When it comes to your photographs, we can often be sucked in into new looks, driven by social media and creative filters and looks on social media platforms like Instagram and Flickr. But while it might be enticing to try some new looks for your images, it's ultimately more effective for your marketing if you stay consistent to your brand's image. Why those filters are so "cool" If you spend any time on Instagram, you'll see a plethora of different looks. You see the everyday public put them on their images and you see all the likes that … [Read more...] about Photography Marketing: Stay true to your brand
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Photography Marketing: Keeping your promotion going during the busy season
I'm about to enter my busy season — an entire month of shooting non-stop, sometimes with multiple events a day. Sometimes even multiple full days in a row! I wouldn't have it any other way. While having photoshoots lined up is great, and that ultimately means cash in your pocket, there can be a few unintended consequences. Things not related to your current photoshoots can fall by the wayside rather easily. If you have a plan in place in advance of your busy season starting, you can avoid this from happening, and keep your promotion going … [Read more...] about Photography Marketing: Keeping your promotion going during the busy season
I like you; I just don’t ‘Like’ your page
A Facebook business page seems like business 101 for a photographer these days. You start making pictures for people, then immediately start a business page and load it with pictures and promotions. But there's one thing you must do in order for your page to be successful. Invite friends to Like 'Like' has become such a funny word in the era of Facebook. But you need people to like your business page so that they can see your promotions and know that you're the ideal photographer for their family or business. And just like everything in the … [Read more...] about I like you; I just don’t ‘Like’ your page
Quick tips for making an Instagram story
Whether you want to share fun and lighthearted content with family and friends or promote your business, you can do it all with Instagram stores. Here are 4 quick tips to get you started. Hit the plus button on the top-left side of your home screen or swipe left in your feed. Hit the circle button at the bottom of the screen to take photos or tap and hold to record a video. Tap Done to save your story. Tap the add your story button to share to your story. Still having trouble understand Instagram stories and how they work? More … [Read more...] about Quick tips for making an Instagram story
How to create a Instagram story
One of my sweet friends recently got an Instagram account and I know what you are thinking. I said the same thing, but she asked if I could help her set it up and if I knew how to do those “circle things up top”. 😊 I explained those “circles” are Instagram stories and that stories are a feature that let the users post photos and videos that vanish after 24 hours. The content shared to stories doesn’t actually show up on your profile or in the main Instagram feed. It is basically a way for Instagram to try and incorporate that Snapchat vibe … [Read more...] about How to create a Instagram story
Showing up where it matters, part three
Building online visibility Visibility online is built with a bit of patience, a lot of care, good content and most of all… links. It takes a while to draw enough traffic to your website, and most of us would love to cut a corner or two and get there quicker. This week we look at a few more ways, besides blogging, to get the clicks going and the visitors flocking. Landing pages If you run an offer, a promotion, a presentation, a new project, or whatever else you want to explain in detail to potential clients, you will need a landing page. … [Read more...] about Showing up where it matters, part three
Photography Marketing: Never become satisfied
A few years ago, I met someone from my church who ran a graphic design agency. While our meeting wasn't work-related, it was good to pick his brain a bit and hear some of his stories. He told me that, years ago, he had put all his eggs in one basket. He had one main client and hired 10 people just to work on that client. It was a major chain in the midwest, and it covered 90% of his company's overall income for the year. Then that company changed leadership and went with a different agency. He had to lay off almost all his staff because … [Read more...] about Photography Marketing: Never become satisfied
Photography Marketing: Facebook drops Lightroom share; a look at other options
You might not have noticed it, but when you went to set up a Facebook account to share to in Lightroom Classic or CC recently, you were greeted with the following message: "Facebook is Discontinuing Sharing from Desktop Applications: Starting on August 1st, 2018 Facebook will no longer allow applications like Lightroom Classic to post photos on your timeline. You can continue to use this feature until then, but after that date it will not be possible to share photos directly to Facebook from Lightroom Classic." So, what's this mean? Well, if … [Read more...] about Photography Marketing: Facebook drops Lightroom share; a look at other options
Hiring a professional photographer: Is it really worth your money?
