Communication

This week I’m going to focus on social media tools that help you create content that web users can browse. There are certain social media tools that allow you to exhibit, and even sell, your photographs. One site, Pinterest, was discussed briefly last week, but I’ll go into further detail today. The other site, iStockphoto, is a great tool for selling your photographs.

Pinterest

Pinterest is an online pinboard style photo-sharing site. As I stated last week, Pinterest requires an invitation to participate. If you visit the site, you can request an invitation via your e-mail address. The site allows you to set up your pinboards however you like—you can have as many boards as you like, and can organize them into any topic or category that interests you. Furthermore, you are able to pin other people’s pictures to your own personal pinboards. This is a great way to gain inspiration for photograph ideas, poses, locations, etc. Furthermore, Pinterest allows users to follow other users, meaning a user will see everything pinned by any user that they follow. This is a great way to spark communication between yourself and other photographers, professionals, and potential clients. Possibly the most important part about Pinterest, for a photographer such as yourself, is the ability to pin your own personal content. This means you are able to upload any of your own photographs straight onto Pinterest for the world to see. The only downside of this is you eventually may not get credit for your photos! Try Photoshopping a watermark or personal symbol in one of the corners of all of the photos you upload to keep your name on your work… what is the point of taking great photographs if no one gives you credit for them?

iStockphoto

iStockphoto is an online stock photography provider. This means that iStockphoto provides photographs for websites, businesses, etc, to use at a low cost. Photographers are able to create an account, upload photographs, and sell them internationally for companies to use in presentations, on websites, etc. This means that you, yes YOU, can be paid for your photographs! It is a great tool to communicate your skills and talents with people across the world. Perhaps if a company likes your photographs a lot, they will hire you to take pictures for them more frequently! The possibilities are endless once you get yourself started! The only downside I see to this site is the amount of money the pictures are being sold for—since this is a “stock” photo site, pictures are sold at a very low cost, which means low income for you. While it’s not a site I would base my intire monthly income on, it is a good way to get started and a fun source of side income!

These are just two of the many great tools available on the internet to communicate with your audience! People, songs, photographs, etc. go “viral” every day, and spark conversations everywhere! Get people talking about you and your great work, and you could see how useful communication can be to becoming successful! Don’t be afraid to put yourself out there—this is only the beginning!