Virtual Employees

StudioCloud is excited to announce a new feature for our EmployeeBoost users. You can now create virtual employees in your StudioCloud account. What is a StudioCloud virtual employee?

• A StudioCloud virtual employee is a real-life person who can have access to your StudioCloud Calendar via an ICS feed, be added to appointments and sessions, and can be attached to invoices.

What information can a virtual employee access?

• A StudioCloud virtual employee can access your StudioCloud calendar via an ICS feed.

Why do I need a virtual employee?

• Some businesses and photography studios have employees who work for them, but never need access to their business software. With this new feature, you can give them access to the calendar, add them to appointments, or attach them to invoices-allowing you and your employees more freedom to stay connected through StudioCloud.

How can I add virtual employees?

• In order to add virtual employees, simply go to EmployeeBoost>>User Accounts>>New User. Under the Security Role drop-down menu, select Virtual Employee.

If you have any questions about using a virtual employee, contact StudioCloud at support@studiocloud.com

Email Templates

We've heard your requests, and we're pleased to announce the newest feature of StudioCloud: Email templates.

Email templates allow you even more control over your client management. With this new feature, you can create personalized and customizable text or HTML email templates

What is an email template?An email template is a document used to generate personalized text or HTML emails. Email templates can contain text, images, website links, and more.

What are the benefits of email templates?

• Staying in contact. One of the main reasons why businesses suffer from customer retention issues is a lack of contact. With the new email templates, you can quickly generate email which auto-populates your clients name, event information, invoice/order information and more.

• Save time and money. Instead of wasting valuable time and money by creating a separate email for each individual customer, you can quickly attach a canned email response and click send. It only takes seconds, giving you more time to spend doing what you love and less time behind a computer.

• Send a customizable email to all your clients. If you're getting ready for the Holiday season, chances are you've thought about sending emails to your clients about your seasonal promotions. Why not do it all in StudioCloud? You can create a customized email template chock full of images, links, and texts and send it all at once to your clients-at the click of a button. The email auto-fills the clients name, address, and other information.

Upgrade to CloudBoost

If you upgrade to CloudBoost, you will receive top-notch customer and technical support, syncing between multiple computers and mobile devices, automated emails, automated postcards, automated text messages, and much more. For detailed information about CloudBoost, click here.

New Android App!

StudioCloud is proud to announce the release of the free StudioCloud Mobile App for Android!



Have you ever needed to call your client when you’re on location? Well, now you can access your StudioCloud information on-the-go. With the new Android app, quickly search for existing clients and give them a call or text message.

If you need to edit their information, simply add more details to their account with a quick touch of the screen.

You can even snap a photo of your client, attach it to their file, and you’ll always have a face with a name. For more information about client thumbnail images, click here.

With the new apps for StudioCloud, your life will be easier. You’ll never be lost again trying to find a client’s address or photo shoot location; quickly navigate to your destination with StudioCloud.

And the best part is? It’s all free.

You can download the StudioCloud Android app in the Android Marketplace. Search for StudioCloud or use the QR Code below.

The Android App for StudioCloud requires the latest version of Android 2.2 OS as well as the ARM v7 Processor. To see a list of phones that are compatible, click here. In addition, syncing capabilities between your StudioCloud desktop software and the mobile app require either CloudBoost or EmployeeBoost.

StudioCloud has developed an app for the iPhone and iPad. However, StudioCloud is awaiting an update of Adobe software before the app can be released.

New StudioCloud Board of Expert!

William Branson III is an international portrait artist whose portraiture is quite unique. William has clients that travel all around the world to sit for their portrait. His paintings fascinate many and have been described as being "some of the most engaging and enthralling portraiture ever seen."

Mr. Branson is a member of Cameracrasftmen of America, Professional Photographers of America as well as the founding member of the International Society of Portrait Artists.

The Royal Photographic Society in Great Britain, of which Mr. Branson is one of the few members from the United States, selected his work to be exhibited throughout Europe. All four of his submissions were selected, which is a rare feat. The Queen of England is the Honorary Chairperson of the society.

In addition, William Branson III has been recognized as an Outstanding Artist of the 20th Century by the International Biographical Center in Cambridge, England. Other notable recognitions include Fuji Photo Film USA Inc., Eastman Kodak Company and has had his artwork exhibited at the Epcot Center in Orlando, Florida.

