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I just created a profile on the new service, WhyTake.net. It seems like yesterday that I was creating a profile on 500px. The mantra of WhyTake.net is “whytake.net is the first Social Network dedicated exclusively to Nature Photographers – Designed by Nature Photographers, for Nature Photographers.” Below are some of my initial thoughts and feelings on this new service.
More after the jump.
As the cold settles in, I find myself reviewing the year, my work, my sales, my goals. Of course, one of the areas that I am constantly looking to improve is my website design @ http://www.journeyoflight.com. As the number of websites on the Internet grows, it is important to keep content fresh, speed fast and navigation easy. A little less than a year and half ago I completely redesigned the layout of my website improve the speed, navigation, and added an enhanced image keyword and search functionality. I felt it was a good improvement, but there is always room for more improvement. There’s the old saying, “You can’t please 100% of the people 100% of the time.” While that maybe true, I’d at least like to please 99% of the people 99% of the time. What can I say, I have lofty goals. Having a clean, effective, well designed website is not only good marketing, but shows professionalism and dedication, no matter what the industry. If you do not have a physical storefront, it is your storefront and it should be good. Of course, we don’t all have millions to spend on an integrated shopping cart, programmings and graphic designers. As a matter of fact, if I was just starting today I’d go with a template based system such as Photoshelter, BetterPhoto, or Zenfolio.
Now that I’ve said all that I’ve had my website for over 10 years and have changed and maintained it. It’s grown and changed and if you look at my post from August of last year you can pursue some of the horrific designs I tried. Ick! Today, I’m releasing a new set of changes based upon feedback from clients (most important), websites and blog articles I have read (important), and webinars I have attended. I thought it might be valuable, not only for my clients to see the changes, but also for the other photographers that visit my blog to see what changes I’ve implemented and why I think the changes might be valuable based upon my experience with the hope it helps someone else.
Read on if you want to see the website changes and my experience.
Looking for a unique gift for a loved one for the Holidays? Want to avoid the crowds at the mall? From today until December 24th, I am offering 15% off any fine art print or canvas wrap from my online store. Simply use the promo code HOLIDAY2011 upon purchase to receive your discount. Happy Holidays!
As I mentioned yesterday, I’ve been reassessing my marketing in different aspects. One of the quandaries that many professional photographers face on the interweb is that some people that follow you are clients and some are fellow photographers. For a while I posted for the photographers, but I read that I should be writing to whom I am attempting to market. I’ve flipped and flopped on this and realized that I could post to both – but I would preface the post with a little note that it’s intended for photographers. Not to say that non-professional photographers wouldn’t enjoy posts on how to use a tilt/shift and what mirror lockup means, but I believe many of my clients may want to see some new photographs, products, photography uses, etc. and I understand that. So, with that said, this post is for the photographers who read this blog, non-photographers are welcome to read on or visit tomorrow to view my Photo Friday image.
When I first started out – I mean back in my black and white film days – Photo communities on the Internet were fledgling little websites trying to find their feet. I joined Photo.net, a site that is still around and very active today. It was a great experience for me, I saw inspirational images, found new techniques and I learned what was technically and compositionally wrong with the photos I had taken to that point. From there I moved on to TrekEarth and Usefilm, both of which I was only a part of for a few months. I guess I thought the more sites I joined, the better I would be become. There is some truth to that as I was exposed to a lot more material.
Well, interest in those sites waned for me and I eventually joined BetterPhoto.com. The thing that piqued my interest with BetterPhoto.com was that there was a monthly contest in different subjects with decent prizes. I found myself more motivated to post and I also found the community very welcoming. There were people at all skill levels brought together for a love of photography and a want of discussion. I went on a couple of group excursions with some members of this site and had a great time. I was very active with BetterPhoto for about 3 years and two things happened – My first daughter was born (Riley) and my photography became more focused. Time became very limited.
