#Hashtags In Google Search

For those of us using Google+ #Hashtags have now been introduced into Google Search. A hashtag - any word or phrase (no spaces) with a # preceding it - is a great tool for people to find and join conversations about a particular topic. Clicking on a hashtag shows related content. Hashtags are now even more powerful. When users search for certain hashtags, they’ll see a stream of related  Google+ posts on the right hand side of Search results. For example, if someone searches for #Photograph in Google Search, they’ll see this:

This means you can use hashtags in creative campaigns; tell your audience to “Search for #X on Google” to see the conversation happening on Google+. Users can join the conversation by clicking into the stream and posting on Google+.

Whenever there is enough detailed data, the Google+ post stream will serve up relevant public posts as well as those that have been shared with circles. Follow best practices to see a hashtag trend on Google+ in order to have it appear in Search. Many hashtag searches will not trigger Google+ posts in Search if there aren’t enough recent relevant posts. Google is rolling this feature out in the US right now with international markets to follow at later dates.

5 Important Photography Marketing Tips

1. Most sales are not made on the first contact. Develop a plan to follow up with potential clients you’ve met. I’ve found that many clients who come to meet me have met with several wedding photographers and will point out that I am the only one who followed up with them after our meeting. This makes a great impression!

2. Establish a brand. I don’t mean a logo, logos are not what can make your business stand out. As photographers we all are offering the same service. What makes us truly different isn’t our equipment, location, or abilities – it’s our personality. Your brand should be your personality and focusing on marketing yourself as well…just you, will help your business become a success. When you are photographing someone’s most prized possessions (children, family, wedding days) they want to know that they can really truly trust the person doing it. Letting them get to know the real you and all your quirks is a great way to brand your business and keep people remembering you.

3. Provide ways for people to connect with you. This can be social networking, blogging, or a website. Simply having a presence on the internet of some kind will make you more marketable. The more presence you have on the web (i.e. the more blogging, face booking, and tweeting) you do the more likely you are to reach potential clients.

4. Boost your search engine rank. Your search engine rank is how high up you show in a google search for a term in your area. If you are in Seattle and you are a wedding photographer it’s likely people will be searching for their photographer by googling “Seattle Wedding Photographer.” Imagine if your website was right up there listed near the top? People would click and inquire more than if your website is listed on page 50 of the search results. Being near the top takes time and effort, but doesn’t cost you a penny if you’re willing to work on your search engine optimization. Doing this has been an incredibly invaluable tool for my business and its one of the secrets to marketing for free.

5. Use Facebook to your benefit. Friend your clients so you can tag them in their images on your business page. It’s easy and it’s a great way to let your clients get to know you and want to recommend you to their friends and family. Every time you tag them in a photo, that photo gets blasted out to their entire friends list which will usually consist of people in the same age range doing similar things (getting married, having babies) and it’s likely many of their friends are local. This is a method of incredibly targeted marketing and it’s free!

54 Must-Have Wedding Photos for Photographers

If you’re an experienced photographer I’m sure you have a list of your own, but hopefully this is a great starting place for those starting to get into photography who don’t want to miss any of those must-have shots!

1. Wedding dress hanging up
2. The shoes
3. The rings
4. The flowers and ceremony decorations
5. Bride getting ready
6. Groom getting ready
7. Groom putting on boutonniere (traditionally the groom’s mom pins it on him)
8. Bride putting on dress/veil
9. Bridal Procession at Ceremony (each set of bridesmaids/groomsmen and anyone else in the wedding party)
10. Bride and Father Walking down the aisle
11. Groom’s expression when he first sees his bride
12. Reciting Vows
13. Exchanging Rings
14. Unity Candle/Sand Ceremony/Any other unique addition to the wedding
15. First Kiss
16. Introduction of the Mr. And Mrs.
17. Signing the Marriage License
18. Receiving Line (if they have one!)
19. Bride with Parents
20. Bride with Mother
21. Bride with Father
22. Bride with Siblings
23. Bride with Parents and Sibings
24. Bride and Groom with Bride’s Parents
25. Bride and Groom with Groom’s Parents
26. Groom with Parents
27. Groom with Mother
28. Groom with Father
29. Groom with Siblings
30. Groom with Parents and Siblings
31. Bride and Groom with Flowergirl/Ringbearers
32. Bride with Bridesmaids
33. Groom with Bridesmaids
34. Bride with Groomsmen
35. Groom with Groomsmen
36. Bride, Groom, Bridesmaids, and Groomsmen
37. Bride with Maid of Honor
38. Bride with individual bridesmaids
39. Groom with Best Man
40. Groom with individual groomsmen
41. Bride Portraits
42. Groom Portraits
43. Bride and Groom Portraits
44. Arrival of Wedding Party at Reception
45. Cake
46. Reception Decorations
47. Toasts
48. Cake Cutting
49. First Dance
50. Father and bride dance
51. Mother and groom dance
52. Garter Toss
53. Bouquet Toss
54. Bride and Groom Farewell/Driving Away