For more information about William Branson III, please click here.

StudioCloud is not affiliated with William Branson III Photography as it is an independently managed website. The views expressed in the pages are those of the contributor(s) and do not necessarily reflect those of StudioCloud International, Inc.

Client Thumbnail Image

StudioCloud is excited to announce the release of a brand new feature that will allow you to manage your clients like never before: Client Images.

Each image is automatically resized to be 128 x 128 px. The image is located on the main page of the client window, allowing you fast and easy access to their file. Each picture is hosted in your account in Cloud Storage. If you find yourself running out of space in Cloud Storage, you can easily add more.

We recommend all our users to update to the latest version of StudioCloud to take advantage of this new feature.

If you run into any problems during the upgrade, please contact support@studiocloud.com

Missed the FREE Marketing Advice?

If you're one of the many who missed The Joy of Marketing's Salessummit on 10.10.10, then it's your lucky week!

The Joy of Marketing is proud to announce that the FREE marketing event of the year has been extended! The segment features 10 highly trained professional photographers, including StudioCloud's own Tim and Bev Walden, helping you learn how to sell your art.

Hurry! Registration is FREE and the event begins tomorrow at 12 PM-1PM CST!

Free Marketing Advice with Tim and Bev Walden

On 10 October 2010, 10 highly trained professional photographers will be giving free sales and marketing advice for The Joy of Marketing's SalesSummit. Registration is FREE and the information is FREE. Click here to begin the registration process.

In addition, StudioCloud's very own Tim and Beverly Walden will be providing their expert advice in this unique event. Tim said, "The single most important thing we’ve found to be true in any successful photography business is that if you don’t sell your art, it won’t sell itself. Like it or not, to succeed in business, you have to know how to sell. Studies have shown that the #1 reason businesses fail is LOW SALES. And the #1 reason businesses succeed is HIGH SALES!"


StudioCloud, along with Tim and Beverly Walden invite you to take advantage of this amazing event. The Joy of Marketing said, "We pulled together some of the industry’s top-grossing photographers and asked them to share what they do during the sales process to achieve high sales averages. Each of our speakers will discuss a portion of the sales cycle – from the initial phone call to the in-person consultation, the shoot, the sales presentation and after the sale."

Sign up now! You won't regret it.

StudioCloud and Tim and Bev Walden are not affiliated with The Joy of Marketing or the 10.10.10 Salessummit as they are independently managed websites. The views expressed in the pages are those of the contributors and do not necessarily reflect those of StudioCloud International, Inc or Tim and Bev Walden.

Behind the Shutter Exclusive Interview

Behind the Shutter is an exciting new way to learn the ins-and-outs of how to run a photography business. Led by a StudioCloud Board of Expert and Binghamton University Business School Graduate, Sal Cincotta, Behind the Shutter will give you the information you need to change your business. Now.

(Q) If you had 30 seconds to describe Behind the Shutter, what would you say?

(A) Behind the Shutter is geared toward the aspiring photographer, both professional and amateur. It's an advanced site for photographers to learn how to change simple aspects of their business to make it more profitable. [It's] the one place where professional and amateur photographers can go to get real, actionable advice to grow their business. Not some 'feel-good' fluff.

(Q) If I were a beginning photographer, how would Behind the Shutter benefit me?

(A) There is a huge benefit for the new photographer. The reason for that is because, like any business, you have to lay a solid foundation for success. A lot of photographers make the same mistakes. They want work, so they lower their prices. This makes their clients compare them to bargain-photo stores located in most low-end supermarkets. You want and need to make money. You simply can't say to yourself, "If I shoot them, they will come." You have to learn how to structure your tactics like a business. With Behind the Shutter, you'll gain tips and understanding to make money now.

(Q) If I signed up for Behind the Shutter, what changes could I expect to see in my business?

(A) After the fist couple of hours of viewing the online content, you can literally walk away from your computer and change your life. Our information is not glossed over and it's not the typical information you'd expect from an online resource. The ideas, insights and news that you will receive will give you actionable results that you can take to change your business immediately and start making money.

(Q) As an exclusive member of Behind the Shutter, what information will I have access to?

(A) As a member of Behind the Shutter, you will have access to videos, new information about running your business, tips and tricks when shooting events and portrait sessions, and more. We update the information monthly.

You can sign up for Behind the Shutter here.

For more information about Sal Cincotta, please view StudioCloud's Board of Expert page.

