Being a photographer can be a practical job choice, even though it usually starts from a spark of genuine passion (which is admirable, considering that most practical job choices out there probably get picked precisely for their practicality first and foremost). But managing to earn money out of your photographing of things (mainly people, since they’re the only subjects that afford to pay you for your work – just kidding, many other photography branches pay off as well) will take some time to happen. Building the credible profile of an employable photographer isn’t done overnight, but more like a goal to slowly work towards. As your skills improve in time, so will your portfolio, and so will your number of satisfied collaborators and your professional good name or renown. But to make sure your good work and polished skills don’t go unnoticed, especially in this time and age, it’s crucial to be as visible as possible in the realm of social media. We’re pretty sure there’s no need to start with the basics and you already have a facebook account and a twitter fanbase and so on. But perhaps applying some unintuitive tweaks can refresh your online presence and give it a welcome boost. Here are 3 ideas to try in order to up your game.
1. Improve Your Online Portfolio
If you want to be taken seriously as a photographer, you probably already know that having a deviantart account will not be enough to count as an online portfolio. But beyond having a professionally looking profile, your main priority should be branching out. By branching out we mean creating a profile and a presence you remember to update once in a while on every platform that could offer you a fanbase, and especially every platform other photographers wouldn’t immediately think of. For example, consider being present in an online game community, like for a quiz app, as way to get publicity. You can promise some coupons for your services to the first 10 people who accomplish x points, or whatever else you can think of as a good way of reaching previously unreachable targets.
2. Promote Your Images in Video Format Too
Make a video out of your best images by compiling them in a visually powerful clip. Then upload it on your Youtube profile (time to make one, by the way) and make sure you optimize it in order to make sure your video is selected by search engines as a highly relevant return to those searches that might be interested in someone like you. Since we were already discussing the idea of branching out, going into video territory might seem counterintuitive to a photographer, but it will gain you the recognition you wouldn’t be able to reach otherwise.
3. Include Fans’ Voices in Your Social Media Presence
We’re not talking about the already done and overdone section of customer reviews and feedback, though an approach like that in your profile set-up is not only welcome, but usually even required. So while not encouraging you to forego it, spice it up with unexpected formats and content. The more you can incorporate the voice of your fans in your social media profile, the more you get content related to your name as a photographer without actually having to create it yourself, not to mention that the praise always helps. Furthermore, having a “human” voice speak highly of your skills can work wonders, as opposed to a cold voice of a corporate-like PR strategist.
As for ways in which you can do that, think about including feedback videos of you fans in your “what other say…” section. A video is a much more powerful message, and if you have many enthusiastic voices talking about how good you made them look, that makes you look good as well. Another idea is to promote the use of tags and check ins done by others which are linking to your profile (by offering bonuses to the first 20 to check in and so on). This way, you are present within the social media spheres of others and nothing gets you more viral than that.
