Posts Tagged ‘World Wide Web’

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Apr
28

Where’s the video?

Wednesday, April 28th, 2010

Video is an important part of the Web experience and continues to play a stronger role in marketing and building trust.

I look for video when I want to know a little more about a person, or details about software, or to better understand a complicated subject. An embedded video on a Web site gives me confidence in the product or service. If I don’t see a video, I’ll look for the answer on YouTube.

Every photographer needs to learn how to use video well in order to earn additional income. Our cameras offer some of the highest-quality video around, perhaps even equaling or surpassing traditional video cameras, and we need to take advantage of it.

Use video for testimonials. Companies understand that testimonials are gold.  Written quotes are OK, but video testimonials show the non-verbal communication people require to build trust.

Use video for documentation. Video is an excellent tool for capturing imagery and sound for historical purposes, for charting progression of a project or for comparison purposes.

Use video for how-to demonstrations, which are quickly becoming mandatory on the Web.  If a client offers a new product or service, recommend they create a quality demonstration video for their Web site.  Online video is low-cost quality customer service.  Use video to answer common questions or the best use of new products.  Happy customers refer new businesses.  The more information they have at their fingertips, the greater the chance of earning referrals.

In what ways can you benefit your clients using video?

Rosh

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Apr
20

Spring cleaning

Tuesday, April 20th, 2010

The economy seems to be picking up a little.  Let’s hope it sticks.

As the economy grows, so do the opportunities for more visitors to your Web site. Now would be a good time to do a little spring cleaning on your Web site.  It’s easy to forget about the foundation of our Web presence when there are so many new and exciting platforms on which to share our message.

Take a fresh look at your Web site. Listed below are five quick things for photographers to consider:

1.)   Does your site look modern?

2.)   Is it easy to navigate?

3.)   Do you have contact information on every page?

4.)   Can the portfolio be updated with better or more current images?

5.)   Are there any dead links?

There are many more things to consider, but if you check and consider the above list, you should be in good shape.  If your site looks outdated, more work is ahead of you.

Make sure visitors can navigate easily on your site.  Ask friends and family to test it, too.  If they have trouble, most likely potential clients are having the same experience. This means you are losing opportunities.

Remember that search engines do not index Web sites, they index Web pages. This means people can land on any page of your site and it could  be their first and last impression.  Make sure your contact information is easy to find on all pages of your site. If you think your visitors can or should figure it out for themselves, you are losing opportunities.

We all have photographs to which we are emotionally attached, but the reality is old and outdated photographs may cost you work opportunities.  I recommend getting a second opinion about your site images from other photographers and clients. Ask them what they think are your strongest images and what photographs should be replaced.

Check all your links, both internal and external.  Click them all, even if the links worked the last time you checked. You might be surprised. External links change all the time.  If you have exchanged links with someone, confirm they have not changed their mind and removed your link.

Spring cleaning should happen more often than once a year.  Every few months, at the very least, check all five items on the above list so your visitors have a good experience.

What items would you add to the spring cleaning list?

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Mar
30

Who is stealing your work?

Tuesday, March 30th, 2010

You might be surprised to learn that your online writing, photography and videos are being used by someone else on the Internet in an attempt to make money. These content thieves operate on the theory that using previously published material along with Google ads will lead to piles of cash.

Some do make money using this method; most do not.  One reason this approach doesn’t work well is that Google recognizes and redirects readers to the original content source .

I checked copyscape.com the other day to see if anyone was using material from my photography Web sites to promote their sites.

Turns out, people are swiping my content. I was a little peeved at first. Then I wondered: did I encourage content theft? On my roshsillars.com site, I write about the importance of photography in marketing.  I can recall encouraging others on one of my podcasts to use my ideas to promote the importance of good photography in marketing. Whether I encouraged people use my concepts, it’s not a good idea to use other peoples wording exactly.  The reality is some people just copied my site.

There is justice. If people swipe your content word for word, chances are they will gain very little search engine traffic. In most cases if visitors from the other site use the swiped information they saw from the imposter Site in a search engine it will benefit you. Chances are they will end up directed to your site not the imposter site.  In other words, they are advertising for you.

