TotSites

I ran across an interesting blog post today talking about how the “Photo Print” pricing war has started. (http://blogs.pcworld.com/staffblog/archives/007605.html) When companies start competing for your business it can only mean good things for the consumer!

While TotSites main focus is on building and sharing your memories, we also have a Photo Center allowing you to order prints. It was interesting to see that the TotSites Photo Center pricing is actually *very* competitive with all the other companies listed in the blog post. For their comparisons, they assume an average order of 20 photos – we see average orders of approx 100 (why not order a few extra for family when the cost is so much lower). When you compare with an order size of 100 prints, our unit price including shipping is at 9.7 cents each with the competition all around 14 to 15 cents each.

What’s more with our photos, customers get “real photos” processed on Fuji Supreme Archival Quality Photo Paper – most of the competition digitally prints on “gloss” paper – so in the end you are getting more and paying less when using the TotSites Photo Center.

If you haven’t tried the service yet, be sure to give it a shot and take advantage of the 50 free prints. Don’t limit yourself to just photo prints as the Photo Books, Photo on canvas, and other products are a great value too. One of the more popular photo products for TotSites users is actually the Photo Books. Many parents create a photo book with each Keepsake CD order so they have a couple ways to share and preserve their memories.

Thought I would share!

Brian

Hi everyone! I hope you’re all having a fantastic summer so far. We’d like to keep it going with the summer-themed Picnic Design!

This was another one you requested, so layout the tablecloth, watch out for ants(!) and enjoy the Picnic Design, which is free to all members.

Max

One of the more common questions we get from Parents is “How much time does it take to create and update a TotSite?”. The first part is simple - you can create your TotSite and have something fun to show friends and family in under 5 minutes. All you need is one adorable photo or a precious fun fact/milestone along with one of our adorable themes to make Grandma smile! Don’t take our word for it - create your online baby journal and try it for yourself!

Typically Parents fall into one of three categories in regards to how often they update their TotSite.

Daily
Some Parents prefer to update their site daily. They journal their daily adventure with their new little one and maybe add a picture or two. Taking 10 minutes before bedtime can be a great way to help keep your family milestones recorded so you can put your mind on other more important tasks - like sleep!

2-4 Updates per Month
During the first year of your Baby’s life there are so many changes, firsts, and smiles that you may want to keep a record of what is happening a couple times per month. This can be accomplished with a few quick sentences or even with the latest photos from the Zoo. Don’t feel like you need to write some long journal with every detail that happend during the month but instead just highlight the few things that made you laugh or smile.

3-4 Times per Year
In many cases Parents will update their TotSite around the Holidays as they have a ton of photos they want to share with friends and family (Be sure to order your prints with the new TotSites Photo Center - 5 cent Photo Prints!!!). They update a few galleries to their TotSite and then create a recap of the highlights since the last update. This tends to be a trend as Baby gets closer and closer to a full blown Toddler.

If Grandpa and Grandma had their way they would have you uploading new photos and videos every day. Heck, if we all had time, who wouldn’t want to journal their child’s milestones, photos, and videos in a daily format. The reality is not all Parents have the time or energy for this level of updates. Speaking from a personal point of view, I know we don’t have time to update our daughter’s TotSite daily. We typically update our sites when we order new photos (every 1-2 months) and this is plenty to create a Keepsake we will cherish for years to come.

There is no right answer for how often you need to update your TotSite. The idea is to share, record milestones, and most of all have FUN! Friends and family will enjoy whatever you can add to your TotSite and you can create a valuable Keepsake for when Baby is older (including comments from Great Grandma!)

Brian

TotSites will have a booth at the Baby Time Expo (booth number 335) on the 28th and 29th at the Qwest Field Event Center in Seattle. If you are in the area please be sure to stop by and say hello!

TotSites Team

Many members have been requesting a way they can order prints from their TotSite. We are proud to announce the new TotSites Photo Center is finally here!

Why use the TotSites Photo Center?

• 50 FREE prints for new accounts
• 5 cent *everyday* pricing - We encourage you to try to find a better deal!
• Great quality - all prints are done on Fuji photo paper

How do I get started?

• Go to the TotSites Photo Center and then follow the steps to create a photo printing account and upload your photos.

Can my family order prints and do I need to upload my photos twice?

• Anyone can create a TotSites Photo Center account. They do not need to be a member of TotSites.
• If you are a TotSites member, we highly recommend you create a generic Photo account to share with your family to upload photos you wish to share with everyone. Each family member can then enter their own address information and pay for prints themselves using your photos. This way Grandma who lives 300 miles away can order a print of that adorable Zoo picture at any time. Of course this is optional and you are welcome to keep your account private (or create two accounts and get 100 free prints!)
• You do need to upload your high resolution photo separately to the Photo Center. When you add photos to your TotSite we automatically resize the images for your site before you upload them (with the EZ Photo Upload). This allows you to upload your photos up to 50 times faster! Typically members share more photos on their TotSite then they want to print - so you get the chance to upload your print quality photos separately and in most cases saving you tons of time!

What’s Next?

We will be adding new features later this year to help you better integrate the print photo center with your TotSite. Stay tuned!

If you have any questions or concerns please contact support or post a comment in the community forums. We hope all of you take advantage of your 50 free prints and check it out.

Brian

We just wanted to wish all the Moms and Mom to be a Happy Mother’s Day. Everyone knows what you do every day, and we just wanted to say thank you!

After several requests the new TotSites forums went live last Friday! The forums are a great place to find tips and hints on how to use your TotSite, ask questions, or just get in touch with other TotSites users. The forums will be expanding to include new topics as we get rolling so if you have any requests be sure to let us know. 

Check out the TotSites Community Forums

To login to the forums use your existing TotSites username and password.

Brian

1) Some FireFox and Safari users experienced a problem when choosing fonts for their homepage and journal sections. We made an update this afternoon that should solve this issue for any new or updated entries.

2) We will be posting an update to the EZ Photo upload next week that you will need to “install” before you can upload more photos. When the update is ready, more information will be posted when you login to your site.

Hope everyone has a great weekend!

We are excited to announce that the new TotSites admin is now available for everyone to use. This new update has many exciting changes that will make managing your TotSite easier. Nearly all updates were from suggestions from existing TotSites members so please keep sending in your comments!

Some of the notable updates include:

• - Enhanced navigation
• - Ability to add more than one photo to your homepage (from 2008 feature poll)
• - Enhanced the existing feature for adding photos to your journal entries
• - Ability to delete multiple photos in a single gallery at one time
• - New design selection tab with new categories
• - Option to let Totsites to optimize movies uploaded to your account
• - Arrange movies with in a Drag-n-drop tool

We will be continually tweaking the new features over the next couple weeks so expect minor changes.

Have fun!

Brian

As promised, here’s a new design for the boys. This one also comes from several of you who think your kids will one day like to get behind the wheel and kick up a little dirt.

We hope you like the new Truck Design!

Max