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Photographer’s Best Friend: Google Reverse Image Search

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It’s all diff’rent strokes for diff’rent folks when it comes to image usage and propagation online: while some photographers are happy to have their work featured on Tumblr, Facebook, various blogs, and media outlets, others are less than excited about it. Today’s post is for those who fall in the latter category, rather than the former. It’s here to teach you how to use Google reverse image search, in order to find your pictures all over the web. Perhaps you’re not happy with not being credited, or maybe your image is used in a context you don’t want to be associated with. Whatever your reasons may be, here’s the way to find those pictures and prevent further occurrences from happening.

How to start the Google reverse image search

Image search is a service provided by search engine giant Google, in order to help others find specific photos online; conversely, the Google reverse image search is what you do when you have the image already, but want to know who else has it and has been using it. There are two ways to start your Google reverse image search: one is by uploading your photo into the Google images search bar, and the other is by copying the photo’s original URL (say, off your own blog or website) and pasting into the search bar. As far as the first option goes, you can also simply drag and drop the image into the search bar, if you find this easier.

The Google reverse image search results

google-reverse-image-search

Photo via Photo Shelter

The results that Google reverse image search delivers look much like a collage of visually similar pictures. Note that they may not all be precise and exact matches of your photo. However, chances are you will come across websites that have been using the photo without your explicit authorization. Another great feature that Google delivers at this point is a brief text-based description of your photo and the context in which it’s being used. Perhaps yours is not so much a case of being offended by ‘photo theft’, but maybe the website owner or blogger that’s featuring your work has misspelled your name or attributed the image to someone else by mistake. This feature will allow you to identify such errors and contact the people in question, to ask them to amend the issue. You can also use the advanced image search page to find your work online. Google can help you specify various words your photo might be used in context with. It will let you whittle down the results by image size, aspect ratio, colors, type, usage rights, and many other filters.

More Google reverse image search tips & tricks

–          Search for as many different variants of the same photo, even if the differences between them and the original picture are subtle – especially if you’ve uploaded more than one version of the same photo online. Some might be cropped differently or uploaded in other color schemes.

–          You might find your work online edited by third parties: cropped, rotated, in black and white, etc.. Try searching for differently Photoshopped variants of your own work by creating these variations yourself.

–          Don’t disregard smaller sizes of your image. Perhaps someone has resized an initially large photo and is using it as such. Google has a harder time spotting visually similar images in smaller sizes, because, the smaller the photo, the less data it has to work with. Resize the photos yourself and look for them like this.

In terms of what you decide to do with the results, the choice is entirely up to you. It all has to do with the way you license your work and whether or not the people using the pictures are making money off your back – case in which you might even decide to prosecute for copyright infringement.

Filed Under: Blog, Digital Photography, Online Resources, Photography Business, Social Media, Tips & Resources Tagged With: , , , , , , , , , ,

Success Stories: How to Create Your Own Photography Niche

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In a day and age where social media and other media consumption habits gear users toward a torrent of visual information, how does a commercial photographer go about creating a lucrative business? The answer, according to more than just one accomplished pro photog, lies in knowing how to create your own photography niche. This is, of course, about personal branding to a large extent, but it also has to do with finding what you love, catering to an already existing audience, and getting noticed (and paid!) for it. Easier said than done, huh? Well, it might take a bit of soul-searching, market research, and adapting, but it certainly is feasible. Here’s how:

create-your-own-photography-niche

Create your own photography niche by providing quality products to ideal clients

Do you happen to know at least one photographer who does it all? Product shoots, events, concerts, architecture, fashion, travel, babies – they know all about it and dabble in them all. While, on the one hand, it’s perfectly acceptable to sometimes step out of your comfort zone and try your hand at a type of photography you’re not entirely specialized in, this is not a very good business strategy. See, the reasoning behind such a ‘smorgasbord’ approach is that the photographers in question believe that if they have something to offer to everyone, then someone will surely want to do business with them. Key word: someone. Anyone. On the other hand, though, the process through which you create your own photography niche starts with knowing what you love to photograph and who you can sell it to, ideally.

