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Posts Tagged ‘Pinterest’

How to Use Pinterest to Grow Your Photo Business (Step-By-Step Guide)

02 Sep

The post How to Use Pinterest to Grow Your Photo Business (Step-By-Step Guide) appeared first on Digital Photography School. It was authored by Darina Kopcok.

Do you use Pinterest to market your photography services?

You should.

Because here’s the thing: Millions of potential clients use Pinterest. In fact, 250 million people around the world use Pinterest every month, and this number continues to grow. 

Most people think of Pinterest as a social media platform, but it’s actually a search engine that’s driven by search and discovery. Statistics show that nearly half of online users search in Pinterest before turning to Google. It has an incredible power to drive traffic to your site and grow brand awareness. Visitors from Pinterest convert into leads or sales faster than those from social media networks.

Why?

One reason is that Pinterest has a much longer shelf life than social media. Once an image is uploaded to an Instagram or Facebook feed, it gets buried quickly. With Pinterest, your pins will have staying power and benefit you more the longer they’re around. 

Now that you know why Pinterest is so great…

…let me tell you how you can gain traction on Pinterest, fast.


pinterest photography business profile page

Step 1: Get a business account 

In order to use Pinterest effectively for your photography business, you’ll need to sign up for a free Business account. A Business account will allow you to monitor your analytics from within Pinterest. This will give you important information about the boards and pins that are most popular with your audience.

These insights can help you increase your engagement and pin more effectively.

pinterest statistics

Step 2: Create a succinct Pinterest profile

Your Pinterest profile needs to be short and to the point. It needs to let people know what you do. Are you a wedding shooter? Do you specialize in personal branding portraits? Include it in your profile.

For example, my main income comes from commercial and still-life photography, but I’m also a photography mentor. This third aspect of my business is the focus of my Pinterest account. Therefore, it’s the focus of my profile biography.

Step 3: Organize your board for your viewers

If you want to promote yourself as a photographer, you must always keep your target audience in mind. Your boards are not for you; they’re for your viewers, and so you need to speak to what they might be looking for when they log onto Pinterest.

This doesn’t mean you can’t have boards on crafting and cooking. It just means that you need to hide these non-business boards from public view.

Just remember, all of your visible boards must be relevant to potential clients.

Since I’m a food photographer, most of my boards feature beautiful images of food, organized into topical boards such as Salads, Desserts, Main Dishes, etc., as well as themes such as food photography lighting and styling.

And since I mentor food bloggers and emerging photographers, I also have boards such as Learn Food Photography as well as Blogging Tips. Use basic names for your boards that will be searchable and easy to find. 

Your boards should be organized from most relevant to least relevant, not by alphabetical order. Have your first board feature your own photography only; you want to show potential clients what you can do. Clean up your own boards and create new ones.

You’ll quickly see a big difference in your Pinterest traffic.

pinterest business boards

Step 4: Use keywords in your descriptions

Pinterest works similarly to Google – users search for specific content they’re interested in by using keywords.

In fact, keywords are the number-one tool for content discovery.

That’s why each of your boards should have a description using keywords or using hashtags created from keywords. Also, use as many keywords as possible in your pin descriptions. General keywords make your content easier to discover.

You can also use keywords to attract potential clients in your region. If you live in Portland and want to attract brides in your area, use keywords like “Portland Bride” or “Portland Weddings.” Add them to all of your descriptions and alt tags. Local keywords are underused and undervalued, especially in small markets, so they can make a big difference.

pinterest keywording
Step 5: Brand your pins

When creating pins, you may want to add text (depending on your niche and your reason for pinning posts).

If you’re just trying to share your stunning images, then this may not be relevant. But if you can think of a way to add text that will advertise your services, it’ll work in your favor. Surprisingly, pins with text get more attention than those without text.

For example, the purpose of my Pinterest account is to attract people to my photography coaching services and products. I do this by driving traffic from Pinterest to my blog.

