdfunding
Rewards-based crowdfunding involves individuals contributing to your business in exchange for a “reward,” typically a form of the product or service your company offers. Even though this method offers backers a reward, it’s still generally considered a subset of donation-based crowdfunding since there is no financial or equity return. This approach is a popular option here on Fundable, as well other popular crowdfunding platforms like Kickstarter and Indiegogo, because it lets business-owners incentivize their contributor without incurring much extra expense or selling ownership stake. Read more about preparing and launching a successful rewards-based campaign here.

Equity-Based Crowdfunding
Unlike the donation-based and rewards-based methods, equity-based crowdfunding allows contributors to become part-owners of your company by trading capital for equity shares. As equity owners, your contributors receive a financial return on their investment and ultimately receive a share of the profits in the form of a dividend or distribution. Read more about preparing and launching a successful equity-based campaign here.

Since we’ll be dealing mostly with rewards-based and equity based crowdfunding in this guide, here’s a quick visual guide to help keep them straight:

what is crowdfunding chart

Chapter Glossary
Crowdfunding – A method of raising capital through the collective effort of friends, family, customers, and individual investors.

Accredited investor – An individual whose net worth is greater than $1MM, or whose income exceeds $200k for the past 2 years. Currently the U.S. Securities & Exchange Commission (SEC) mandates that only accredited investors are legally able to invest in private companies.

Donation-based crowdfunding – Any crowdfunding campaign in which there is no financial return to the investors or contributors.

Rewards-based crowdfunding – Any crowdfunding campaign that involves individuals contributing to your business in exchange for a “reward,” typically a form of the product or service your company offers.

Equity-based crowdfunding – Any crowdfunding campaign that allows contributors to become part-owners of your company by trading capital for equity shares."

How's that for a long answer?? haha
Tim