Social Media for Photographers

Photography, Blogging &Social Media

Abigail King

Travel Photography Live! October 2012

Abigail KingSOCIAL MEDIA

– Inside the Travel Lab– Lonely Planet, National Geographic Traveller, Grazia

– Google, Klout, Peer Index, Invesp, Cision

TRADITIONAL MEDIA

– Lonely Planet, BBC, CNN, Red Magazine, UK Travel Daily, National Geographic Traveler...

- @insidetravellab & @abigailking

How Social Media Can Help

YOU

Where We Are

• “New media” is no longer new• People spend more time online than they do watching

television1

• Social networks and blogs are the most popular online category4

• The average time spent on Facebook and Twitter increased by 699% and 3712%, respectively in 20094

• 43% of Brits aged 55 to 74 use the internet frequently 5

Photography

• People love photos more than ever• Instagram has more than 4.5 million images

uploaded to its app every single day• Facebook prioritises images• Google prioritises images• Images work well on Twitter

Photographers

• Demand for good images is higher than ever before• Opportunities for networking and promotion on a scale never

before imagined• Geographical freedom• Research easier than ever• Online sales• New line of work• Easier to connect with colleagues• Easier to learn new things

PROS

Photographers

• Demand for good images is higher than ever before

• Opportunities for networking and promotion on a scale never before imagined

• Research easier than ever• Online sales• New line of work• Easier to connect with

colleagues• Easier to learn new things

PROS CONS• Time consuming to learn new skills• Time consuming to execute new skills•Theft of work online• Easier than ever for “amateurs to steal the work of professionals”

Let’s Get Down to Business

Blogs

Blogs

Twitter

Example

Facebook

Google+

500px

Flickr

Instagram

Mobile Photography

SHARING• Instagram, Facebook, Twitter, Eye Em

EDITING• Snapseed, Camera Plus, Diptic, Photo Frames,

Squaready, Hipstamatic

Events: Irrive.com

FourSquare

RedBubble

Personality

• Personality matters in social media• Keep your profile website and information pages

but also...• Express yourself on social media as you would do at

work- friendly-authoritative-professional-approachable

Be Yourself

• Otherwise it will be too difficult to maintain• People can sense authenticity

• You DO NOT need to be a teenager who talks in text speak to use social media

Need Some Ideas?

• Think of social media as a radio station instead of a novel

• Radio presenters stay on theme yet...– They make unscripted comments– They replay the same songs (to some extent)– They interact with listeners on the phone

Need Inspiration?

• Follow the seasons – the Olympics, Halloween, Christmas etc

• Follow the news – major sports events, heat waves, celebrities etc

• Food & recipes – everyone has to eat• Broadcast your news – workshops,

assignments, offers etc in moderation

Amplify Others

• Set up a twitter search for keywords that are relevant to your business

• Retweet and reshare Facebook posts about your area of expertise

• Invite submissions from readers

Hire Someone

• Social media has arrived. Take it seriously.• Make sure that whoever you hire matches

your personality, your brand and your values and knows enough to represent you and your product.

• Don’t become a cautionary tale!

Photos on the Web

• Do not upload full size photographs• DO NOT UPLOAD FULL SIZE PHOTOGRAPHS

• WHY?• Slows down your website• Irritates your readers• Lowers your Google ranking• Creates long term storage problems on your server

Photos for the Web

• Resize – 500 – 1000 px • Label the following– The title of the photo (filename)– The alt tag (the text a reader sees if the

image does not appear)– The caption

Pinterest

Pinterest

Remember

Change is inevitable.

Except from a vending machine.

Questions?

www.abigailking.co.ukwww.insidethetravellab.com

Slides will appear on slideshare...