How?

I create pins for each blog post I write. The pins are simply designed, but they’re consistent. I use the same font and style for each pin, which creates a “brand” for my pin that is consistent and that viewers will easily recognize.

Consider creating some pins with text in Photoshop or using an easy app like Canva. Canva offers a variety of free templates already sized for use on Pinterest. Test a few different styles and fonts and see how they perform. You may see that one style of pin gets repinned more than another. If so, then stick with that style.

branded pins

Examples of branded pins created on Canva.

The bottom line is that you should try to keep a strong brand identity, one that highlights specific services and remains visually consistent. It might be a bit of extra work at first, but it’ll pay off in the end.

Step 6: Join group boards selectively

Group boards are like regular boards, except that the board owner can invite collaborators to add pins of their own.

Group boards used to be a great way to generate traffic. Until Pinterest introduced the “Smart Feed,” which prioritizes and ranks pins based on their quality and engagement.

This led to a big decline in the value of group boards. You see, group board collaborators often rarely look at the board, and therefore rarely repin other members’ content. Because no one interacts with the boards, Pinterest assumes the pins are not popular. So they don’t show up in the Smart Feed.

How do you avoid this problem and use group boards to your advantage?

Choose active, niche boards that focus on one topic and have less than 100 contributors. Too many contributors can mean low-quality content.

The important thing to remember is that quality is much more important than quantity.

A board that encourages mutual sharing is also crucial. For example, a policy stating that you need to repin two pins for every post you make can make a big difference.

If you choose to join group boards, then keep these points in mind.

Step 7: Use boards to collaborate with clients

Visuals are a part of the communication that should take place between you and your clients before you start a job, especially if you’re in the commercial world. Pinterest can help you share images that serve as inspiration or a guideline for an upcoming shoot. If you work with commercial or editorial clients, you can collaborate on a mood board using Pinterest. This ensures that everyone involved in the shoot understands what the final results should be.

If you work in a retail niche like weddings or portraiture, you can use Pinterest to get a sense of the mood and color your client is drawn to. After all, a picture is worth a thousand words, right? Light green might mean one thing to you and another to your customer, so images that demonstrate the feel and color treatment that is sought can go a long way in helping you get the right look.

You can also use Pinterest boards to educate clients. If you do glamour or boudoir portraits, you can send your client a What to Wear board. This will provide inspiration and examples for choosing outfits for their shoot.

chef portraits board

Step 8: Schedule pins with the Tailwind app

Tailwind is a Pinterest-approved scheduling tool. It’s a fantastic app to help you grow your audience like crazy.

You see, pinning consistently is important growth strategy, but most people don’t have time to be pinning throughout the day. With Tailwind, you can sit down once a week to schedule your pins. They’ll automatically upload throughout the week at optimal times. Or, if you prefer, you can customize your pin schedule.

Tailwind also offers powerful tools that analyze your pins and boards, as well as your Pinterest profile. You can see which pins are getting the most engagement and reschedule them right from the interface.

Tailwind analytics

Conclusion

Pinterest is a great tool for generating visitors and leads.

And if you follow the steps I’ve given above, your Pinterest account will start expanding, fast.

So go set up your Pinterest account and start pinning!

Do you have any other tips for using Pinterest? Share with us in the comments section!

How-to-Use-Pinterest-to-grow-your-photography-business

 

The post How to Use Pinterest to Grow Your Photo Business (Step-By-Step Guide) appeared first on Digital Photography School. It was authored by Darina Kopcok.


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Instagram influencer apologizes for using stock and Pinterest images

22 Jun

A popular Instagram user based in Singapore has been caught passing stock images off as his own work. Daryl Aiden Yow, who has worked with many recognizable brands, was called out by Mothership, which highlighted a dozen examples of work he presented as his own. Following the report’s publication, Mothership noted that Yow began deleting some images from his Instagram account and adding credits to others.