These of course vary depending on the bride and groom’s families and wedding parties as well as their individual wedding and anything extra that might be happening. This list is just a starting place of must-have shots and all these family photos in there can vary greatly. I strongly suggest you consult with each bride and groom individually to ensure you are aware of any family situations and any extra family photos they may or may not want.

8 Ways to Market Your Photography For Free

1. Facebook – This one is obvious. If you don’t already, start a business page, start a personal page, start friending your clients and tagging them in the photos you share on your business page. That alone can bring you many referrals.

2. Website – It’s worth the investment. Having a corner of your own of the internet that people can link back to and a place that’s searchable online is important. When people search “Los Angeles Wedding Photographer” and you’re in Los Angeles if your website shows up in their search results you’ve just had some free advertising.

3. Craigslist – Yep, I suggested it. There’s absolutely no harm in putting up an ad and regularly searching various sections of Craigslist for people looking for photographers. Sometimes you’ll luck out and find amazing clients. I’ve found one client through Craigslist who comes back time after time for her photos and has recommended many of her friends to me as well.

4. Wedding Websites – All those places like Wedding Wire and The Knot usually allow you to have a free listing there. Go for it, there’s no harm. I’ve not once found a client directly through these websites, but simply having those websites linking back to my website improves my search rank when brides are searching for a photographer.

5. Local Businesses – Look for other small business owners who may be able to trade services with you. Know a groomer? Offer to come by one afternoon and snap some photos of them at work and the cute dogs that come in. Print some of those and offer to put them up in their shop and leave business cards. Offer to let them put those photos online with the catch being that they link to your website.

6. Business Cards and Car Signs – These things are twofold for me. When I go somewhere and get out of my car and someone might see my car sign they might ask for a business card. It’s a great conversation starter, even if sometimes you have to start the conversations. Be friendly, smile, say hi to people when you’re out in public – those simple friendly gestures can be conversation starters and an opportunity to mention your business and give them a card.

7. Contact Local Businesses – This has been a key way for me to market my business. It can also be time consuming. Periodically you can search online for wedding planners, or wedding venues, or midwives and birthing centers. Write down their contact information and make the effort to send each one an individual email telling them who you are, what you do, and that you’d like to offer their clients a discount. If you’re into wedding photography this has been especially helpful. Many wedding planners or venues will link to you from their websites or want to meet in person and get information from you so they can recommend you to their clients.

8. Share Photos – When you shoot at a wedding venue and work with a florist, a wedding planner, a DJ, and more at a wedding make sure you connect with all of these professionals and get their information. I put the photos they might like to use on their websites online for them to download at no cost with only the rule that they must link to my website if they use them online. What a great way for brides to see other wedding professionals recommending you! This can also apply for other types of shoots sometimes. If you do birth photography or newborn photography maybe you want to connect with local hospitals and see if they would like to display some photos in their labor and delivery section. You can print and frame them and give them to the hospital (put your website on the photos). If you do a photo session at a local pumpkin patch give the photos of the kids and families to the owners so they can use those photos online and link back to you.

10 Things Your Photography Website Needs

1. Information section about your business, what your photography includes, and information about pricing. You can decide what’s best for you with regards to sharing pricing on your website or having people contact you for pricing.

