In the workshop Living from Photography in the 21st Century the need to expand talks related to online marketing and social networks was felt. We thought we could continue the topic with an informal talk bringing together professional photographers on one side and marketing and social network experts on the other.
I prepared a very basic script so that all speakers would know where to go. Unlike a course there would be no examples, nor recipes for how to create a profile on social network “a” or “b”. The intention was to convey a series of basic marketing ideas.
The talk can be downloaded as a file or listened to here.
The main ideas we wanted to convey were
- Marketing is selling.
- Selling is not just walking into a store, picking up a product and paying at the cashier. It is a long process that can last years, and it has two objectives: generate income for the seller and happiness for the buyer.
- Products are not sold, brands are sold.
- The first thing you should always do is think. Think about what we want to sell, how, to whom and when. Plan.
- In photography a brand is usually the same as the photographer.
- The goal of a brand is to leave a trace in the buyers’ memory. A “happy purchase process” is not enough; they must associate it with a brand so they will come back.
- Many professional photographers already have a brand. People associate certain values, knowledge, aesthetics, sensitivity, commitment, etc. with them. You must be aware of that and amplify it online.
- The web also has aesthetics. This serves to reinforce the brand idea. If your blog looks visually the same as another photographer’s, both lose identity.
- Usability: websites must be easy to use for the intended client. If we are not habitual browsers or do not know our clients’ habits it is better not to use our own criteria to judge our site. Have you ever wondered what editors or buyers look for on your site?
- Positioning: it is very important and at the same time very complex. You can follow basic rules to avoid mistakes, but doing it well is a matter for professionals and time.
- Types of online presence according to level of involvement: contact page, portfolio, blog, shop, social networks. Each costs more time investment, but can give better results.
- Our profile on social networks is an extension of our brand. Even if it carries our name we are not ourselves, but what we want clients to see. Honesty is very important, but it is not necessary, nor relevant, to explain what we eat for breakfast.
- We meet to talk face‑to‑face. The web is just another tool that adds to everything we did before. It gives us more possibilities, but it is not better or worse than traditional methods.
- If you don’t have time, hire someone to create an online marketing plan for you, but always knowing why you are paying.
I recommend you watch this video (in English): Photographer Websites: What Buyers Want 2009. It summarizes almost all the content of the talk with the great advantage that it is based on a survey of more than 550 photography clients.
Another useful resource to contrast the importance of social networks and their impact was mentioned by Joan Vendrell during the talk and can be found in Naturpixel.
For positioning we can find basic concepts to keep in mind in this guide which is quite accessible.
After all this theory come some practical tips:
- Stop using Blogspot immediately. You are destroying your brand and helping Google.
- We are photographers and should know the importance that aesthetics has in consolidating an idea. What visual difference exists between Paco’s blog Paco and Tino’s Tino? None, they are identical. They are not reinforcing their brand, but Blogspot’s.
- Buy your domain. Domain registration costs between 7 and 9 euros per year. It is a good idea to buy it even if it will not be used immediately.
- It is very important for positioning to have all content within the same domain: presentation page, portfolio and blog can all be on the same site.
- WordPress is a very powerful, easy‑to‑configure and easy‑to‑use tool. Compare Barcelona Photobloggers, Personism, THE SPACE IN BETWEEN, too much chocolate, Nocturama and justPictures. All these blogs use WordPress, and I think it is quite evident that they have a very defined identity.
- Providers such as DreamHost offer automatic WordPress installation on the domain, no technical knowledge is needed, it is a “one‑click install”. In 10 minutes you have a fully customizable blog running, with thousands of possibilities, such as creating shops, portfolios, etc., etc., etc. It is not the best provider in the world but it only costs 9 dollars a month.
- We are saying that the registration of a domain and the server cost you about 120 euros a year – does that not count for your online brand?
- If you don’t want headaches, pay a company like Naturpixel to advise you.
- If you still want to use free tools, try to personalize your Blogspot like these: AMY ELKINS or 1000 words photography magazine.
- There are other free tools such as Posterous that are much easier to use than Blogspot, more configurable and fully integrated with social networks, so they already take care of updating Facebook, Twitter and Flickr when we publish.
Although there is a lot of content here, there is still much to talk about, we haven’t even stopped to discuss Flickr, we have barely talked about how to use Facebook, nor how to mix all the tools taking advantage of the best of each. But it is a start.
Some very personal ideas I expressed at the meeting:
- Market value and the cost of a product have no relationship. If society does not value photographers’ work the profession will disappear like the “real” bakers have disappeared. Photographers must raise the value of photography in society.
- Barcelona Photobloggers organizes all kinds of events in the photography world because we believe the common good is also the individual good.
- The success of any photographer close to our circle is a benefit for us.
- Barcelona has lost a lot of ground in photography, only those of us who love photography can give it back… and we should not wait for anyone to help us.
- The only photography with future as a market is author photography. The one that carries a signature and has an artistic meaning or component.
We were lucky to have the support of Francesc Muntada, who secured the room at the Institut d’Estudis Catalans where we met. The enthusiasm of Tino Soriano and Valentí Zapater to organize the talk. The help of Toni Rodríguez, Joan Vendrell, Godo Chillida, Marcelo Aurelio, Alfonso Para and Oscar Ciutat as speakers. And some great listeners: Rosa Maria Vila, Roger Llonch, Valentí Zapater, Jordi Xampeny, Jordi Bas, Roger Eritja, Albert Masó, Antoni Fernàndez, Quim Reverté and Montse Guillamon.
In the end, as a keepsake, Marcelo’s photos:
Originally published in Barcelona Photobloggers.