2024 has been one of the best years for us at Mulberry Photo Werx as we continue to be Pittsburgh's premier fine art photography boutique. As a new year is swiftly upon us, we look back over the last twelve months reviewing what worked, what didn't and where we can aim for improvement. We realize that the services we provide go well beyond taking photos - they're a moment in time captured to preserve it for a lifetime.
We have invested heavily this past year in multiple aspects of our business - specifically in the areas of client onboarding and data security. Our specific goals were to set our set our clients up for success at the beginning of their projects and provide solid support through image delivery, and ensure safeguards protecting those moments.
I'm proud to share with you several key ways we're doing just that.
A BETTER ONBOARDING EXPERIENCE
Our busiest time for project starts in May with Pride events and runs through July with our Tekko mini-sessions. We realized that during this time, we were falling short of our own expectations to provide each client with a personalized experience. We wanted to welcome each client aboard, provide them with access to their very own client portal, and let them know what to expect along the way. However, we were falling short.
Anyone who knows me knows I am big on quality of experience. I'd rather give a smaller number of people a better overall experience than give a larger number of people an experience that's just 'ok'. At Mulberry Photo Werx, we want to be consistent regardless of the volume of business we have.
Finding a platform that allows us to do just that can be challenging. How you do something says a lot about who you are and I pride myself on giving 110% to every project. In searching for a platform that supports our business, a lot of photography management platforms promise to deliver, but I wasn't a fan of their execution. A leader in helping photographers excel at what they do best, our partnership with Sprout Studio allowed us to bring features like a client portal, best-in-class booking experience, and print ordering, and more to you.
We're looking forward to seeing what Sprout Studio adds to their feature-rich environment in 2025 so we can continue iterating on and improving the client experience we offer today.
ENGAGEMENTS & WEDDINGS
When I started doing photography many years ago, I dreamed of one day shooting engagements and weddings. It's been a long road over the last 15 years, but I'm thrilled to say that Mulberry Photo Werx is now offering engagement sessions, as well as coverage for your wedding, elopement, handfasting, vow renewal or anniversary celebration.
Pricing starts around $2.700 and you can customize a package to fit your budget or individual tastes. Be sure to check out our offerings!
UNCOMPROMISING PRIVACY
Another area we've improved upon this past year was in information security. When we do business we have a responsibility to ensure that all data - not just photographs - is handled in a manner consistent with our core values.
To that end, we have created internal processes which includes safeguards for your contact details, account credentials, and payment information:
- We use Square as our payment processor which is PCI-DSS compliant.
- We employ standard security practices such as the use of drive encryption, firewalls and VPNs, as well as remote lock and wipe capabilities for staff devices.
We wrote our privacy policy to restrict us from sharing any personal data - whether anonymized or not - to third-parties when the use of that data isn't absolutely necessary for the operation of our business. This choice was intentional. When I started Mulberry in 2022, I made a commitment to our clients that we will only make money on the services we provide and not by selling their private details to others. In 2025, we are doubling-down on that commitment to client privacy.
PLANNING FOR THE UNEXPECTED
Bad things sometimes happen: hard drives fail, an important file goes missing, data leaks, hackers strike. While we can't foresee every possible thing that might happen, we can plan for the events that we know are likely to happen.
As a digital business, we need to keep certain data retained for a period of time for compliance purposes or to ensure that your precious memories never get lost. We've created a disaster recovery strategy that will ensure that your data is safe no matter what happens.
Although there are many competing methodologies to backing up data, the core principals are the same: multiple copies of data stored securely in the same manner as the original data itself and accessible only when you need it. Through studying the best options, we found that the 4-3-2 method works the best for our needs. Four copies of the data, spread across three locations, two of which are off-site.
First, we keep an on-site copy of all data on an encrypted drive and we only use solid state storage to reduce the amount of physical drive failures in our storage array.
Second, our off-site storage makes use of two US datacenters in Northern Virginia and Plano, TX. Using datacenter across two regions ensures that in the (highly unlikely) event an entire region is offline for an extended period of time, data can still be recovered and accessed. These campuses have several layers of digital and physical safeguards, including:
- Cloud, carrier and power neutral (100% green power in N. VA)
- SOC II Type II compliance
- ISO-27001 (Info Sec) compliance
- PCI-DSS compliance
- Physical security protocols including sign-in, security camera monitoring, and intercom systems
All data regardless of location is stored encrypted (aka, encryption-at-rest) and all data transmissions in or out of these locations is encrypted as well. Off-site backups are also stored immutable, meaning that the data cannot be changed or deleted by either bad actors or through accidental means.
All data is stored within the United States to ensure that we are compliant with US privacy laws.
WHAT DOES THIS MEAN FOR YOU?
Sure all this tech talk sounds great, but what does all of this actually mean for you?
As I said earlier, we've spent a lot of time this past year to ensure that we're providing the best possible client experience starting with the services we offer to onboarding through well after we've delivered your photos. Through carefully designed security policies that keep your personal data and the devices we access it on safe, and backups that plan for the unexpected, we provide peace of mind that ensures no matter what happens your cherished memories are always kept safe.
Regardless of anything in this or future blog posts, we always encourage you to read up on our privacy policy and business practices to learn more about how we do business at Mulberry Photo Werx. And don't worry - we've made both easy to read and understand.
Creatively yours,
Jaxon
