As photographers we have to embrace the creative bug at every little opportunity.

As new media social networking digital photographers we also need to learn to use the networks that we have for helping these creative bugs along.

Sometimes the hardest part is recognizing a photograph, series, story, whatever, even when it’s staring right at you in the face.

These ideas can be BIG or they can be small.

The big ones can fizzle out and disappoint and that can be really frustrating.

The small ones can ripple, then bounce around a bit, gain a little traction, and the next thing you know you’re riding a wave of creativity or production or success!

Here’s a quick example:

A few minutes ago I was perusing through Amazon adding books to my Amazon Wish List (BTW there are over 780 and counting items on my list) and I was wondering if there were any really great photo books that I’ve missed.

So I asked on Twitter if there were any photo book recommendations.

Even in the middle of the night I got some really great responses.

I had missed some great looking photo books that are going to be emptying my pockets soon.

What’s more?  It gave me an idea to share some of these findings with the readers at the Your Photo Tips website.  You know…something to inspire creativity.

Small thought.  Little tweet.  Some great responses from twitter followers and all of a sudden I’ve got an interesting blog post idea.

The people that offered suggestions are going to get their twitter account linked to and perhaps gain a few followers.

It’s all about spreading the love.

So I thought I’d offer you guys and gals the same opportunity.  I’ll also be posting this on Buzz to see what else we get for recommendations.

Send me a photo book recommendation (NOT instructional) and if I like it I’ll share it with the readers.  Of course I’ll also link to your twitter/website/blog/whatever so you’ll maybe get a few followers/readers/viewers as well.

Spreading the love.

BTW – If you have a photo book of your work and you’d like to plug it you can send that one as well.

Send it to damien[at]yourphotopromo[dot]com with “Photo Book” in the subject line and don’t forget to let me know what profile/website/blog of yours you want me to link to.

Deadline is Wednesday March 3rd Midnight PST.

The latest buzz in the social networking area is all about Google Buzz.  After playing with Google Buzz as a photographer for a while and looking at quite a few other’s reviews on Google Buzz there are some things to consider for photographers.

So what is Google Buzz?

If you’re familiar with FriendFeed you’ll see that Buzz isn’t much different.  It aggregates your content, allows you to share things from around the web, participate in open conversations, and connect with like minded individuals.  While Buzz is still in it’s infancy it holds one major advantage over FriendFeed.  It’s from Google.  That means that while FriendFeed may have pioneered this type of social networking platform, the footprint and reach that Google has will make Buzz the next giant in social networking regardless of the security issues and complaints (they’re wrong BTW) or how buggy and cumbersome it may be right out the gate.

Do you need to use Google Buzz as a photographer?

I think it depends.  While Buzz is a great tool for discovering new content from those you connect with and follow it can be a time killer.  This is, of course, something you have to consider when you join any social networking platform.  It’s all about your return on investment.

Who are you marketing to?  What are your goals?

If you focus your goals on local clients/businesses then Buzz may not actually be that beneficial yet.  It’s unlikely that you’ll find instant returns from Buzz because most people don’t know what to do with it.  If you’re business of photography networking scheme is based on garnering more incoming links and driving traffic to your website then I think Buzz is a great tool to add to your arsenal.

Right now Buzz is filled with great photographers crushing it in the social networking world.  You’ll find some familiar names to connect with and follow.  People like Shawn Duffy, Thomas Hawk, Trey Ratcliff and Jim Goldstein are all on Buzz and they are participating in conversations and sharing great photography content from all over the web.

So while we’re all trying to find out exactly how Buzz is best for our photography businesses it’s good to get connected with the early movers and shakers in the industry.  Social networking is still all about connecting.  Getting involved in the conversations is important because it puts your name and brand in front of the types of people that can push your content in front of bigger audiences.

It’s the early adopters that will get the most benefit from new platforms.  Especially when one of them is coming from a giant like Google.

My advice is to get your buzz on.  You probably don’t want to be left out of this one.

How am I using Buzz?

Right now I’m sharing photography articles and interesting things that get sent to my Google Reader.  I jump in on conversations when I have time and they interest me.  I’m using the “like” feature to push other people’s content up and I’m observing how other photographers and social media movers are using the network.

Let’s connect!

If you want to connect with me on Buzz here’s where you can find my profile.

Now you can put your Google Buzz profile in the comments and we’ll all follow each other as photographers and see what all the Buzz is all about.

