Feb 11 2011

Make Your Blog More Popular: Write For Friends

Category: Business & Marketing — Ethan G. Salwen @ 6:26 am

AfterCapture Blog_110211_Make Your Blog Popular_1

“There are lots of reasons why people flock to certain blogs, but I think one of the most important is that popular blogs are written by popular people — the sort of people who attract others.”

This is from Dean Rieck’s “The 7 Secrets of Running a Wildly Popular Blog”, and it shows — go figure! — that I was totally on track when I mused that Chase Jarvis’ blog is so damn popular because Chase Jarvis is so damn popular.

It’s the Quality of Visitors, Not Quantity

Reick’s popularity-building advice for bloggers includes “Have a conversation,” “Lighten up,” “Help people” and “Stop trying so hard.” This is all good stuff. However. . .

Notice that while these strategies can make your blog more enjoyable, they will not actually make you more popular  — not in the real-life, flesh-and-blood world.

Regarding Jarvis I noted:

In person, Jarvis is more charismatic than most photographers will ever be (or would want to be).

This is true, and my point is simple: In blogging, just as in real life, it’s not the quantity of interaction that matters, it’s the quality.

If your blog is an enjoyable destination that honestly presents your work, skills and personality, it will prove invaluable as a portfolio and marketing tool — as a “landing pad” for potential customers. And that is worth a lot more than any number of “hits.”

Unless you’re Madonna or Lady Gaga, you don’t need people worshiping you. You need people interacting with you. You need people interested in using your services. You need to make connections with real people who can expand your creative and professional horizons.

If your blog readership goes from zero to 10, that’s great! If you end up with 50 regular followers, that’s awesome! If you have 200 hundred people who stop by once in a while, that is un-freakin’-believable!

Blog for Your Friends & Family & Most-Likable Clients

The key to taking advantage of Rieck’s advice on blogging (or my advice on improving your blog writing style) is to blog as if you are addressing, in person, the people you actually know and like, or who you would like to know — personally.

There’s an important difference between Rieck’s intended audience and the intended audience of this blog. I’m assuming that you don’t need to create a “widely popular blog.” You are not in the business of writing a professional blog; you are in the business of professional photography. Don’t forget this.

The best way to reach out to these potential customers through blogging is to write content for a specific, real audience of friends, family members and the clients you most enjoy working with.

Yes, “family and friends” sounds cliché, and if you hate your family, um, keep them them out of the equation. But if you only write for potential clients (abstractions of your imagination) your blogging will fall flat.

So read Reick’s advice and work to make your blog more popular (for friends, family and real-world clients), but don’t try to make a blog that is widely popular (just for the sake of being popular).

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Feb 04 2011

Better Blog Writing: Let Copyblogger Be Your Coach

Category: Business & Marketing — Ethan G. Salwen @ 4:01 am

AfterCapture Blog_110204_Copyblogger_1-1Blogging is a no where near as easy as taking great snap snots with a Canon S95.

The biggest blogging hurdle most photographers face is the four-letter word called “writing.” Most photographers find writing for publication difficult and scary. And blogging is publishing.

Don’t get me wrong. The technology of blogging is easy — just click “Publish.” And blogging just for fun — posting those vacation pics for folks back home — aint hard. But if you are photographer blogging in connection with professional efforts, you will likely face unexpected challenges, even if you’re mainly out to have fun.

No doubt you’ve heard that writing a blog post is as easy as writing an email. Hah! Good blogging requires approaching writing thoughtfully and, dang-it!, you don’t have a personal blog writing coach. What to do?

AfterCapture Blog_110204_Copyblogger_2Sign Up for a Daily Dose of Copyblogger

I always recommend that photographers jumping into (or stuck in) the blogosphere sign up for the daily email from Copyblogger. A premiere resource for crafting blog content, Copyblogger will dish you up fantastic writing tips, from how to manage writer’s block to how to write in an SEO-friendly manner.

Three Posts that Prove Copyblogger’s Is a Great Writing Coach:

11 Smart Tips for Brilliant Writing

Four Steps to Finding Your Ideal Writing Voice

7 Tips for an Authentic and Productive Writing Process.

Picking and Chosing from a Mixed Bag

Be warned: lots of the material published on Copyblogger is not geared for photographers trying to build a fan base. One content theme relates to making direct sales online, like 101 Ways to Make More Sales Online, and this likely won’t be of interest.

