When your photos go viral

May 11, 2013

Photographer Ben Roberts recently wrote an excellent article for PetaPixel, about his thoughts on having photographs go viral.

Ben describes how his series of photographs, Amazon Unpacked, which were commissioned by the Financial Times Weekend Magazine to accompany an article published in February, have since gone viral on other news sites, blogs, Facebook pages and Tumblr sites.

It’s an interesting dilemma for photographers. Social media makes it easier than ever to promote and share your work, and it’s a great medium via which to build awareness of your business – but it can be so easy to lose complete control over where the images end up.

Despite acknowledging that the whole scenario has provided more exposure for Ben than he could have otherwise imagined, his main gripe about his photos going viral is that not one of the news outlets or sites that republished his images contacted him to seek permission – and many of the blogs published 8-12 of the 13 photos, giving the reader no incentive to seek out the original article.

The article goes on to discuss the big issue of “fair use” vs “theft”, and the comments which follow provide a great read – although confusion still seems to reign about the copyright and intellectual property laws that are applicable to cases like this.

I remember a case a couple of years ago, when Adele Enersen shut down her hugely successful blog, Mila’s Daydreams, because she was justifiably outraged that the gorgeous photos of her daughter were being used without permission all over the place. I believe she even identified examples of where the images were being used in advertising campaigns. The Mila’s Daydream blog is back online, and has a pretty clear (and firm) press and usage rights statement, but Adele has since started another blog.

Some of my photography buddies and I were discussing the article, and the things we do (or could do) to better secure our images:

• Don’t publish photos online at all (yes, this is extreme, but it prevents image theft!)
• If you are going to publish photos online, reduce their size substantially
• Use visible watermarks on your images
• Use programs such as Digimarc which digitally embed watermarks into your images
• Check out the Digital Watermarking Alliance, which has some great resources about digital watermarking.
• Have a press and usage rights statement (like the one on the Mila’s Daydream) blog, to at least outline your expectations about the use of your photos, and the laws which govern their use.

As a marketer, there’s a small part of me that wishes my photos (even just ONE!) would go viral in the way Ben Roberts or Adele Enersen’s images have. But as a photographer, I completely agree with the points Ben makes about the downside of this happening.

What are your thoughts about photos going viral over the internet?

5,000 photographers give their verdict for 2013

May 2, 2013

Copyright 2013 Photoshelter – see link below for full infographic

This week, I came across a great infographic and survey by web-hosting provider Photoshelter, where 5,000 photographers gave their outlook on photography in 2013.

I’ve been following Photoshelter for several years, and I really love what they do for photographers. Building a website can be an expensive, complicated process, and Photoshelter takes away much of that hassle for what I think is a really reasonable price.  They enable you to create stunning websites, while providing a wealth of resources to help you optimise your site and generate more traffic and leads. Who doesn’t want more leads? Anyway, back to the survey…

Optimism is high but there is a need to pursue additional specialities

The survey showed that 73% of photographers are optimistic about this year, and expected to make more money than last year. Happy days!

Interestingly, 98% of photographers grow their business by pursuing secondary specialities in addition to their primary niche. So perhaps for example, you can’t focus on just wedding photography alone – you may have to expand into portrait work to ensure you keep bookings up. Similarly, you may decide to add photography tuition or books and calendars to your product offering to supplement the income you derive from your primary specialty.

We love our gear!

As I (very impatiently) await the arrival of my new Canon 100mm f/2.8L macro lens, I could relate when I read that 93% of photographers will invest in 2013 to improve their photography. New gear is high on our list – 63% will invest in lenses, 47% in lighting, 47% in camera bodies and 34% in editing software. We’re a keen bunch of learners too, with 56% investing in workshops and classes.

On the gear front, just remember that new gear doesn’t translate directly into revenue – and one of the most frequent reasons small businesses fail, is their failure to contain costs. Just sayin’…

What marketing techniques are working for photographers?

The survey reported that 54% of photographers found that word of mouth was the best channel for finding new clients. The secret to word of mouth referrals is that you have to talk about your business. A lot.  And you have to deliver great stuff! You have to leave your clients with a great impression of you and ultimately deliver awesome photography services to them. If your photos are great but service is questionable, their entire experience of you may be tarnished. If you go out of your way, every time, to provide both a quality product and service, and your clients tell you that you’ve done a great job, ASK them to tell their friends. Often.

25% of photogs reported that social media has been the best marketing channel for finding new clients, followed by the 21% who said that in-person meetings worked for them. Much of this will depend on what type of photography services you offer. Corporate photographers for example, may have more success requesting face-to-face meetings with PR and marketing representatives in companies to secure Annual Report photography work, than say trying to target them via social media. That said, social media is free, so why not try both strategies?

Not surprisingly, about half the respondents said their presence on social media had bought in new business for them.

What challenges do photographers face?

Given that it’s something most businesses face, it’s not surprising that about three quarters of photographers said that “finding new clients” was a challenge. The next biggest challenge, reported by half of the respondents, was getting found online. In today’s online world, I think those two challenges are related. Word of mouth happens online (and in person). Facebook, Pinterest, Flickr, Instagram and any of the other social media platforms make sharing content so easy with our social networks, that it’s logical you need a solid online presence (ie, website) and some form of a social media strategy.

I plan to write future posts about how websites and social media are critical marketing tools for any business owners, particularly photographers. In the meantime, I encourage you to download the full report and see what else the 5,000 photographers had to say about 2013.