Flickr Pro

I just upgraded to Flickr's Pro account. I was trying to figure out if I really needed to pay $24.95 a year for the upgrade when Photobucket had what I needed. On my website I have categories "Scrubs, Bags..." that link to pictures of things I've done for other customers & stuff for sale. With Photobucket you can have as many categories as you would like but with the free Flickr they only allow 3 sets/categories. Since I have 6 categories I couldn't use the free Flickr account so I continued to use Photobucket. On Etsy I always see people using Flickr & saying how they like Flickr much better than Photobucket...I was trying to figure out why because I knew there had to be a reason why someone would pay when hey could get something for free. So I started using Flickr more often to see why. Here are a few reasons (not in any specific order) that did it for me other than unlimited everything that is listed on the upgrade page....

• Multiple Sets/collections, like I said I need at least 6 & at some point I know I will need more.
• Able to write a description for each picture. It can be a detailed description or it can be short & sweet.
• View counts.
• Comment on pictures.
• Tagging pictures so they will come up in searches.
• Profile. Another way for someone to find your website & ways to contact you if they see something they like.
• My favorite is...The view of the set, "thumbnails or detail". I have my website links open to the thumbnail view so all my pics are seen. If you are window shopper & found my shop, if you see all my bags at the same time you might see one you like & continue to look at my stuff. On photobucket, the 1st page might not have a bag she likes so the window will close right away & bye-bye to http://JTstitches.com.

These are the main reasons why I decided on a Pro account. As I use it more I'm sure there will be much more added to the list. There are other things I like about Flickr but not the reason I chose the Pro account (like the forums). Check out my photos! http://flickr.com/photos/jtstitches/

Added 11/6/06;

Now that I've been using flickr for almost a month I'd like to add to my list. The above list are reasons I subscribed, I'd now like to add more things I really like since using flickr.

• Add notes "in" the photos feature....really cool!
• Privacy-with photobucket it's either all private or none. Flickr you can choose which photos are seen by family, friends &/or no one, and give a "Guest pass" to people to see certain photos.
• Email a picture from your phone, love it!
• Blog a picture. Set your blogger account info with flickr & other blog accounts. Also blogging about other people's photos.
• Adding contacts & see what new photos they uploaded.
• Maps. See what photos & flickr users in your area.

Added months later:

• For me having a jailbroken iPhone there are a bunch of 3rd party applications (ie. Pushr, Mobile Flickr & iFlickr) makes it so easy to upload pictures, add a title, descriptions & tags to Flickr.
• Camera finder. When I wanted to buy a new camera it was nice to see what kind of pictures a specific camera took.
• Organize. Now that I have lots of sets & collections I love the organize feature.
• Firefox Greasemonkey scripts for flickr. Adding a few of the GM flickr scripts makes viewing pictures faster. Instead of turning pages the pictures (or group threads) appear at the bottom when you get to it. I also like that when you leave a comment it adds where you found the picture--"Seen in Project 365 pool".