SELF PROMOTION FOR PHOTOGRAPHERS

Get very good at the thing you want to do through hard work, discipline and practice. Get very good at tooting your own horn without apology.

• Realize that there will be opposition and it will increase as you expand.

• There is no such thing as an overnight success. Get up, don't complain and do the work. Stop waiting for someone to discover you and stop subconsciously making it difficult for them to discover you and then complaining that nothing ever works out for you.

• Stop making excuses for why you canʼt do it and start figuring out ways you can do it.

• Stop measuring yourself against other people. Yes, some people have an easier time than others. Some people are smarter, prettier, funnier and more creative than others. Thatʼs the way it goes. Being jealous of them is a waste of your time and energy and itʼs a surefire ticket to sidetracked land. Focus on your goals.

• Most people are more afraid of success than they are of failure. Therefore through excuse making or magical thinking they prevent themselves from achieving success. Then they blame the universe or their excuses or fate or bad luck. If you arenʼt succeeding, blame you. Youʼre in charge. You make the luck.

SELF PROMOTION FOR PHOTOGRAPHERS

Get very good at tooting your own horn without apology. I think this just might be the toughest part of being a freelance photographer. Weʼve been taught not to be boastful or egocentric. Plus it feels weird talking about ourselves in public. Itʼs not done. Itʼs especially difficult for shy people, but even extroverts have problems with this aspect of PR. You canʼt create success in a vacuum. You have to tell people who you are and what you do and why it matters.

In fact, they need to hear your message several times before it truly sinks in. This is why we are bombarded with the same commercials, slogans and campaign messages over and over again. You can get the word out without being smarmy or smug. Itʼs all about your approach. If you make people feel connected to you and excited for you, theyʼll want to hear your message. If you can make them feel as if theyʼre a part of your success, theyʼll cheer you on. If you make them feel like their being sold, theyʼre going to tune you out.

Now think back to when you were a kid and you were super excited and proud about something youʼd done. Think about the way youʼd yell out, “Mom, Mom! Look at me!” before you did a cannonball into the swimming pool or managed a cool trick on your bike. You didnʼt think for a moment about the fact that everyone at the pool was watching you because, that was the idea. Kids arenʼt afraid to toot their own horns until grown ups or other kids chastise them for doing so.

Donʼt boast, donʼt brag, donʼt be so full of yourself... I say the hell with that. Toot your horn as loudly and as often as you can. Shout about you and your photography from the rooftops. Toot it with style and with confidence. If youʼve got a good message, strong brand and incredible photographic skills, that will shine. Youʼre just making sure everyone that matters can see the light. Let go of caring if you look silly. Maybe you do to some folks, so what? The people who matter, the ones to whom you are trying to market your brand, theyʼll get it if you show it to them. Shout and shout loudly.

We must be willing to be audacious, be outrageous, be willing to stand up and stand out and say, “I KNOW I CAN!” Because you know what... you can. Say it to yourself - I Can!

We have to be audacious and bold if we want to be noticed. In this Brave New World of the internet, there is so much noise; one has to toot their horn even more loudly and with greater fervor. If one can manage to do that AND play a pleasant tune, well heck and hallelujah, one might even get heard.

With your branding in mind, think about ten reasons why youʼre fabulous. What is it about you that you want people to know? Draw a ‘hornʼ and make it ‘tootʼ the top three reasons why youʼre fabulous. Now think of several public formats you can use to get the word out about your three reasons for fabulosity. Choose one and do it. I donʼt care how you do it, make a sign, send out an email, make a postcard and mail it, blog it, tweet it, put it on your Facebook wall. Share it with the largest number of people you can reach and see how they react.

The time has come to talk about promoting your brand. If youʼre starting out, you probably donʼt have a very big budget. You donʼt really need one to get started. The internet has made it easy to promote yourself for free. The key is to do it in a way that isnʼt obnoxious, or folks will tune out very quickly. Remember that weʼre trying to create an emotional connection and we do that by being blatant about our intentions and having a sense of humor about it.

Weʼre promoting ourselves. Yup, itʼs you doing some PR for your brand. You're here to share your enthusiasm about you. And, if you show your enthusiasm for your photography and your talents, others will take notice. Make something out of nothing, and say HEY look at me.

