livebooks blog

If you are like many photographers, you understand the need to leverage social media in your marketing mix, but maybe you’re uncertain of where to begin.  Are your “tweets”, “pins”, or “posts” actually driving page views and business transactions?  If so liveBooks has good news for you. In addition to empowering you with the ability to present your work in a professional manner, we also know social media for photographers.

Beginning next Thursday and continuing throughout November, we will deliver a series of posts that detail how you can engage your audience through social media channels, and in the process build brand recognition, loyalty and trust in a way that drives quality, meaningful traffic back to your site.

Sound good? Okay! Here’s what we have in store:

Week 1 – “Social Media for Photographers: Where to Begin?”

This week we will focus on the two most popular Social Media platforms; Facebook and Twitter and why they are important to your web presence as a photographer.  You will learn the different uses for Facebook and Twitter, as well as some improvements you can make today with what you already have.  We will conclude with a discussion of how to fit social media into even the tightest of schedules.  This post will serve as a launchpad for our week two discussion of defining achievable goals for your social media strategy.

Week 2 – “Defining the Photographer’s Social Media Strategy”

The first step in any effective social media strategy is understanding what your needs are and defining what goals you want to achieve for your photography business through social media.  The next logical step is to define who your target audience is.  We will take you through this process and get you on your way to delivering relevant content that your audience actively engages with.

Week 3 – “Executing Your Social Media Strategy”

Now that you have your social media strategy defined, it’s time to ignite your social media wildfire.  We will help you understand how to pace your content, react to your community’s feedback, and understand what the appropriate level of engagement and energy is that you can consistently give to Social Media.  Even if you’re a professional photographer who can only devote 15 minutes a day, we can help you understand how to best manage your time and resources.  By the end of this post you should feel comfortable executing your defined social media strategy to meet your social media goals.

Week 4 – “Social Media Measurement Strategies”

There are many different ways to measure your social media impact.  We will begin by showing you how to track and understand basic social media data.  Based on the goals you set forth in week one we will help you make meaning out of this measured information and determine ways that you can refine your strategy.  To reach your goals faster and with a larger impact, you will learn which metrics are most relevant to your photography goals.

Week 5 – “Using Instagram To Promote Your Photography Business”

In week five we will discuss the value of introducing Instagram into your social media mix.  We will cover the ins and outs of how photographers can use Instagram to increase their business.  You will learn about mobile technologies and how Instagram may be your link to a larger photography audience.  Our conversation will conclude with a discussion of 5 simple ways you can effectively introduce Instagram into your social media mix.

liveBooks would love to hear your ideas, questions and comments so post a tweet to @livebooks. And while you’re on the social media forefront, “Like” us on Facebook and Follow us on Twitter. For more information on how you can use social media channels, and in the process build brand recognition, loyalty and trust, click here or call: (888)458-3678.

How does one become a better photographer? To find the answer I decided to ask industry veteran Gerald Ratto. For over half a century Gerald has used film photography to capture the world. Gerald is a former student of Ansel Adams, Minor White, Imogen Cunningham and Edward Weston; the list of industry legends he has worked with is extensive. His work has been displayed at the San Francisco Museum of Modern Art and his client list includes some of the largest architectural firms in the world.

Gerald has worked with film since he was 12 and began photographing with a 15-cent box camera. Many of his most celebrated images (See his Children of the Fillmore and Vintage Collections) were shot traditionally. I began by inquiring about what differences exists between photographing with film and digital.

“Photography is really about seeing. We are in an age where people confuse photography with image capturing. When you hold up your phone or high megapixel camera are you really being a photographer? I don’t know. That depends on how intentional you are in the process. It’s easy to capture a huge amount of space today and then use Photoshop to retroactively tell a story, but something is lost in that process. You can make adjustments in Photoshop but you lose some of the expression because you didn’t really consider the content and the story that is being told.”

Is there any correlation between the physical developing process and the creation of an authentic photograph?

“Developing isn’t really a huge part of the process because of previsualization; seeing the story in your mind before you capture it with a camera. If you are doing it right you already know what the story is once you capture it. Then, it’s about going through a process to bring it from a small format to something people can see and display. Each camera is really the same. Each is simply a different instrument. If your process is the same then you can use different instruments to more accurately tell the story.”

Herein I realized the error of my initial question. The question is really not of whether we gain or lose something using film or digital methods, the question is how we remain intentional in an age where technology removes our limits. What are we doing as photographers to keep our content intentional and relevant?

I ask what advice Gerald can provide for how to stay relevant as a photographer.

“Photography is like discovery; every time you look in the viewfinder you’re closing in on an image that is part of something bigger—a little vignette of the greater world. You don’t want to go into any project with preconceived notions of what you are going to capture because by doing that you impose yourself upon the subject. Authenticity is the key to staying relevant. Allow the subject to tell the story and use your mastery of the instrument to capture it.”

Gerald’s work over the last 50 years showcases many different thematic elements; a testament to the depth of his abilities as photographer. I encourage you to take a look at Gerald’s portfolios and pay special attention to his mastery of light. From architecture models to portraiture, Gerald’s work showcases the breadth of his abilities as a photographer. As we finish up I ask Gerald what his favorite photo is. He smiles and replies, “The one I’m taking tomorrow.”

Gerald Ratto and his wife Marla manage a studio and reside in San Francisco, CA. You can view more of his work on his liveBooks site; www.geraldrattophotography.com.

liveBooks wants to know: how do you view your work as a photographer? What tools/best practices do you use to stay relevant? Share a comment on our blog and start a conversation. “Like” us on our facebook page and be the first to receive exciting liveBooks news and content.