Promo opportunity

Just wanted to throw out a quick art photographer promo opportunity I found and a few articles worth looking into.

International Print Center New York – New Prints Program
Deadline: March 5, 2010

International Print Center New York is pleased to announce a call for submissions of newly created artists’ prints to be considered for exhibition in the NEW PRINTS Spring exhibition opening in May 2010.  In keeping with our mission to promote the greater appreciation and understanding of the fine art print, IPCNY presents a selection of new prints four times per year.  Read the rest at Artist Marketing Salon.

How To: Sell Art on Facebook, Twitter, Digg, and more

Take Action! Don’t just read. Do!

Quick Tip: There’s no substitute for Quality!

Until next time…keep shooting and keep promoting!

I believe books are probably one of the most under-utilized tools/resources that ANY photographer can use to get their business to the next level.  This is especially true when we consider YOU.

Yes…I’m talking to you Mr./Mrs./Ms. photographer who is bouncing all around the web looking for content to read and ponder.

Yes this is a blog.  Yes we talk about social media and the internet and all information can be found online…but books…books, I think, are still special for a number of reasons.

• Sitting down with a book offers more undivided attention to what it is you are actually reading.  Not being attached to your computer is a good thing.  This means you’re most likely to actually absorb what the author has written and not get distracted by the pinging of your email.
• Books can take you from the beginning to the end of a subject matter in a more cohesive and concise manner.  Blogs and websites (including every single one I own and run) tend to jump around due to topic changes and newness of subject or topical shifts in niche.
• Reading books will increase your own vocabulary and make you a better writer.  News Flash: Being a social media photographer will require you to write more than ever before as you add content to your blog/forum/facebook/twitter etc.
• Reading multiple books by varying authors on the same subject will help you gain a better grasp of the knowledge in that niche.  This is true because every writer has his/her own style and every reader learns in different ways.

Here’s the part where I suggest some books for you to read and why.  I believe that every single one of these books will help you, in one way or another, become more successful in your photography business online as well as off-line.

Think and Grow Rich – If I were to give you just one book to read ever…it would be this one. It’s the foundation of every self help, success, business, leadership, etc book that has come out since 1937. Napoleon Hill, with an introductory letter from Andrew Carnegie, set out to interview over five hundred successful people including Henry Ford, Thomas Edison, Alexander Graham Bell, John D. Rockefeller, George Eastman, William Wrigley Jr. and Charles M. Schwab.  Two decades of interviews reveal several commonalities amongst all of these people.  You’ll have to pick up the book to find out what they are and how you can implement them.

Crush It!: Why NOW Is the Time to Cash In on Your Passion – From social media guru Gary Vaynerchuck it’s a quick read with tons of insight sure to get you off your butt and back on the computer or behind your camera. It’s current, it’s quick, and it will specifically deal with what a photographer, in today’s marketing online world, can do to increase exposure and broaden your brand.

Purple Cow, New Edition: Transform Your Business by Being Remarkable – It was really hard to pick just one Seth Godin book. I’ve read almost every one of his books and could easily recommend them all but I’m going with Purple Cow because Seth really delves into the whys of being remarkable and how that can really set you apart. In the online world where noise is only getting louder we need to do our best to set ourselves apart form the herd.

Business Stripped Bare: Adventures of a Global Entrepreneur – Those of you not familiar with Sir Richard Branson may not know that Virgin is actually a group of small businesses. Photographers would do well to know how one of the most, if not THE most successful “small businessman” in the world, thinks about business, life, and everything else.

Ignore Everybody: and 39 Other Keys to Creativity – Hugh MacLeod is an artist living in West Texas who’s been killing it online since blogging was a baby. His success and ideas are brash, concise, and will make you think about who you are as an artist. Hugh’s blog gets over 1.5 million views a month and Seth Godin gives him 5 stars while stating “Hugh will change you (for the better)”. I can honestly say that Seth is 100% correct.

Sometimes we have to reach outside our own realms to get fresh ideas.  None of these books are about photography yet I would argue that every photographer would do well to read them all.

What are your favorite books on success, business, marketing, leadership, etc?

So you took a break from blogging.  Okay…maybe you didn’t, I did.

Maybe it was planned for just a week or two off and then…life happens.  Life, you know…the real world, gets in the way from all of this online marketing stuff.

It probably happens to you in art and photography as well.

Artist’s block.