Some Copyblogger content will fascinate some photographers and bore others, like 50 Can’t-Fail Techniques for Finding Great Blog Topics.

This is why I suggest signing up for the email. More often than not you will want to just hit “Delete” and get on with your day. But every week or three Copyblogger will dish you up a gem that will improve your blog posts, which will make your professional blogging more successful and enjoyable, if not easy. Your professional focus your blogging voice and effort and your understanding of how to better project your presence into the blogosphere.

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Jan 28 2011

Why Wedding Photographers Matter More Than Ever Before

Category: Business & Marketing, The Industry, Viewpoint — Ethan G. Salwen @ 2:00 pm

“I think there is really intrinsic part of human nature in which we validate life by documenting it,” Peter Krogh told me last Fall. He was explaining why he carries his camera almost everywhere he goes, habitually recording his life in photographic captures. He said:

Think about wedding photography. Why does everyone have a photographer documenting their wedding? It’s kind of a weird tradition. It’s because it validates the commitment. The event is more important because it’s documented.

Krogh went on to say:

It’s amazing how a good wedding photographer ends up being kind of a wedding couch. They are there the whole time. They can spend more time with the couple than anyone else. The wedding photographer’s job is much more important than just taking pictures.

It wasn't that Celeste really wanted a picture of her getting makeup applied; she wanted the moment to be documented, to make it more meaningful.

It wasn't so much that Celeste really wanted a picture of her getting makeup applied; she wanted the moment to be documented, to make it more meaningful.

Beyond Pretty Wedding Pictures

Krogh didn’t need to explain what he was talking about. I’ve only photographed a handful of weddings, but I quickly got used to the couples thanking me profusely at the end of the day — without seeing a single image! Obviously they were responding to my presence, and to the fact that I had somehow made their wedding a much better experience.

If you are a wedding photographer, you know this: The images you are making are important, but it’s just as important that you providing an experience that best appeals to the specific couple.

If you would like to be a wedding photographer, or to improve your wedding photography: Think less about perfecting your images, and focus more on how to be the kind of wedding coach that Krogh mentions.

I was amazed how, after only a couple weddings, I was able to provide couples with valuable (and desired) advice about the Big Day. And why shouldn’t I be able to do so? After all, I had been intimately involved in other weddings, seeing them from the most angles and witnessing the most intimate moments.

A Great Time To Be a Wedding Photographer!

Old-fashioned wedding photographers bemoaned the advent of digital; savvy wedding photographers welcomed it.

Now that photography has become so easy for all, if you are interested in wedding photography, you have more and not less opportunities. This is because you don’t have to be stressed out about making the photographs. You can focus on bearing witness and, if you are really good, being a kind of off-the-record wedding coach, even if that’s not how you advertise your services.

As Krogh explained to me, what couples really want, whether they know it or not, is for the photographer to validated their experiences by bearing witness through the act of documenting.

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Jan 24 2011

Two Great Career-Focusing Exercises from “2 Good Things”

Category: Business & Marketing — Ethan G. Salwen @ 9:01 am
AfterCapture Blog_110124_2GoodThings

Look! No Bullshit! I actually did this "Decision Matrix" thing as part of the Values Analysis. It helped!

No! Not “career-focusing exercises”! I’m sure you’ll agree that nothing sounds so unappetizing. But bear with me. I’m not going to ask you to do anything I haven’t done. And boy-oh-boy am I glad I did.

Last week I told you all about Judy Herrmann and how her concepts can help creative professionals “reinvent” our businesses — more money, more satisfaction.

Within that post I mentioned her new blog, 2 Good Things. Within that blog are two amazing exercises that Herrman offers up for free, which makes sense because, 1) she’s a hellava gal, and 2) she has merely modified other, well-proven exercises specifically for members of our community.

If you want to start getting to know yourself a little better in ways that can help in profound, if subtle, ways over time, I strongly suggest you make the time and space to do these:

• Values Analysis

• Dream Job Analysis

Nearly two years ago, while beginning research for “Judy Herrmann: Reinventing Creativity,” I gave these two exercises a go — to know what the heck I was writing about — and I was amazed at what happened. No, I didn’t change over night. No, I didn’t start making loads more money. But, yes — and this is no small thing — I started to became clearer on what I truly want and not what I think I want.

