This week it came in the form of a warehouse.

I’m a huge fan of Costco. Some people - who are married to me - might even say I’m strangely addicted. But I can’t help it! Where else can you purchase a 16 pound jar of peanut butter, an inflatable Halloween witch and a back up Canon Speedlite in the same transaction?

A cart full of photo gear, blowup ghouls and crushed peanuts isn't even the best magic at Costco. The crown jewel of the Costco kingdom is the taste test. If you're in the mood to be honest, you'll admit you've gone to Costco hungry, and come out stuffed full of tiny pieces of kielbasa, the cheeses of the world, and Go-gurt. There's a lesson in here about cheapness and binge eating, but the real point is that many of us like to try something out before we lug it home, and we don't always have that opportunity.

So, in the middle of a mini-cup of trail mix, I got to thinking... the questions we find ourselves repeatedly answering about Virtual Studio Manger are: "What will my Clients experience?" and "How does a linked form work on my site?"

Well, we've slapped on our hairnets and put together a sample website.

I encourage you to explore the site for yourself – you’ll find a linked Contact Form and Pricing Form, along with a Client Gallery – and you can even check out a sample Shooting Day Details form. Once you submit the form, you’ll also receive an auto-email reply that you can customize via Virtual Studio Manager. Seeing how the tool works through your client's eyes will show you how seemless the process can be. Our goal is that your clients will never know they left your site while they're filling out details and updating your VSM database for you.

If we can get the sample website to taste like smoked hickory, we'd be most of the way to matching our Costco inspiration, but for now we're content with trying to save you a ton of time, and making it easier for you to communicate with your clients.