FOLLOW, ENGAGE, LIKE AND SHARE!
On this page, I list all of the social media accounts I shall be using to promote Half-Decent Photography.
I’ll explain what I’ll be using them for, and why – and hence, how your kind attention to all this chatter will really help!
This is where I will be posting the most regular news about shoots I’m undertaking, donations to charities, forthcoming events, and so on – illustrated, of course, by plenty of photos. Since most charities are active on twitter, it’s also a good place to engage with them too, and draw attention to the charities I support.
In addition to my main Impressions Photography account (@impressionstog), I’ve created another one to promote my newsletter, Half-Decent News – drawing attention to new and forthcoming posts. As you might expect, this account is named Half-Decent Photography and its nickname is @HalfDecentNews.
On these two accounts, however, I’m afraid I won’t be able to share any images from my Barely Alive! fine-art project – since nude portraits, can only be posted on twitter accounts that are identified as containing “sensitive content” . With this in mind, therefore, I have created yet another account, named Barely Alive! and nicknamed @BarelyAliveNews.
Feel free to follow any or all of these twitter accounts and like, comment, share and retweet my posts – the more engagement and interaction I get, the quicker this project will grow and the more I’ll be able to donate to the charities I support.
Instagram, of course, is all about photography – so this is where I will probably post the most photos (although I’m afraid to say that none of my Barely Alive! images will be appearing here! However, Instagram is one of the easiest channels on which to attract a strong following and get plenty of positive feedback on good work – and once again, engagement, likes and comments are vital to Instagram success.
Instagram will attract visits to my website and my other social accounts too, so it’s likely to really help growing the Half-Decent Photography audience!
Instagram: Impressionstog
Facebook is widely used as a marketing platform by professional photographers, partly because of its customer demographic – the people who are most likely to hire professional photographers are likely to be found on Facebook! Also, Facebook has legions of local groups with special interests, making it an vital marketing tool for small, localised businesses, like mine. Facebook, therefore, is where I think I’ll be doing most of my locally-focussed marketing.
When you build a reputation through other channels, Facebook can be great for word-of-mouth marketing… When people in their own particular Facebook groups post messages like, “have you heard about the photographer near Bath who gives half his income to charity?”
Needless to say, that kind of viral support is invaluable, and I shall be very grateful if it happens!
Facebook: Impressions Photography
Whereas Facebook is one of the best ways for a small business to reach out to private individuals and local consumers, LinkedIn is the pre-eminent B2B networking forum, for any prospective professional, small-business, institutional and corporate clients – and it’s also a great way to engage with potential collaborators, allies, professional colleagues and so forth.
LinkedIn can also be a remarkably effective way to engage with people in senior positions, who not only have influence and authority but substantial resources at their disposal, both professionally and personally. The LinkedIn audience also tends to take a great interest in innovative business models and marketing strategies. I plan to write a few articles about my half-decent approach to professional photography… And I hope this will attract some attention!
So, if you have a LinkedIn profile, I’d appreciate a follow. Every little helps!
LinkedIn: Andrew Clifton
YOUTUBE
I have to be honest, my YouTube channel has been dormant for years – and at the time of writing, I have a grand total of two subscribers. This will have to change, of course – and I plan to create some slideshow featuring the content of my portfolio galleries and fine-art projects (or at least, the YouTube friendly ones!).
Once I’ve done this, subscriptions likes and shares will be very welcome indeed – and once I have a half-decent story to tell about successful photoshoots, creative projects and charity donations, I’ll add more content; hopefully, good enough to go viral, win the favour of the mysterious YouTube algorithm gods and attract millions of views! We shall see.
That said, I don’t think I’ll be devoting a great deal of time to my YouTube channel in the near future. That said, in the medium term, I’m interested in finding one or two creative collaborators to work with me on YouTube projects, further down the road.
YouTube: Half Decent Photography
FLICKR
Whereas Instagram can quickly attract the attention of a large public audience of ordinary people, Flickr is an immensely popular platform for many millions of keen amateur and professional photographers and this is certainly an audience whose attention and support is well worth cultivating.
Over the coming weeks, I shall upload the best of my portfolio images to Flickr – and if you have a Flickr account, your attention and support on this platform will be very much appreciated. I would hope that the Flickr audience will take a keen interest in my half-decent approach, and I think this platform may prove to be a great way of finding other photographers in the UK and around the world, who may be interested in collaborating with me and trying this business model for themselves.
Flickr: Andrew Clifton
PURPLEPORT
Purpleport is one of my favourite photography websites. It’s a platform for models, photographers, both professional and amateur, which allows creative people to post their personal portfolios, arrange photoshoots (whether for pay, or for experience and practice) and talk about the images they like.
All of the professional models I’ve ever worked with I initially contacted via Purpleport – and since the main emphasis and interest of this community is on portrait photography, this is what I’ve featured, up to now, in my Purpleport profile. However, over the coming weeks, I’m planning to upload some of my landscape and wildlife work and expand my profile to talk about my half-decent photography approach. Once again, I’m hoping this will attract a fair amount of interest and attention.
If you join Purpleport (which is free), you will be able to like and comment on my photos – which of course, would be much appreciated – and you can even nominate them to be featured on the front page, which is a rare and coveted distinction… Which always attracts a flood of new views, likes and follows. This could have an impact for my fine-art projects, since Purpleport allows users who have prints for sale to include a sales link next to their photos!
So please, take a look at Purpleport - and I’ll be posting some new images there soon.
Purpleport: Andrew Clifton