social media

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10 Quick Tips For Photographers Who Want To Use Twitter

Posted by scottbourne on August 10, 2012
Posted in: Tips. Tagged: , , , .


I have NEVER claimed that I am a Twitter expert. I don’t think there is such a thing. I do know that I have a great many followers and that I get very good traction from my Twitter account. I am comfortable with sharing what’s worked for me. With that in mind, here are 10 quick tips for photographers who want to use Twitter – with one simple caveat – remember these have all worked for me. I am not saying they will work for you, but you might want to try them.

1. Use your real name or photo business name. It gives you more credibility and makes you less likely to be labeled a troll, coward, etc. It’s also better for SEO.

2. Tweet daily. Tweet twice daily about 12 hours apart for good traction and tweet several times a day if you have something you think is valuable.

3. Be generous with your knowledge.

4. Re-tweet only the best content. Don’t mindlessly link to stuff – especially if you haven’t read it. Remember whether fair or not, your RT is at least a tacit endorsement of the person or content you are re-tweeting.

5. Be short and to the point. After all you have no more than 140 characters.

6. Don’t use more than one hashtag (look that up on Google if you don’t know what it is.) The search engines often confuse posts with multiple hashtags as spam.

7. Be careful even about who follows you. If half your audience is comprised of spambots, porn stars and sex sites, you’ll be branded along with them.

8. Don’t get cute with #hashtags. Posts like – “I really like Canon cameras. #Super #Bestbrandever #rockstarcamera may be considered by some readers to be silly, immature, passive aggressive and again often spam as far as the search engines are concerned.

9. If you’re on Twitter as a photographer keep your religion and your politics out of your Tweets. Get separate accounts and Tweet your brains out about either or both. But keep it off your photo Twitter feed.

10. Unless you are a certified jackass whisperer – utterly ignore the trolls. Block them. Forget about them. Pitty them. They are lower than whale crap in my opinion (think about how low that is) and not worth your time.

Twitter has changed my photography business and my life. I think it’s worth investing a few minutes a day to gain all the positive benefits of Twitter. If you want to follow me on Twitter you can find me right here –
http://www.twitter.com/scottbourne 

If you just want to follow the Photofocus Twitter feed and only receive Twitter updates when there is a new post on Photofocus with no commentary from me, you can follow Photofocus right here –
http://www.twitter.com/photofocus

And as an example of how I separate my private life from my photo life, I have a Twitter account that deals with my love of cars called mycarloves – which you can follow right here –
http://www.twitter.com/mycarloves

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Social Media Mistakes Photographers Make

Posted by scottbourne on July 27, 2012
Posted in: Technique & Tutorials. Tagged: .

Guest post by Catherine Hall – Follow Catherine on Twitter

I admit it – I’m still learning the tricks of the trade when it comes to social media. Though a lot of photographers these days are quick to brand themselves as social media experts, I’m not afraid to say I’m still figuring it out, and that I’ve had my share of whoopsie daises over the years as well. And I’m still not an expert – that is for sure – but I have learned several important lessons along the way, so I figured I’d share them with you so you can hopefully avoid them. Let’s get started, shall we?

#1 – Posting nothing but your own work: For a long time I figured people were following me because they were interested in my work or what I had to say, so I filled my stream with updates on what I was working on, weddings and portraits I had shot previously, and other things relating to me. Then I figured something out – this was a selfish approach. It would be like if I was hosting my own photography podcast and never had any guests on to talk about their projects – it was 100% me, all the time. This was the wrong approach, obviously, as even the biggest names in social media go WAY out of their way to share content made by others, but I didn’t realize this for too long. So now I share content from friends and colleagues as often as I can. It helps them, provides variety in my stream, and it feels great to help my friends out. I even share content from people I don’t even know sometimes, just because I realize social media is really about one thing and one thing only – finding good content and connecting with others. Try to establish a ratio of at least 30% of the content you publish being from someone else, or 1 out o 3 posts per day. Finding one good post to share a day is not hard at all.

#2 – Always double-check links before posting. Always. If this story isn’t enough to convince you, I once sent a newsletter to my subscribers with an invitation to go to my website to find more info on a particular subject. The only problem? My website is www.catherinehall.net – and the newsletter directed them to http://www.catherinehall.com, who is also a photographer! While we appreciate her photographic skills, they are definitely different from my personal taste, so the whole saga left my followers confused while making me look sloppy.

#3 – Forgetting to update your profiles: I recently came out with an app and it wasn’t until about a week later that I realized I had forgot to include this information in my profiles on my social networks. I also recently went from being co-host of TWiT Photo to hosting my own show, Photography Unfiltered. And again, I forgot to add the word “former” to all mentions of TWiT Photo. I take care of the details on a shoot, and had to remind myself to do it in my social media pages as well.