Writer’s block.

Whatever.

It’s a block and you have to overcome this hurdle because while you’re not online, marketing your photography, others are and they’re gonna pass you by.

It’s similar to working out.  Mondays are the hardest days to work out for most folks.  If you get your week started in the gym on Monday then chances are you’ll finish off the week in the gym as well.

Excuses come easy.

Sometimes you just need to start typing.  You can always edit it before you hit publish.  It’s like photography…sometimes you just have to get your camera out and start clicking away at something, anything, just to get those creative juices flowing.

By the way.  That’s how I started this particular post.  Only…I’m not going to edit it for you because I think it’s good for you to see that a free flow of ideas can actually lead to something.  It’s possible this could be the WORST blog post in the history of blog posts.  It won’t be though.  Because this blog post will get me back to blogging about marketing photography online again.

So expect that because I broke the cycle this week I should have no problems getting a new post out to you next week.  More focused.  Ideas in hand.  Ready.

Only…you’ll have to come back next week to see if this “Monday” workout will lead to an easier time getting to the gym on “Tuesday”.

What do you do when you hit a creativity or productivity block?

Last week we talked about why it’s a good idea for photographers to guest post.

This week I’ve searched high and low looking for photography blogs that currently accept or have accepted guest bloggers in the past.

You’ll want to bookmark this page.  It’ll get updated.

Here you go.

17 Photography Blogs Accepting Guest Posts

Your Photo Tips – Your Photo Tips is a blog dedicated to helping new and advanced photographers learn how to take better pictures.  Always accepting guest bloggers.

Digital Photography School – A community of photographers of all experience levels who come together to learn, share and grow in our understanding of photography.  Tons of guest bloggers find success from this very popular blog on photography.

Beyond Megapixels – “A digital photography guide for the rest of us.”

Photocritic – Have you got a passion for photography? Do you like to browse about and find quirky things to do with photography? In that case, you’ve got what it takes to be a guest blogger on Photocritic?

Epic Edits – Do you know something about photography? Would you like to share that knowledge with others? Or maybe you have your own photography website or blog and you’d like to promote it to other photographers and get your name out there? Then how about a guest-post on the Epic Edits Weblog?

Towner Jones Photography – Photos, features, and commentary from the photographers.

All Day I Dream About Photography (ADIDAP) – Your daily dose of photography.

Weekly Photo Tips – dedicated to all photographers with the purpose of exposing you to cool and informative resources that could help make you a better photographer.

Jason D. Moore – Have some thoughts about a certain topic, program, or service? Put together an article and email me! I am always welcoming of guest bloggers with interesting perspectives to offer.

DIYPhotography.net – If you are interested, have links to share, concerns to raise, questions, comment, tips, or if you are just up at 1am looking for something fun to do DIYPhotography.net is interested in your guest post.

MCP Actions This one’s for all you Photoshop masters.

Shutter Sisters – Shutter Sisters is one of the top photography blogs on the Internet.  This one’s for the ladies.  I’m not sure if they would accept a guest post from a male photographer.  I suppose it would not hurt to ask?

The Online Photographer – TOP will continue to publish a variety of divergent viewpoints from a variety of guest authors and readers.

Photodoto – Photodoto wants you to send in your photography tips.

Mark S. Johnson Photography – While you’re there, you have the opportunity to teach Photoshop and photography in an uncommonly fun, encouraging, and creative environment.

Light Stalking – “We appreciate beautiful photography and our intent is to spread the word about the awesome photographers who produce it.”

Kim Pace Photography – Kim does a “What the heck?” post every Friday.  She would welcome photography tutorials I’m betting.  I did one.

I’ll update the list as needed in order to keep it fresh.

Social Photo Talk – Aaron has invited photographers interested in guest posts that relate to photography and social media or online marketing.

Michael Palmer Photographer – Just informed that Michael Palmer is accepting guest bloggers as well.

Michelle Rago – “In order to bring a broad range of fresh voices to the blog, we will periodically feature a variety of guest bloggers to share thier unique perspectives on weddings, destinations, venues, and just life in general.”

Digital Photo Buzz – Would love any guest bloggers!

Fuel Your Photography – Fuel Your Photography is always on the lookout for great guest writers who also happen to be kick-butt photographers.

If you have a photography blog and you accept, or want to accept, guest posts from photographers let me know.  Use the contact form or leave a comment.

