Great Relationships Equal Great Referrals

My first post for the month of March and it is nearly the end of March. Good grief.

I’ve neglected this poor journal so many times and I think I have all of 20 minutes to write. (This is why I love twitter, just quietly.)

My body might be telling me I should get more sleep and I cannot complain. Who can complain about having work in these tough times? I won’t and am extra thankful. (Thank you, thank you universe!)

I’ve learned the work is coming from the relationships I’ve built and kept up-to-date in at least the past decade. So, most of it is word-of-mouth. The best kind I think.

But I’ve also created some great relationships in the past few months that are generating leads and jobs, too.

No matter if my relationship with a person has been over the past 10 years or the last three weeks, I’ve managed to build trust and respect by delivering on my commitments and being responsive to needs, questions, and/or concerns. So in the end everyone looks good and the clients are all happy.

All good things so give and you shall receive. You just never know where the next job will come from!

PhotoShelter: What Buyers Want from a Photographer’s Website

Last night at LinkedIn I discovered a post from Andrew Fingerman, VP Marketing, PhotoShelter about PhotoShelter’s 2009 What Buyers Want Survey in the Photography Industry Professionals Group.

It’s about time someone did some research (thank you PhotoShelter) and as a buyer in my previous life as a magazine art director, the results are not surprising.

The very comments that most buyers share about photographer websites today are the very same thoughts I’ve had for at least the last few years.

My husband and I have a lot of photographer friends. Ask any one of them about a conversation they have had with me about photographer sites and they’ll tell you I can deliver a nice rant. I can’t help it.

I care about the health of my friends and their business. I care about and love photography. I’m married to it.

Most photographer websites look great; beautiful even. Most suck in terms of speed and functionality. I’ve been harping about this for years.

Pay attention to this word: Busy. Busy, busy, busy. The last gig I had an art director, I worked somewhere between 45-80 hours a week. I didn’t have assistants or a photo editor or a director of photography (gawd what a luxury!).

The last thing I want to do is listen to music and wait for some splash page or some fancy schmancy intro a designer thought would be cool.

And making the window fill my screen? Sorry, major annoying. That has got to be one of the more crappy features ever created. Someone must be thinking that I don’t have any other software programs up at the same time and that I have the luxury of devoting prime screen real estate to your website. Wrong.

PhotoShelter made a smart move getting out of the stock biz and focusing on helping photographers make the most of their assets and archives.

I’ve had a small peak under the hood of their system (working on a photographer’s website to integrate into PhotoShelter in the near future) and it is very flexible. I can’t wait to dive in and really take it for a spin.

If you are a photographer and haven’t read the survey, better get on it since any business owner benefits from a better understanding one’s audience. PhotoShelter did the grunt work.

There’s a bonus: You get a nice little discount at the end of the PDF.

Flash. It may be the standard for photographer websites but I say no more! CSS/HTML/JAVASCRIPT can do amazing wonders and with the speed every buyer would love.

Remember, try and place yourself in the buyer’s chair. Small type and fancy flash animation may be cool for you but I can tell you for sure that most buyers want to get their job done and go out for a drink rather than waiting for your photos to load.

Yea, all this pent up frustration is working toward doing something about changing minds about photography websites.

Coming soon: More detail about my pet peeves about photography websites and alternatives to Flash.

“Book(let)” 38 by Kevin Miyazaki

I’ve ordered my edition just now and eager to hold Kevin’s work in my hands.

A few days ago he announced the availability of 38:

For your consideration, a booklet and print.

This is something new for me, inspired by similar projects by online galleries and other photographers and unique to the wide reach and accessibility of blogs. I think the diminutive term “booklet” fits my offering well – both in the size of the piece and the spirit in which the pictures were created – these are small observations.

If you are not familiar with Kevin Miyazaki’s work, I highly recommend a look. He just re-launched a new website and there are additional images available for viewing on his blog.

It’s a safe bet that 38 is gorgeous given Kevin’s background in design. It definitely shows in his photography work both in concept and execution. His images are exquisitely meticulous in composition, lyrical and quite thoughtful.

38 is also evidence of his business acumen. This is a great marketing tool and an excellent way to bring in extra income albeit perhaps small.

Sharing his work in a different context transforms any previous experience of the work. Offering a limited edition of his work for purchase online is not a new idea and the point is that he followed through.