Nowadays, anyone can take pictures anywhere, anytime. Everybody has a cell phone in their pocket and/or a camera in their bag. It's available, it's convenient and it's cheap. As a business owner or an event organizer, why bother spending big bucks on a professional photographer for something anyone could do? Well, let's talk about it for a minute. A lot of people think they can do the same work because they own a camera. They think it's an easy job, or they've done some photography and they feel qualified enough or they simply aren't aware … [Read more...] about Hiring a professional photographer: Is it really worth your money?
Showing up where it matters
How to be visible on the web You have your website up, your branding sorted out, your logo is cool, your colors are gorgeous and it’s all spanking new and glittery. It looks just like you and totally represents you, your style, your energy, your personality. You run one last, quick but super-thorough check that all the links are working, and your mouse hovers over the Publish button. Click. There. You just opened up shop on the High Street. At least, that’s what it feels like. You’re there for everyone to see — which can actually be a bit … [Read more...] about Showing up where it matters
Adobe Spark Post Comes to Android
Fresh off of some major updates for Lightroom this morning, Adobe has announced an Adobe Spark Post beta for Android devices. Offering nearly the same feature set as its iOS and web counterparts, the Android version is a beta version – meaning that Adobe is still tinkering with a few things. The Android app lets you apply type and design filters to any photo in your camera roll, Creative Cloud library or to thousands of free stock photos. You'll find the same templates from the iOS and web versions, and have the ability to quickly resize, … [Read more...] about Adobe Spark Post Comes to Android
Photography Marketing: Is Blogging Dead?
At this year's NAB Show, Chris Do, CEO, and Founder of Blind, controversially stated that vlogging is effectively dead. As social media continues to evolve, with the introduction of Cake.co and other networks, can the same be said for traditional blogging? Blogging has been around since the mid-90s and has been a staple of the internet world. Whether it's keeping up with your family's adventures to finding the latest and greatest recipes, blogs make up a big piece of the worldwide web. For photographers, blogging has been a way to get our … [Read more...] about Photography Marketing: Is Blogging Dead?
Photography Marketing: Strategize Your Instagram Hashtags with Focalmark
One of the biggest struggles I have in using Instagram is deciding what hashtags to use. I usually use some that are consistent with each post, specific to my camera make (Olympus), location and type of photography. But recently, I discovered a tool to make this a little easier — Focalmark. The app is available for free (with paid upgrades) for both iOS and Android devices. How it Works With Focalmark, you can copy up to 30 hashtags directly to Instagram or your phone's clipboard. Focalmark works by asking you three questions. First, it … [Read more...] about Photography Marketing: Strategize Your Instagram Hashtags with Focalmark
The Untouchable Photographer
Photographers all over the world seem to have a complex about how they can gain more clients and interact with people. Sure, there are shows or conventions that you could attend, but they are always about someone else. You want to show off what you can do, right? Photography is one of the particular career paths that thrive on interaction and connection. When you photograph for someone, you are now ingrained into a moment of their lives. Every time they see that photo or relive that memory, your name comes up. How can we be more … [Read more...] about The Untouchable Photographer
SmugMug Just Purchased Flickr
On the heels of Yahoo's purchase by Verizon, SmugMug has bought former Yahoo property Flickr. SmugMug has promised that neither product is going anywhere, but has yet to offer any specific details about the future of Flickr. According to an FAQ page about the acquisition, "Flickr and SmugMug will continue to operate separately, just as both have been. Your SmugMug and Flickr accounts will remain separate and independent for the foreseeable future." "Flickr is an amazing community, full of some of the world's most passionate photographers. … [Read more...] about SmugMug Just Purchased Flickr
Photography Marketing: Instagram Caves, New Posts to Appear First in Feed
You might have noticed a few changes to Instagram over the past week — and now it's official. Instagram has caved, and has decided to make newer posts more important to its users. I had received messages from several people about this over the past few days, and while I, too, had noticed some changes, Instagram made it official on Thursday, saying in a press release, "With these changes, your feed will feel more fresh, and you won't miss the moments you care about." What This Means Simply put, you're more likely to see new posts from the … [Read more...] about Photography Marketing: Instagram Caves, New Posts to Appear First in Feed
Photography Marketing: Marketing Videos that Don’t Suck
One of the things I've been playing around with lately is looking at different ways to market myself using my existing imagery. At WPPI, I happened to find a great way to do this with Animoto, a company that lets you create both marketing and slideshow videos for your business. You can customize them to your liking, using your own images and text, and then share on social media and elsewhere on the web. The videos that Animoto produces are not only easy to produce but engaging. The platform comes with a wide array of customizable templates … [Read more...] about Photography Marketing: Marketing Videos that Don’t Suck
Photography Marketing: Is Vero the Next Facebook or Instagram?