2. Recent sessions area that can be updated frequently. Websites that are a portfolio style tend to be static. You set them up, you put in your info and images and you’re done and never mess with it again. A good way to ensure that visitors who come by several times see something new is to have a section with some of your recent photoshoots that you update once a month or once every couple weeks.

3. Video or Photo Section about “Behind the Scenes” – people love getting to know you and seeing what it would be like to work with you. Have your assistant, helper, or a friend of your client who attends the session snap some photos of you at work. Photos of you posing people with your clients laughing and having a good time will go a long way to impressing new clients with your fun and outgoing attitude. If it looks like it’s fun to work with you they’ll want their photos done with you.



4. Photo of Yourself – People want to see who you are, how you dress, and what you’re like. Of course, a photography website is all about you, but people being able to see you will help them develop a trust in you and your work.

5. About Me Section – This is one of the hardest parts to write on a website. Writing about yourself isn’t easy. This bio section of your website is the perfect way to have potential clients feel like they can relate to you. When people can relate to you, they build trust with you and are more likely to book with you if they find you have something in common with them.

6. Share your Portfolio – so what’s the perfect amount of images? I’ve tried various setups of the portfolio and some were too complex with the wedding portfolio having different sections of the wedding and the portraits portfolio being separated into various types of portraits. This seemed to be a bit complex and took too much time for my visitors to see. Each small gallery within those sections had maybe 40-50 photos in it so there was a lot of stuff to look through. I’ve since learned it’s best to keep it simple. You don’t want to have too little photos, but you don’t want to have too many either. There’s no right way to do this, but figure out what works for you.

7. Way to Contact You – You can decide whether you prefer phone or email contact. I know many photographers who prefer only email, but I prefer either. I try to be reachable for any form of contact, whatever is more comfortable with my clients is fine with me so I have both a phone and an email listed.

8. A blog – I know some folks think blogs are old school and they can be. Having a blog means that your website isn’t static, it has current information being updated on a regular basis. It’s great for visitors to be able to see that you’re active recently. Blogging is also hard because writing doesn’t come naturally for everyone, but a blog can also greatly boost your search engine rank too and put you higher up in google search results, which then results in inquiries from potential clients without having to pay for advertising! If blogging is hard, write some personal posts, put up some easy short posts, and the occasional recent photo sessions too!

9. Client Section – Whether it be a gallery link you email your clients, or a place where they can login with a password having a section for your clients to view photos and order them online is a great tool. Your clients will be able to share their images with friends and family.

10. Social Networking – I know I know, I can hear the groans now. Social networking isn’t always my favorite thing either, but it’s a great tool to add to your website if your clients can find you on popular networking sites like Facebook and Twitter.

Blocking The Print Feature On Facebook To Protect Your Photos

Do you know how easy it is for your friends in Facebook to print out your photographs at a local big box store such as Walmart or Target?

In Facebook, one of the best ways to grow is to take your photos, put them into a new album on your page, then tag them with your clients name. They will now feed into their news streams as well, and can potentially bring you in business down the road. Friends flock together and have similar tastes and requirements, so it’s a perfect way of marketing. But you have to keep three things in mind.

1. Be properly compensated BEFORE you release them on Facebook

2. Keep your image size small – a 300 pixel, 72 DPI print isn’t going to print well no matter where your client takes it.

3. Understand your rights to your images greatly diminish when you release them to any online social site.

And now once again, Facebook is making things a little easier for the average member, and a little more difficult for the photographer.

If you’ve tagged a client in a photograph, your client now has access to printing that photo at any of the big box locations – Walmart, Target, Walgreens, Shutterfly. With just a couple of clicks, they can see their albums and any of their friends albums in the application, select an image and hit print. It will be ready and delivered to them in no time. Unless you opt out of this feature.

Tagging is good for showcasing, but gives them access to your photos through the Facebook print feature at many labs, including Walmart, Walgreens, etc.

• Walmart
• Target
• Walgreens
• Shutterfly

Visit these pages, and under the application click the Block Application button. You will then opt out of this application, which means your clients will not see your name if they try to use this application.

