Dec
2
Go Social with PictureSocial
Filed Under Social Networking | Leave a Comment
So you’ve heard all about MySpace and Facebook - and LinkedIn, and Twitter and …
Maybe you’ve tried some of them. But are you staying active with them?
The idea behind joining a social network is to meet people that can ultimately help you achieve whatever it is you have in mind. Want clients for wedding photography? Join places like Facebook and get active with wedding groups.
Want to become a better photographer? How about joining PictureSocial?
Oct
29
Kodak Shows Photographers Power Of Blogging
Filed Under Questions & Resources, Social Networking | 1 Comment
Want to know who’s been using social media - namely blogging - very actively and effectively lately? Its none other than the powerhouse Kodak.
Kodak uses two blogs to connect up with their users and customers. The first is A Thousand Words. Its all about the stories surrounding the photography industry. As employees are out connecting with photographers, they are invited to tell the story on A Thousand Words - and of course add photographs to go along with the stories.
The second is PluggedIn, which shares stories about Kodak products and the people that use them.
Both are well written, and you can learn a lot about both taking photographs and about some of the new technology that’s available.
Oct
20
This month I’ll be teaching six classes on social networking for small business owners. And the offers just keep coming in. With the current economy, I think people are really starting to understand that when you have more time than money, its important to do the best things to help grow your business.
According to a new study by Cone Business, sixty percent of Americans use social media. Of those, 1 i
n 4 interacts more than once per week. And 56 percent feel both a stronger connection with and better served by companies when they can interact with them in the social media.
All of this continues to motivate me to help you, the photographers, develop your business in the online world. If you’re not blogging and using social media, you’re missing THE most important marketing tool available to you today.
Want even more proof? I recently did a post on stats from the blogosphere. The wealthiest, most educated persons are online, and are using blogs and social media more than any other audience. If that is your market, what are you doing to reach out to them?Â
I love being online because I can reach out and communicate with prospects and customers 24/7. I don’t have to open my office on their time - I do it on mine. If I choose to work three hours in the middle of the night, and take the morning off - its my choice. And the best thing is everything I do online will remain online - and impact me for months and months to come.
Can you say the same about your strategy?
Want help with your own social networking strategy?
Oct
1
10 Reasons To Blog About Your Photography Business
Filed Under Photography Website Marketing, Social Networking, online marketing | 2 Comments
Blogging has become the most talked about, significant marketing strategy available to small business owners today. If you are planning on growing your photography business into the future, you should be familiar with the latest blogging techniques available to you, and start using the powerful features that will put you light years ahead of your competition.
Currently 133 million blog records are indexed by Technorati, a blogging directory, with 900,000 blog posts being submitted every 24 hours. For many people the idea of blogging may seem a bit daunting. With that many people blogging every day, what are your chances of using it as an effective marketing tool?
A successful photographer for over 20 years, and a successful blogger for over 4, let me share with you my list of ten reasons you need to be active with blogging. 
[And if you’re already successfully blogging, feel free to forward this post to your friends and clients who would benefit from learning how to grow their business using a blog.]
1. Find clients.
Blogs allow you to give detailed case studies about each of your clients, including photographs. The more detailed you are, the more you’ll attract the attention search for similar characteristics. And if you’re trying to reach out to a more affluent client, blogging is a definite must.
2. Meet your peers.
Blogging isn’t just for people talking about their personal lives. In fact, blogging is one of the fastest growing tools online. Both women and men are seeing the benefits of blogging, and are turning to using it for business faster than many other forms of marketing. Jump on board now in its infancy, and learn how to capture interest with just a few minutes of work per day.
3. Establish yourself as an expert.
How do you become an expert? By sharing your knowledge. And with the ease and low cost of blogging, nothing could be easier.
4. Build relationships.
Blogging allows your personality to shine through. While your business blog is mostly business, the occasional personal post lets people develop an understanding of who you are as a person. Even if you’re thousands of miles away.
5. Build your visibility.
Have you ever been to a site with three pages, and just a few sentences on each page? It’s hard to develop an opinion. But with a ton more content, your clients and prospects can visit page after page developing their viewpoint. More content also means more connections in the blogosphere – allowing you to connect with many more people than with just a few pages.
6. Share information with your niche.
I’m willing to estimate that 80 to 90 percent of all photographers choose to have the same Flash website developed as their competitor. You know, the one with just a few pages where the content is fed in to an about us page, a services page, and a gallery section rotates showing the top 10 images. What set up a part was having over 20,000 images on our website, and hundreds of pages of quality information. All of that is easy to do with a blog.
7. Inexpensive way to market your business.
Blogs are low cost, and easy to set up. In a short period of time, you can take charge and easily start sharing information with your readers. I would highly recommend creating your own blog instead of using the free blogging systems like Blogger. I’ve heard many nightmares of creating a very valuable blog, only to have it turned off because a service like Blogger misunderstands your intentions and deletes your files.
8. Easy way to get instant delivery of your ideas.
Have a new product? Blog about it immediately. Have a new client? Blog about it immediately. Because you have full control, you can add any type of content whenever you choose, 24/7/365.
9. Get noticed by the search engines.
Google likes blog posts, it’s a fact. And because it likes them, your pages will rank a whole lot better than similar pages on a website. And once you begin learning more about optimization and social networking, you can gain first page rankings on Google and other search engines again and again.
10. Give you a starting point to online networking.
Blogging is the tip of the iceberg. It has so many benefits, it would be impossible to list them in any one place. But the important thing is to get started now, learn this type of technology, and use it to help grow your business in the future. You’ll soon be as addicted to blogging as I am. And if you need help or support with your strategy, I’d be happy to help.
Have you ever tried blogging? Do you agree with these 10, or do you see something else as more pressing? Why do you blog?
Aug
8
So You Have A Flickr Account; What Can You Do With It?
Filed Under Just For Fun, Social Networking | Leave a Comment
Maybe you’ve been adding your photos to Flickr for awhile now, and you’re wondering what else you can do. Check out these Flickr tools - and have fun adding them to your blog, website, or just using it to make your Flickr experience better.
Travelr A tool that allows you to display your Flickr photos geographically on a world map. Perfect for the destination photographer.
Flickr Slideshow Generator Choose your favorite photos, put them into the slideshow generator, and copy the HTML into your blog or on your website.
Big Huge Labs An amazing resource area giving you a ton of things to do with your photographs.
Bubblr Turn your photos into comic strips, and then publish them.
flickr and webimager Allows you to screen capture images and upload them easily to your flickr
PicMarkr Allows you to create a custom watermark and place it on your Flickr images
Want to know what’s the most popular camera on Flickr?
Looks like by a fairly wide margin it’s the Canon EOS Digital Rebel XTi
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