Katin Images Travel Photography

Travel Photos, Travel Photography Tips and Software

Tag: marketing

  • Why You Need a Professional Selfie.

    Why You Need a Professional Selfie.

    Why You Need a Professional Selfie.

    We all know that a picture paints a thousand words.
    And we know that images are important to our marketing, particularly our online presence.

    Why is it then that often the one image that we should have, is missing or at best average?

    Which image is that? The SELFIE or as it used to be known as, the self-portrait.

    So why do you need a professional Selfie?

    When I visit a website I usually go straight to the about or start here page.
    It often surprises me how many about pages make no mention of the people behind them.
    For whatever reason they have no human images.

    In my many years of sales and marking there has been one truism: “People buy from People”.
    Usually people they like but most certainly people they trust and know something about.

    The human face

    There has been a lot of testing and research that confirms a human face on about page increases trust.

    When you have trust, the more likely visitors are to stick around and consume your content and/or buy your stuff!

    The about (or start here) and contact pages are the usually the most visited pages on a website.

    So if you don’t have a picture and some sort of bio you are telling visitors to your site that you are anonymous.


    why you need a professional selfie
    We as human beings tend not trust anonymous.

    Sure sites like Amazon or Microsoft are anonymous but they have multimillion marketing budgets that go a long way to overcoming their anonymous disadvantage.

    So make sure you have a professional selfie of yourself and your key personnel on your website.

    So the first 2 steps to think when taking a professional selfie are:

    1. What sort of self-portrait do you think represents your brand?

    A financial adviser or lawyer may want a more conservative head shot. Or they may want a full length portrait with business like clothes like a jacket and trousers.

    A social media site may wish to convey a trendy relaxed image.
    So it may decide that, rather than have a headshot, an image of its employees being active may be better.

    A tradesperson my want to have an image of themselves in working gear with a tool as a prop.

    Real estate agents tend to want half body (torso and head) shots.

    why you need a professional selfie

    Maybe you want black and white or sepia (a reddish brown hue that resembles the effect of aging in old photographs, the photograph not the subject!) as a point of difference.

    2. What are you using it for?

    Well as I said earlier the priority should be the about page of your website.
    If you have a team then make sure they too are on that page which could easily be a separate page underneath the main about page.

    Social media profiles are also pretty important. They show the human touch and are more likely to attract engagement

    You may also wish to use it for some printed marketing material like flyers and business cards.

    If you have been featured in publications, then a great head shot.
    Most publications, primarily due to the cost, are moving away from using a photographer.
    So having your own portfolio of self-portraits can be very useful

    Maybe you’re thinking really big and looking to get your face on a billboard.

    Whatever you are using it for make sure you take plenty of images, trying different poses and maybe different locations.

    And by the way, there’s no rule that says you have to use the same images across the all platforms and marketing material.
    You may want to convey a different image on your social media accounts than say, your business card.

    Why you are at, why not stick a ‘selfie’ on your contact page. It makes it feel more personal.

    So you can’t really take too many!

    Summary for why you need a professional selfie

    People buy from people, so make sure your brand shows you and/or your people.

    Take plenty of different professional selfie’s.

    Use them for not only your website but for other publications and social media.

    Check out some portraits in this gallery

    So what do you have? Do you have good ‘selfies’?

    Where have you posted and used them?

    Please leave the answers in the comments below

    While you are at it why not subscribe and get a free e-book to help you take better photos.
    The principles in this e-book apply not only to travel photography but to all types of photography. 

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  • Why good photography is a great investment for any small business.

    Why good photography is a great investment for any small business.

    Why good photography is a great investment for any small business.

    *“Don’t let nobody take care of your business better than you”

    In the game of marketing the big brands are winning hands down.
    They hire large marketing companies and/or specialist photographers to make their brands stand out in an increasingly crowded market.

    So does that mean that the small business like you can’t compete in the visual stakes?

    Of course not – let’s read on and find out why good photography is a great investment for any small business.

    The internet has levelled the playing field.
    Before the internet, for a small business to get its brand out to the marketplace would involve expensive marketing material or foot slogging. Then there was also a reliance on others such as distributors to market your brand as well the other brands it had in its stable.