#4 – Sharing snapshots on your feed: This is one that I don’t do personally but I see it so often and it drives me crazy. Someone goes to an event and decides to let their Tweeps and Geeps (G+ followers, I just made up this term) what they are up to by posting shaky-cam snapshots of the buffet table and horribly-lit photos of themselves and their friends. People – do not do this! People who look at your blog and your social media feed get used to a certain level of photographic quality once you established it by posting shots you are proud of – don’t throw it all out the window by posting crummy snapshots. I give Instagram a pass here because at least those photos typically look processed, for lack of a better word. If you want to show everyone what you’re up to with snapshots put them on your personal Facebook page or on Flickr where they belong, not your business entity’s social media stream.

#5 – Not having a strategy: What is your social media strategy, and what metrics do you have attached to it that will allow you to judge whether you are moving closer or further away from your goals? For the longest time I had no strategy, no goals and no real idea what I was doing other than haphazardly posting to my blog. I then didn’t do anything to drive traffic to my blog, because I was so busy blogging! It’s okay to start small – say with just having a goal of one post a day, or two. It can even be shared content, but have a goal and look at your metrics, then over time you can see if this approach is working for you or not.

#6 Spreading yourself too thin: You should decide whether or not you need to focus your efforts on one social network in particular, or if you have the bandwidth to stretch yourself out across Flickr, G+, Twitter, Facebook, Pinterst, 500px, Picasa, your own blog and other areas. I’m originally took the “Be Everywhere” approach but have found that I’m unable to interact with people on every network because I just don’t have the bandwidth. This raises the question – is it better to be on a network and not be active, or just not be there at all? I’m beginning to think if you can’t participate, don’t bother posting images, pins, tweets or Pluses.  I don’t like it when I try to interact with people on a network and get ignored, so I’m in the process of consolidating my network participation to those I can handle, namely G+, Facebook and Twitter.

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New Ideas On Social Media For Photographers

Posted by scottbourne on July 14, 2012
Posted in: Technique & Tutorials. Tagged: , , .

Photo by Scott Bourne – Attribution-NonCommercial-NoDerivs Creative Commons

I’ve been playing with old media, then new media, then social media for most of my adult life. I think I understand a thing or two about it. As a photographer, I built one of the first web portfolios and galleries back in the mid-90s and ever since, I’ve used the Internet to communicate with people interested in photography.

Now that we have Twitter, Google+, Facebook, etc., I’ve been thinking about how best to use these tools from a photographer’s point of view.

Each of them offers some value, depending on your goals and you may use one or more of the prominent social media sites as a way to accomplish those goals.

But here’s the thing…

There are a few things I’ve noticed. There are now so many social media outlets that you could literally spend all day on social media and no time at all behind the camera. I’ve seen this happen with my own eyes and I don’t think it’s a good thing.

This year I cut way back on my own social media use. I spent more time behind the camera the first six months of this year than I did all of last year and I think that’s a better place for me to spend my time.

This post is full of my own personal opinions and observations. I’m not telling anyone else what to do. I’m merely sharing my own experiences and you can discount them if you like or take them to heart. It’s up to you. My goal is to hopefully help someone who’s trying to figure out this stuff to find the best path. Also, this post isn’t all inclusive – for that you should buy my book Going Pro with Skip Cohen. I cover social media *mostly Twitter* in depth there – and yes I’m pimping my book for which I make a whopping $1.00 per copy sold. The point is there’s more info there if you want it. This is just a blog post and it is much longer than my usual, but it’s something I feel is important.

Now on to my observations…

Photographers approach social media with many different motives. Some want to find staff or assistants. Some photographers want help selling their work. Some come looking for an agent. Some photographers are looking for a mentor or for people TO mentor. Some want to just shoot the breeze with other photographers. Some want education. Some want to educate, etc.

Which platform, how often, how deep, etc. is usually dictated by where you fit on that scale. But it’s not as simple as all that.

I’ve concluded, at least for me, that there are many platforms but only one significant herd. While millions upon millions of people “use” social media, their use is very limited. In the photography community I personally believe there are only a few hundred thousand of what I call “active, engaged” users. These are the people I interact with daily and who contribute the most to the social media landscape.

