Ads and Marketing

silvereye

I have a few issues with advertising and marketing, This is a crucial part of the selling process and am currently in a bad spot.

Does anyone know of some fairly cheap but effective ways to advertise on the web??

I also market daily via Twitter and my FB fan page but am getting little response... can anyone submit any other forums or marketing ideas??

Please feel free to look around my site as well

Thank you in advace for your time:D

denisegoldberg

My guess is that your smugmug site isn't helping you at all since the only thing that is visible is your homepage slideshow and your "about" page. The Galleries and Guestbook pages show your homepage slideshow as well.

--- Denise

silvereye

denisegoldberg wrote: »

My guess is that your smugmug site isn't helping you at all since the only thing that is visible is your homepage slideshow and your "about" page. The Galleries and Guestbook pages show your homepage slideshow as well.

--- Denise

Actually its under construction... The galleries and such just came down today and will be up shortly.. I appreciate it though

dogwood

One way to get "free" marketing is to improve your SEO (search engine optimization). There are obviously books and books on this topic so it's way beyond a single reply on a forum.

But in very general terms, google likes it when other sites link to yours. Blogs and twitter are good for this. In my experience, google doesn't rank FB posts very high. Being active in forums and including a link in your signature seems to impress google too. Start using google analytics and google webmaster tools to see how people are finding you.

Google seems to like LinkedIn and Model Mayhem too. Try other free sites for photographers too -- like behance.net.

Your SEO rating won't change overnight but if you stay consistent and persistent with it, you'll start to climb the ladder to get listed when people search certain keywords.

One of the best SEO guides I've read is called SEO Secrets by Glenn Murray. That guy definitely has SEO dialed and that ebook is worth the cost.

silvereye

dogwood wrote: »

One way to get "free" marketing is to improve your SEO (search engine optimization). There are obviously books and books on this topic so it's way beyond a single reply on a forum.

But in very general terms, google likes it when other sites link to yours. Blogs and twitter are good for this. In my experience, google doesn't rank FB posts very high. Being active in forums and including a link in your signature seems to impress google too. Start using google analytics and google webmaster tools to see how people are finding you.

Google seems to like LinkedIn and Model Mayhem too. Try other free sites for photographers too -- like behance.net.

Your SEO rating won't change overnight but if you stay consistent and persistent with it, you'll start to climb the ladder to get listed when people search certain keywords.

One of the best SEO guides I've read is called SEO Secrets by Glenn Murray. That guy definitely has SEO dialed and that ebook is worth the cost.

Thank you so much for the great info.. I will totally look at the ebook..

vegaguy

SEO, SEO, SEO! Take some time to scan through the abundance of forums in here and you'll find boat load of info.Not sure if ya have a blog but Denise also points out a bunch of good ideas in her Match Your Blog To Your Website post.

Best Of Luck!

chrisjohnson

Most people looking for a photographer will google.

So the top of your site must tell in text WHAT you do, and WHERE you are. The search engines will pick you up - so if someone Googles "flower photos in Seattle" they should find you quickly.

Having your site start with a picture of flower does not make sense for Google. Only people who know you already will go there and not very often.

Life can be simple.

msf

what kind of photography do you do?

this is something ive been meaning to do for a while, just havent gotten around to it. I want to go to local shops that has the sort of customers I want, and make a deal with them. perhaps photograph something for them, give them free business cards, with my info on them as well.

For baby portraits, perhaps team up with a baby clothing store. If its an upper end store, then the customers will be to.

Im trying to figure out what store to team up with for senior portraits.

Perhaps you can get your work displayed in local store windows or walls. The mall here has some closed stores, so ive meant to talk to them sometime and find out if I could display some framed work in their windows. They do have a local big shot's work in the center of the mall, so he may have an agreement with them not to show others work.

msf

theres a book called guerrilla marketing, I just heard about it the other day and my local library seems to have access to it. Its only $15 or so on amazon. Might be worth reading. I wonder if theres a digital format around.

silvereye

Alot of great stuff here... this ssems to be a issue, marketing. I am looking at coffee shops and other locations to hang some of my work in, I am failry good at networking and getting out and about... As far as the internet stuff Im lost in the sauce.. I am really liking all of the feedback!!

chrisjohnson

silvereye wrote: »

Alot of great stuff here... this ssems to be a issue, marketing. I am looking at coffee shops and other locations to hang some of my work in, I am failry good at networking and getting out and about... As far as the internet stuff Im lost in the sauce.. I am really liking all of the feedback!!

There are a huge number of books and even university courses on marketing. Main thing is to build a picture of your customer in your mind and then figure out what they might need - many people mistakenly do it the other way round depending on what they already have on offer. When you have a clear picture of your customer you can figure out how to come in contact and what you need to make them pay.