StudioCloud is not affiliated with Behind the Shutter or Sal Cincotta Photography as they are independently managed websites. The views expressed in the pages are those of the contributors and do not necessarily reflect those of StudioCloud International, Inc.

New Board of Experts

StudioCloud is pleased to introduce Salvatore and Taylor Cincotta, the newest additions to our Board of Experts*.

Sal is an international award winning photographer and co-owner of Salvatore Cincotta Photography and Studio C with his wife Taylor. His images have been showcased in several national and local publications including the cover of Rangefinder and Professional Photographer magazines.

Recently, Sal has enjoyed a recurring appearance on a local television broadcast, "Great Day St. Louis" as their photography expert. In addition, he is a speaker at WPPI, the world's largest photography conference in Las Vegas where he will be educating photographers from around the world.

Taylor Cincotta, an International award-winner herself, likes to focus on the more candid moments of a wedding and loves working with babies. Taylor takes a more hands-off approach to photography and tries to capture the moments that no one "sees".

Together, they create a high energy and diverse team offering clients a unique perspective into the finer moments of their lives.

*The StudioCloud Board of Experts are industry-level professional photographers that share their expert knowledge and insight to help produce the most popular studio management software in the world. For a complete list of the Board of Experts, please click here.

Free Postcards and Text Messages!

To celebrate the release of AdBoost, StudioCloud is giving away 2 Free Postcards and 10 Free Text Messages to all of its current customers! Note: AdBoost has been renamed CloudAlerts.

Front of Postcard

Back of Postcard

In order to take advantage of this great offer, simply log into StudioCloud and begin using AdBoost! AdBoost is a new addition to the CloudBoost add-on.

To see AdBoost in action, watch a video here.

To watch a video tutorial about AdBoost, click here.

You can also sign up for a free training webinar here!

AdBoost is Here!

StudioCloud is excited to announce AdBoost--the easiest way to connect with your clients! Note: AdBoost has been renamed CloudAlerts.

AdBoost is a unique and intuitive marketing tool that allows you to send personal and automated postcards, text messages and emails! It's easy to use, the process is fun, and the results are amazing!

To celebrate the release of AdBoost, we are giving away 10 printed postcards and 100 text messages valued at $24 for FREE with any new purchase of the CloudBoost or EmployeeBoost add-on.

To watch a video of what AdBoost can do, click here.

To read a written tutorial and see a video tutorial about AdBoost, click here.

For more information about AdBoost, click here.

Get CloudBoost for Free!

If you sign up for Merchant WareHouse before October 31st, 2010 you will receive 3 free months of CloudBoost or 2 free months of EmployeeBoost!

With Merchant WareHouse you can expect:

• Process credit cards In StudioCloud
• Request and receive online payments through StudioCloud
• The guaranteed lowest overall costs
• No contracts or commitment obligations
• No application, setup, programming, annual, or termination fees
• A dedicated account manager to provide one-on-one setup guidance
• Free & honest assessments of competitive offers
• A fully disclosed merchant processing agreement
• Fast & easy account setups with various solution options
• Attentive, in-house customer & technical support

Hurry! The offer ends soon!

Click here for more information!

Or, you can call Merchant WareHouse at 1.800.419.3221 to get started today!

AdBoost-a New Marketing Tool

Note: AdBoost has been renamed CloudAlerts.

The Walden Coaching Community

Tim and Beverly Walden

Walden's Photography

Tim and Beverly Walden have been on StudioCloud's Board of Experts* for years.Together, they have received many awards including the prestigious PPA Imaging Excellence Award and the IUSA Gerhard Bakker Award for outstanding photographic education.

For photographers who are serious about learning, Tim and Bev Walden have created a brand new website that allows photographers to gain new insights into photography.

This amazing resource is called, "The Walden Coaching Community".

Tim says, "[The coaching community] is all about the next level of education. The community is filled with promise and potential for photographers."

The wealth of knowledge runs deeps at the Walden's Coaching Community. There are Image Studies, a Knowledge Library, a Members Forum, Questions and Answers and much, much more! Each section is available to Community Members and is updated regularly.

So, if you're a photographer looking to gain powerful insight from two highly educated people about photography, then stop by The Walden Coaching Community.

*The StudioCloud Board of Experts are industry-level professional photographers that share their expert knowledge and insight to help produce the most popular studio management software in the world.. For a complete list of the Board of Experts, please click here.