I do believe there is a ceiling and depending on where you are – i.e., Twitter, Google+, Facebook – there is a finite number of people who you can actually count on being truly interested in what you are doing. Social media is supposed to be (and to some extent I believe is) an extension of real life. Sociologists tell us that we can only really know (as in I know Jim or Jane) about 100 people. Most of us have fewer than 10 actual friends. Most of us have two or three close friends. I believe these limits scale in social media and that it’s impossible to actually engage EVERYONE in your stream. That is one of the reasons that I only follow about 100 people on Twitter despite the large number following me. I actually rely on Twitter to communicate with these people and my stream would get way to noisy if I let everyone in.

But let’s take that a step further. I’ve been serious about “social media” for about five years. Before that we had “new media” and before that, well you get the point.

When it comes to audience size, I’ve come to the conclusion that the Internet hasn’t actually changed much. There’s still a finite number of people we can engage. And I think the best analogy is that of a herd. The herd needs water. So it moves from watering hole to watering hole. It started with MySpace and then migrated to things like Facebook, Friendster, FriendFeed, Twitter and now Google+ (Yes I am being general here and leaving lots of stuff out but I am trying to make a point so please be patient with me.)

I am convinced that as for me, a photographer with reasonably-defined and narrowly-focused goals – that trying to use all the social media available to me would be a waste of time. The herd moves from one place to the next and that gives the illusion that the population is growing. But based on my experience, the same people are popping up at all these places. I am not growing a new audience simply because I am on a new platform. I am merely serving some subset of my existing audience that’s moved from the old platform to the new.

I am not saying the audience doesn’t grow. It does, but it’s not by leaps and bounds. It’s slow and steady and as new people drop in, some of the old drop out. So once you get to the ceiling, there’s not much real growth.

In my own experience (and I keep sharing it that way because I want to remind you my findings are the basis of my own opinions and not a call to action for anyone reading this) it’s a waste of time to try to cover each platform. You only have so many bullets in your gun. So aim it at one target and dominate – that’s my approach. And for that reason, and the fact that I have so much traction there, I’ve decided to live or die with Twitter. I happen to think that for me, it offers the best mix of reach, influence and engagement.

I’m a busy guy. I don’t have time to even respond to every email, Tweet, fax, phone call, etc. I receive in a day. If I did, that is ALL I WOULD DO. Period. Sorry but I want to have some balance in my life and I want to spend time actually making photographs, not just daydreaming about it online. So I’ve decided for me, Twitter will remain my primary place to engage in social media. I have a small presence on many other sites, but I don’t do much to cultivate it. I’m mostly in those places just to monitor what’s going on.

I know all the cool kids are raving about Google+. They must be getting something out of it that I am not, so for now, I’ll stay where I am. Again – just speaking for myself – I tend to interact with people on Twitter that are more involved with my posts. That’s where I’ll continue to focus my efforts until they stop working. And if I am wrong, it won’t matter. The herd will be moving on as soon as the next big thing comes along.

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Google+ Photo Conference First Blush

Posted by scottbourne on May 23, 2012
Posted in: Reviews. Tagged: , , .

Photo by Scott Bourne – Attribution-NonCommercial-NoDerivs Creative Commons

Scott Kelby and gang have launched the first ever Google+ Photographers Conference in San Francisco. I was invited to attend by the Kelby Media Group and am grateful for the invitation.

With the basics out of the way, I’ll say that I am not a speaker here and it’s been almost 15 years since I’ve been to a photo-related conference without being a speaker, organizer, etc. That’s been both fun, refreshing and odd for me. It’s been great not having any responsibilities but it’s also been odd not having any responsibilities.

Looking at the crowd that the conference has drawn, I can see that I would have been a bad choice as a speaker here. The crowd was very young, very hip, very cool and very San Francisco chic – and I am none of these things. I don’t fit in much. I’m very old, not very hip, haven’t been cool since Jethro Tull was together and any kind of “chic” would be the last word you’d use to describe me. That said, I think this group has something it can teach me. But I also think it says something about Google+ and it’s something I want to talk about in this post.

These young people have grown up with technology and something like Google+ is just perfect for them. By listening (not just to the speakers – but the audience) I’ve found that there is a willingness by these folks to share things I never would have thought to share. For instance one woman talked about how she liked to use Google+ to have people watch her post-process her photos and give her suggestions. Most of the younger people in the audience got very excited about this. Most of the people my age looked on in horror. There is such a thing as a bad fit and I came to this conference to see if Google+ can fit in my workflow. So far I am not sure, but let’s talk more about the conference while I make up my mind.

The sessions so far have been informal, fun and informative. There have been a variety of approaches provided and discussed which I think is a good thing.

Before the official start of the conference there were half a dozen photo walks around the Bay area for participants and a lovely reception and art show at the Temple – a local watering hole. The networking at the reception was amazing and worth the trip. The next thing scheduled was the keynote on the official first day of the conference.

