Gerri and I find ourselves:
creating images and stories in still and video.
we do lighting, capture, post, editing, graphic design, music, sound, printing, web design.
marketing, sales, service. Bookkeeping, secretarial, and janitorial.
I think it will be nice when we can afford to hire a production team.

That is the route I'm going with mine.
A fast loading cover page with a logo image, and a notice about multmedia content. (people that don't like music can turn thier speakers down, people with slow connections can download a pdf and avoid pages with multimedia)one click to a page with a 30 second power pitch (flash) and links to all other content and pages. users will need to fill out a form to acess the photo albums, tutorials, photography club, and other interactive goddies.

pdf's of all our promotional materials, and mini portfolio books for commercial clients.

Prospects cannot get pricing over the web, but they will be able to book appointments to view the work. (online appointment calendar).

Impressive resume..I might add.

Pete the best advice you're going to get is this:
there is no "one size fits all" right answer.
If you know who your customers are (or who you want your customers to be) then tailor your marketing to what they tell you they like! you won't know if you don't ask them.

Go with what makes YOU happy, whenever in doubt.
Whatever you do decide on, I hope you stay true to yourself and I hope you do well.

I'm not the great expert.
I just feel that if you want recognition from your peers, ask your peers.
If you want money from your customers, ask your customers.
Somewhere along the lines you'll get answers that will get you more of what you are looking for.

Well George, look at it this way...
If the website wets thier appetite, the goal is to get a meeting to show them your work.
The real images look best when you show prints, big ones.

When I get my site revamped, the new one will have a quick loading cover page, with links to various multimedia files and other interesting pages.
but the thumbnails linked to larger images, in albums will require a form to be filled out.
I'm not losing any more images to people that don't buy, and if they're serious customers, why wouldn't they want to find out what's on special offer?

My experience is that everytime we do a promotion, the first ten inquirys are from competitors, not customers. Screw it, if they want to waste my time, pretending to be customers, I'm gonna make them drive down, and sit through a consultation, show them the work, so they know what they're up against, if they think all they have to do is quote a lower price to beat us.

less chance of somebody copying your images, and most potential customers like it.
It seems that mostly other photographers want time to study the images in fine detail.
I find other photographers seldom hire me. Maybe they can't afford me....
As the old saying goes:
Q: What's the difference between a large pizza and a pro photographer?
A: A large pizza can feed a family of four.....

Qwyn, do you have flash disabled? opera should play it just fine!

Not too bad.....
on the landscape section it kept stalling, and rebuffering...I'm not sure why, it didn't happen anywhere else.
using Safari on a mac.
I noticed that your menu bar changes with each selection...may I suggest that you add a graphic or title to each slideshow to remind the viewer which section they're in.
one final suggestion....Branding...It's a marketing term. Suggest that you choose a logo, or graphic, or image that you use on your main page, and carry it through to your business cards, stationary, packaging materials, and slideshows.
royalty free music? copyright issues do apply!

Welcome!

you made a great choice in camera there.
You'll be getting better and better pictures, as you learn.
take the time to learn, and you'll find yourself getting a lot of enjoyment too.