All images are © Walden's Photography 2010.

Better, Faster, Stronger!

StudioCloud is now faster and better than ever!

Our development team has been hard at work to bring our StudioCloud members a software that is quick, responsive, and reliable. In the most recent updates of our program, we have streamlined the way StudioCloud manages large amounts of information.

What does this mean for me?

A better, and faster, StudioCloud experience.

If you are a larger studio or business with thousands of clients, appointments and invoices the speed improvements will be the most obvious. The initial load time for larger businesses has been decreased by over 70 percent and speedy access to your information throughout the program has been dramatically improved.

What are the benefits?

With the new speed and reliability of StudioCloud, you can:

• Save time by accessing your information faster
• Quickly schedule appointments
• Instantly search your client database in seconds
• Promptly complete projects or tasks with immediate retrieval of information
• and more!

How do I download the new update?

Simply open StudioCloud and you will be prompted to download* the latest update.

We recommend all of our StudioCloud members update to the faster version of StudioCloud.

You won't regret it.

*If any problems occur during the update, please contact support@studiocloud.com

Rock Solid Relationships=Recurring Revenue

Today is your last chance to sign up for a FREE* webinar called "Rock Solid Relationships=Recurring Revenue".

This webinar is tomorrow, July 27 2010 at 2:00 PM EST.

Hurry and sign up while you can!

To sign up, click here.

*The webinar is free for PPA members.

New Email Features

StudioCloud is happy to announce brand new ways to email clients in StudioCloud.

HTML Emails

If you're computer savvy, you can easily create an HTML email template and send it your clients via our new HTML email tab in StudioCloud. Any time you email a customer, you can choose either Plain Text or HTML. The benefits of HTML emails allow you to add images, different colored texts, and more.

Email Blasts

Have you ever wanted to email all of your clients in one marketing campaign in StudioCloud? Well, now you can! Simply choose a marketing campaign, click on More Actions and select Email Blast Clients in Campaign. This will then email all the clients in your marketing campaign reminding them of promotions, sales, or special offers.

Add Attachments to Emails

If you're tired of going to your normal email service to simply send an attachment to your client, you can breathe a sigh of relief. Simply open a client information window, click on More Actions and choose Email Client. In the new email window, select Add Attachment. You can attach any file and send it to your customers.

Email Multiple Clients

If you want to email an entire family, but don't want to spend the time searching for their email addresses, just select their names in the Client list, go to Group Operations and choose Email Selected Clients. With this new feature, you can quickly remind an entire family of their photo shoot, or simply send a nice check-up email.

With the new email features of StudioCloud, the possibilities seem endless.

Cloud Alerts-Text and Email Reminders

StudioCloud announces a brand new feature created with the business professional in mind.

Cloud Alerts are a simple way to remind your clients or employees about appointments, due payments, project deadlines, and more!

You can rest assured that your clients will never forget another appointment. Each text or email reminder can be sent out hours or days before the Cloud Alert deadline is set, giving your client ample time to head to your office, or head to a location.

Cloud Alerts will automatically text or email your clients, giving you extra time to spend focusing on the needs of your business.

For more information about on Cloud Alerts, please view our online tutorial.

StudioCloud Back Up

We are proud to announce an exciting new feature for our free customers and paid customers.

StudioCloud Back Up

Free Accounts

• Now, you can easily and quickly back up* your StudioCloud files without having a CloudBoost account. Simply go to Settings>>Back Up StudioCloud. This will save a copy of all your important StudioCloud information to your desktop, harddrive, external hard drive, or even a flash drive. You can rest assured that all your StudioCloud information is safe and sound, backed up in case of computer failure.

Paid Accounts

• With this new feature, you can easily create a file of all your information and transfer it to another computer! Instead of waiting for your StudioCloud information to download from the server, simply save the file, transfer it to another computer and you will have quick and easy access to all your StudioCloud business information in seconds!

For more information regarding backing up your StudioCloud account files, please read our online tutorial.

*If you have a free account, you cannot transfer backed-up StudioCloud files from one computer to another.

5 Ways to Market Your Business

(1) Be Social

If you haven't jumped on the social networking bandwagon yet, it may just leave without you. There are many benefits that come from creating a Facebook page, Twitter account, or even a blog. The largest benefit is that social networking is 100% free. You don't have to pay a single dime to market your business around the world. Not only will you save money, but you will provide your clients an easy way to track what your business is up to. Just remember to periodically update your social networking sites.