Your homework is the same as your promotional opportunity this week.  Put contact these blogs and put in a guest post.  There’s nothing more powerful than building relationships on the Internet with some of the biggest movers and shakers in your industry.

Truthfully almost any blog on photography would accept a guest post.  All you have to do is ask.  What’s it gonna hurt?

One of the most successful ways to build your brand as a photographer online is to do guest posts on other photography blogs.

Guest posting will benefit your promotional strategy by:

1. Building incoming links to your blog or website
2. Increase your authority as a photographer in the online community

This is a good time to remind you that Google places weight on related links from related websites inside a niche.  Basically, when photography blogs point to photography websites or other photography blogs Google counts them as highly relevant.  This pushes your website or blog higher up the Google ranks.

Build Links

Almost every blog that accepts guest posts allows you to put in author’s bio and many will also allow you to links inside the body of the post.  If they don’t allow any links at all don’t bother.

Control Links

It’s nice to get incoming links from photography blogs but they’re most likely pointing to your homepage and may not be using the contextual anchor text that you would prefer.  Now, you get to control this.  You get to point to where you want readers and web surfers to land.

Good Neighborhood

There’s a term in SEO called “good neighborhood”.  It’s complicated so here’s my attempt to put it simply.  Google divides the web into many different types of websites and communities.  Two of those classifications are “good neighborhoods” and “spammers/bad neighborhoods”.  This helps Google keep spam communities at bay and allows real or natural content to eventually surface to the top.  You want to avoid getting links from spammy websites and you want to avoid linking to spammy websites in order to avoid being seen as a spammy website yourself.  It’s guilt by association.  So doing guest posts on authority and trusted blogs helps keep you out of “bad neighborhoods” by ensuring you’re getting links from the good guys.  Make sense?

Traffic

This should go without saying, but you’ll get traffic to your website or blog by doing guest posts.  This comes from the inbound links that readers of that blog will click as well as the higher rankings you’ll get in search results.

Build Relationships

Every time you do a guest post for another photography blog you’re building relationships.  You’re building relationships with their readers and you’re building relationships with the blogger as well.  While there is no “rule of thumb” I find that most bloggers are more willing to refer to other photographers online that they have built relationships with in one form or another.  This could lead to more links down the road.

Bonus Tip:

If you’re a photographer who doesn’t yet have a blog, or thinks they don’t have time to regularly keep up a blog, then guest posting on photography blogs is even more important.  If you don’t have a blog you have nothing for Google or Bing to regularly index.  You’re website or gallery is only as relevant to them as you’re latest update.  But if you have incoming links then they’ll treat those links as a renewed and increased interest in your website and it will push it higher in search results.

Next week I’ll be putting together a post listing out photography blogs that accept guest posts.

If you have a photography blog and accept guest posts email me or use the contact form to ensure that your site doesn’t get left out.  Also, if you know of a photography blog that accepts guest posts let me know.

You’re weekly Promo Opportunity

Every week I’ll search the Internet for you and find a promo opportunity that may peak your interest.

New Orleans Photo Alliance Gallery has a call for entries for the show  FOUR by FIVE with juror Steve Simmons from View Camera Magazine

Entry open from December 15- February 1st
Exhibit opens April 3, 2010

NOPA Gallery seeks contemporary imagery from photographers using large format view cameras. For this exhibit, juror will choose four images each from five photographers; images will also be published in a future edition of View Camera Magazine.

For more details click here.

Until next week.  Keep shooting and keep promoting your photography!

As a photographer you are both a product provider (the prints) and a service provider (the photography).  It’s a mixed bag that most people don’t quite understand.  Why does an 8×10 cost $85?  It isn’t the price of the paper or the printing, it’s the knowledge that you have as a skilled artisan.  This is the same whether you’re shooting weddings or doing micro-stock photography.

Every photographer is the same.  Every photographer is trying to be different.

Better.

Stand out.

Service your clients and your customers in any way that you can and they’ll begin to see the value that hiring you or buying your work sets you apart.  This is ultimately what creates a mutually beneficial relationship between art buyer and photographer.

These are just things to think about really.  You have to get creative.  You have to figure out how you could stand out to your clients and become someone they would recommend to anyone.

When I was shooting weddings and portraits one of the ways I stood out was to offer help to my clients.  Any help.

How?  I’d ask them.  It was simple.