So, in your quest to create your own photography niche, start out by identifying the following:

  • The perfect picture. What segment of photography do you feel most comfortable with? Narrow it down as much as you want. It could be a particular type of wedding photography, or something exotic like pet portraiture. The important thing is that you’ve got the technical skills, gear, and experience, to create great pictures of this kind. Finding this segment will take an honest look on your part at your current portfolio. You can also gauge social media reactions to your photos, for an indicator, as well as ask for unbiased second opinions from your peers.
  • The perfect client. First and foremost, a perfect client in any photography niche is one that trusts their photographer and knows they’ve chosen the best person for the job. Then come the specifics. Perhaps you like to work with couples in your area, or with big brands, or not-for-profits. Whatever tickles your fancy is entirely acceptable.

In order to create your own photography niche, you need to find that point of intersection between the two narrowed-down groups above: the perfect product you are able to deliver, and the ideal person to pay for it.

The benefits of creating your own photography niche

There’s far more to gain from specialization in photography nowadays, than just mere monetization. Of course, this aspect is not to be ignored, but here are a few other things you’re likely to gain in the process:

  • Confidence. By working with and for people who appreciate the kind of work you do, you will also gain more self-trust in your own skills and value. This way, you’ll be able to price your shoots at a fairer value.
  • Identity as a photographer. When you stand out from the crowd, when you’re no longer just another photographer on the virtually endless list of online artists, you’ve got yourself a personal brand.
  • New business. This almost goes without saying – when you know what you’re about and what you can deliver to discerning customers, you will also know where and how to go looking for them. If it hasn’t already, you’ll start seeing your photography business take off.
Filed Under: Blog, Make Money With Photography, Marketing, Photo Niches, Photography Business, Photography Marketing, Tips & Resources, Wealth Building, Wedding Photography Tagged With: , , , , , , ,

Survivor’s Guide: How to Sell Your Photography in the Digital Age

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sell-your-photography-in-the-digital-ageIf you’ve been in the pro photography business for at least a decade (or even several years), it most definitely hasn’t escaped you how much the business, industry, and, ultimately, the art of taking pictures, have changed during this time. Hark back in time some more, if you will, and you’ll note that the changes that photography has undergone over the past century are unlike those of any other medium. Back in the early 20th century, having your picture taken was a rare and momentous occasion; nowadays, everyone and their grandma is packing enough technology in their pocket as to take a photo anywhere, at any time. So, can you still sell your photography in the digital age?

The short answer is “more so than ever”. The long one is, of course, more complicated. On the one hand, with the multitude of apps and digital editing software available out there for one and all, the pro photographer nowadays is almost obligated to keep up with the digital Joneses. On the other hand, it is this very evolution of the digital realm that has brought up a whole new world of opportunity for professional photographers. To this end, in the following we’re listing some good tips to sell your photography in the digital age.

Know how to price yourself

It’s easy to fall into the trap of devaluing yourself, on today’s competitive digital photography business scene. However, it does a lot of harm to sell yourself short, both to yourself, as well as to your fellow photographers. Set your prices, make them reasonable but sustainable, and make sure you stay firm for the long run. Like with everything else, if the work you put out there is good enough, then pricing issues will become secondary for the buyer of your services.

Sell your photography in the digital age as art

You may be a wedding photographer, a travel photographer, or just about any other kind of photographer – the important thing to remember is that you are, first and foremost, an artist. It doesn’t matter that others out there are choosing to market their technical skills. If you genuinely want to sell your photography in the digital age, you will quickly come to the realization that it’s not the technical skills that will help you sell. That’s because those skills are finite: you can only improve them so much. But your ‘voice’, your own unique visual style, your trademark and signature, is something that will help you position, market, and ultimately sell yourself.

Improve your skill

That being said, don’t rest on the laurels of your career years past. In this field, much like in any other one that has anything to do with art, it’s important to stay in the loop. This is all the more true nowadays, with the digitally native generation of photogs coming up fast from behind. That being said, there are plenty of workshops out there from which you can benefit – at the very least, by learning from those more accomplished than you, you’ll also get the opportunity to network with them. At the same time, you’ll meet up-and-coming new talent and learn about new techniques you might not have been previously exposed to.