(2) Start an E-mail Newsletter

If you have thousands of clients in your StudioCloud database, you can easily export their information including their email addresses to create an email marketing campaign. StudioCloud prefers and recommends MailChimp. MailChimp is an easy-to-use and free way to send out emails to your clients using MailChimp's web-based software. You can create your own unique template, or choose from their predesigned templates. You can even schedule a time for when your marketing campaign will be delivered, which can save you time and energy.

(3) Market to your Target Demographic

A demographic is a group of people who share common statistics like age, race, gender, location, etc. Make sure you know your target demographic before you begin marketing your company. Many new and small business owners will market to everyone in their local community. Find out your target demographic by analyzing the products and services you offer and see if they match the goals and interests of the people living in your community. You can also keep track of your demographic by adding tags to each client in your StudioCloud database. If you need to see how many clients are in each tag, simply go to Settings>>Manage Tags. This feature will help you determine who to market to in your target demographic.

(4) Keep in Touch

Did you know that it costs less to retain customers than to find new ones? If your customer base has been on the decline, we recommend to keep in touch with your clients. Send them a quick email, give them a brief call, mail out a postcard, or even send them a text message. Letting your customers know that you've been thinking about them will make them feel valued, appreciated, and special.

(5) Be Nice

People want to associate with others who are happy. When you first meet with new clients, be postive and upbeat. Avoid negative topics like local gossip and banter. Focus on their needs as a person and a client. If they can see that you genuinely care for their well-being as their photographer, they're more likely to refer you to their friends and family.

Of course, there are countless of other ways to market your business.

What suggestions do you have for others as they learn how to market their business?

We'd love to hear from you! Leave a comment below!

Communication is Vital

Photography is like painting on a canvas but with the simple click of the shutter. When artists take years to create a beautiful work of art, a photographer only takes moments. Whether you're a painter or a photographer, you are creating art. Your photographic art needs to communicate three things: Who you are, who your client is, and who is your audience.

Who Are You?
Most photographers find it hard to describe their specific style of photography. Some enjoy taking snapshots of candid moments, while others prefer a more traditional portrait style. Regardless of your personal taste, you need to discover your personal technique and then stick with it. Stephen Karlisch of Karlisch Photography says, "If you look at the true icons of photography, their style is very consistent. The photographer who keeps changing his style is never going to make it in the long run" (Constant Craving, Jeff Kent, Professional Photographer, Vol. 134).

Who is Your Client?
Every one of your clients has a story to tell. It is your job as their photographer to tell that story. If you hastily create a relationship with your client, you may find it extremely difficult to capture their life on film. Take the time to get to know your clients before the shoot. You may find it beneficial to set up a consultation a week or two before the event. Understand their likes, their dislikes, how many siblings they have, what their favorite food is, etc. Keep track of who they are in their client notes in StudioCloud and you'll find that it's much easier to tell their story if you know who they really are.

Who is Your Audience?
When your client sees their proofs for the first time, each picture needs to convey a certain emotion tailored specifically to them. Emotion and your style go hand in hand as your strive for the picture perfect photo. Aim to capture your clients mood, expression, and personality. If you can get your client to "be themselves" during a photo shoot, the emotion you receive will be real, raw and beautiful and be directed to your audience: the client.

If you truly want to succeed as a photographer, you will need to learn how to communicate with yourself, your clients, and the art that you create.

Do you have any suggestions to other photographers who want to learn how to communicate through their photography?

We'd love to hear from you! Leave a comment below!

Adobe Air 2.0

Your business management software just got a little better.

Adobe has officially released Adobe Air 2.0. Now StudioCloud is faster, uses less memory, and some technical issues have been fixed with this release.


Below are some frequently asked questions that you may find helpful with this new transition.

Do I need to download Adobe Air 2.0?
Our development team has released a new update that automatically downloads Adobe Air 2.0. If you have recently updated StudioCloud 3.0, you are running on the new version of Adobe Air.

What if I was using StudioCloud 3.0 Air 2.0?
Our development team allowed some of our users to download and install the beta version of Adobe Air 2.0. Since Adobe Air 2.0 has now been officially released, there is no need to use StudioCloud 3.0 Air 2.0. If you are currently using that version, we highly recommend to resume use of StudioCloud 3.0 as we no longer provide support for StudioCloud 3.0 Air 2.0.

