livebooks blog

With incredible visual appeal and ability to connect with large audiences, it is no surprise that Instagram has become a huge social media platform for photographers and creatives. While there is so much potential to reach your target audience, it does take a bit of planning and research on your end to make the most of your Instagram account. Believe it or not, by using a little bit of strategy, you will be able to take your profile from an account to share your day-to-day activities to a powerful business networking tool. Today, we are sharing our top tips for making the most of your Instagram profile:

Image Source: Pexels

1. Post often, but quality over quantity:
   • It is important to provide your audience with regular content. Once you develop a regular posting schedule, stick to it. Chances are, your audience will get used to seeing your account in their feed and will start to look forward to interacting with your content. With that being said, each post should positively contribute to your personal branding goals. Sometimes it is easy to post just to post, but ensure that each photo’s mood, content and quality will sequence seamlessly with the image next to it in your profile, while allowing your audience to get to know you and your business a little better.
2. Find your style and stick to it: 
   • Some people love landscapes, and some people love portrait photography. Some people are interested in a behind the scenes look at your daily life, and other’s want to see your perfect final images. It is up to you to decide who you want to reach, where you want to be in the future, and then go all in. It is great to vary the content in your feed, but consistency is key when it comes to voice and styling, The most important piece of the puzzle, however, is to make sure that you are staying true to your own personal voice and style. Your clients are coming to your social media to learn more about YOU and YOUR work. In the end, people that are interested in the content you are producing will follow and interact with your profile. Find your personal style and use this to guide your content and online image while connecting with your ideal audience.
3. Use hashtags, but make them specific:
   • Hashtags are a great way to connect you with professionals in your industry as well as potential clients. Beware though, hashtags are also a great way to connect you with spammers. Keep hashtags specific to your location, the content of the image, and your industry to drive up interaction with your target audience. While it feels great to have a large number of followers, you want to make sure that the right people are following you. I will let you determine who the right followers are for your account, but it is our hope that you are able to connect with people that are genuinely interested interested in the content that you are producing (and could, hopefully, turn into potential clients!).
4. Genuinely network with other professionals in your industry:
   • How good does it feel when you receive a compliment or comment on an image? Pretty good, right? Stay connected with professionals in your industry by commenting and interacting with their Instagram profiles too. Most importantly, make sure your comments and interactions are genuine, thoughtful, and productive. Instead of posting a generic: “Great image!” comment, let the poster know exactly what it is you love about their post or profile. Taking an extra second to generate genuine feedback has the potential to translate into deeper connections and a larger following base overtime. Keep in mind, however, that each user’s Instagram post is essentially a public platform, despite any security settings that are in play. Make sure you are conveying your personal brand image at all times. You never know who may be following them!
5. Make sure your client (and potential clients) know how to find you online: 
   • Know that once you have gained followers, they may want to interact with you in every way! That means that when they visit your website, they will want to check out your social media outlets as well. With the new liveBooks 8 platform, you are able to create a bridge between your website and your social media accounts. Inserting custom social media icons into your website’s footer or navigation is a great start. Read this blog post to learn how to integrate social media icons into your website’s footer. Also don’t forget: you can also add your website link to your Instagram profile. This will help lead your Instagram followers into potential clients!

Are you on Instagram? We want to feature you! If you have an image that you are interested in having us share, send us an email at social@livebooks.com.

Dale Clark is the top Commercial Photographer specializing in Interiors and Architecture in Columbus and Central Ohio. Dale’s work has been featured in various publications including The Wall Street Journal, HouseTrends Magazine, Dream Homes, Columbus Underground, Popular Photography, and Shutterbug. Dale holds a Bachelor of Science degree from Wright State University and attended Kettering University (formerly GMI) for Graduate Studies. We are very excited to share his business story and how it came together seamlessly with the liveBooks 8 platform:

I started Arc Photography in 2008 after 20 years of managing a large-scale automotive manufacturing operation. Photography, especially Architectural photography, has always been a hobby and passion. I made the decision to leave the corporate life and dive into Architectural photography full-time in 2008. With a lot of long hours, hard work and persistence, Arc photography has turned into one of the highest volume Architectural/Residential photography companies in Ohio.

Q: How would you describe the aesthetic of your website in three words?

DC: The website is clean yet bold. Very basic to allow the images to stand out and speak for our business. (Clean, bold, basic)

Q: How often do you typically update your website?

DC: I generally update 4 to 5 times a year, sometimes around seasonal changes.

Q: How do you choose the photos that you display on your homepage?

DC: I display what I consider my best work while showing my general style that clients can expect to see.

Q: What is your favorite new feature of liveBooks8?

DC: Besides the wonderful liveBooks web page designs, the new dashboard is super intuitive.

Q: What’s one piece of advice you’d offer to someone designing their website?

DC: A good website will focus on YOUR work and not add “noise” to your presentation. A good website is intuitive so that anyone can explore what you have to offer effortlessly.

Would you like to be featured on our blog? Email us at social@livebooks.com!

