With this funding, liveBooks has:

1. Lowered the cost of entry into the liveBooks suite and service so that any professional can now afford a liveBooks site;
2. Introduced a subscription-based service to eliminate the need for front-loaded monetary commitments;
3. Launched pre-designed site offerings with unrivaled choices in terms of number, design and utility;
4. Broadened its market reach with new, creative professional industries such as graphic design and interior design

The net result of these changes is that every creative professional now has access to an affordable solution designed to differentiate their online offer, without the need to get involved in the technology of running a website.

“We have been impressed with liveBooks’ approach to the photography industry and believe that a liveBooks site is a great solution for anyone selling a visual product to manifest their unique brand on the internet,” said Laura Shore, senior vice president of communications at Mohawk Fine Papers. “Our strategic relationship with liveBooks is an important component of our effort to expand our sphere of influence beyond paper products and to incorporate a 360-degree focus on products and services related to the graphics industry.”

For customers who want the benefits of liveBooks’ proven design expertise and intuitive site administration in a more affordable package, the company is now offering an unrivaled array of pre-designed themes and layout options with subscriptions priced at $39 a month. liveBooks is also extending this pricing flexibility to its customized design customers who want completely unique sites that are both visually stunning and true manifestations of their brands. Single customized sites will require a one-time design fee plus a subscription charge.

“liveBooks’ website platform empowers professional photographers with the tools they need to easily and successfully leverage the power of the internet to run their businesses,” said Chris Rainier, National Geographic Photographic Fellow. “At a time when creative professionals in all disciplines are facing job cuts and finding making a sustainable living increasingly difficult, the new liveBooks offering – which is at a price that even a student can afford – will be a saving grace. This gives me hope for the future of the global and independent creative photographer working as a professional.”

liveBooks has a history of creating beautifully designed and easy-to-manage websites for the world’s top photographers, such as Rainier, nature photographer and host of PBS’s “Adventures to the Edge” Art Wolfe, and celebrity photographer Harry Benson. Since its inception, liveBooks has created sites for more than 7,000 photographers and creative professionals.

“We’re extremely proud that our work has helped professional photographers grow their businesses over the past five years and we remain committed to delivering exceptional designs and customer service to the photographic community,” said Andy Patrick, CEO and president of liveBooks. “This financing allows us to take advantage of the significant growth opportunities in other creative markets where professionals’ business needs are similar to those of photographers. This, together with the implementation of the more scalable, SaaS- and subscription-based business model, presents our customers with more affordable options in these difficult economic times.”

liveBooks was incorporated in 2005 and quickly became well-known for developing and delivering customized websites that allow professional photographers to easily manage their online presence with an intuitive drag-and-drop interface and advanced search marketing tools. The 75-person company is headquartered in San Francisco, with offices in the United Kingdom, Romania and throughout the United States.

To reflect the expansion of its business model and offerings, liveBooks today re-launched its website at www.liveBooks.com.

© 2009, The F Stops Here. All rights reserved. (Jessica D. Korman)

Atlanta, GA (PRWEB) July 17, 2009 — Acclaimed documentary photographer Phil Borges and CARE, a humanitarian organization that fights global poverty by empowering women and girls, are continuing a successful multi-year collaboration with today’s launch of the Women Empowered Project. Using Borges’ photography and video, The Women Empowered Project spotlights some of the issues that women and girls in the developing world face while demonstrating practical, proven solutions to fighting global poverty.

The new website, which was built in conjunction with liveBooks – a San Francisco-based Internet service for professional photographers — includes three mini-documentary films: Learning to Lead portrays the transformative power of education and leadership for girls and women; Vigilantes de la Vida shows how childbirth can lead to heartbreak rather than happiness when adequate maternal health care is not available, and Strength in Numbers illustrates how African women can turn tiny amounts of money into sustaining capital through village savings and loan programs.

These three issue areas – maternal health, education and financial services – are signature examples of CARE’s work to combat poverty. Additional support during these critical moments can help put women and girls’ on a pathway to success. Each of the three video vignettes includes supplementary information about CARE’s work to address each issue, details about related policy and advocacy topics, and opportunities to share the content with others.
“Through this new endeavor, we hope to continue the momentum we have gained through our partnership and continue to raise awareness about the unique position women hold,” said Valenda Campbell, CARE’s senior photo editor. “Despite the inequity women face, they unite their families and communities and when they are able to make the most of three key windows of opportunity in their lives, they can create lasting change for themselves and everyone their lives touch. These are stories that people must hear and understand.”

Beginning in March, 2008 and working through the fall, Borges visited CARE programs in sub-Saharan Africa, Latin America and Asia. In each region, specifically Malawi (microfinance), Peru (maternal health) and India (education), Borges met with and filmed his subjects to not only capture how discrimination and social injustice affect women and their families and fuel the cycle of poverty, but also how CARE is helping to change the systems that hold people back, and why empowering women is the key to lasting change.

The Women Empowered Project is the latest chapter in an ongoing collaboration between CARE and Borges. In 2007, Borges released a traveling fine art exhibit, a companion book, Women Empowered: Inspiring Change in the Emerging World, and a multimedia feature telling the story of one woman’s efforts to transform her community.

“My partnership with CARE not only allows me to bring attention to the social issues I am concerned about, but to focus my work on creative solutions to those issues” Mr. Borges said.

The Women Empowered Project, which was developed in conjunction with liveBooks and the Fifty Crows Foundation is built on the liveBooks Photojournalism platform that provides cost-effective, web-based tools for photojournalists to display their work.

© 2009, The F Stops Here. All rights reserved. (Jessica D. Korman)