Find your niche

There is absolutely no shame in being a niche photographer these days – quite the contrary. Haven’t you noticed how profitable a business stock photography is, for instance? The knack in this sense is to get a feel for what the audience wants, be it wedding photography, or any other segment, and to develop a sense of upcoming trends. As long as you get that down to pat, chances are you’ll do just fine and manage to sell your photography in the digital age.

Filed Under: Blog, Photo Niches, Photography Business, Photography Marketing Tagged With: , , , , , , , , ,

3 Trends You Should Be Using In Your Own Sales Techniques

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Its no secret that people are less accepting of more traditional types of sales methods and marketing. How many people truly use a yellow pages anymore, or trust an ad they see in a newspaper? The percentages are dwindling rapidly.

But one thing will always remain true.

People hate being sold to. But they love to buy.

Because they hate being sold to, its more important than ever to use current marketing methods that will give your potential customers exactly what they want; without feeling like they’ve been speaking with a used car salesperson.

Attract in great numbers, then focus on filtering

When you’re in business for yourself, its easy to fall into the trap of wanting to “book” every person you talk with. Yet that isn’t reality. If you book every person you talk with, you’re actually doing things wrong. You’re prices are definitely way too low. And you probably haven’t defined your product enough to make it exclusive so that you attract a certain kind of clientele.

Yet through all of your marketing methods, it is good to drive a large amount of traffic to your business, then selectively choose the ones that are right for you. Its called funneling your prospects.

Dig Deeper: The Photographers Marketing Funnel

Funneling can actually work in two ways.

First, through all of your marketing, you can drive customers into a marketing pattern in which they learn more about you. It may be through a marketing campaign in which you mail out postcards regularly, or online as a part of a drip campaign with email marketing. Only a select few will really like what you do, calling you to book a session.

Second, once you have customers in your business as a paying client, you can funnel them to other areas of your business. A business portrait client can turn into a baby portrait client, and from there a family portrait client. You simply move them from one part of your business to another by keeping them in the know of what you do.

In either case, its all about focus. Bring people in; then focus on how to convert them into clients. Again and again. [Read more…]

Filed Under: Sales Tagged With: , , , ,

The Only Goal Of Every Marketing Campaign And Why You’re Probably Doing It Wrong

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If you’ve been in business for any length of time, you’ve created a number of marketing campaigns to reach out to potential customers.

Why did you create them?

If you thought, “to bring in customers” you’re only half right.

Ultimately all marketing is created to bring in new customers. But if you don’t consider the “how” within the campaign itself, you’ll never have the results you’re looking for. Let me explain.

I recently went through a wedding magazine here in my local community. Chances are its not a whole lot different from the one’s in your community. And as I browsed through them one thing clearly jumped out at me.

All of the ads are virtually the same.

Sure, the photo, logo and phone number changed. But the structure of the ads themselves was all the same.

So what makes someone choose one over the other?

An Ad Needs To Say More

As a photographer, I know how easy it is to get caught up in the emotion of your own work. You loved the client, you loved the atmosphere, and the particular image you’ve chosen for your ad really “speaks” to you.

The problem is the potential client doesn’t have that same vantage point. They don’t know the client, they don’t know the details of the image, and they don’t know how well you’ve connected with the image. They just see the one photo in the ad, and base their entire first impression from it.

The problem is their first impression becomes muddled when they see photo after photo, page after page, and they all pretty much begin to look alike. And that’s because business owners don’t take it to the next level, and put into a marketing campaign what truly needs to be there.

The goal of every marketing campaign is to create a new belief, or change an old one.

We buy because somewhere deep inside of us we know we have a “problem”. And the person that comes closest to helping us solve our “problem” is the company that we ultimately will do business with.

Don’t believe me? Think about any product you’ve recently purchased.

Let’s use household cleaners. If you go up and down the aisle at your local store, you know there are dozens of different options. Some are “extra strength”, some are “gentle”, some are “safe for the environment”. When you approach the cleaning aisle, you have a “problem”.  You want to buy a cleaning product to use within your home. So you go shopping with a few ideas in mind, and possibly some preferences. Yet just by looking through the available products, you can quickly be swayed to other options. Maybe you’ve never thought about the harmful affects of cleaning products before. Would one that promised to “be safe in the environment your kids live in” make you think twice before you buy? Of course. Their marketing campaign – in this case the title and tag lines on the product itself – is enough to win you over and make you buy. And if you add in a television commercial or magazine ad that explains the same things in more detail, you may bypass looking at the products on the shelves, and go straight into the store with the sole intension of buying the “safe” product.