This, in turn, has led me to making better decisions. No, not all the time. But, yes, more of the time.

You Really Got to Do It to Get It

To me, the Values Analysis exercise seemed complex and abstract and, frankly, like total, useless nonsense. And, being frank, I told Herrmann as much.

“I totally understand,” she said gently. “To really understand how the exercise works, you have to do it.”

She was right.

I am deeply grateful that I gave it a try. You might be, too.

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Jan 19 2011

Put Down the E-mail!

Category: Business & Marketing — Ethan G. Salwen @ 5:09 am

Please read this great business-life advice by Judy Herrmann if you answer “Yes” to even one of these questions:

1. Do you ever send multiple emails to communicate the same information?

2. Have you ever had critical information in an email ignored?

3. Do you ever get seriously anxious before making a phone call?

4. Have you ever distracted yourself with busy work to put off a critical phone call?

Even kids can do it!

Even kids can do it!

I’m sure you get the punch line. Herrmann’s advice from her Strictly Business post suggests that we pick up the phone more often — especially to overcome the limitations of email.

It’s still valuable to read. Herrmann is a master photographer-businessperson, and her “Pick Up the Phone!” advice is particularly helpful because:

1. She admits that making phone calls can be super nerve racking.

2. She gives us specific examples of when and how the phone trumps email in the business of photography.

Not the Phone!

I, for one, am terrified of the phone. There’s only two things that scare me more than making phone calls — nuclear war and carnies.

This is frustrating because I understood exactly why  Scott Mc Kiernan, founder of ZUMA Press, once told me that photojournalists should publish their phone numbers prominently on their homepage.

Right after reading “Pick Up the Phone!” I took a deep breath and (without — gasp! — making an phone appointment by email), I picked up the phone and called her. We had the best long-distance conversation I’ve had so far in 2011, sharing ideas and emotions and building our relationship in a ways that is simply not possible via email.

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Jan 17 2011

Judy Herrmann: Reinventing Creativity

Category: AfterCapture & Rangefinder Articles, Business & Marketing, Photographers — Ethan G. Salwen @ 3:38 am

After Capture Blog_110117_RF1110_Judy Herrmann_Reinventing Creativity_1“If you really want to earn a living as full-time, self-employed photographer, you’re signing up to work in an industry where you have to watch for every opportunity and be ready to take advantage of them,” says commercial photographer Judy Herrmann. “There is creative vision — a photographer’s artistic voice — and then there is vision for business and career. These two things have to work together, but they are not the same.”

I featured these thoughts from Herrmann in “Judy Herrmann: Reinventing Creativity,” a recent profile for Rangefinder that focuses on Herrmann increasing efforts — through workshops, consulting and her new blog, 2 Good Things — to help creative professionals gain more satisfaction through their carriers, making more money doing more of what they truly love.

“Reinventing Creativity” is probably the most important article I wrote in 2010, but — dangit! — I probably gave it the worst name.

A much better, if less flowery, title (that would have really pissed off the design team) would have been:

“Judy Herrmann: How To Reinvent the Business and Creative Aspects of Your Photography Career in a Harmonious Manner, Over Time, In an Ongoing Process, To Earn More Money and Feel Profoundly More Satisfied In Life.”

That’s what Herrmann’s insights are all about, and there are a few things that make them particularly valuable.

One is that Herrmann is full-time working photographer, and has been for two decades, and her increased interest in supporting other photographers with the challenges of business-creative success comes from an honest passion to help. She says providing consulting services to photographers “is one of the few things in my professional life that actually gives me a deep sense of meaning.”

Another reason Herrmann’s guidance rings true is that she is deep in the reinvention trenches herself, and has been since she was 27-years-old. That’s when she forced herself, for the first time, to figure out how to make more money with more satisfaction through her photography. (I reported on this in “Triumph Over Fear” for Rangefinder a few years back.)

That’s right. I have been talking to Herrmann about this topic for years now, and distilling her insights into less than 2,000 words was painful. This woman has so many valuable insights to offer professional photographers that I’m just dying for you to be aware of her. And then — damn me! — I gave her article a crappy name.

