As we look at a photography business in the cloud (articles in photography invoicing and photography customer management previously), another big service which I’ve found really useful is Dropbox (and you can get started for free).
Dropbox allows for a set of files (stored in a folder/subfolder tree) to be automatically synchronized to cloud storage… anything you put into that folder on your local computer gets copied up to Dropbox’s servers. If you use multiple computers (perhaps a desktop machine and a laptop), you can configure the second machine to synchronize the same data. This is a great way to keep certain files in sync between machines and it also becomes an offsite backup copy.
Another great advantage is that there are mobile clients to access dropbox files; if you have information stored in your Dropbox account, you can reach those files from your iPhone, iPad,or Android device.
As a photographer, here are some specific things I do with Dropbox:
- Keep PDF versions of manuals for my cameras, lenses, flash gear, etc. available across devices including mobile
- Keep copies of your professional headshots for various uses where you need an image for a social network, speaking engagement, etc.
- Keep copies of brief biographies (perhaps of varying lengths) for speaking engagements, online opportunities, or other cases where someone might need a paragraph or two about you.
- Keep my Lightroom catalog in a folder synchronized to Dropbox so that the catalog file is always backed up (note that you probably don’t want to store your photos on Dropbox, but it works great for the catalog file).
- Keep a folder full of text files of ideas, thoughts, blog post drafts, or other writings. They can be edited on my computer, and I use Elements on my iPad and it supports using Dropbox for this.
- Keep backup copies (so they’re stored offsite) of online published content such as blog entries.
- Use Dropbox to synchronize my password database.
Sign up now for Dropbox and get 2 GB of free space. Use my referral link and we both get additional free space.