If youʼre not posting with regularity, if you donʼt have an RSS feed, if youʼre not adding key words and labels, if youʼre not maximizing SEO, if youʼre not cross linking and driving traffic to your photography website and/or blog from other internet platforms... you are talking in the wind. Itʼs like sitting at a lunch counter waiting to be discovered. Why make it hard for people to find you? Make it easy. Make it fun.

Give people a reason to sign up and get your regular posts so they can keep up with your exciting adventures. Use the power of the internet, which really is like a web, to connect your blog as often as possible with other blogs. Cross market with similar brands to boost your visibility.

Pick a schedule and stick to it as much as possible.

People like to feel connected to you and if youʼre never there... theyʼre not connected. They can't be.

There are better days of the week for posting than others and that isnʼt the same for every photography website and blog. I recommend that you start paying attention to your traffic and post regularly on the days that have better numbers. Remember that people are busy and there are so many photographers out there, itʼs hard to keep up with too much content. Try not to overwhelm people with too much information but just enough to attract their attention.

Content

Excessive spelling, syntax and grammatical errors look sloppy. They reflect poorly on your brand. Every marketing effort should create confidence in your potential fans or customers. Your posts should be entertaining and informative. They should be well written. You should offer free content and giveaways. You should add interesting and wonderful images. You want to get people excited and make them want to keep coming back. If youʼre blog is as dull as dirt, youʼre not going to build an audience. Make the content fresh and fun. Change it up so itʼs got variety. Maybe offer free projects, sometimes book reviews, weekly cross posted links, career or craft advice, verbal snapshots of behind the scenes of your photographer life.

One never knows what you might find and that gets your readers excited to come back for more. You want viewers to come back for more. It all relates to your brand.

Sign up for Google Alerts.

Add your blog, your name, your brand name and relevant phrases. That way when folks are talking about you on the internet, youʼll find out a.s.a.p. via email. Google Alerts can be useful for your business. Google alerts will be emailed to you everytime someone mentions the phrases you provide. You can use your name, your brand name, titles of your books... anything that might be a topic online. This is a great way to stay on top of your impact and the buzz youʼre creating.

Peter Shankmanʼs Help a Reporter Out (HARO).

Get three emails every week day with contact info for a variety of reporters, freelance writers and radio and TV producers seeking sources. When something comes up that fits your brand, respond. A LOT of people have signed up and get these emails, so itʼs just a matter of responding quickly and being a good fit. Itʼs important that you only respond to queries that fit your brand.

A Press Kit can be anything you want it to be.

It should include a bio, a promo shot (I canʼt say enough about the importance of SMILING in your shot), a press release, images of your work or products, a look book if you make interesting content and your contact information should be on every page. I think in this digital age, a DVD is your best bet. Itʼs easy for the contact to store and theyʼre not stuck with a bunch of paper to file.

If youʼre in a creative industry, create a creative press kit. If youʼre in a serious industry, be creative but stay serious. The press kit should in every way represent your brand. Make sure you integrate your logo fully into the pages and hire a graphic designer to make impactful page layouts. You only have a few seconds to catch someoneʼs interest, so make sure you do your best to do so.

You have to make your message about ‘we.ʼ I call this The Power of We. (Not the power of wee, because that would be entirely different... but I digress.)

The Power of We is all about making other people feel valued and about making them feel like theyʼre a part of something. No one wants to be sold. Most of what we buy if itʼs not a necessity is something that makes us feel good. Make people feel good. There has to be a “takeaway.” That means you canʼt just blather on and on about what youʼre doing and why youʼre so great and why everyone should love you and think thatʼs going to make you friends and influence people. Create a dialog. Even if you canʼt literally talk with them, you can get them thinking and more importantly you can get them feeling. You can get people emotionally involved. If you can move beyond the intellectual involvement to the emotional involvement, youʼve got a brand with legs.

Exercise :: Create An Invitation

Create a formal or informal invitation that reflects your brand. You, your photography, your photography service and the benefits of working with you.

This invitation should include the basics and also a description of the party.

What should they wear?

What can they bring?

Is there a theme?

What will you provide?

Where is the party located?

Can they bring a friend?

Will there be music, food, entertainment, party games and prizes?

Whatʼs in it for them, what can they add to the equation and what do you have to offer?

Then get up every day with this invitation in mind. Remember, the invitation is about your brand and your photography.

You are throwing the most amazing party, ever. And, the party invitation is your self-promotion of your brand.