Luckily, you can get in touch with Herrmanns’ ideas directly through her posts on ASMP’s Strictly Business Blog. Good stuff, like “‘If you don’t know where you’re going…you might not get there.’ – Yogi Berra” and “Looking Forward, Looking Back.”

After Capture Blog_110117_RF1110_Judy Herrmann_Reinventing Creativity_2Another reason Herrmann’s reinvention insights rock is because she is adamantly adverse to serving in a counseling capacity. “I make it clear that I am not a therapist,” she told me. “This is not psychiatry. What I’m really teaching people is problem solving. It is defining a problem very, very clearly and then brainstorming solutions.”

“What I’m trying to do is to give people an arsenal of tools,” Herrmann explained. “My goal is to make my client not need me any more.”

One place you can learn from Herrmann how to not need Herrmann is at the ASMP’s Strictly Business 3 conferences (Philadelphia, February 25–27; Chicago, April 1–3).

Yet another reason Herrmann’s strategies are so valuable is that she is not formulaic in her approach for working with photographers. She says, “I don’t think there exists a one-size-fits-all answer to this kind of problem solving.”

Can you see why I think it’s so important to learn about Herrmann’s business reinvention processes?

So, poopy title aside, I urge you to download “Reinventing Creativity” and soak up Herrmann’s ideas.

To be clear, I am not concerned about drumming up consulting business for Herrmann (although, um, I do get a percentage of all fees she earns resulting from this post).

What makes Herrmann’s insights so invaluable is that they don’t depend on her or, for that matter, any other career consultant. Like all great ideas, Herrmann’s strategies are a distillation of other people’s great ideas. And like all great ideas, you can put them to use for yourself on your own.

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Dec 20 2010

Judy Herrmann Proves that Blog Header Photographs Can Rock

Category: Business & Marketing, Viewpoint — Ethan G. Salwen @ 3:01 pm

AfterCapture Blog_101219_Best Picture 2011_1_2 Good Things_1

If you’ve tried to customize a blog header with one of your images, you know it aint easy. We are not used to making (or seeing) photographs as short, wide rectangles. Also, blog headers need to pop off the screen to arrest our attention, and yet not overwhelm the blog’s content. Most challenging: how to share our blog’s message into one, single image?

For her new 2 Good Things website, Judy Herrmann has succeeded in creating the best image for a blog header that I have ever seen. This rockin’ image draws us in, but it doesn’t overpower. Most important, it speaks wonderfully to both the content and the emotional thrust of the site. This is amazing branding with a single, 940 x 200 pixel image. (To better understand the message, see the site’s “Why 2 good things?” and “What’s up with the V sign?”)

See It In Context

AfterCapture Blog_101219_Best Picture 2011_1_2 Good Things_2Definitely head to 2 Good Things to see how this image works in conjunction with the blog’s layout. It looks better in context than it does on its own. And that’s how it should be: photograph and site design complimenting each other. The in-focus fingers draw us to the left, to the posts, while the out-of-focus face rests nicely above the categories and other links. The image has a surprising amount of depth for the restraints of its dimensions, and this welcomes us to the site, as does the positive energy from the out-of-focus face.

Where Did It Come From?

Having not yet spoken with Judy about the image, I can’t be sure that this is Judy we are seeing in the photograph, nor who made the photograph. (Perhaps it was captured by her life and business partner, Mike Starke). I suppose that this might even be a stock image, used very intelligently. But I doubt it. Even out of focus, this looks like Judy — the hair, the friendly energy in the eyes.

Less important than who the model is, I’m totally convinced that Judy orchestrated this image very specifically for this site. I can see her coming up with a strong concept and then playing around with captures until she got one that works just right for the space. This process would make sense. Judy is a commercial photographer dedicated to solving visual problems for her clients very specific needs. So why shouldn’t she do the same for her own blog?

So, Judy, am I right? Is this you, and did I envision your image-making process correctly. Any thoughts you want to share on making this best-ever blog header image?