When Riley was about a year old, things slowed down (just a little) and I decided to return to the photographic communities and I joined a site called NaturePhotographers.net, mainly because a fellow photographer was a member and he recommended that I check it out. For a while I was semi-active, but I never really connected with the individuals like I had with BetterPhoto.com. That’s not to say that the people weren’t nice or helpful, but I think I was just in a different place artistically and in life than many of them. During this time I became really worried about defining myself as an artist. I wanted to define my style and vision and set photographic goals. Many of the people on NaturePhotographers.net liked a set of people and sought to emulate them. As such they would often critique my work and I would be compard to these other artists. Well, I didn’t want my work to look like theirs, I wanted it to look like mine! Sure, some of the suggestions were helpful, but many were just how to get my stuff to look like someone else’s. 2 years ago I posed – “Why You Should Always or Never Listen to Your Critics” to this blog regarding my frustrations. Needless to say I needed some introspection away from the noise of the forums and I just left one day.
After that I thought I would be done interacting with communities. From there I focused on building my artistic vision and style and connecting with other photographers through their blogs. This experience has proven to be more personable, but slow at the same time. I still visit some forums to find images I like or to get inspiration, but I became a silent observer.
Yesterday, that changed, I decided to join 500px. Like Facebook and Twitter it seems to be the “in” thing for many photographers. From the outside it seems to be a fairly friendly community which is one reason why I joined. The second reason is simply for marketing. The more your work is on the web, the better your online marketing, in the simplest manner I suppose. We’ll see where it goes. I am beginning with some trepidation. They have a rating scale similar to Photo.net, which I’m not really a fan. (Eye of the beholder and all that Jazz) Still, having feedback on some images might be useful. I might even give out some feedback on photographs. We’ll see how it goes and I might give everyone a report in a little bit to what I think, time permitting, of course. Until then, you can check out my profile at http://500px.com/JourneyOfLight.
During the past couple of weeks I’ve been busy preparing for shows and getting some marketing together. In the beginning of a photography business you may think it’s all photography all the time. It’s later you learn that the business side slowly creeps up and takes time. At first it’s just a little time, but eventually its more and more. That’s ok, it can be a nice change of pace from sloughing through the mud. Just yesterday my dear wife mentioned how nice my clothes smelled – “Your clothes smell like you’ve been swimming in a swamp!” My reply, “No, I’ve been wading through a marsh.” There’s, of course, a big difference! Anyway, it’s sometimes nice to just sit back in a clean area with air conditioning and be creative in different ways.
For the next three months I’m showcasing some work at the Glacial Till Tasting Room in Ashland. It’s a beautiful rennovated brick building in the downtown of a nice town and minutes from Jack Sinn Wildlife Management Area – one of my favorite photography spots. I’m showcasing mainly work from eastern Nebraska, but I do have a couple of pieces from Colorado and the western side of the state (with one Iowa image in for good measure). I highly recommend taking a nice Sunday drive, stopping in, and partaking in a glass of Chambourcin (or their other fine wines).
On October 1st and 2nd I will be at the Fall Harvest Art Show at Mahoney State Park. October is one of my favorite times in Nebraska – cool winds, changing leaves, and fresh apple fritters. Stop down and take a look at all the great art and enjoy the beautiful state park.
Lastly, I’ve been really busy with producing some marketing materials and updating my resources. When I was in college my photography teacher didn’t teach me a whole lot (well, nothing, actually) about marketing. Of course, even back then no one had thought of Facebook or Twitter and Google was just a big number. Today, you’ve got to keep up with all the changes while maintaining some of the old as well (for instance I just printed some new brochures!). I’ve added the Google +1 button to my website and blog. I ask everyone to +1 my pages if you have a google profile. Please go ahead and +1 my website right now, the badge can be found in the lower right. This will help show others what you are interested in on the web and if you’ve read this far that means my website and blog! Don’t worry, I’ll remind you again at a later time!
When creating their business or their brand, photographers fall into 2 major categories: Using their own name, usually followed by “Photography”, and creating a completely different name. When I first started back in college, I made the decision to create a name. After all, “Derrald Farnsworth-Livingston Photography” is a mouthful. As a result, I decided to brainstorm some names that might work well for a general photography business. I didn’t want to confine myself to a specific genre, but I wanted something that would fit in well with the theme. During this process, I was spending a lot of time in the darkroom (yes, chemicals and paper and film – ah the days) turning my enlarger off and on, off an on to expose the paper, it occurred to me. The word “light” had to be in the title as light is really the bare essential of photography. As I continued with this line of thought, I came to the conclusion that a photograph is really the end result of a journey that light takes – thus “Journey of Light”. I choose this because I thought it was simple and easy to remember, easier to remember than my name. Interestingly, my experience has proven the opposite, my name seems easier to remember to those that have actually met me and my website analysis reports also show that there are more hits on “Farnsworth-Livingston” than “Journey of Light”. This made me question if I should change my brand of 10 years. Ultimately, I determined, since the end result of both queries end up on my website, I shouldn’t really care. “Journey of Light” will continue to be my company name and my brand.