When I try to download the newest update, it tells me that my computer is not supported. What should I do?
Please view our online tutorial that details what computers were affected and how you can download a version of StudioCloud that is compatible with your system.

If you have any questions related to Adobe Air 2.0, please send an email to support@studiocloud.com

Go Green with StudioCloud!

Be a part of the growing environmental revolution with StudioCloud!



This year, StudioCloud has helped thousands of businesses and photography studios become a little greener. With StudioCloud, there is no need to keep track of your clients on paper. Simply enter in their information, and hit save! With one click, you can access their information in seconds.

With the option of CloudBoost, you can stop worrying about permanently losing your sensitive paper documents and important business information. By going green with StudioCloud, all of your data is securely stored on our servers and housed in state-of-the-art data centers with 24-hour controlled security. In case of computer failure or damage to your business, your information is 100% retrievable.

Take control of your business by going paperless with StudioCloud! Instead of spending precious time looking for files in cabinets (or all over the floor), save yourself some work and use Cloud Storage. This feature allows you to upload any type of file to your StudioCloud account, giving you the ability to access your information from any computer, anywhere.

Join the Green revolution by using StudioCloud and CloudBoost, and like the thousands of business we have already helped go green, we can help you too!

StudioCloud Mobile

StudioCloud Mobile is the amazing tool that allows you to access all of your StudioCloud information right from your iPhone, BlackBerry, or any other Internet enabled mobile device. Every user of StudioCloud who has CloudBoost or EmployeeBoost has access to this great feature!



Using StudioCloud mobile is simple, easy, and effective! If you find yourself lost on your way to an appointment, quickly log into StudioCloud Mobile and access your events for that day. If you've entered in the event address in the notes section, you can map the way to your destination.

One of the best features of StudioCloud Mobile is the ability to create clients and prospective clients. With this feature, if you ever meet someone who may be a potential customer, you can quickly and easily save their contact information to your StudioCloud account using your mobile phone. It's just that easy!

Take advantage of this wonderful feature by going to www.studiocloud.com/m on your Internet enabled mobile device.

In-Studio Proofing

For years, StudioCloud has offered in-studio proofing only as a separate software package.

Now, you can access In-Studio Proofing directly from StudioCloud 3.0!

With this added feature, you can immediately begin importing images to be shown to your clients on a monitor, digital TV, or even a projection screen! The enhanced experience for your clients is unlike any other, which could lead to an increase in sales.


PPA research found, “Presenting previews by projection is far more profitable than using paper proofs. In fact, the studio’s that used projection were almost twice as profitable as [...] studios that used paper proofs.”1 (emphasis added). Make your studio more profitable by creating albums of your customer’s images by using In-Studio Proofing.

For more information regarding In-Studio Proofing, please view our online tutorial.

In a Struggling Economy...

StudioCloud can help.

As a photographer, you want to be able to give your clients something that will last forever: a perfect family photo that captures their life with a single click of a shutter. If money is tight, some families may wait to take their photos, thus bringing your sales down.

StudioCloud has just released a new feature: Payment Plans.


Payment Plans give you the option to create a customizable payment strategy based on your clients individual and budgetary needs. You are able to choose the due date of the final payment and StudioCloud takes care of the rest. It will automatically create sub-payment due dates with a specific amount that include the total price of the order. This feature takes the guesswork out of creating payment plans for your clients, making your life easier and simpler.

Instead of worrying about the economy, give your clients what they need: a picture perfect family portrait at a price they can afford.

For more information about payment plans, please view the online tutorial.

Cloud Storage!

StudioCloud proudly announces the release of one of the most exciting new features for our CloudBoost and EmployeeBoost customers: Cloud Storage!

Cloud Storage is the capability to upload any file and save that information to our servers, making the file accessible from any location that uses StudioCloud 3.0. You can attach image files to clients, PDF files to projects, Word documents to tasks, itineraries to events, and much, much more!

Sometimes, seeing a face is better than seeing a name on a screen. With this new feature, you can simply upload any image file of your client and access it in seconds!

You can also download any file you attach to a client, event, project or task. If you have a photo that needs to be touched-up, you can upload that file to a project's Cloud Storage and then have your graphic artist download the same file on their computer using this brand new and exciting feature!

