Show More Pictures (DAP2)
Never have photographers had such opportunity to show more images and pictures to so many possible buyers. And yet we see the old ways still pervading in so many photographers marketing plans. What do I mean by “old ways”? Having a portfolio that is the same as it was 6 months ago (or longer), having the same web site images that were there last month… not taking advantage of all the ways there are to show clients and prospects how much you love shooting.
Plan 2, Part A - Create a photoblog on a subject near and dear to you.
Portraits, cars, babies, veterans, old structures, random moments in your life, family, friends, work… whatever turns you on to shoot. Post to it a blog with some regularity. Maybe once a week, or twice a week… or whenever the mood strikes. Tell us a little about the image, some behind the scenes stuff that will show us what you are thinking about or how you handle challenges.
For inexperienced bloggers I recommend Blogger (www.blogger.com). You can be up and posting in 2 minutes flat and it is free. Choose a template and start uploading and writing. There is also My-Expressions (www.my-expressions.com) where for a couple of bucks a month you can have a very nice, multi-page blog. For the more adventurous and those with a basic knowledge of coding (Perl, PHP, CSS) there is Typepad, Moveable Type and SquareSpace. These templates are a bit more difficult to work with however and you may need some outside resources to make it look and work exactly as you wish. There is also Buzznet, (free) a community that is a lot of fun to belong to and make friends. (Update: forgot the impressive WordPress from the list. It's added now.)
Get your blog listed at Photoblogs.org (www.photoblogs.org) and then let everyone know about it. Get committed and get a schedule. Know you are going to update it with new images and do not get distracted or disappointed. Get involved with Photo Friday and all of the weekly / monthly shoots that can get your creative juices flowing.
Be involved with a few photoblogs by posting and making an online presence for yourself. It can payoff, by the involvement, encouragement and resources of your new online friends.
Plan 2, Part B - Update, update, update
Update the images in your portfolios as often as you create new images. That sounds easy, but we all know how busy we get and things slip. Don’t let them. Make it part of your workflow and as you create and save images, drop the ones you like best into a folder for easy retrieval and upload. I would recommend new images weekly, and revolve some images through the portfolio so there is always new and fresh stuff there.
If you have a designer that has to put your images up for you, then you are at a disadvantage. Have your web designer create portfolios with image management built in. We offer the Total Control Site, but there are other solutions that can be made to work as well. It is imperative that you have a dynamic, new, fresh looking portfolio online… one that is updated often.
Plan 2, Part C - Tell everyone about it
Tell everyone you know about the new images being made available online. Tell them on the front page when you put some new shots up from a recent job or personal shoot. Send emails out to clients and prospects alike with the information on your new posts. Ok, maybe not every post, but at least one per month. Let them know about your photoblog, how often you post there and make them want to visit it and share the site with friends, peers and colleagues. Make bumper stickers and t-shirts. Put the address on your business card and in your signature file for email.
I know this sounds like a lot of work, but it truly isn’t. It takes planning and commitment, but the actual time spent doing it is merely minutes per week. Here are a few blogs that I enjoy, and hope they get you thinking about getting involved. I visit hundreds of them per month, there are so many that I like... this is just a small sample. See the blogroll on the site for more.
Rick Lee
A Walk Through Durham Township
Brooks Ayola
Chromasia
Shutterbug
Tomorrow: Flickr: Why It Is Different and Powerful
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Be Found on the Search Engines. (DAP 1)
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