Becoming an Internet Savvy Professional Photographer

The introduction of digital photography, along with the surge in online social and networking sites have vastly altered the landscape of professional photography. To stay competitive photographers now need to become experts at networking by learning the ropes on Facebook, Twitter, Model Mayhem, and hundreds of other sites that provide thousands of potential clients each day.

In general photographers who work with digital media are well versed in technology, given that the bulk of their work is produced using programs such as Adobe Photoshop. However, it is becoming necessary for those building their business to also build a competitive web presence by using social networking sites, photo hosting sites, blogs, and private websites advertising their work.

The easiest and most popular venue for promoting photography has become Facebook. As one of the largest social networking sites in the world, Facebook now allows photographers to maintain not only a personal Facebook page, but also a fan page for their work where potential clients can view, comment on, and discuss the photographer's work. On their personal page, photographers can now link their Flickr account simply by adding the Flickr Tab to their Facebook profile.

Flickr itself is an invaluable resource for photographers. While there are many options for photo hosting online, Flickr is one of the most popular. It combines the convenience of online photo hosting with the social aspect of joining groups tailored to individual subjects, specialties, and interests as well as meeting other photographers, getting technical advice and suggestions for bettering photographs, and planning meetups with other photographers who share similar interests. Flickr also provides the ability to embed links to your photos on websites and blogs, as well as hosting html code for building websites that ultimately link back to the photographer's Flickr account.

Along with Facebook, your Flickr account can now be automatically connected to your Twitter account. By linking your Flickr account to both social networking sites, your fans on Facebook and your followers on Twitter are updated each time you upload a new photo or set of photos to your Flickr account. Others are then able to comment on, favorite, and "like" your work directly from your Facebook or Twitter. Maintaining multiple connections makes networking quicker and more efficient as the websites do most of the work for you. With every post, your fans and followers have the opportunity to share your work with their friends and followers, increasing your fan base and potential client pool exponentially each day.

If you're a photographer who shoots models, Model Mayhem can prove to be a fairly useful resource. By creating a profile, photographers are essentially creating a classified ad that reaches thousands of models and other photographers on a regular basis. While the service does not differentiate between levels of professional ability or experience, it can still be worthwhile for building a portfolio or finding fresh faces.

Along with these fairly well known venues, photographers are also finding success with Craigslist. Like Model Mayhem, Craigslist is an easy, free way to post classified ads. Photographers can find brides in search of a deal on a photographer, models looking to build portfolios, or parents looking for family portraits.

Maintaining a photo blog has also become a popular mode of marketing for photographers. Most often photographers turn to Blogger, a service powered by Google, to create their blogs. With free setup, easy page design, and the option to make money by adding Google Ads to your page, Blogger makes it easy to create a professional looking photo blog. There are also multiple widgets that can be added to your page through Blogger such as links to your Facebook, Twitter, and your private website. There are also third party widgets such as BuyThisImage which places a button beneath each of your photos, giving visitors the opportunity to purchase prints from the photographer. Orders are fulfilled by a print company and shipped directly to your customer, giving you the freedom to let your Blog sell your work for you while you're out shooting!

And last but not least- the private website. Many photographers choose to pay someone to develop and host their website for them. However, not everyone has that kind of money so free sites such as Wix have become popular. With Wix a photographer can choose from hundreds of free Flash templates that you can easily edit by dragging and dropping photographs into the premade templates. Wix also offers the option to upgrade to a paid account with more options and the removal of the Wix ad banners that come with the free version.

In the end professional photography has become a business in which creativity isn't meant just for your photos any longer. The more you know, the more your business grows and the greater your earning potential. Using the internet effectively means you can save time, money, and effort in networking, gaining clients, and turning your passion into your livelihood!