See…I was involved with a networking group in my town that met every week.  We’d have very structured meetings where we would pass business to each other.  Not leads.  Real business.  We did this by really getting to know what each business had to offer the community.  No competing businesses were allowed and there was an application process because every single person’s reputation was on the line.  Basically, these were some of the best businesses and business people in our town.  Life Insurance, Dentist, Law Firm, Aflac Rep, Mechanic, Car Salesman, etc.  We had a very active group and I’d see thousands of dollars in business get passed back and forth every week.  Oh yeah…I was the photographer.

I would get a wedding booked from someone who worked at a bank where our Aflac Rep had, during normal conversation, learned that this person was newly engaged.  Oh yeah, that Aflac Rep got that bank job from the Lawyer who happens to do his banking there and knows someone up top (then the banker comes to a meeting and becomes a member thus increasing our overall reach).  This is how it worked every week.  Real business getting passed.  Not leads.  Before Twitter.  Before Facebook.

What about my clients?  How did I help them?

I’m a conversationalist.  I like to talk and learned to listen.  So during normal conversation I would pay attention to any pain points that my clients were having.  I’d inquire about their lives.  If they brought up taxes, I knew a great CPA I could introduce them to.  If they were having car problems I had the right mechanic “I’ll call him after this shoot and see what we can do.”

All of my recommendations were top notch.  They had to be.  That was my reputation on the line every single time I referred one of my clients to a member of our network group.

I became more than just a photographer to those people.  I became a problem solver.

You’re clients have pain points.  We all do.  And we all want to talk about them.  We all want answers to our questions.

Results?

When you provide a service that goes above and beyond the scope of your “title” you stand out.  Those clients that I was able to help with their pain points became my walking billboards.  They sent me more referrals than any traditional advertising I was able to afford at the time.

This is one way how networking works at it’s core.  This works off-line as well as on-line.  It’s something to think about.

You can do this.

Join a local networking group if your focus is local and find people outside your industry that you can refer to your customers.

Pay attention to your twitter followers and facebook friends when they have questions.  Try to answer them.  Become a resource.

Be a problem solver.

Promo Opportunity

This week’s promo opportunity comes via one of the sponsors on my photo tips blog.

Lensbaby is running a call for submissions to a new book they’ll be putting out.  Details here.  So if you have a lensbaby lens you should look into this.  It’s always good to be able to put on your website resume that you’ve had work published.

December 31, 6pm PST: Submission window closes

Hope you had a great Thanksgiving weekend.

Special thanks goes to everyone that participated in the twitter photographers promotion 50+ Photographers on Twitter You Should Follow Now! It went great.  Everyone who had suggestions and recommendations has their Twitter profile somewhere in that article and has their profile in the sidebar here on this blog.

In keeping with the theme of this post I’m opening up my email to questions you may have about promoting your photography online or off-line.  I answer every email I get so email me your questions at damien[at]yourphototips[dot]com and we’ll see what we can do to get you to the next step.

Until next week keep shooting and keep promoting!

Is it funny that so many people trying to wrap their heads around social media don’t get it?  Not really.  It’s ironic because they do it on their own…mostly.   Most people (including many photographers) peg away and work at building links and creating a network of “me-toos” and they work long hours and work at it alone.  That sucks.  No really.  You’re climbing an uphill battle if you try that approach.  We’re not doing that here.

Social Media.  Social.  Media. Social. Networking.

You can’t go at this alone.  Even though you are jumping into online networking to increase the reach of your photography light years ahead of most, you’re still way too late in the game to go it alone.  I’ve been doing this for 3 years now and I’m still trying to play catch up to the guys that started just a year before me.  Sure, I’ve leaped ahead of a few, but I’ve also been leaped by others.

No big deal.  This is a marathon.  You’ve got big lungs.  You can hang.

You need a little help though.  Especially  in the beginning.  You need links.  You need partners.

I’m about to share with you a very broad tactic I use to help build online word of mouth marketing one tiny link at a time, one valued reader at a time, and one valued art buyer at a time.

If at any time I use terminology that you don’t understand.  Contact me.  I’m here to help.

Partners

This is what I do.  You don’t have to do this.  It just makes sense to me.  It’s more of that “paying it forward” stuff.  It’s one of the ways I’ve built up readership and traffic to YourPhotoTips.com.

The easiest links you can get when you’re just starting out are blogroll links.  Many people will argue that there isn’t much SEO benefit from this as most blog platforms have the blogrolls as a no-follow link so there is no page rank that is passed.  So why bother?

