internet photography sales
The 10  "must have" components
Of course they are found in Best USA Photographers
By Randall Tomaras

As an artist I am always asked, "How do you make a living?" Most artists have to live in a densely populated area, I live in Sequim Washington population 5,000. It is a beautiful town nestled between the Olympic Mountains and the Strait of Juan de Fuca. I knew when I moved here that I would have to find customers outside of Sequim. The largest shopping mall in the world with over a billion customers a week is the internet. I used to get all my business from a portfolio site I started back in 2003. Recently I had to change my entire marketing strategy because the internet had changed so much in the last three years  (2006 - 2009). I was doing what so many of us do - using outdated information to base today's decisions on. That's a business killer on the internet. So I stepped back and looked at where marketing was going and what needed to be done. I looked forward rather than backward at my 14 years of internet experience and 30 years of marketing.

What I found was that being number one on Google was not that important. Most big companies have found the internet and you and I do not have the dollars to compete with them. BUT there are still cost-effective ways artists can come out on top if they band together. So I turned Best USA Photographers into a public relations firm rather than a portfolio site. Below are the 10 components that make it possible for the artist to win no matter where they live, as long as they have internet service.

1. Portfolio Site – You still need a way to be found. A portfolio site primarily works with Search Engine Optimization (SEO) to get high natural rankings on Google and other search engines. Best USA Photographers is there and we have done that. We are number one on Google with several key words with over 10 million competing pages. But that is only 6 to 10 percent of our traffic. What the top internet marketers have discovered is that most of the sales come from other forms of traffic – e-mails, typing in the URL, article writing, press releases, links, social networking and other forms. Best USA Photographers is adapting to the current trends of the internet to serve their members better. However, we still keep our presence with the search engines. Examples of our number one rankings on Google. This is the last reason you want to join Best USA Photographers.

2. List Building Program – Best USA Photographers has identified over 120 occupations that depend on photography. We are currently building lists of individual who want to receive emails and material from us that pertains to using photography in their profession. You can see a small portion of the occupations under "Consumer Specials." We do not wait for them to find our site and information, we find them and email them an invite and follow up with a phone call. The success rate is hundreds of time better. Internet buyers buy from people they trust. People trust those that keep in contact with them. We do that when we have quality information that they can use, and only then. We value our list and respect their decision to work with us. We do not give away or sell email addresses, not even to our members unless the consumers ask to be contacted.

3. Web Education – The internet changes daily. Most people including so-called SEO experts work with information that is outdated. The truth is the internet has become far more complicated than it was three years ago. To give you an accurate comparison of how much the internet has changed in the last THREE years look under the hood of a 1950 Chevy or Ford, then look under the hood of a new 2010 model. That’s the difference. If you haven’t looked under the hoods of a cars, compare an eight year old little league baseball player, to a starting pro player. Best USA Photographers spends over $20,000 a year on web education. It is essential to make sure Best USA Photographers reaches the changing market. In some cases we sign a confidentiality agreement not to pass on information that is taught to us, but we can apply it to our web sites. However, there is a lot of information that we can pass on to you to make your site even better than what it is. That my friend is worth it’s weight in gold if you are going to convert lookers into customers. It is the biggest reason web sites fail, and don’t ever think that you have it down, because it WILL change.

4. Article Submitting Service – There are three aspects to publishing articles: writing them, submitting them and responding to readers. Where most fall down is in the submitting. Editors will first work with those who are consistent suppliers that have turnkey articles and pictures. So while you may not have an article every week or month, together we may. It takes time to develop these relationships. Time that most photographers do not have, especially when 99% of today’s non-staff articles are written for free. The second part of article writing that is critical to the internet is original content. Can you re-write your article 10 different ways so the search engines do not say it is the same article? We have a ghost writer that can rewrite your articles to say the same thing in different words. It cost a little but it brings in amazing results because it gets published by more.  

5. Press Release Service – There are advantages to writing press releases: (or article writing) 1. Press Releases generate traffic to your web site; 2. You become an authority in the eyes of others; 3. Press Releases create trust; 4. You develop friends and fans; 5. Press Releases open up opportunities; and 6. They stimulate business. The problem most photographers have is editors do not work with people they do not know or trust. This trust is developed with accuracy and consistency. One of the great advantages that Best USA Photographers has is that we have great images. Even if the press release is not written the best, the reporters will re-write the story because the images will attract viewers to their writing. The other problem photographers have with press releases is that a wire service cost money. Just to send a local press release it costs $80, and a national release costs $360. To develop any consistency and trust, a photogrpaher needs to spend $2,000 to $10,000 a year.

6. Consumer Education – You have years of experience with photography, you know lighting, composition, camera angle and the list goes on. Sometimes you are amazed at the poor quality of images that is used by consumers. OK, maybe most of the time. To many consumers  (and to our surprise) a photographer is just someone who owns a camera and there are no degrees of separation. How many times have you been asked; "What kind of camera do you have." Consumers think it is the equipment that creates the image. It is not the consumer’s fault. They have not been taught what you know. Hey, there are a lot of photographers that have NOT been taught. Part of our job is to teach consumers what quality is, so they buy quality. Then we tell them who does quality. : ) This takes time.

7. Consumer Incentive Site – There are two types of incentives – incentives to purchase and incentives to keep in touch. Guess which one creates the most customers on the internet? The incentives to keep in touch. Why because they develop trust and there is a reason to keep in touch. Most people will buy from friends or at the very least someone who has stability. Best USA Photographers is the first of many sites designed to keep in touch with the consumer. Check out “Other Best USA Sites” and click on the categories in “Consumer Specials” to see other incentives to purchase or keep in touch. Any one of these projects you would not have the time or resources to do, but because we all chip in a little, we all reap the benefits .

8. Auto Responder Service – With the lists that we develop, we’d go crazy if we had to write a letter for each response, so we have developed auto responders that automatically send out information based on their request. As we accumulate more information or new images on the subject we send updates, but not so many that they want off the list. That’s how we automatically give the customer immediate attention regardless of the time of day. Did you know that 2/3s of our traffic comes between 5 PM and 5 AM, the 12 hours that you are not working. Why not strike when the iron is hot? Give them information immediately so they can make a decision when you have their attention. My internet marketing friends tell me that over half of the internet sales come in the off hours when people are relaxing at home. Some even go so far as to say people make decisions quicker when they have had a few drinks.

9. Special Services Site – This section will be developed later in 2010, but we want to promote your products, books, and  speaking services that bring you notoriety. See Photo Resources.

10. Public Relations Firm - You will also note in our “other sites” that we have several contests to create notoriety for you and your customers. We are constantly coming up with ideas and projects that will bring you trust and recognition. We are fortunate that our name creates automatic interest. It makes people want to ask; “Who are the Best USA Photographers?” We absolutely “kick butt” when it comes to how long the viewer stays on the site. Since our new pages went up July 4th, we have lead the industry in time-on-site and bounce rate. From here on out on you will also see a consistent increase in our traffic rank.

With these 10 components it makes it much easier to compete, but the internet is no longer as simple as paying someone money to get you the number one spot on Google. Those days are over and you'd be missing the largest percentage of sales if you thought Google was the answer. Think about it. How long did you think that technique would work before everyone caught on. This way is a little more work because you have to participate in the various programs, but it is far larger and has a solid foundation that is not going to be shifting. It brings in more business because it is pro-active in finding customers and keeping up with them. In today's economy you can't wait for customers to find you.  That's the old internet. You have to go to them and on a regular basis. That's the new internet.