When I was out west for WPPI, I kept hearing about the latest and greatest social network, Vero. Despite the initial bugs, I immediately signed up, anxious to see whether Vero could be a helpful platform for photographers. There's been a lot of debate about Vero's CEO and his past, but so far, the platform is pretty impressive. What is Vero, and How is It Different? Despite having an uptick in popularity the last couple weeks, Vero isn't new — it's been around since 2015. It's positioned as a mobile-only platform that works on both iOS and … [Read more...] about Photography Marketing: Is Vero the Next Facebook or Instagram?
Photography Marketing: Cropping for Facebook with Luminar 2018
In December, I went through some of the most popular social networks and wrote about how to make your images pixel-perfect when exporting. There continues to be one social network that reigns supreme — Facebook. While it's fairly easy to crop and export for Facebook through Lightroom, it's even easier with the built-in crop tool in Luminar 2018. Working with the Luminar Crop Tool If you've cropped images in Photoshop, Lightroom or any other image processing software, you'll feel right at home when doing so in Luminar. Whether you export a … [Read more...] about Photography Marketing: Cropping for Facebook with Luminar 2018
Photography Marketing: Preparing for Facebook’s New News Feed Algorithm
Last week, Facebook announced plans to change its News Feed algorithm. As with any change that Facebook makes, this was met with some backlash from its users — even before it's been initiated. Usually, I'm one to wait things out, but with Facebook promising to make personal content more important than brand content, this will undoubtedly have a negative effect on brands across the platform. So, as photographers, how do we keep our Facebook pages relevant to this change? First, the Facts The news came from Mark Zuckerberg himself, writing … [Read more...] about Photography Marketing: Preparing for Facebook’s New News Feed Algorithm
Photography Marketing: Responding to Negativity on Social Media
This past summer, I had a first-time experience in dealing with negativity on social media. I had contacted someone via email that had used my photograph without asking, in an article that was bashing the client for whom I made the photograph. After reaching out to the infringer, I was attacked on Facebook for photographing for my client. The negativity piled up on that post by a few of his friends, so eventually, I addressed it. What came next was unexpected. It actually ended up benefiting me rather than the person who attacked … [Read more...] about Photography Marketing: Responding to Negativity on Social Media
Photography Marketing: Be Everywhere — But Only Where it Counts
With the marketing and social marketplace changing on what seems like a daily basis, it's easy to get overwhelmed and think you have to be active on every platform imaginable. It's great to have profiles on Facebook, Twitter, Instagram, Google Plus, Flickr, Instagram, 500px, LinkedIn, MySpace (wait, MySpace?!?)... You get the idea. There are a ton of networks out there that can help achieve your marketing goals. But you should only be active on those networks that positively impact you and your business. A Case Study: Google Plus Back in … [Read more...] about Photography Marketing: Be Everywhere — But Only Where it Counts
Photography Marketing: Upload Pixel-Perfect Images on Social Media
Let's face it — as photographers, we have to spend a ton of time on social media sharing our images. But depending on the platform, it's not as easy as just clicking the "Upload" button. Different social networks recommend different image sizes, in order to make your photos look as best as possible. While every social network compresses uploaded images somewhat, the amount your image is effected is often based on the size you upload at, as well as some additional factors, like compression and converting to different color … [Read more...] about Photography Marketing: Upload Pixel-Perfect Images on Social Media
What is a Social Media Headshot?