The liveBooks website editor allows you the freedom to create a custom navigation bar that fits your website’s specific needs. Whether this includes a drop-down menu that organizes your portfolio galleries into a visual index for your viewers to choose from, the use of social media icons, or the use of links and buttons to direct your viewers to another webpage or websites, you’ll be able to customize every aspect of the navigation bar.

Here are some helpful tips to get you on your way to creating a navigation bar that fits the design of your website:

Creating Drop-Down Menus

1. Log in to your liveBooks website editor
2. Select the Content tab
3. Select “Add New Pages”

4. Check the box next to “Navigation Item” and then select “Add”

5. From the drop-down, select “Text (No link).” This will allow you to create a title for the portfolio/gallery without leading your viewers to a blank page. Once you have chosen this option, change the Text Label to the name you would like your drop-down menu to have.

6. Once you have successfully finished all of the above steps, you can begin adding portfolios that will showcase your work. In order to organize the portfolios to display in the drop-down menu you have just created, you will need to indent your portfolio pages.

Social Media Icons in the Navigation Bar

The new liveBooks8 website editor allows users to easily and seamlessly integrate social media outlets to their website. What’s the difference between having your social media icons in the navigation versus in the footer? Here are some of the most contrasting differences:

• Depending on the layout that you have chosen, social media icons may catch viewer’s eyes more in the header of your website
• Having your social icons in the navigation bar highlights the importance of social media outlets with your work; they are equally as important as other pages on your website
• The navigation bar allows up to 4 social media icons at a time; the footer allows for unlimited social media icons to be added
• If you have added a variety of pages to your navigation bar, we recommend that you consider adding social media links to the footer of your site. With a number of pages in your navigation, viewers may find it to be too crowded.

Adding social media icons to navigation bar:

1. Log in to your liveBooks website editor
2. Select “Content”
3. Select “Add New Pages”
4. Check the box next to “Navigation Item” and then select “Add”
5. From the drop-down, select “Social Icons”

6. Select up to 4 social media icons that you would like to display on the navigation bar (Tip: Make sure to keep the “Open in new window” box checked. Otherwise, your viewers will leave your page immediately upon clicking the icon.)

7. Make sure to copy and paste the exact URL from your social media outlet. Also – check these icons frequently to make sure they are still linking to your social feeds correctly. Changes in usernames and domains from social media feeds may cause you to lose viewers along the way.

Creating Links and Buttons

The links and buttons feature on the navigation tool can help navigate your viewers to a specific part of your page that you want to showcase. This is especially true in the case of buttons. Links, on the other hand, are more commonly used for external links, which will lead viewers to another website.

Adding links and buttons to the navigation bar:

1. Log in to your liveBooks website editor
2. Select “Content”
3. Select “Add New Pages”
4. Check the box next to “Navigation Item” then select “Add” (look above for image)
5. From the drop-down, select either “Link” or “Button”
6. Change the “Text Label” to what you’d like your Link of Button to read to viewers (i.e.: “My Blog” if the link leads viewers to your blog)
7. Copy and paste the URL into the “Link” section

Is there a liveBooks feature that you want to learn more about? Let us know at social@livebooks.com!

Meet Kevin Clark of Kevin Clark Studios. Now a commercial photographer, his training was originally in graphic design. In art school, he picked up a camera for the first time during an elective class and immediately fell in love. After art school, he set up shop in Vancouver. He first began photographing performers and actors, as the film and TV industry was just starting to take off in his area. His wife, Trish, was a makeup artist, and they teamed up to establish a strong niche in the market. The industry exploded in the ’90’s with the development of many Sci-Fi based shows and big budget feature films. Their actors stayed busy, and as a result, so did their studio.

In 1999, they decided to go on an adventure and moved to Cairo, Egypt. There, the Clarks worked with advertising agencies, magazines and NGOs, while seeing parts of Egypt that not many people see. When Trish got pregnant with their first child, they moved back to Vancouver and re-established their business.

While they were in Cairo, Kevin had the opportunity to shoot some food photographs and really enjoyed it. As they continued shooting actors and head shots in Vancouver, Kevin also began establishing himself in the food photography industry. He started pursuing food photography after the crash of 2008 hit the Vancouver film industry, and currently, food photography represents more than half of his business.

See more of Kevin Clark Studios’ work on his liveBooks site at: kevinclarkstudios.com.

Q: How would you describe the aesthetic of your website in three words?

KC: All about pictures.

Q: How often do you typically update your website?

KC: Right now, I update it at least once every week or two.

Q: How do you choose the photo that you display on your homepage?

KC: I looked for a simple image that represented our current style and made sure it would work well with the design of our site.

Q: What is your favorite new feature of liveBooks8?

KC: I like being able to dump a bunch of pictures in a gallery to get a feel for the look right away. From there, I am able to easily adjust image order accordingly.
(Note from liveBooks: learn more about our in-line editing feature here!)

Q: What is one piece of advice you’d offer to someone designing their website?

KC: We spent a lot of time looking at other photographers’ sites to get a feel of what we wanted. So, I guess my advice would be to research your peers and competition as a starting point.

Have a site you’d like us to feature? Email us at social@livebooks.com.