For more information about Cloud Storage, please view our online tutorial.

Project Pipelines!

StudioCloud has been hard at work to bring back this highly requested feature. We are pleased to announce that it has been released in a recent update of StudioCloud.

Project Pipelines are a great way to keep track of your projects, making sure each step gets completed the first time. This feature will take the stress out of your project management by adding specific steps or processes to each project you need to complete.



The simplicity and ease of Project Pipelines will allow you to stay ahead of your project deadlines thus maximizing the profitability of your business.

For more information, please read our online tutorial about project pipelines.

New StudioCloud Features!

The development team has been hard at work to bring you many new and exciting features. The features that have been added to the software allow for more user customization and an overall intuitive experience!

Some of these new features include:

An entirely new customizable PDF invoice! You can change the color of the tables, add file names, insert a personalized message to each invoice, choose which columns to display and more!

Create and email documents and Contracts! With our document generator, you can quickly and easily create document and contract templates that are auto filled when attached to a client, event, or invoice. This new feature will save you extensive time and energy by taking out the tedious step of filling out the information yourself.

New tax reports! These reports are Cash Based and Accrual Based. Some states require tax reports based off cash or accrual, and these two tables will help you depending on your individual state tax requirements.

More import options! You can now import a client list in CSV format with either comma separated or tab delimited, making the switch from a third-party software easier and much more simple.

A new extensive Bookkeeping report! In the Bookkeeping section of StudioCloud, you can easily track your income and expenses. In the new Chart of Categories report, it breaks down and totals each income and expense section to help you stay on target with your business financial goals.

Project and Task alerts! Have you ever missed a deadline for a project? With this new feature, you can rest assured that your projects will be finished on time with new project and tasks alerts that remind you when the project is due.

Request Online ePayments from customers! This feature works hand in hand with your Merchant WareHouse account. If a customer cannot make it to your office to make a payment, simply send them an ePayment request! With this new feature, you can always make sure that your customers pay you on time.

Credit Card Swiping! This new feature allows you to swipe a customer’s credit card directly from your office, eliminating the need for you to manually enter in their credit card information. Working with your Merchant WareHouse account, you can then process the payment and record it in your StudioCloud account.

View your billing history! If you’ve ever wanted to know your billing history with StudioCloud, you can now find that information quickly and easily with this new feature.

Store credit card information! With this exciting new feature, you can store and save a customer credit card information safely with your Merchant WareHouse account. This way, if you need to charge the customer at a later date, you can.

Clock in and out from StudioCloud mobile! This feature allows you or your employees to clock in and out from any location while it automatically tracks your hours back to your StudioCloud account. If you are not using studiocloud.com/m from your phone or other mobile devices, check it out!

Of course, we are constantly updating StudioCloud to make sure you have the best experience with our software! For more information regarding updates, please visit our online community forum here: http://www.mystudiocloud.com
Please visit our website, www.studiocloud.com for more information!

Thanks,

StudioCloud Team

StudioCloud, it’s just that easy!

Accept E-Payments Online!

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There are many new point-of-sale features in StudioCloud that are made possible by the integration with Merchant Warehouse. By switching over to Merchant Warehouse you will be able to swipe or click to process your credit cards in StudioCloud and it will automatically be entered into your bookkeeping. You will also be able to store credit cards for future processing, send an email to have your clients pay online without ever having to call them to collect payment, and set up payment plans (coming soon).

Just a reminder for any StudioCloud users that you have until tomorrow, March 31st, to take advantage of Merchant Warehouse's incredible deal. They guarantee they will meet or beat your current credit card processing rates if you are a StudioCloud client and if you sign up with them by March 31st you will also receive 3 free months of CloudBoost or 2 free months of EmployeeBoost.

You can go HERE to contact Merchant Warehouse

Free Live Webinars!

For all of you who have just signed up or have not taken the time to get started using StudioCloud, we would like to invite you to attend a FREE Getting Started Live Webinar. These Live Webinars will help you to import and set up all your essential data to start using StudioCloud today. It will also give you tips and tricks on how to effectively use the software. The last 15 minutes will be open for questions and answers.

Just go HERE to sign up today!

There will also be more webinars coming soon. Some of these will include:

Utilizing Project Management
How To Effectively Market with StudioCloud
Bookkeeping

Let us know what else you would be interested in learning more about!