    Don’t get me wrong these strategies still play a role.
    But the reach of the internet is so vast and the entry cost so small.
    And now you get instant feedback from targeted campaigns. 
    So for a you, without the marketing budget of some of the bigger brands, it’s a no brainer!

    Image Branding

    Wherever we look online, its images that catch our attention so we have to create a visual depiction of the brand we are offering.

    That’s where photography comes in.

    There are thousands of images of products, services and other related subjects. These are posted by the minute on to social media, websites, apps and online publications every day.
    In my humble opinion there are only a few that are memorable.

    The majority are taken and published by consumers, who have no vested interest in producing photos of any great quality.
    They are usually what could be called record images, that is a record of the wine drunk, the restaurant visited, the food eaten, the place visited etc.

    Those that are likely to have the most impact on potential consumers are are produced by reviewers and few other industry players. 

    Take Control!

    So don’t leave it to others to represent your brand. Take control! 

    So what’s a good image?

    To make a brand stand out the image has to be usually (sometimes you can get lucky) well planned and memorable.
    It’s that last word “memorable” that’s so important.

    Consumers will nowadays more than likely see a brand online before they see it physically.
    A memorable image will help them remember it when it comes time to purchase your product in a store or online.
    Composition, opportunity, technique and to a lesser extent, camera equipment play a part in getting the right ‘shot’.

    Dusk from Lassi, Kefalonia looking across to Lixouri
    Dusk from Lassi, Kefalonia looking across to Lixouri. Click on the image to see a larger view and other options

    Other factors

    Of course image alone is not purely responsible for that, product design, good reviews, interesting stories and reputation all play a part.
    But you can have a terrific product and great reviews but if the image is poor and almost indistinguishable it’s not providing any value.

    So where should you put most of these images?

    Well by far social media is has become the place to display and share photos.
    So let’s take a look at the most popular and well known channels.
    These are not in order of importance, as each one has its own individuality:

    Instagram

    ig

    Instagram is a photo-editing mobile app that not only beautifully renders photos taken on Smartphones, it also has some powerful social sharing features.

    Last year Instagram was the fastest growing social network on the planet and is evolving to be an image based Facebook (who by the way own Instagram).

    Pinterest

    In the purely visual stakes we have Pinterest which is focused on sharing things that are visually pleasing (both photographically and in video).

    Images and videos are at the heart of the Pinterest experience.
    Because of the fact that Pinterest emphasises pictures over text, it’s extremely important to have high-quality photos.

    Facebook

    fb

    Then there is Facebook by far THE most popular website on earth.
    What’s more, the average Facebook user spends on average just under two hours per day on Facebook.
    The incredible viral nature of Facebook enables business’s to get in front of a huge audience

    High quality and eye catching images go along way on Facebook

     

    LinkedIn

    LinkedIn is the largest social network for business owners and professionals.

    LinkedIn doesn’t generally market to “the general public”.
    LinkedIn allows a business to target a different demographic of business owners and professionals.

    Google+

    The not so sexy Google+ is Google’s answer to Facebook.
    Whilst not quite as popular, it has two things going for it that other social media sites don’t.

    If you have a Google+ page, then you can connect it to Google My business listing (formerly known as Google Places or Google Local).

    What does that mean? Well guess who controls 80-90% of searches on the net? Yup, Google

    Because of the way that high quality images are displayed on Google+, it’s no coincidence that one of it’s most active users are from visual medium industries like Photographers and Graphic designers.

    Twitter

    twitter

    Twitter has in the past been considered almost a text message service.
    Since it introduced the display of images in streams (i.e. without having to click on the link) a couple of years ago that’s all changed.

    According to tests, tweets with images are 55% more likely to be shared or re-tweeted.

    There are others of course, YouTube and Qzone (China’s answer to Facebook), have a huge number of users.

    Other places

    It goes almost without saying that today a website, which can highlight some great images is essential.
    The cost of building a visually appealing website has dropped significantly over the last two or three years.
    In fact, those who are tech savvy build their own at very little expense.