Okay, that’s cleaners. But does it really work for photography? Of course.

Since I began with an “ad” of a wedding photographer above, lets continue on with that example.

What is a bride looking for when she’s hunting for a wedding photographer?

Some brides may be looking for the perfect photographer because she doesn’t want to relive the horror of having “uncle Bob” shoot her wedding and lose everything like her best friend went through.

Or maybe she’s looking for a great photographer that will fit in with her personality, offer her a high level of customer service, and provide the perfect memories of her very special day.

Brides all have different visions and different wants from their photography. But if they have to choose based on dozens of ads that all look the same, it comes down to a coin toss.

Start the process by making them think. Even a simple question can set you a part from your competitors.

Then go into more detail. You may not be able to get a ton of information into an ad, but why not continue the story on your website? If you’re mailing a postcard, continue the story on the back, and explain why the average photographer doesn’t give you 100 percent of the service they deserve.

The goal is to get them to start questioning how all other photographers do things, and why you’re a little different. Once you get that question into their minds, you’ll quickly move apart from your competition. And book more.

Filed Under: Get Clients Tagged With: , , , , ,

The Pros and Cons of Using Groupon

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Daily deal sites are all the rage in today’s economy. Groupon may appear to be the leader, but many other companies are right in line, offering their own versions:

Groupon
Google Offers – beta version
Living Social
Woot!
Eversave
BuyWithMe

You can even find a variety of niche deal of the day sites

Wozofoto
Photo Deal of the Day

While deal sites are definitely the rage from the consumer side, what about the business side? Does it make sense for you as a business owner to jump on board and make your own offer?

Before you think of running your own ad, it’s worth a moment or two to put together your plan, and understand what you hope to accomplish first.

The way most deal sites work is they offer a different deal on each day, and promote it in a variety of ways, including the site itself, emails and social sites like Twitter and Facebook. If they are big enough, they know how to get the word out.

When you put together your offer, you must give a discount off your service – typically a 50 to 90 percent off deal. The promotion is only valid if a certain number of people buy into the deal within the set period of time, usually 24 hours. Then the daily deal site will keep 50 percent of the revenues made from the deal.

While there have been many stories circulating online about the value of using a daily deal site for your business, as with any marketing tool you use, you have to understand the nuances of the tool before you make your offer. Sites like Groupon have pros and cons, just like any other marketing tool. You just have to understand how to use it effectively.

Pros

Daily deals attract a lot of customers.
If you make the right offer, it’s not uncommon to gain hundreds of new customers during the 24 hour selling process. The beauty of daily deals sites is the quickness of the decision. A person will view the offer in their preferred manner, and make a buying decision within seconds. If they proceed, with just a couple of clicks the deal has been purchased. While it’s a great way to gain new customers that may have thought about trying you in the past, its also a great way of gaining repeat business from people that haven’t used your services in a while. [Read more…]

Filed Under: Online Marketing Tagged With: , , , ,

How To Make Your Small Photography Business Seem Bigger

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When our business started growing by leaps and bounds, we made a conscious decision to stay small – Andrew, myself, an office manager, and two part time assistants – yet look like we were a very large photography studio that could take on clients anywhere in the world.

Guess what? It worked.

It doesn’t matter if your business is in a large office building, or run out of the basement in your home, there are certain things you can do to give it the large business appearance. Along with the comfy feeling of being a small time studio.

Brand Yourself For Mass Appeal

Your brand is your window into the world. Just because your current client lives 10 miles from your studio doesn’t mean she won’t be mailing photographs and sharing your information with a friend that lives 1,000 miles away. Especially in today’s world, there are no boundaries when it comes to promotion. We’ve had clients in Germany plan a long distance wedding and choose us as their photographer by viewing our online portfolios and making decisions through email – that’s a long way from Colorado.

