March, 2010

for Photographers — No Comments
26
Mar 10

Don’t forget your name

Just a silly little tip for when you’re creating your business web site:

Remember to mention your business name on your web site.

One might think this is obvious and there’s no need to mention it. But no. I’ve just spent some time reviewing web sites for three other photographers, and noticed that none mentioned their own name.

Search engines need to see real text of your business name somewhere in your web pages. An image of your logo won’t work. A Flash or other type of movie displaying your brand name doesn’t help. It must be text.

A domain name isn’t good enough. A domain such as dianebrownphotography.com is viewed as one word: dianebrownphotography. Somewhere on the site, it must actually say Diane Brown Photography.

Saying “Diane shoots business portraits” or “Diane has won awards”, doesn’t work. You must type out your full company name. “Diane Brown Photography does executive portraits” or “Diane Brown is an award-winning photographer”.

Add it to various page texts, place it in meta tags, put it in alt or comment tags, or any other appropriate places.

Remember to mention your own name, so that people who are looking for you by name, can find you.

for Everyone — No Comments
23
Mar 10

Word Appreciation

Hard work or work hard

Pay more or buy more

Price or worth

Cost or expense

Efficient or effective

New idea or new effort

Lack of resources or lack of resourcefulness

Revise or refine

Propose or oppose

Correct or perfect

Zero in or zero out

Customer service or customer appreciation

Money or wealth

Picture or image

Change or opportunity

Create or complete

Success or achievement

Profit or progress

for Photographers — No Comments
21
Mar 10

Filter your vision

I’ve been wearing eyeglasses for about 25 years and need new glasses, again :-(  . Over the past 12 years or so, my average cost has been about $360 per pair of prescription glasses, (averaged from seven pairs purchased from five different stores).

Sure, had I chose super-fancy designer frames, the cost would have been higher; had I gone with the free frames, the cost would’ve been lower. My sister used to work for the largest eyeglass retail chain in the country. She said their giveaway frames cost $2 each.

Some eyeglass stores (aka. “optical stores” or “vision stores”) frequently have a two-for-one sale. So, if a pair of glasses cost me, on average, about $360, then a two-for-one sale means that I should be able to get two pairs for (about) $360, right?

Continue reading →

for Photographers — No Comments
20
Mar 10

Photojournalism Conference in Toronto, April 23-25

If you’re interested in photojournalism, documentary photography, editorial photography, or news photography, the News Photographers Association of Canada (NPAC) is having its annual conference, Photojournalism 2010 in Toronto on April 23 -25.

The event brings together a couple hundred photographers and photo editors from across Canada and some from the USA. It’s a great opportunity to meet, talk shop and exchange ideas with others in the business. Guests speakers include several well-known photographers from around the world (speakers subject to change):

Continue reading →

for Photographers — No Comments
12
Mar 10

Turning down assignments

This past week, I turned down three jobs. :-(

Two jobs were turned down because their dates, six weeks from now, conflict with days that I’m holding for tentative assignments from another client. Two definite jobs turned down in favour of two possible jobs. What was that saying about “a bird in hand…” ?

Many wedding photographers ask for a non-refundable deposit to hold or book a date. But I’m not aware of any corporate photographer, business photographer or commercial photographer here in Toronto who asks for a non-refundable deposit when booking a job.

Most professional photographers have postponement and cancellation policies in place. But these generally apply to last-minute changes and not changes that might happen weeks in advance.

Perhaps photographers shouldn’t accept tentative jobs too far in the future. Or maybe, “lost jobs” are just part of the business.

Continue reading →

for Everyone — No Comments
9
Mar 10

Scandal-free photography

Toronto’s public transit system, the Toronto Transit Commission (TTC), suffered a few front-page scandals over the past several weeks. And yes, there’s another front-page scandal today.

The current scandal is not that a married TTC executive, who was living a double life, got his “long-time female companion” a $50,000 contract with a TTC design consultant.

The real scandal is that the woman, described as being “an amateur photographer”, was paid “at least” $50,000 over ten months to take pictures at public meetings and of roads where new streetcar tracks might be built.

$50,000.00!

Pictures of meetings and roads.

Fifty thousand dollars!!

Attention TTC: Since the woman has been, uh, “released” from her contract, I’m available for your photography needs. Not only do I charge less, but here’s a bonus I’ll throw in: I guarantee I won’t end up in a front-page scandal.

for Clients — No Comments
9
Mar 10

Better press releases

Most press releases don’t get published.

This is partly due to the sheer volume of incoming press releases and partly because of the lack of news value contained in the releases.

But yet, the chance of a press release being published is greater today than ever before. All newspapers, magazines and their web sites, need and want content, especially free handout content. Demand is high and the supply is much higher. So what’s the problem?

After working for almost two decades at Toronto newspapers, here is what I’ve learned about press releases:

Continue reading →

for Clients — No Comments
5
Mar 10

Guide to choosing a photographer

If you’re looking for a business photographer, corporate photographer, marketing photographer, public relations photographer, industrial photographer or an editorial photographer for your company’s photography needs, then download your copy of this free e-book (2.2MB PDF).

It’s a small PDF file, so yes, the above picture is fake, (or a hand-drawn facsimile, as they say). The image was added only to get your attention because pictures always get noticed much more than text.

This easy-to-read, 11-page introductory guide is aimed at first-time buyers of commercial photography, specifically small business and perhaps the not-so-small. Even a smaller-than-small business which wants to make a big impression because it knows the importance of quality business photography, can benefit from this booklet.

With only a few minutes of reading, you’ll gain a few tips on what to look for when deciding on a professional photographer; learn what information you need to tell the photographer about your photo assignment; and know what to expect from the photographer.

While all professional photographers differ in their creative work, most conduct their business in a similar fashion. This booklet outlines the minimum of what you need, and in fact, deserve, from a photographer.

If, after reading this e-book, you still have any unanswered questions with regards to choosing the right photographer, let me know and I can address them in an updated version.

Your copy of the booklet can be downloaded here. (2.2 MB PDF)


← Older Entries