From the course: Portrait Photography: Business Portraits on LinkedIn Learning What is a social media headshot? from Portrait Photography: Business Portraits by Robert Vanelli When it comes to portraits, a social media profile photo is one of the most important photos to have—especially for ourselves and our clients. Think about it. What's the first thing most potential customers are going see when they Google your name? Your online profile photo. Now, personally, I had this really incredible photo that I absolutely loved and it was … [Read more...] about What is a Social Media Headshot?
Photography Marketing: Rethinking Your Facebook Strategy
Over the years, Facebook has changed the way its business pages work, especially in terms of engagement with your audience. Over the past few months, I've noticed my photography business page has suffered and is no longer getting the attention that it once had. Engagement is the name of the game here. And there's a few tricks in order to help boost your numbers on the world's most popular social network. Post Regularly It's important that you put something on your Facebook page on a regular basis. This can be daily, twice a day, a few … [Read more...] about Photography Marketing: Rethinking Your Facebook Strategy
Photography Marketing: Boosting Your Online Brand with Adobe Spark
I wrote a few weeks ago about why I'm against using watermarks in photographs for marketing purposes. Since then, I've explored with a few different graphical ways to promote your images through branding. One of the tools I've found recently is Adobe Spark — which recently added the ability to add your branding to the graphics you create. Simply put, Adobe Spark lets you create graphics, videos, web pages and other layouts to share across social channels. It's like a simple version of Photoshop — but made specifically for social … [Read more...] about Photography Marketing: Boosting Your Online Brand with Adobe Spark
How to up your social media engagement
After the first couple times, I was asked about how I have such good engagement on social media, I disregarded the questions because I didn’t feel like my social media following was that big of a deal. Many other’s have much more followers and engagement, or so I thought. When one of my friends who runs several Instagram accounts with thousands of followers asked me how my engagement was so high, I literally looked at her confused. I admired her following. Then when my followers started asking me advice on what I do, I actually ignored their … [Read more...] about How to up your social media engagement
Strategies to Avoid Oversharing on Social Media
I recently recorded a class for LinkedIn Learning about social media. Here is an excerpt that discusses some hard lessons learned when it comes to sharing on social media. Sit back and watch if you have a few minutes. I hope it helps you get more from your social media efforts and lets you avoid stress and conflict with those you have relationships with in the "real" world. Note: If the video doesn’t show up at first, please reload the page. Avoiding oversharing from Social Media for Photo and Video Pros by Richard … [Read more...] about Strategies to Avoid Oversharing on Social Media
Photography Marketing: Why a Watermark Shouldn’t Be a Part of Your Marketing Strategy
You all know the debate about watermarks. Should we use them? Do they really help protect our photographs? There are plusses and minuses — it might help to secure your photos (well, that is until Google debunked them earlier this month), but it also takes away from the clean look of a sharp photograph. And while I'm not here to debate on whether you should utilize watermarks for copyright purposes, I am here to tell you why watermarks shouldn't be utilized from a marketing standpoint. There's No Call to Action As a beginning photographer, … [Read more...] about Photography Marketing: Why a Watermark Shouldn’t Be a Part of Your Marketing Strategy
Photography Marketing: Uploading Finished Images to Instagram
I'm often asked how to further utilize Instagram as a photographer. And while using applicable hashtags and giving a location to your images is great, sometimes the simplest of techniques is overlooked. That is, uploading photos taken with your camera to Instagram, instead of just photos on your iPhone. That's not to say that images taken with your iPhone are necessarily bad; they have a time and a place. But for marketing purposes, you want to display your best work in all mediums, and that includes Instagram. How Can I Upload My … [Read more...] about Photography Marketing: Uploading Finished Images to Instagram