Start out by looking at the name of your photography business and your tagline. What do they really say about you as a photographer? Does it say we stay local, or does it say we are willing to travel anywhere? When we were in the process of doubling our business, we changed our logo by deleting “Denver” from our tagline, and adding “Worldwide” instead. From that point on our business grew exponentially. Not only did we have a different attitude, our clients did as well. We received many phone calls asking if we had offices in different regions of the world – and they were always surprised to learn how small our employee base really was. [Read more…]

Filed Under: Six Figure Photographer Tagged With: , , , ,

5 Easy Ways To Improve Your Facebook Page

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One common question I often hear from photographers that are new to the social media world is, “How do I know if I will have any luck bringing in new customers with social media tools like Facebook?”

While it’s easy to ask the question, answering it can be somewhat more difficult.

As a business owner, we’ve grown to love numbers. So we play with our stats and watch our numbers every day, making changes when we don’t achieve what we think we should. But with social media, it’s a little more difficult to put numbers to everything we do. Does it always matter how many people “like” our page? Not always. Sometimes it’s more about quality, and less about the actual numbers.

What if you have 100 likes, and your fans are active and engaged, adding into the discussion every day? Wouldn’t that be much more beneficial than having 1,000 likes with no visits and zero interaction?

As a photographer, start out small and make improvements along the way. Don’t pay attention to the numbers as you grow; instead focus on making your Page a place where people visit on a regular basis. Here are 5 easy ways to improve your Facebook page.

1. Add value.

What makes people visit again and again? They are interested in the information you provide. Nobody likes to read sales pitches, and company information again and again. If you find yourself always directing people to your sales literature, offering special promotions, and in general trying to sell to the people who like your Page, think again. People love to interact and discover more about you first. Share your insight. Showcase your expertise. The more you share, the more valuable your Page will be, and the more people will want to join in on the discussion. [Read more…]

Filed Under: Facebook Tagged With: , , ,

12 Ways To Use YouTube To Market Your Photography Business

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You’re a photographer. You should market your business with your photographs.

But what about video? YouTube is now one of the top sites online.

With those kinds of statistics, it’s hard for any business owner to ignore YouTube.

And while the most viral videos online are the silly, amazing or downright unbelievable, you don’t have to go viral to have success. What would a few hundred hits translate into your business? Possibly a client or two.

If you haven’t created your own channel yet, head over and do so. Its free and easy to do – take a look at my recent post 10 of the Best YouTube Channels For Photographers to get some ideas on how to set up a good looking channel.

Then start posting. Not sure what to create a video of? Here are some ideas to get you going.

1. Showcase your skills. Have your assistant video a few minutes of posing from a portrait, wedding or commercial shoot. Showcase your talents, and show off the finished image.

2. Share a slide presentation. You can incorporate a series of images into a dynamic presentation perfect for sharing on YouTube. [Read more…]

Filed Under: YouTube Tagged With: , , , ,

What Photographers Don’t Get About Marketing

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This post is Day 29 of 30 Ways In 30 Days To Redesign Your Life With Photography. This series seeks to provide you with practical steps to get you from wherever you are today, to exactly where you want to be – this year! If your goal has always been to take your photography to a whole new level, hang on and start enjoying a new lifestyle you’ve always dreamed of.

I love time travel movies. It’s so much fun thinking about the possibility of being able to leap into the future to see what its like. Wouldn’t it be interesting to see what the world is like in 50 years? What technology will we be using? What will our daily lives be like?

Unfortunately, we can’t make the leap today, and know instantly what we should be doing to make our future successful. And in today’s world, even a few short months can bring about drastic change.

Think about what we do today compared with what we were doing five years ago. Would you have ever predicted spending your time on Facebook? Statistics show that the average person spends over 10 hours per month on it.

I also read a statistic that a person starting a four year technical degree today is learning obsolete technology. In other words, technology is changing so fast, that what we are learning today will no longer apply a short four years from now.

So how do we look into the future and decide what we want to do when it may not exist?

And more importantly, how can you build a business today that is ready for the future?

The First Step

The first step towards the future is realizing that everything you learned in the past no longer applies.

  • Yellow Pages and phone books? Dead.
  • Newspapers and print advertising? Dead.
  • Television and radio commercials? Dead.

Okay, I know I’m going to get emails that say these tools are still being used effectively, and they are still generating business. And I agree. In some ways, they are still in use and people are gaining traction from them. [Read more…]

Filed Under: Online Marketing Tagged With: , , , , ,
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