It’s like GPS for Your Photography Website: Pocket Locator

You are a photojournalist who travels around the state, country or world. Broadcasting your location to your clients is a surefire marketing technique to pick up assignments (or maybe a way to score a drink with friends).

Updating your website with your location, however, can be a bit of a pain. No one wants to login to their website, and manually type in their location. It’s just not the thing you’re thinking of when you hit the ground in Kerala or Harare. If only there was an easier way…

David Brabyn, one of our PhotoShelter Certified Consultants, swung by the office the other week to demo a little piece of software/app that solves the problem. The brainchild of French mobile engineer Remi Grumeau (with an assist from David), Pocket Locator is a nifty and simple solution to the problem.

Here’s how it works:

• Create a free Pocket Locator account and get a few lines of javascript.
• Cut and paste the javascript into someplace where you want to publish your location. We like putting it in the footer of your website template. Pocket Locator only returns the location, so you’ll need to make the statement gramatically correct. We like “Current location” or something of that ilk. (If you’re using a PhotoShelter theme, make sure to click the “HTML” tab in the footer box before pasting the code)

• With your smart phone, go to pocket-locator.com, which will automatically direct you to the mobile friendly site. No app to install, and therefore it works on iPhone, Android, or any smart phone.
• When you update your location, you’ll have the ability to determine how specific you want the location listing.
• No phone service? Login via the web and type in your location.

It’s a deadly simple idea, but a perfect solution for the photographer on the go (or a food truck for that matter).