Self Promotion - what's the best new media approach?

[Dinarius]

I'm curious to know what means (outside of personal websites) others are using to promote their work in this new media age.

How do people rate Flickr, Facebook, Twitter, Blogging as means of self-promotion?

Are you using any or all of these?

If so, are they proving fruitful? In what way?

What can they do for you, if anything, that a personal website cannot?

As someone who has survived very well on (largely) word-of-mouth for twenty five years, but who is now finding that he has more time on his hands  in the current downturn  I'd be grateful for a few pointers.

Thanks.

D.

ps. It would be nice to have a subsection for the business of photography, and all that entails, somewhere on this BB.

[markhout]

As someone who has survived very well on (largely) word-of-mouth for twenty five years, but who is now finding that he has more time on his hands  in the current downturn  I'd be grateful for a few pointers.

Great question. I believe that the online social media are exactly that - word-of-mouth. If you are a passive player, nothing will happen. If you speak up and engage, things get better. Have a look at Photoshelter - they have good writeup on the impact of social media on the photography business and came out recently with a white paper on the subject.

Mark

[DarkPenguin]

I think there is a twitter discussion on this very forum.

Anywho, from what I've seen (and this is mostly from non photographers) is that people use twitter and facebook to allow people to follow them.  You then post things like "Two headed kid grad photos for the price of 1 kid!" sales and then link back to your nicely done web site.  People that are interested will then go back to your site and riches follow.

[wolfnowl]

You might find something of interest here: It's our Twitter 'landing page'.

http://www.wolfnowl.com/our-stories/twitter/

Mike.

[Dinarius]

Thanks for the feedback guys.

Much to ponder.

Wolfnowl, your Twitter page gives much food for thought, though I have to confess that I remain to be convinced about its true worth as a business tool. But, maybe I'm alone in this. This paper certainly makes a case for its importance....

http://www.socialphototalk.com/dl/SocialPh...witterGuide.pdf

However, albeit slightly off topic, I loved this piece on your site>

http://www.wolfnowl.com/2010/01/becoming-a...r-photographer/

both for itself and because it lead me to this site...

http://www.thestillimagewithcrashtaylor.com/

Your list of 50 photographers and their websites is great. If I could add just one to the list it would be Thomas Broening, whose name I only came across last week when reading this article by Heather Morton on her blog (her blogs are outstanding, by the way, in terms of content, illustration and layout. Very, very easy on the eye.)

http://www.heathermorton.ca/blog/?p=5387

Broening's work can be viewed here...

http://www.thomasbroening.com/#/work/portfolio/1

Make yourself a coffee, then click on Campaigns at the bottom of the screen and blow your mind. Incredible work.

His blog is here...

http://thomasbroening.blogspot.com/

(funny how even the most humble subject matter, when shot on 10"x8", is elevated to the level of the profound. Penn knew this only too well.    )

Mark, thanks for the headsup on Photoshelter (there really is a lot going on out there in the ether, isn't there?). Hadn't heard of it before.

Had a long look at Facebook too and I really like the look of it. Have started to develop a business page there. (On a side note, their uploading tool is phenomenal. Images are literally sucked from my HD in seconds!)

Also came across this.....

http://www.adbase.com/

Interesting site and these are worth a read......

http://www.adbase.com/Articles/SmartMarketingInARecession

http://www.adbase.com/Articles/HowToTalkAb...oneyWithClients


D.

[wolfnowl]

Thanks.  I'll check out Thomas Broening's site.

If you're not familiar with Seth Godin, you may wish to check him out: http://sethgodin.typepad.com/seths_blog/

Mike.

[wolfnowl]

Some more links for you...

Smart Marketing in a Recession
How to Talk About Money With Clients
How to Create a Marketing Plan that Works
Email Marketing: Find and Speak to the Right Audience

Mike.

[wolfnowl]

How to Run a Profitable Freelance Business Through Your Blog

Mike.