In general, what has my experience shown? That it probably does not matter what your name is, as long as it is consistent and fairly unique, you should be ok. Bill Smith Photography, for instance, might have a problem, but I think if you separate yourself with enough unique identifiers – i.e. Bill Smith Natural Light Images, the name will stand.
Having a name, however, is not the end to building a strong brand. Consistency is the key to generating brand recognition. Without consistency, for instance, every time someone looks at your web site with 15 different fonts, three different image templates, different colors on each page, and two different names, it adds to the noise that defines what your business does or can do for a prospect. By keeping everything the same throughout the experience, the visitor will find that things are orderly, neat, easy to read, and thus easy to remember. In the past, I’ve dealt with marketing companies on branding businesses. During this process the marketing company tries to come up with an official set of items that will define the company going forward. These items include: fonts, colors, logo, letterhead, marketing materials, etc. Marketing companies are usually very good at picking colors and fonts that will work well with the theme of the business. Banks, for instance, usually want to exude a sense of stability, corporation, and success. Fonts that usually fit into this theme are serif fonts, such as Times New Roman. Colors are usually neutrals, like dark blue or grays. Day Care facilities, on the other hand, want to show a sense of childlike fun. Fonts that fit into this theme are san-serif fonts, such as Comic Sans, the colors are bright and pastel – yellows, pinks, cyans, etc.
Should you hire a marketing company to help define your branding image? While I think that this is a good idea for many companies, the stark reality is that photographers, especially those just starting out, don’t have the money to invest. Additionally, photographers are a creative bunch and can generate some great ideas on their own. So, what do I recommend? Go out and read some literature, website, etc. on branding and marketing and decided what image you want to portray in your business. If you photograph headshots for corporation, for instance, stay away from the fun san-serif fonts and pastel pinks. Do you photograph children? Then go with the crazy Comic Sans type fonts and add heavy doses of teal and yellow! The biggest thing to remember is consistancy. Blog, website, Facebook, mailers, signs - they all need to encorporate your chosen font and colors. If you’re not sure, print up a card with the colors and fonts and keep it in front of you for a couple of weeks. Let it simmer inside your mind and see if you still like it after some time. Like a good image, does your fondness for it increase or do you end up deleting it after a few days?
The last thing I want to touch on is logos. I have found that about 30-40% (my general feeling, I have no statistics to back this up) of photographers have a logo. The other 60-70% of photographers simply use their name (in a consistent font). For years I would work on a logo, hate it, ditch it. Then I would start over, work on a logo, hate it, ditch it. Repeat. About 7 years ago I started using “Journey of Light Photography” in Copperplate Gothic font on everything. This became my defacto logo. Copperplate Gothic, incidentally, was my official font. A stately font which was easy to read and worked well on all browsers, computer types, and looked good on signs. I consistently used this font, coupled with Verdana for normal text on everything I did. I felt like I wanted a logo, but I had a compelling feeling that I wanted to design it so it was completely mine.
For my the logo I knew I wanted the following:
Five things and a pretty simple list, right? I think the biggest hold ups came from numbers 2 and 3. Number 2, simply because everytime I tryed to portray “light” in a logo, it never felt “right”. Number 3, because I photograph the midwest and great plains extensively, I wanted something from nature that could found there, but I didn’t wanted something fairly general so that it could be found in many places. Additionally, as I move into other aspects of photography – architecture and portraiture, I wanted something that would still work in those arenas. I’ve incorporated it into every aspect of my marketing – from my website, to my mailers, to my store, to my blog with the new font – Trajan Pro. Last weekend, I finished this process (exhibited at the top of this post).
Do I think a logo is necessary? Probably not, but I do think it helps those that remember things visually better. If someone sees my logo at an art fair and then visits my website, they’ll know they’re in the right place. Will it increase my revenues? Maybe on repeat business, we’ll see. The most important activity I recommend regarding logos is to create a list of “musts” and “likes” as I did above to help shape your vision into something workable, artistic, and of course, consistent.