If I’m concerned about an image or video being taken, I don’t post it. Or I’ll make sure I have a good watermark on it.  If nothing else, I know I will get some free advertising out of the thief.

It’s a touchy subject, what are your thoughts?

Below are some links to helpful tools.

http://www.copyscape.com : Search the Web to see who might be using your writing.

http://www.tineye.com : This is a reverse search engine that tracks who is using your photographs.

http://www.copyright.gov : Use this site to copyright your work.

http://www.google.com/alerts : This helps you keep track of key words.

http://copyrightspot.com : Another site to detect plagiarism of your work.

http://www.doccop.com Here is another plagiarism detector. I’ve not tested it.

It’s a touchy subject, what are your thoughts?

Rosh

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Feb
23

Wrong answer

Tuesday, February 23rd, 2010

I had a project estimate presentation with a large client.  We had a long list of topics and services to discuss.  One of the services was search engine optimization (SEO).

I was asked to justify the price tag for SEO.  I explained what we do, the actions, research and management of each page.  Although my response was accepted by the client,  I felt my answer was incomplete.  It was the wrong answer.

SEO is a valuable service.  Much of my photography work comes from people finding my portfolio through the search engines.  SEO works.  In fact, this company originally found our Web site because of our SEO efforts.

So what was wrong with my answer? I focused on what our company does — what some might call the features. No one really cares about feature details, only how the features will benefit them.

The client only needed to know one thing: Better search engine placement will help them make more money.

SEO is a good investment. The client most likely will earn back more than they paid for the service. I know it. I’ve experienced it.  The future of most companies hinges on being highly visible on the Internet.

The same principle holds true for your photography.  Your work is valuable.  When someone asks you  to justify your price, make sure you have a good answer. Here are a few examples:

  • “My photography will help you sell more products.”
  • “You are losing money with the poor photography on your Web site.”
  • “I will make you look beautiful.
  • My vision, style and passion will capture the memories of  the most important day of your life.”

People don’t care how you’re going to do it. They just need the justification to spend money on the amazing results you will provide.

Rosh

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Dec
11

Main street can’t hide from Google Goggles

Friday, December 11th, 2009

Over the last few years, businesses have discovered and enlisted social media as a word-of-mouth form of marketing. Many of these companies have been Internet-based or depend on their Web site to drive new business.

As we approach 2010, standard business practice demands at least a basic Web site. But, many business owners still consider the addition of a social media plan a waste of time.

Social media plans have been suggested and even hyped by many marketing professionals. Many businesses — especially brick- and-mortar retail along Main Street  – have ignored the call.

Whether you ignore it or not, social media is coming to Main Street.

As I mentioned in my Dec. 9  post, Google announced real-time searches, which will combine traditional and social media results on one page. This action alone makes it mandatory for businesses to consider tweeting and offering status updates to take advantage of the opportunity for a new audience.

Imagine this:  You are in a new city and you’re hungry.  You pull out your smart phone, open your Yelp application and take a picture of a street full of restaurants. Using GPS, Yelp identifies each restaurant along with customer  ratings and reviews.

Customer opinions now carry more weight than a newspaper’s restaurant critic. Everyone is a VIP if a business wants to attract future customers. This is just the beginning; everything will be under social scrutiny and review.

On Dec. 7, Google announced the release of the Google Goggles visual search tool. Like Yelp, Goggles allows you to take a picture of an object or location and Google displays information about it.

If you are interested in a car you see on the street,  snap an image of it. Need more information about a book? Take a photo of it.   Research the history of a landmark while traveling.

While this technology was originally used for tracking automotive parts, the day-to-day opportunities will be amazing for smart phone users who use this application.

Google is mailing bar code stickers to 100,000 retail stores. Once these bar codes are attached to store windows, information about that retail location will be available to anyone with the Goggles application.

The bar codes are easy to make; make your own here.

Barcode link to newmediaphotographer.com

I’m considering placing a bar code on my photo cards to offer more information to smart-phone users.  What information would I offer?  Maybe I’ll link to a special offer or to a unique portfolio on the Web. Eventually this application will be standard equipment on smart phones.

If your brain isn’t running on overload with ideas for your photography business, you are not thinking.  Opportunity is around the corner. Those with the creative ideas will earn the new business.

Rosh

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