The Keynote featured Scott Kelby and Bradley Horowitz, a VP at Google. While Mr. Horowitz impressed me as one of the most intelligent people I’ve ever heard speak, I think his opinion of Google’s dealings with photographers differs from mine. Google won an important court case giving it the right to use all the photographs online to make money in the form of returning them as thumbnails in search without compensating the photographers or gaining their permission. That turned into Mr. Horovitz re-writing history saying “Google has a long history of respecting photographers’ work and rights.”

That aside, the man had some things to say that mattered including where he sees photos on Google going. He intimated that there might be more to Picassa (as in they might develop something that competes with Lightroom and Aperture) and that an iPad app for Google+ may be in the works. Despite what I think about Google and their treatment of photographers, I left the keynote thinking that Mr. Horovitz is passionate about what he does and that many at Google are.

After the keynote, the conference broke down into several tracks and sessions. I wish I could have attended them all, but those I did attend (Trey Ratcliff & RC Concepcion on Hangout – Guy Kawasaki on branding, etc.) were very helpful.

There are a few vendors at the show but there’s no “trade show” per se. It’s very laid back. My pals at SmugMug are official sponsors and the guys from Viewbug and BorrowLenses are also in the house as guests. Other than the aforementioned, the people who are here seem more like the typical computer show crowd than photo conference crowd, but I have had several chances to get to meet people I really respect and admire like Michael Frye and Lindsay Adler.

While the conference continues today and wraps up this afternoon, the jury on Google+ is still out for me personally. What’s not in dispute is that Kelby and Company run a first-rate program. Everything has been well-coordinated, there’s lots to do, nobody seemed unhappy and no matter what I decide to do with or about Google+ I am glad Scott put the conference together. He and his crack staff have done a superb job and nobody can deny it’s a great show. I think it’s been beneficial to many in the sold-out audience. Even if that benefit ends up being that folks decide to move on to other social media tools.

Before I decide I’m going to try a couple of hangouts so stay tuned here at Photofocus for more information and if you’re really interested – “circle me” on Google+

Also – if you’re at the conference, at 4:15 pm today I’ll be meeting people in the park next to the amphitheater to show them the new Nikon D800E – this is an amazing camera when it comes to recording detail. My pals at Borrowlenses.com are hooking me up so bring your memory card and come take a few shots with this hard-to-find beast.

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This Post Sponsored by:
Viewbug - Fun Photo Contests
Kelby Training – Use code KTSBA12 to save $20
BorrowLenses.com – Renting Canon, Nikon, Olympus & Sony, bodies, lenses, etc.
SmugMug – Professional Photo Sharing
Digital SLR Store - Cameras, lenses, accessories and everything else.

Google+ Photographer’s Conference Scholarship Winners

Posted by scottbourne on May 7, 2012
Posted in: News. Tagged: , .

Last week I mentioned that I wanted to give someone a scholarship to the upcoming Google+ Photographer’s Conference, May 22,23 in San Francisco, CA – (Info here –
http://gpluspc.com/
)

I received nearly 100 applications for the scholarship and I was very touched by many of the stories I was told. So in conjunction with Kelby Media I’m awarding not one but TWO scholarships. The first goes to:

Lisa DeMattei
Google+ Lisa DeMattei
@LisaSaysLook

And the second scholarship goes to:

Joanna Hernandez
Twitter:@wickidgrrl
Google+ JoannaHernandez

Thanks to everyone who applied and I hope to see you at the conference in a few weeks!

Seven Reasons Why I’m Attending The Google+ Photographer’s Conference

Posted by scottbourne on April 27, 2012
Posted in: News. Tagged: , .

On May 22,23 in San Francisco at the lovely Yerba Buena Center for the Arts, Kelby Training is going to make history. It’s going to be the first ever Google+ Photographer’s Conference. It’s different from anything in the industry and I’m actually very excited about it. To some of you, it will be a surprise that I am attending. I’m not speaking as I do at most photo conferences. I’m going to learn, just like most everyone else. Here are my reasons.

1. It’s run and organized by Scott Kelby’s team. If you’ve been to Photoshop World or any of their conferences, you already know that their team runs a flawless show. I don’t expect this to be any different.

2. It’s in San Francisco. I happen to think it’s one of the most beautiful cities in the world. I lived there for almost two years and I can safely say that if you were to design an urban park, the Yerba Buena Center area would be the one you’d design. It’s a photographer’s paradise and is very close to all major transit, shopping and some of the best restaurants in the city. (Who wants to come to dinner with me at Tommy Toys? It’s my favorite Chinese restaurant in the world!)

