Is social networking valuable to photographers? Do you need Twitter, Facebook, and Flickr to be successful? That depends upon your goals. Whether you're an avid amateur shooter or an aspiring professional, you need to at least have an opinion about social networking, and the better informed you are, the more intelligent your thoughts will be on this subject.
I'm going to discuss a little bit about what's worked for me. I believe in diversity. I like to have multiple revenue streams. I think photography and its related skills can be a great source of revenue in addition to being satisfying artistically.
The danger of course with these new communication tools, is that you become absorbed with social networking and you lose sight of your original goals. I've heard photographers remark that they didn't "get any work" done today because they lost so much time online. And do you have to blog about every activity or post every shot you take? Like so many things in life, moderation is most likely the key to successful social networking.
I'll discuss all of this and more during the show.
Listen to the Podcast
You can also download the podcast here (26 minutes). Or better yet, subscribe to the podcast in iTunes.
Monthly Photo Assignment
Feet is the Oct. 2009 Photo Assignment. Shoes, bare feet, paws, manmade objects, my gosh there are so many possibilities. You can read more about how to submit on our Member Participation page. Deadline for entry is Oct. 31, 2009.
More Ways to Participate
Want to share photos and talk with other members in our virtual camera club? Check out our Flickr Public Group. It's a blast!
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Thank you for the timely message. I am an avid amateur, but as an art student, perhaps my photos are compositionally sound a good deal of the time. From my perspective as an artist, (and a fossil collector), have to be able to document my work so that others can see it long after the original is gone. Social networking helped me achieve my goal, which was to help improve the available information about my local community. I have made many mistakes along the way, but I have acquired an immeasurable amount of knowledge in the process.
Ooh, can't wait to listen to this one, since I run a website that's all about social media for photographers. I agree with your assessment that social media needs to be part of an overall marketing/branding plan and not an obsession. It's another venue for spreading one's message and artwork to a growing online audience.
Great article.... Moderation is key.
Http://www.danieldowns.com
Your right I spend to much time on the computer promoting myself I have had to slow this down recently and old habbits are hard to break . I get the same number of guest to my site rather I promote or don't promote to.
Does anyone here make money on Twitter? I may try to find a way to make money on this.
I congratulate, what words..., a remarkable idea
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