Did we miss any? Any other photo apps out there that we need to block as photographers?

Starting Your Photo Business

1. Pick a Company name - something that is easy for your clients to remember, but is specifically “you”.

2. Check with the Trademark & Patent Offices to assure the name is not already taken. *trademarking your name is always a great idea as well.. though it can be pricey

3. Register your company with your County, State and any Federal. You may need to do a DBA (doing business as), but it varies on states. I’m in Illinois and we must file a DBA if doing business under a name other than our “real name”.

4. Get a FEIN number. Getting FEIN number gives your company it’s own sort of “social security number”… so you don’t have to use YOURS when filing paper work on the company.

5. Business Licenses – These are not always necessary or required, but if they are required – you need them!

6. A Sales Tax License/Seller’s Certificate – In most US states and other countries you have to collect sales tax on the tangible items that you sell.

7. A Solid Contract – You want something that is truly thorough and has been looked over by a lawyer who has had years practicing in court. They know what will hold up in court and what won’t. 

8. A Way to Accept the Money – Checks and cash can be easy at first, but you will want to accept credit cards. I use Square to accept my deposit payments online via credit card.

9. Business Insurance – If a ‘worst case scenario’ happens and you need to take care of a client’s broken ankle or someone stole your camera, business insurance is what’s going to protect you. 

10. Start shooting your in business

Creative Ways To Use The iPad In Your Photography Business

1. In-person Sales. There is nothing like in-person sales. A gallery review with a client is a great opportunity to offer excellent customer service and even an opportunity for some print sales. I simply add a folder of all my clients photos so they show up in the iPad’s photo viewer and run a slideshow that way. I can hand my clients the iPad and they can flip through the photos, pick out their favorites and enjoy reliving their photoshoot or wedding. It’s a nice way for clients to see their photos and hold them in their hands. It’s also a great way for clients to envision what size they may like to hang on their wall.

2. Model Releases. There are a few apps that are great for contracts and model releases on the go. Easy If you’re out and about on the street shooting and captured a really great image and would like to be able to use it in your portfolio or sell it as stock you would want to have the subject’s permission. If you carry your iPad with you that’s easy.

• Release - Model Release App $9.99
• Top Model Release $8.99
• iRelease - the pro model release form app $8.49
• Model Release FREE
• ASMP Releases FREE

3. Useful tools.

• White noise app – I love using the WhiteNoise Light app during my newborn sessions.
• Music – I use Pandora for all non-newborn sessions.
• Weather – You can check the weather and sunrise/sunset easily using The Weather Channel for iPad app.
• Appointments – Use the integrated calendar to say on top of all your bookings.
• Learning – You can subscribe to photography magazines, purchase photography books digitally, or just follow your favorite blogs.

4. Square-up! The iPad allows you to take payments using tools like Square. It is free to get an account and a credit card reader from Square. They do charge a small fee to use the service, but in my mind, the convenience is with the price!

5. You can use it to share your portfolio on the go!



6. Some wedding photographers also use their iPads to produce same-day wedding slideshows. 

• PASS Fee

7. For productivity, Dropbox is a great way to keep documents synced between your different devices and it’s free. I like QuickOffice Connect to open, edit, and create Microsoft Office documents, and also Pocket Informant for a great calendar and task manager app. Both are very full of features and look great. Oh and for the most part all my apps sync with the Dropbox account and email, keeping everything easy.

How To Build A Profitable Portrait Studio

Starting today Friday January 4 – January 6, photographer Bambi Cantrell will be sharing helpful tips that can help elevate your portrait photography career. Hosted by creativeLIVE, this workshop will be take place at Bambi’s studio in San Francisco. Join Bambi as she shows you how to take everyday materials to design stunning shooting spaces, and how to use available areas such as doors and windows for special effects. Throughout the 3 days, Bambi will cover how you can think smart and use your marketing money in the most efficient way, including marketing through local businesses, auctions and bridal fairs, as well as through creating a strong marketing brand. As with all creativeLIVE workshops, the LIVE event is FREE. Video downloads of the full 3-day event will cost $149. But when you pre-order now, you can get it for only $99.