Forget SEO right now.  We’re talking readers!

Blogrolls are a great way to exchange links with other bloggers in your niche.  We’re all photographers here so you’ll want to contact other photographers and try to exchange blogroll links.  It’s easy.  Just find the contact info on their site, introduce yourself, and ask politely.  Most will not respond but you’ll get a few.  It’s a good way to introduce yourself to the photography blogging community and a great way to get an easy link.  This may provide an extra 10-20 potentially new readers each month.  If you have your blog on 30 different blogrolls that’s could turn into an extra 300 – 600 readers a month.  Those numbers keep expanding and expanding as those readers become fans and share you work with others and they share your work with even more people.  There is long tail SEO that can happen organically from efforts like this.  It’s ripple effect marketing on the Internet and it works.  So find some other photographers to exchange links with.  Go ahead.  It’s worth the time.

Done?…almost…there’s more.

Here’s the deal.  SEO and traffic comes from all over the web.  It comes via search engine traffic or referrals from sites that link to you.  You’ve got a few partners now so why not promote their work?  Why not promote their websites?

Here’s what I do for my partners.  I have many.  It’s a good thing.

All of my partners RSS feeds go in a special folder in my Google Reader.  I hit this folder every morning after my email.  I promote the heck out of this content all over the web.   I submit their stuff to StumbleUpon.  I share it on twitter.  I “like” and “share” it on my reader (that sends it FriendFeed).  I’m getting better at taking a few minutes and commenting on their posts and adding content to their communities.  That folder is where I get most of the info that goes in my weekly photography links posts at my photography tips site (EXAMPLE: 6 of the 12 links in this one are to partner websites)  I don’t do this with every single post that comes from my partners, I don’t have that kind of time.  But I do it as often as I can.

Why do I do this?

Simple.  To help increase their overall exposure on the Web. To increase the traffic on their websites or blogs.  To increase the authority that those partners carries in the online community.   Mostly, it’s because I like these people and I believe in what they do.

Beneficial?

Of course there are benefits.  If I can help to create some added exposure for my partners and their websites flourish because of this I’m also helping myself.  If their websites and blogs start to generate more traffic thereby gaining more links their authority in Google will increase and that will trickle over to my site as well.

I do this because we’re partners.  Because a rising tide raises all boats.  Again, because I like them and what they’re doing.  And I believe that every time you help someone it’s like building Karma points.  Besides, I’m sharing great work, thoughts, photographs, and insight to my readers, thereby helping my followers discover some of the other great content that can be found around the Internet.  I’m increasing my authority in the photography community when I share great content.

Most of my partners notice.  They may not know why I constantly push their stuff in front of my readers, but they notice and they thank me.   I’ll admit it’s nice to get a thanks.  Thanks for tweeting my last article.   Thanks for commenting on my post, I read yours too.  That’s stuff is good and it feels good to give back to the community that has given me so much.

WARNING

Here’s the deal.  If you’re going to take this approach you have to be fairly strict with who you choose to partner with.  If you start plugging every Joe Blow off the street that’s willing to exchange links with you then you won’t be adding that much value to your readers or your followers.  You’ll start to lose readers and followers.  Only push the good stuff.

Homework

Find some photographers to exchange links with.   Then promote their stuff.  You’ll benefit and feel good about yourself.

And…

You have a little time left to get your Twitter photographers recommendations in to me.  I don’t have as many as I thought and that’s a shame because I’m really wanting to get feedback from the photographer community.  I’m really wanting to share your thoughts and share your Twitter profile with the readers of my photography tutorials blog.

Photographer Promotion Opportunity

Here’s an opportunity for the really daring!  Here in America we lovingly refer to the day after Thanksgiving as “Black Friday”.  A rush of people to buy cheap products from almost every retail outlet has led to disaster at times.  People get crushed.  Things get broken.  Well intentioned dads get trampled by lioness mothers intent on not being left with the latest and greatest hyped up offerings for their children.  It’s insane.  No really.

So some really awesomely awesome photographers and artists have an open call for submissions on their project “Picture Black Friday“!

“The project is an open call to photographers nationwide to photograph the event that unofficially rings in the holiday shopping frenzy here in the U.S.