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Dec 17 2010

New Media Blogging Inspiration from Chase Jarvis

Category: Business & Marketing, Photographers — Ethan G. Salwen @ 8:14 am

AfterCapture Blog_101217_Chase Jarvis Blog_1Chase Jarvis is an über popular commercial photographer, and his New Media-savvy blogging is a key ingredient to his marketing and self-promotion efforts — although “effort” is not the right word. Javis blogs for the pure love of it, and his love of blogging is critical to his success with blogging. Blogging is not a chore for Jarvis, nor something he does in a calculated manner to increase his hits. Jarvis’ number of hits keep increasing because he’s eager to speak to a popular audience, and because he has something that audience wants to hear.

If you are not familiar with Jarvis’ blog, definitely take a thoughtful tour — even if Jarvis’ photography (or personality) don’t float your boat.

New Media Blogging?

I know. “New Media blogging” seems repetitive. After all, blogging is about as New Media as you can get, right? Actually, blogging is just a tool — a simple way to post content to the Web — and most of us Dead Tree Bloggers do not fully embrace the New Media spirit. Two critical ways Jarvis does is to:

• Constantly link out to peer content. Jarvis does much more than add SEO-friendly links to his posts; he features content from other creative professionals. This is good for him. In the blogosphere, the more you link out, the more people link back in.

• Makes the blogging experience interactive. This is no easy task: to make people feel involved in your blogging. One way Jarvis does so is by enticing people to comment on his posts, and then rewarding them with follow-up responses.

Popular in Flesh, Popular in the Blogosphere

Don’t try to imitate the way Jarvis blogs. Jarvis is Jarvis. You are You. The key to Jarvis’ blogging is that it is honest.

In person, Jarvis is more charismatic than most photographers will ever be (or would want to be). Jarvis once told me Continue reading “New Media Blogging Inspiration from Chase Jarvis”

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Dec 15 2010

Which Jarvis is Better: With or Without Photo Surveys?

Category: Business & Marketing, Creative Process — Ethan G. Salwen @ 8:11 am

AfterCapture Blog_101215_Chase Jarvis Comments“Which Photo is Better: A or B?” The name of Chase Jarvis‘ latest blog post gives a good sense of its content. The 830 comments readers have posted in less than 24 hours speak to why photographers might want to get clients and fans involved in a Web 2.0 editing process.

Yes. 830 comments!

Jarvis tends to average between 15 to 75 comments per post, which is major, but not as super-massive as 80o+. Clearly, people like to share their two cents — especially when it comes to picking photo A or B.

But it’s not just that.

From experience, Jarvis’ readers know that their input will acctually influence the photographer. They also know that Jarvis will blog about his reader-influenced process — making them feel as involved as they truly are.

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Dec 13 2010

Should Little Fish Wear Name Tags?

Category: Business & Marketing, Multimedia & Video, The Industry — Ethan G. Salwen @ 4:48 pm

Scott Mc Kiernan, founder of ZUMA Press, once told me that photojournalists should consider publishing their email addresses and phone numbers prominently on their homepage. He explained that editors hate to dig for contact information, and noted that even one click on “Contact” or “About” might distance potential clients from photographers.

I wonder what Mc Kiernan would think of Patrick, whose last name — forget direct email — remain a mystery to me, even after 10 minutes of searching. And I really wanted to know. In fact, I wanted to promote his savy marketing with this blog post, having (almost) come to know him though this video:

Is Patrick’s Marketing Web 3.0?

What happened is that — thanks to the daily email from Vimeo that serves up video inspiration — I came across “the world’s largest aquarium.” Like the snowy video I posted last week, I thought it was a great sample to share with still photographers. Then, when I noticed that it was featured on a Vimeo channel with 205 videos, I thought, “Hey, what a great Web presence!” I planned to check out the creator’s work, and then share with you how photographers can use Vimeo to lure in potential clients and fans.

So much thinking up a blog post before researching it. You see. . .

The “largest aquarim” on Vimeo led to both the creator’s personal blog (stillmotion Patrick) as well as the main stillmotion Vimeo page (with the 205 videos). Patrick’s personal blog led to the stillmotion blog, and the stillmotion Vimeo page led to the stillmotion’s main Web site, and both led to each other. But even as I clicked with intention — encountering enticing content — I could not fined what I wanted: Patrick’s last name, and a clear understanding of Continue reading “Should Little Fish Wear Name Tags?”

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