Advertising growth is continuing to surprise analysts. ZenithOptimedia
has upgraded its forecast for global ad growth in 2010 from 3.5% to
4.8%. The forecast for 2011 is a continued growth of 4.6%. However, this
positive news comes somewhat qualified.
A2Z Keywording released new image tagging software, Keyword Perfect 2.0, which was initially developed for in-house keywording.
Marketing is where things start to get scary for some photographers.
After all, we’re passionate enough about our imagery to want to make
this our full or part time profession, and we’re certainly adept with
technology and digital imaging gear. However, this is where photography
starts enter the business realm, which, unfortunately, doesn’t always
come easy to some creative and artistic types. However, photographers are good at creative problem solving, right?
Well, marketing is the same thing. It’s solving a very simple creative problem that can easily be summed up in one sentence. “How can I convince clients to hire me?”
Creative Commons has released a Public Domain Mark, a label that
communicates the absence of copyright restrictions to the public and
allows works to be easily discovered online.
Steve Pigeon welcomed Ellen Boughn to Creastock, a wholly owned microstock subscidiary of Toronto-based Masterfile.
The Picture Licensing Universal System Coalition says the PLUS
Registry—a resource that promises to connect images, rights holders and
rights information—will launch this fall.
Jim Pickerell has released a new e-book.
Secrets To Building A Successful Photography Career
examines recent changes in the photography business environment, from
technological improvements to the introduction of microstock and the
availability of free images.
Fotolia has partnered with online artist community deviantART to launch a
stock offering within the deviantART network. The arrangement has
benefits on both sides: 15-million-member-strong deviantART represents
what the two partners say is the largest online aggregation of
microstock users. At the same time, Fotolia can help artist-members of
this community monetize their own work.
Everyday artists are being instructed by experts how to promote their
art business online, in social media and in all ways digitally. The
experts espouse these “must do’s and must have’s” on how an artist
should market themselves virally. Yes, digital marketing is extremely
important, but artists should not forget to market and promote
themselves offline as well. Marketing offline is another way to drive
traffic to an artist’s website and help to create new business
opportunities. Overall, offline marketing helps to make sales and to
brand the artist and their artwork.
Former president of the Stock Artists Alliance Shannon Fagan will chair
the newly established Stock Imaging License Committee of the American
Society of Media Photographers. Fagan will moderate the new ASMP stock-photo listserv community, write for the Strictly Business Blog and speak at the 2011 Strictly Business 3 conferences.
PicScout’s Image Tracker software has helped Glen Carner’s Hawaiian Art
Network dramatically grow revenue in less than a year by locating
infringements and assisting in the collection of appropriate fees for
unauthorized uses. Currently, revenue recovered from infringements
accounts for about 50% of Hawaiian Art Network’s income.
This is the second of five articles where Dan Bailey discusses what it takes to make the jump from amateur photographer to pro and work towards making a living with photography. This article focuses on the types of gear and professional expertise you'll need to gain as you make the transition. In future articles, he'll discuss, Marketing and Self-Promotion, The Business of Photography and how to put it all together and get started in a photography career.
Practically any report having anything to do with multimedia includes
a mention of MediaStorm, a company that rightfully describes itself as
“widely recognized for quality editorial production and as leaders in
multimedia storytelling.” In addition to producing award-winning cinematic narratives and consulting for the
world’s largest nonprofits and media companies, the company also has a
training offering—and its next Methodology Workshop registration closes
at the end of the month.
Unemployment in the United States may be affecting freelance
photographers in some not so obvious ways. While many photographers and
designers have either lost their jobs or are under employed what we
often forget is that those who still have viable businesses may now be
competing with the unemployed as they produce new images as a way or
earning a little extra cash.
So localization as a marketing concept is not so new. For instance, in
the American retail space—think big supermarkets—“buy local” went
hyper-popular a couple of years ago, with big brands like Hannaford and
ShopRite touting their support for local farms and produce. “Support
your local business” has been around for a while as well. Now more than
ever, image buyers are seeking images that resonate with particular
communities and locations—but what does it really mean to the stock
producer?
Dallas Morning News publisher Jim Moroney III recently sent his
staff a memo that said: “We’re no longer a newspaper company. We’re a
news media company. The newspaper is just one way we package and
distribute the content we publish.”
Under a new agreement, Intellectual Ventures will exclusively sublicense Digimarc technology patents—for a $36 initial license-issue fee and 20% of further profits.
Photographers whose business it is to produce stock images that are
designed for use in textbooks should IMMEDIATELY look for another line
of work. For years the major textbook publisher -- not fly by night
organizations -- have been paying fees based on minimal press runs.
Then, with no regard whatsoever for the written contracts they executed
with the sellers, they have made extensive additional uses of the images
without making any attempt to compensate the image creators in any way
for the use that exceeded the original license agreement. These
additional uses have resulted in millions of dollars of extra revenue
for the publishers. Such actions were not occasional oversights, but
policy.
This is the first of five articles where Dan Bailey discusses his 15 year odyssey in photography, from being an amateur to making a living taking pictures. He starts out by outlining a number of things you need to consider before deciding to jump from amateur to pro. In future he'll discuss Getting The Gear and Expertise, Marketing and Self Promotion and other aspects of the Business of Photography.