Flying has always been exciting for me. Something about being high above it all, traveling at high speed, with views to forever – well, it simply gets my creative juices flowing. So on my recent trip to our office in Romania, with stops in Berlin, and NYC, I had plenty of air time to think about all the little things that make up the ingredients for success.

We launched the new version of liveBooks – Scaler – this past week. We’ve known that the market wanted scaling websites, large images, new thumbnails, but the trick is to do it right. A few other companies having scaling sites, but after studying the compromises made in design, technology and price, we knew we could do it better. It is one thing to design for a specific size and ratio window, but to allow for that design to scale up and down without compromising the integrity of the site—well, that’s tricky— and our brilliant development, design and production teams knocked it out of the park! And our clients still have the flexibility to customize their sites or work directly with our designers for a fully unique design.  Check out the home page to see more about SCALER.

So what lessons are available to us thorough this process?

For more than a year liveBooks teams have honed the vision for Scaler. We met with clients, prospects, art directors and photo editors to understand the market’s needs, wants and perceptions. We assessed the design and technical challenges, and the long term product road map for liveBooks. Defining a clear vision is imperative at liveBooks. Once the vision is defined, we write it down and all the teams use this statement as a guiding principle for driving strategies. Do you have a vision of what success looks like for you? If not, how will you know when you get there? Write it down!

Once we had our vision statement, we began the painstaking exercise of planning. At liveBooks this includes all aspects of the company, from how the product will be built, to how it will be marketed to existing and prospective clients, to how we will support our clients in the transition. For example, Scaler is the photo industry’s only custom scaling website solution. So in our planning we needed to determine how to build the product to allow for this customization, keep the price affordable for our clients, while sustaining the business in the long term. As your plan is developed remember to include allowances—time, money, and resources—for unknowns that will inevitably appear along the way. “Measure twice, cut once” as Dad used to say.

Once we had agreement on the plan, then we set out to execute the plan. A major part of working the plan is continual evaluation of how we are doing. Things change, and new information may challenge your initial thinking. Are the things that you are doing on a daily and weekly basis aligned with your vision? If not, perhaps it is time to reassess your vision or rework your plan. Have you made time in your schedule, in your life, to regularly assess and adjust your plan?

In my experience, another thing happens when you set your vision, create your plan and begin to work it – magic happens! When I say magic, I just mean those special surprises, the unexpected little pieces of help that can come your way. Recently, my friend and old business partner, Bernie DeChant, happened to be in Eastern Europe while I was working in our office in Romania. Bernie was the Art Director at Adjacency and designed many of the very first e-commerce sites in the industry for top clients like Apple, Patagonia, LandRover and Virgin Megastore. He stopped by the liveBooks office in Brasov and spent a few days hanging out with us. It didn’t take long before Bernie was meeting with various team members and providing valuable input on the new product, marketing ideas and our website. Everyone was energized after meeting with Bernie. It was that alchemy of an amazing group of creative people in multiple locations around the world successfully collaborating toward a common goal. So stay open and awake to the unexpected ‘magic’ that may come your way, signaling you’re on the right path.

Clear vision, solid planning, continual evaluation, keeping your eyes open for the magic… and lots of hard, smart work.

“In human endeavor, chance favors the prepared mind”– Louis Pasteur, 1822-1895,

So here’s wishing you lots of success!

Growing up in Ohio my basketball coach used to drill us non-stop on the basics. So much so that we often wondered when we would actually get to play ball. But once the season started we discovered we were in better condition and better prepared for the season than our competition. We ended up going to State and I’ve never forgotten the importance of having the discipline to work on the basics every week. It is what makes winners.

I suggest that taking time each week to work on your contact database is one of the most basic things that you can do to assure that your business continues to grow. Some of you may be asking, “so what is a contact database?” In the simplest of terms it is a list of all your past clients and all of your prospects. At a minimum it should contain their name, company, title, address, phone and email.

Do you know that 40% of creatives at advertising agencies change jobs each year? 40%! So that great Art Director that you worked with last month may not be there next month. Where did they go? Who took their place?

The average family moves every five years, every three years for those under 30. So for those wedding photographers out there who are interested in developing a long term relationship – the so-called “photographer for life”, you have your work cut out for you as well.

Take the time each week, let’s say Friday mornings from 9:00 am until Noon, to do research and maintenance on your contact list. For prospecting I suggest you do the following:

1. draw four circles on a piece of paper
2. in each of the four circles write down the name of one of your top clients
3. start with one of your circles and write down key aspects about the client such as their industry, their title, who else you met during the project
4. go to your favorite search engine and start researching for other companies in their industry or associated industries, then the names of people with similar titles at those companies

For example, let’s say that my client was Rick Jackson, the Chief Marketing Officer at VMWare. A quick search on Rick Jackson VMWare and I find in his LinkedIn profile that he was in major marketing roles at Borland and BEA. He has recommended two Borland Marketing people in LinkedIn. I’ll send Rick an email to say hello, mentioning that I saw he used to be at Borland and had recommended a few marketing people there, and I was wondering if he might make a few introductions for me. I also notice that VMWare is owned by EMC, so I will ask Rick if there are other people at some of the other brands within EMC that he could also introduce me to.

Within minutes I have identified prospects that I think I can get introductions to from someone that knows me, likes me and can vouch for my work style and professionalism. Repeat this every Friday for a few hours and I guarantee that your business will thrive.

What is it that you want with your business? Write it down on a pice of paper and put it above your computer. Why? Because success requires discipline and discipline often times is simply remembering what you want.