Archive for the ‘marketing’ Category

Do you tweet?

Cold weather has finally hit Chicago and it’s feeling a little bit like the holidays. I want to start off by thanking the folks at Outdoor Photo Gear for the super cool Think Tank bag I won via a Twitter contest. Check out the announcement HERE. Now folks I’m going to play it straight up. I originally thought Twitter was stupid. I mean 140 characters? What could you possibly communicate, or more to the point, what could you possible communicate with any meaning in 140 strokes on a keyboard? Well, I’m here to tell you this social networking tool has some teeth. It’s allowed me to have conversations with fellow photographers in real time, sharing ideas, links, work and the occasional joke. As you know, I’m a big believer in Facebook (especially my fan page) but the one thing Twitter does a little better is to allow you to selectively seek out people you want to follow versus having to send a friend request. Believe it or not I’m a slightly private person and I don’t always want to share all my family photos or those photographs from college where, well, let’s just say ,”things were a little blurry”. The advantage of Twitter is it allows some of you to simply sit on the sidelines of the communication stream and follow some of your favorite people. I like to think of it as socially acceptable cyber stalking, but the truth is some people just enjoy listening and that’s cool. And, if you feel like adding your opinion to a stream that’s cool too. It’s a “community” that you can create around your interest. So what are the rules? Ask yourself this: If someone on the street said, “hi” would you say, “hi” back or simply keep on walking? Well, I generally say “hi” so when people add me, I typically will add them back providing they’re not “spammers”. Keep in mind if for some reason you change your mind you can always “unfollow” a person and if you don’t’ want someone following you then you can simply block the user. If you’re super private, you can make all your tweets “private” so that only people you approve of can read your tweets. To manage your twitter account I always recommend using either Tweetdeck or Hootsuite. The reality is if you want to connect with fellow photographers on Twitter you’re going to need to let your guard down a tad. But trust me. The reward is real. The internet has allowed many photographers, including myself, a way to promote their work and connect with people who share a passion for photography. If you’re not on Twitter then give it a try. It may seem frightful… but it can be oh, so delightful Oh, and remember you can find me on twitter by clicking HERE.

www.batdorffphotography.com

I get a lot of questions regarding my Batdorff Photography portfolio website.   In today’s tech savvy environment, it’s very important to have a website to promote your portfolio.  There are many, and I mean many, web services that provide good results.  After many years of searching, and changing, I landed on Livebooks.   Livebooks has the back-end system that makes uploading and managing my photos easy.   I truly love the look and feel of many other Livebooks websites such as the Chase Jarvis’s Livebooks site.  The one thing I don’t love about Livebooks is its price.  But I bit the bullet two years ago and signed up anyway – writing the cost off to an investment.  Well, I’m happy to announce I just heard Livebooks is now offering a subscription service for  $39.00 a month….a fraction of what I spent years ago.   You get to choose and customize your template as you see fit. Not to mention, you get access to  Livebook’s killer editSuite,  which allows you to manage your photo uploads, tagging,  search engine optimization  and more.  To be totally honest I wish this pricing structure had been available when I went live with my site some years ago.

There are plenty of other  portfolio options you can consider too such as Photoshelter, Smugmug, Wordpress.com, Zenfolio, just to name a few.  But when it comes to providing a professional looking site that’s easy to manage, I truly think Livebooks rises to the top.   Plus, now with the Livebooks new subscription plan, the barrier to entry  has been greatly reduced. As we all know, it’s all about the monthly payment. I understand they’re also offering a 14 day trial so check it out HERE.

The internet is the coolest thing ever (I know I sound like my eight-year-old daughter). I mean, when I was 12 the Commodore 64 was THE stuff. It was equipped with 64 kilobytes of memory and optional 1200 baud modem. I was the hit of the neighborhood – not to mention I rocked the BBS. Yep, I’ve been called a dork on occasion, but I’m cool with that because we’re in my wheelhouse now baby. That’s right, today’s internet has become ubiquitous and social networking has metastasized the internet into a giant calling card. Professional photographers have never had so many options to promote themselves and their work. The internet is an incredibly rich medium – perfect for aspiring artists. If you’re happy taking photos for your personal portfolio that’s fine, but if you’re looking to get noticed and possibly become a professional then listen closely. The five things you need to do right now to promote your skills: 1. Get a website (there are a ton of great sites and many are free) 2. Get business cards…I don’t know how many times I’ve had people ask me for a card when I’ve been shooting 3. Go viral. Yes, the internet is the one place where it’s ok to skip the protection. Get connected on Facebook , Twitter, MySpace, Linkedin and Plaxo just to name a few. It’s all about social networking. 4. Find a mentor. Pick someone that you respect to help guide you to becoming a more successful photographer 5. Create a plan and set some goals. I know it sounds simple, but if you’re driven like me than you need some expectations. Floating along just doesn’t cut it. 6. Lastly, do something. Get out and shoot, network, build your portfolio and meet new people. There’s nothing worse than paralysis of analysis. The more things you throw at the wall, the more likely something is going to stick. And in this business it can start a ripple effect. One good lead can bring many more in return. So be brave, jump in.