    Uploading images to any of the social media sites and a website is now a simple process that anyone using a computer can do.

    Summary for why good photography is a great investment for any small business.

    So to recap: 
    The reality is that you as a small business need to ensure that the quality of your marketing images stand out.

    That’s not to say that word of mouth, good reviews and on the ground marketing don’t work anymore. It’s just that we have become an image sharing society and any business looking to grow would want their images shared.

    * James Brown, It’s A New Day

    Do you agree? Are images that important for your business? Feel free to add opinions below. I would really like to hear them.

    For more on this and other photography subjects why not sign up for my email and get a free “Camera Features Guide”.

    Just sign up below

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    Dusk from Lassi, Kefalonia looking across to Lixouri
    Dusk from Lassi, Kefalonia looking across to Lixouri
  • Why stock images are bad for business!

    Why stock images are bad for business!

    Why stock images are bad for business!

    We all use stock images but are they really good for business? In fact stock images are bad for business!

    Imagine

    You are driving down the road and you see this big billboard with a terrific image on it. You think to yourself that’s a great image and that it looks familiar. Quickly you realise it’s the one you used in a recent marketing campaign.

    Then you take a closer look and you realise that it’s advertising your competitor’s product or service.

    The fine print

    Seething, you get to your office and send a nasty email to the stock agency you used.
    Later that day you get a response that draws your attention to their terms and conditions which basically say that they have no control over how the image is used.

    In other words, as long as they get paid they don’t really care.

    Hiring your own photographer

    Now imagine that you are driving down that same road and you see the same billboard.
    It has a great image on it that’s advertising your business and no one can else can use that image without your express permission.
    Now you may be thinking that you got that image by hiring a good photographer.
    Comment-Anzac March_0411_001[mailerlite_form form_id=7]
    Not necessarily!

    When a photographer conducts a shoot for any business (or wedding or portrait session or any other third party) they keep the copyright. So what that can mean is that unless you have a watertight contract with them, that they are prepared to sign (and then the price will increase) they can resell that image to another business or alternatively a stock agency.

    Now don’t get me wrong I don’t believe that many photographers would knowingly sell an image commissioned by you to your competitor but they, like you, need to make a living.

    But it does highlight the legal minefield that is copyright.

    So what to do?

    Take control

    They only way to truly retain copyright is take the image yourself or have an employee take it. In the former you own the copyright and in the latter provided the employee takes it in the course of their employment, again you as the employer, own the copyright.

    Another good reason to take these images yourself or use a photographer (if you are prepared to pay for some control of the copyright) is creative control.

    The disadvantages of using a stock agency

    Stock agencies have thousands of images. Scrolling through that many, even with the great search engines that most of them have, is time consuming and you could end up settling for second best.

    Of course you could outsource the selection to a marketing company or even the stock agency itself by giving them a brief.

    Again you are giving away your creative control, not to mention the additional expense you will incur. And who’s to say that they will come up with a what you are looking for.

    I know that when I have submitted images along with many other photographers for a stock agency brief, often the client ends up not choosing any image.
    Which is a pain for everyone, especially me, which I why I’m very selective these days but I digress.

    Take your own Stock images

    But, I hear you cry, none of us have the expertise to take really good images.

    That can be taken care of easily, the web is awash with tutorials and tips on how to take great images.

    Off course these are aimed at the amateur photographer who could be looking for information to take great family shots right through looking to carve out a career as a photographer.

    Taking photos (and videos) for business marketing is different and similar in a lot of ways to travel photography. Not harder or easier but different.
    The eye should be looking to make your product or service as attractive as possible sometimes in an obvious way, other times in a subliminal or subtle way.

    Comment-Guadalajara_1010_169Some of the articles on this site are intended to bridge that gap. My goal is to help small business owners raise the quality of both their image and marketing by providing the information that they need to improve their photography.

    Plus I will give options on where are the best platforms are to post or use their images.

    So come and regularly visit my site nickkatin.com or subscribe below to get the latest articles into your inbox and a free guide on where to start.

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