Yow, who currently has approximately 101,000 followers on Instagram, published an apology in recent hours alongside a plain black image. The statement states, in part:

The outrage regarding how I have conducted myself is justified and I accept full responsibility for my actions and all consequences that arise from those actions.

I was wrong to have claimed that stock images and other people’s work were my own. I was also wrong to have used false captions that misled my followers and those who viewed my images. Having marketed myself as a photographer, I fell far short of what was expected of me and disappointed those who believed—or wanted to believe—in me.

For all of that, I apologise.

As noted by BBC, Yow was listed on Sony’s Singapore website as a Creative Ally; the company advised BBC that it is “looking into” the matter. Website MustShareNews reports that it spoke with Yow before his apology was published on Instagram. Yow allegedly told the website that he paid for stock images from providers like Shutterstock; others were acquired from Pinterest or other photographers.

Yow reportedly said that he would tag Pinterest or the photographers as image sources in his posts, though that claim has been called into question. In other instances, Yow said no credits were listed because they weren’t required by the seller, according to MustShareNews. Brands were supposedly aware of Yow’s use of stock images.

Regardless, Yow presented himself as a photographer on Instagram; he also worked with clients to host photography workshops where he taught others. It appears Yow has removed a few dozen images from his Instagram account, but critics point out that some images, such as this one with an obvious Photoshop blunder (acquired from Pinterest), still lack proper credit.

Via: BBC

Articles: Digital Photography Review (dpreview.com)

 
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5 Tips for Using Pinterest for Photography Inspiration

19 Jan

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Let me just come right out and say it – I think Pinterest is amazing. Not only is it a wealth of information when it comes to recipes and easy craft projects for my two kids, but it is also an incredible source for both photography instruction and inspiration. As a photographer, I am constantly inspired by the images that I see while browsing the “Photography” category on Pinterest, and I think it can be a really valuable tool in terms of identifying your personal style in photography as well as pushing yourself as a photographer.

That said, I think it goes without saying that Pinterest is not always used appropriately. We’ve probably all had a prospective client email us asking, “Can you do this?” with a link to a particular pin on Pinterest, where the client means that exact pose, backdrop, and that exact style of post processing. This isn’t inspiration, it’s flat-out stealing. But Pinterest really can be a great resource when used correctly, so here are some tips on the best way to use Pinterest for photography inspiration:

1. Don’t (Only) Browse Your Favorites

If you’re a newborn photographer, don’t just search Pinterest for newborn photos. Rather, try browsing the general photography category, or searching for more general terms like “golden hour” or “high contrast photos”. I’m a firm believer that portrait photographers can be inspired by landscapes, and vice versa. There’s no good reason to limit yourself!

2. Click Through

Once you find an image that you love, take the time to click through the link and make sure that (a) the pin leads to the proper photograph or specific blog post, (b) the correct photographer is credited (Google is not a photographer), and (c) that the photographer wants the image to be pinned. Many photographers pin their own photos and encourage others to repin, or include “pin now” buttons on their blog, which generally makes me feel comfortable with repinning their work. Others install a script that will not allow images from that website to be pinned, which is pretty self-explanatory that they’d prefer their work did NOT appear on Pinterest. If you’re not sure whether or not it’s okay to pin an image after visiting the original website, it’s a good idea to shoot the photographer a quick email or leave a comment asking if they’re open to their images being pinned. This is really new territory without much legal precedent, so I just think it’s better to be safe than sorry!

3. Caption Everything

Leave yourself thoughtful and detailed comments about what, specifically, you love about the photo. Is it the lighting, the pose, the processing, the coordination of outfits? Or is it the emotion behind the image? Whatever it is, try to identify something concrete that speaks to you about each and every image that you pin. I also think it’s good practice to include the photographer’s name in your caption, especially if the image isn’t watermarked, not only to help ensure that the images are properly attributed, but also to begin to identify who inspires you as a photographer.  Here’s an example of how I captioned one image that I pinned as inspiration, coincidentally from this article by Oded Wagenstein about using reflectors here on dPS.