3. The speakers at this conference are second to none. I am happy, lucky and proud to say that I know or am friends with most of them. They are all top people in their fields and all of them have aptly demonstrated that they know how to use Google+ to its best advantage.

4. I know very little about Google+. So I am going to go to this thing and see what I can learn. I’m usually a speaker at most photo conferences, and it will be a luxury to be able to sit back and just take in all the knowledge from some of the brightest minds in our industry.

5. The networking at this event should be primo. I love the fact that it’s a boutique conference. Capping the attendees at 750 is brilliant. The super large photo trade shows have gotten so large these days that you can’t really spend any quality time with anyone. I think the big shows are a dying breed and I’m hoping to meet lots of people at this particular event.

6. There’s lots to do and lots to choose from. In addition to the networking, there are photo walks, live studio and location photo shoots, one-on-one portfolio reviews, panel discussions and photography workshops and more.

7. There is a gallery reception at a local gallery where Kelby and team will be displaying the selected work of conference attendees as prints. A panel of judges will choose the images to be printed and displayed that evening. Lots of time to mingle.

CONCLUSION

I had my initial reservations about Google+ because of its Terms Of Service. A combination of a change in my business model (using Creative Commons) and some slight modifications in their terms, has led me to believe I need to learn all I can about this new, powerful, networking tool and then decide how best to use it in my business. I can’t make an informed decision if I don’t have the facts so I am off to gather them.

You may want to consider making the same move. Registration is only $299 for advance reservations. It’s $349 after April 30. You can get all the details here at –
http://gpluspc.com/

10 Blogging, Podcasting & Twitter Tips for Photographers

Posted by scottbourne on August 31, 2009
Posted in: Tips. Tagged: .
Copyright Scott Bourne 2009 - All Rights Reserved

Copyright Scott Bourne 2009 - All Rights Reserved

Cross-Posted at MEI

I firmly believe that every photographer who either has a large amount of desire to share his/her work or who wants to go pro, should have a blog, a podcast and a social media account like Twitter. You may prefer to use UStream or BOO as your podcast. You may like micro rather than macro blogging. You may prefer Facebook or FriendFeed to Twitter. It’s all good. Do something.

Assuming you are going to do SOMETHING, here are some tips I’ve found useful as I use these communications technologies to spread the word about my work.

These tips have all worked for me. I don’t offer them as a set of rules or even guidelines. I offer them as pure information that you can use or ignore. Just remember, they worked for me.

1. Remember that blogs, podcasts and social media sites WHEN COMBINED are 10 times more effective than when used alone. When I JUST blogged, I had a good audience. When I started podcasting and blogging, my audience grew much larger. When I added social networking (Twitter) my audience grew tremendously. If you do just one of these things, you’ll see benefit. Do all three and you’ll see that benefit multiplied by more than three.

2. Blogging, podcasting and Tweeting are all about communicating. As photographers, we all feel the need to communicate. Otherwise we wouldn’t make and share photos. Remember that you need to be accessible to communicate. I put my telephone number, email address and snail mail address out there on almost everything I do. I want to be reachable. What’s the point of sharing a photo that moves someone if they don’t have a way to respond?

3. Respond to your audience when they ask for help or ask a sincere question.

4. Ignore your audience when they are complaining due to their false belief that they are ENTITLED to something from you other than the free gift you give them of your time. Also ignore trolls. No good can ever, ever, ever come of responding to them.

5. Try to use your blog, podcast and Twitter sites to solve problems. Everyone likes a problem solver.

6. Be consistent. Blog or podcast once every hour, or every day or every other day or every other week, but be consistent. This applies less to Twitter but you should try to Tweet at least once per day to keep your followers interested.

7. Don’t spend too much time worrying about SEO and search marketing. If you offer targeted, niche content of high quality on a regular basis, you’ll outscore the best SEO-driven site every time.

8. When you first start out in blogs, podcasting and social media, listen first, talk second. Listen more than you talk. Only talk when you REALLY have something to say.

9. When you launch, you’ll have few in your audience. Be patient. Don’t start counting followers on Twitter until you hit 1000. Then you have real traction. Until then, you’re just ramping up and still learning. Don’t be discouraged. Keep at it. It took me one year to get my first 4000 Twitter followers. It’s taken me 10 months to add 31,000 more.

10. Be generous. Be generous with your time, your knowledge and your gifts. Yes, prizes and giveaways are a form of generosity. It’s a form I use well and often. But you need to also be generous in human ways in order to gain real traction.

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