WPPI in Las Vegas!

We are excited to be heading to Las Vegas for the annual WPPI show at the MGM Grand. Come stop by booth 1606 to say hi and get a demo of version 3.0. For those of you who have not purchased the CloudBoost or EmployeeBoost yet, trade shows are where you can get the best pricing available!

For our current clients who have specific questions, concerns, or ideas they would like to pass along, please schedule a time to talk with us by emailing wppi@studiocloud.com. Please include your studiocloud business ID and a contact phone number that you will have on you at WPPI. The nature of busy trade shows does not allow us to give our undivided attention for extended periods of time, so we are happy to set aside individual slots to discuss any of your needs one on one.

Only wanting to attend the tradeshow?

Click here to get your free WPPI pass!

We hope to see you soon!

WELCOME!

Welcome to over a thousand new members of the StudioCloud community! It was great getting to meet so many of you at Imaging USA in Nashville. Let us know how we can help you get up and going on StudioCloud in order to help you to have a wonderful and successful 2010!

For those of you who have not set things up, here are a few links to help you get started:

Getting Started Video

Getting Started Article

Also, make sure to stop by and see us at WPPI in Vegas!

Differences Between StudioCloud 2.0 and 3.0

With the release of StudioCloud 3.0 there have been some changes to the website as well as to the product. Here are a list of the major differences between 2.0 and 3.0.

• The Basic Suite has been renamed CloudBoost.
• The Professional Suite has been renamed EmployeeBoost. Please note that the EmployeeBoost requires CloudBoost.
• Current Professional Suite users have both CloudBoost and EmployeeBoost add-ons.
• StudioCloud released a free desktop product. To view the difference between the free and add-ons click here.
• Old invoice payments must be transferred into bookkeeping. To learn how click here.
• New invoice payments do not automatically transfer to bookkeeping yet. This will be added in an upcoming update
• StudioCloud 3.0 uses a different login process which does all of the syncing in the background. As such the first time you login to StudioCloud 3.0 you will not see information until it is downloaded. You can watch the download process in the progress bar in the bottom left corner.

The focus of StudioCloud 3.0 was on stability and speed. As such not all of the features of StudioCloud 2.0 are in StudioCloud 3.0 yet. We will be adding in these features in upcoming updates. With each new update we are posting a message on the forum describing the new updates.

Thanks,

StudioCloud Team

StudioCloud 3.0 and New Desktop Version

StudioCloud 3.0 is officially out of beta. With the release of StudioCloud 3.0 there have been some changes to the naming of StudioCloud's products which will not affect any of our current customers accounts. The Basic Suite is now named the CloudBoost and the Professional Suite is now named the EmployeeBoost.

At Imaging USA StudioCloud also released a free DESKTOP only version which is now available to everyone. The free Desktop version does not have internet access or syncing abilities which reduces the features of what current customers enjoy.

Customers now purchase Boosts and add those to the free version instead of purchasing a Basic or Professional Suite. For $30 a month the CloudBoost can be added and for $60 a month the CloudBoost and the EmployeeBoost can be added. CloudBoost adds the internet and syncing abilities while the EmployeeBoost adds all employee features. Please note that the EmployeeBoost can not be purchased without purchasing the CloudBoost as well. Current professional suite users have both boosts.

Here are the features that those with the free Desktop version do NOT have:

• Customer support
  
• Data backups online (if you lose your data on your computer we will not be able to retrieve it)
  
• Access to your data on multiple computers (data does not sync between computers)
  
• Use of StudioCloud Mobile (schedule, add clients, etc. from browsers, iphones, etc.)
  
• Automatic client email appointment reminders
  
• Syncing Calendar To Outlook, iCal, etc.
  
• Emailing invoices and estimates
  
• and any other features that involve syncing to a server or the need for internet access.
  
• In addition, they will not have multiple employee features including scheduling, time card tracking, multiple logins, role based access control, commission/sales reports, etc.
  

For more details please see the feature comparison chart here

Also, now that StudioCloud 3.0 is out of beta please update if you have not done so by going here. StudioCloud 3.0 will resolve any syncing or internet issues. It also greatly increases the speed of the login process and the rest of the product as well.

Please also note that if you joined StudioCloud with a discount or special show pricing you will remain at that special pricing as long as you remain a paying customer.

Please visit our updated website at www.studiocloud.com for more information and let us know if you have any questions!