Pinterest2

Text Reads: “I love this portrait by Oded Wagenstein. It’s full of emotion in a way that doesn’t feel posed. Also? Great catch lights even with darker eyes, which is something I struggle with sometimes!”

4. Reflect Regularly

Every couple of months, be sure to go back and look at the images that you’ve pinned, and see if there’s anything that you can glean from what they have in common. Are you noticing a lot of photos with a particular style of processing, or that you’ve pinned many images from a different genre of photography that perhaps you’d like to try? Are you noticing that you’ve selected lots with strong posing, which is something that you could possibly brush up on a little? Try to identify at least one theme across the images that you’ve pinned.

Several years ago I realized that nearly every photography blog I followed was written by a newborn photographer. After months of admiring from a far, and soaking up everything I could read about newborn photography, I finally decided to ask a couple expecting friends if I could come over and take some pictures of their new babies, “just for fun”. My first time photographing a newborn certainly wasn’t perfect, but it ignited a love of a whole new genre of photography that I may never have pursued otherwise. I’m sure this won’t be the last time that I discover a love of something new photographically!

Pinterest3

This is an image from that very first time photographing a friend’s newborn. Years ago, I never would have guessed that this would be a genre of photography that I now love!

5. Put it into Practice

Once you’ve identified some common themes about images that you admire, carve out some time with your camera to put it into practice. Are you a portrait photographer who was pinning lots of images of food? Make some time in your schedule to read about techniques for food photography, and then give it a shot.

Here’s a personal example: one area that I’m not as confident in is posing several people together. I recently did a session for a friend’s family, and checked out several of her Pinterest boards before the session. I noticed that many of the captions on the images that she had pinned were about how she liked how the siblings were posed in the portraits – arms wrapped around each other, holding hands, etc. So, I made it a personal goal to really spend some time looking at small group posing before their session, which made me more confident in posing in general. I think that I was more able to encourage her daughters into a pose that would emulate the feel that their mom liked, while also being more natural for them than it would have if I had tried to recreate one specific pose that I’d seen on Pinterest.

Pinterest1

 Do you use Pinterest to find inspirational images? Any dos or don’ts you’d like to add to the list?

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The post 5 Tips for Using Pinterest for Photography Inspiration by Meredith Clark appeared first on Digital Photography School.


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Photography Branding: Pinterest Marketing Guide for Newbies

13 Oct

Pinterest has grabbed the attention of many social media marketers and for good reason. The image sharing site has gathered millions of fans since its debut two years ago. With Pinterest you can easily share photos you’ve found around the web and interact with people from all over the globe. I previously wrote on Photodoto about Pinterest photography boards worth Continue Reading

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Google Chrome – Easily Share Content on Facebook, Pinterest, Twitter, More

24 Apr

The “AddThis” extension for Google Chrome lets you easily share content on a variety of services.

Do you frequently share content on a variety of blogs, bookmarking services, and social networks, as well as via web-based e-mail, using sites such as Facebook, Gmail, Pinterest, Reddit, StumbleUpon, and Twitter? Tired of installing extensions for each individual service to share content or relying on website share buttons?

The “AddThis – Share & Bookmark” extension for Google Chrome adds a button to the Toolbar that lets you share content via, according to the author, over 300 services. These include the aforementioned as well as AOL Mail, Blogmarks, Digg, Evernote, LinkedIn, Plurk, Xing, and many, many more….

Read more at MalekTips.
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60 Awesome Pinterest Boards Every Photographer Should Follow

24 Jul

If you’re a photographer you may think, why should I care about Pinterest? The answer is quite simple. Everyone who have risen to the top will tell you that it’s all about who you know and who knows you, just as much as it’s about talent. Pinterest is one of the fastest and influential social-media platforms today. It’s not just Continue Reading

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