Former American Photo senior editor Miki Johnson is heading liveBooks’ new blog as social media editor. Titled RESOLVE, the blog intends to become a collaborative online community that brings together photographers and industry pros to keep the business relevant, respected and profitable.
liveBooks is a California company that offers professional photographers Web-site development services. Beyond offering a range of business and marketing tools, liveBooks is unique in that its Web sites are not templated—rather, each photographer or agency client works with in-house design staff to develop a custom product. The company offers this service for a one-time, non-recurring fee, with an annual hosting charge thereafter.
In addition to offering philanthropic support to those who seek to drive social change through photography, liveBooks is an active participant in the photography industry. It has previously provided educational content through Webinars and seminars, and RESOLVE represents the company’s latest effort.
The new blog will share knowledge and how-to information, feature photographer interviews and display personal work. Johnson and associate editor Carmen Suen will collaborate with various contributors to create short, focused posts about various industry issues. Andy Patrick, liveBooks president and chief executive officer, thinks RESOLVE is among the most significant ways in which liveBooks can help photographers build successful businesses.
Specifically, RESOLVE intends to engage professionals from a number of markets—including fine art, editorial, fashion, commercial, photojournalism and wedding photography—in discussing the industry’s most pressing issues and collaboratively finding solutions. “If anyone is going to figure out where the photo industry should go from here, it’s the photo professionals themselves (that means you),” writes Johnson in the introductory blog post.
At launch, RESOLVE content includes articles such as “Going from weekend wedding shooter to full-time pro,” “Survival Tips for WPPI” and “What is the best way to identify photo reps, make contact, and ensure a productive meeting?” The blog encourages comments and contributions, such as questions, ideas, new project updates and articles.