To see a list of jurors click here.” – Mary Virginia Swanson

I’m actually thinking about getting up early and documenting some of the events.  I’ll be in Lubbock, TX visiting the in-laws and I can certainly remember living in that town during these crazy days (I used to live a couple blocks from the Mall!)  Crazy.

Let me know if you’re going to do it and in what town or retail outlet you’ll be documenting.  I’d love to see how many people participate in this experiment.  It’s like human wildlife photography.  Wondering if I should wear camo or body armor?

Until next time, Keep shooting and keep promoting!

Today we do a short and quick intro to Twitter.  Plus, there’s a promotional opportunity for those of you Twitter Veterans at the end.

But First: A little update!

We now have a blog associated with this newsletter.  We talked about it last week because an issue of archiving was going to become an issue.  It’s fairly simple and bare-bones and will evolve as needed.  This does give you a few more options as for staying up to date with the promotional opportunities and marketing advice for your photography business.

You can now sign up via RSS, or through our Twitter account.  Please feel free to visit the site and tell me what you think.  It’s at YourPhotoPromo.com

Twitter

The main idea behind your online marketing begins with networking.  This is simple insofar as branding, selling, and marketing are concerned.  Not everyone is on Twitter, but the most influential and vocal people are.  They are the ones that can help you increase your reach and brand if you’ve got the goods.

Twitter is one of the most misunderstood platforms for many people who just don’t “get it”.  The various terminology that comes with becoming a Twitter user doesn’t help.  People would lock us all up if we talked like that in real life.  Or would they?

How can Twitter benefit a photographer?

We go back to networking.  Having a network of photographers that you follow and that follow you back is going to be key to increasing your reach online.  It comes in many forms.  In click throughs to the links you share amongst those that directly follow you.  It comes in ReTweets when your social circle shares with their followers the links you initially shared with them. 

Your reach can be massive. 

It can increase your Authority as a photographer in the online space. 

Why it’s important to follow photographers

Other photographers on Twitter are sharing interesting content from around the net.  They are having conversations.  They are asking and answering questions.  They are building their networks.

If you have an issue with your equipment you might be able to tweet your problem and get an answer from someone who has had that same problem and has the solution for you.  You can get introductions to people that could greatly increase your chances of making your next sale or landing your next client.

Who you should follow depends on your marketing concerns. 

If you’re a wedding or portrait photographer I would suggest following photographers of course as well as people in your local area.  Most likely they’ll notice you followed them and they’ll follow you back.  Even if they don’t, it helps keep you in the loop for things that are going on in your market area.

If you’re a fine art photographer you might consider following art buyers and marketers.  This of course can be local and global. 

If you’re a stock photographer your probably wanting to follow other stock photographers and stock agencies to keep an eye on the pulse.

Follow people like you!

It doesn’t have to be all business.  Some will argue that it should, but I’m an advocate in letting your personal side show through.  I’ve always felt that people like to buy from people.  Not businesses.  That’s what I learned when I was working in sales.  Make yourself personal and interesting.

If you’re curious about finding photographers to follow I’d suggest starting at WeFollow and use search tags like photographer and photography to find some of the most influential Tweeple out there. 

What to tweet about.

Tweet what your working on.  Just finished an awesome shoot for a big name client?  As long as there isn’t an NDA tweet about it.  It shows your busy and in demand.  Tweet about a cool blog post you just read and include the link. 

Next week I’ll be sharing on my photo tips site a list of some of the best photographers on Twitter to follow and I’d like your help.  As always, there’s exposure to be had.

If you’re a Twitter Photographer expert you probably have a few favorite Twitter Photographers that you follow.  Suggest them to me.  Send me an email with three suggestions on photographers to follow on Twitter and I’ll link to your Twitter profile in the post.  Good for gaining followers.

Here’s what I need:

1. One to three photographers you think every photographer should follow.  You can send me the link directly to their twitter profile or simply their @name.  Doesn’t matter.
2. Tell me (or rather my readers) why they should follow them.  In keeping with the Twitter theme it should be kept to 140 characters or less. 
3. Don’t forget your twitter profile so that you can get credit.
4. Send it to damien[at]yourphototips[dot]com

Deadline: Wednesday 11/25/2009 Midnight CST

Bonus:

Anyone who chooses to participate in this promotional piece also gets a spot on our Suggested Twitter Photographers roll call we’ll be adding to the sidebar of our new blog YourPhotoPromo.com.

Don’t forget that if you have any questions I’m always available and happy to respond.  Suggestions are welcome as well.