The promotion game is tough for so many photographers, and if anything it’s sometimes more work than actual shoots are. Promotion is part of marketing, and marketing is what professional photographers use as the bread and butter of their business. Many of them shoot less and spend more time marketing, promoting and editing than actually spending more time behind the camera.

There are so many things that you can do to get your work better recognized and therefore increase your likelihood of being hired for gigs. It’s all about being social–and we’re not just talking about social media here.

Using Social Media (and Collaborative Efforts)

First off, a great idea to start off with marketing your new set of images is through social media, but it’s even better when you work with another person or company in a collaborative way and have both of you promote the work that you’ve created. We’re talking about Facebook, Twitter, Tumblr, 500px, Flickr, Instagram, and EyeEm. Of course, each platform is used in their own unique way and you should never do the exact same thing on each platform. As a rule of thumb:

– Smaller bunches of images work best on Facebook. So even after you’ve culled and curated a bunch of your favorites, try to further curate what you’re putting on Facebook.

– A single image usually works on Twitter.

– Tumblr is like Facebook in this case. But talk a bit more about the shoot

– Instagram and EyeEm should show off images one at a time over a longer period though still consistently updating.

Email Editors, Art Buyers and Others That Can Get You Revenue

As a photographer, we recommend that you get out there and network with the people that can potentially help you get revenue. That varies depending on genres as a wedding planner can’t get work for an adventure photographer for example. But don’t underestimate the power of email marketing still. We also recommend spending some time gathering more emails from Magazine and Site editors, Art buyers, and more.

Yes, we’ve got a lot of email, but we generally read new inquiries and try to find new photographers.

Blogging

While blogging may seem very 2005, don’t underestimate it. The key here has to do with a healthy balance of both text and images in the layout. Think of it as an artist statement or you can get more in depth and think about interview questions for yourself to talk about here.

The bigger key here is to not put the same stuff on your blog that you put on social media or in your email. If someone came to your site from one of those platforms to see the same thing over again, you’re just click baiting them.

Don’t do that. Nothing pisses off a person more.

Video

Lots of photographers are all about BTS videos, but to be terribly honest, they can get boring unless there is a really cool or crazy concept in mind. In that case, you need to work to explain what the concept is, show it off and sell it to the viewers. Otherwise, you can add value in other ways through education, entertainment, etc.

The thing is that you really need to add value to a video when you’re creating them. Always think about this one question: “Why should I click on this and watch it?”

Portfolio Updates and Mailers

Lastly, don’t underestimate the power of snail mail, but send out snail mail to a very select few. Every now and then I get these, and looking at images on paper or in some other cool interactive way is sometimes better than just looking at it on a screen. Zines are fun and simple to put together.