Be Brave

There are a lot of tools we use as photographers and filmmakers, but the most common one-- regardless of whether you're a Canon, Nikon, Sony, or Pentax shooter-- is definitely the web.  So if this feels a little off-topic to you, consider what you're staring at right now.

That's right.  A browser.  Unfortunately, Chrome, Safari, Firefox, and Internet Explorer all track and sell your user data.  And to add insult to the injury, this process slows down your browsing experience.  So I switched to Brave, the browser with the motto: "You Are Not a Product."

Amen, brother. 

They do not track your usage.  They do not allow other companies to track your usage.  And they block ads that slow you down. They even keep a tally of how many ads and trackers they've blocked, as well as how much time you've saved by not loading ads. Find them at: https://brave.com.

This has been one of the most painless switches I could have imagined.  If you use a lot of add ons and plugins, Brave may not be for you.  In order to keep your browser secure, they don't have any.  I also still use one of those other crappy browsers for YouTube and Google searches, just to make sure they can't someone infiltrate the system.  But since we're on the topic, stop Googling stuff.  Use DuckDuckGo.  They don't track your searches.

Yes, your email company is still tracking you, as are Facebook, Instagram and others, but at least this cuts down on the sheer volume of data you're handing over to marketers.

Still don't believe that this is a topic for a photography blog? Look at the photo credit (lower left hand corner) for the top image.  If you don't know Serge Ramelli, you should.

Making Powerful, Credible Testimonial Videos

Testimonials are one of the most powerful marketing tools available to businesses, but they're often lacking in the "trust" department.  Rather than appearing as an honest review, viewers too often see them as paid advertisements.  So how do you create video testimonials that are compelling and believable?  Over at Hurricane Images we've created three vital guidelines for creating your video.  Rule One?  Make the client real.  Give them time to tell their story-- for the audience to understand the obstacles they faced.  Then take it deeper.

Creating Facebook Videos that Work

Tips for Making Facebook Videos the Sell


Today we posted an article on our other blog at Hurricane Images Inc.  Like it or not, Facebook is almost a ubiquitous presence in our lives.  And increasingly it’s become important for small businesses-- for branding, customer relations, and marketing.  Creating video for Facebook isn’t like creating video for other platforms, though. It’s a unique interaction, and if you’re going to be successful, your video should be custom built for the platform.  I'm posting the first five tips here.  If you like them, mosey on over to Hurricane Images Inc to read the next five.  And a little lagniappe.

1. Create for Facebook.  This means design your video for how people will watch it on Facebook, and upload it directly to Facebook.  Attention spans are short, 85% of videos are watched with the sound off. Facebook gives priority to their “own” content, versus Youtube links.  So design your content for the medium.  Marketing is only an expense when it doesn’t work; otherwise it’s a profitable investment.

2. Start hard.  The first three 2 seconds have to stop them in their tracks because viewers are scrolling downwards through their feed.

3. Make your visuals lively.  Seems like this goes without saying, but the visuals have to be striking.  This isn’t a medium that does well with elegance, slow moving frames, or talking heads.

4. Be unbelievable brief:  2-30 seconds is perfect.  Anything over 60 seconds is lost. What’s worse, if you bore them they’ll walk away with a negative impression.  So what if you have more to say? Create a second, longer video and link to it.  Or your website.  “Want to learn more, visit:  www.hurricaneimagesinc.com”

5. Call to action.  Tell them what they should do.  It doesn’t have to be “buy my product;” it can be as simple as “learn more.” Go to the “Edit Video” section of your video and under the “Call to Action” section, you will find various options (Learn More, Watch More, Shop Now, Book Now, Sign Up and Download).

Want more?  Read on.

Pinterest Tools - a review of Copublish, a free management tool

I don't enjoy social media (Facebook, Pinterest, Twitter, etc.), so anything that makes interacting with those platforms easier is a real boon.  There's a lot to debate about the usefulness of these tools, too.  Having that video or image that goes "viral," attracting ridiculous amounts of attention and praise... well, who can argue against the success of that?  But if it's not a phenomenon you can consistently replicate-- or that even has a solid set of guideposts for increasing your chances-- then it's not exactly a "business activity."  That isn't to suggest social media tools aren't of value.  If you run an Etsy or online shop-- a venue that opens you up to national and international customers-- these tools have a necessary place in your marketing outreach.  Especially a tool like Pinterest which puts your product in front of people with an interest.  Connecting people with common interests is Pinterest's strength, and the network is global.

As a photographer and videographer (who is geographically limited), Pinterest is less practical; I don't benefit from admirers in Australia, or even Alabama.  But I do believe it has a small place in my toolbox.  My goal is for someone local to see my "product" and reach out.

Having a "small" place in my toolbox means I want it to take a "small" amount of time (and a small amount of cost), so I started looking for free tools to manage my posts.  Like all social media tools, regular posting is important.  I wanted a tool I could use to schedule a week's worth of posts and then ignore.  And I wanted it to be free.  There are some paid options (like https://www.viraltag.com/), but few in the free category.  In fact, I found only one: Copublish (http://copublish.in).

So does it work?

Copublish lets you schedule your pins in advance, describe and tag them, and track their analytics (though I don't think they do this any better than Pinterest).  The interface is simple and attractive, though I found it a bit buggy.  After I set up my account, I added a new board to Pinterest.  Copublish couldn't "see" the new board.  So I un-linked my Pinterest account from Copublish and tried linking it again, but it wouldn't.  I'd give it permission to post to my Pinterest account and it would keep telling me I didn't have any accounts linked to Copublish.  I emailed tech support and they responded really quickly (like five minutes later), asking a question.  But then they didn't respond after I gave them the answer.  I suspected that the problem has related to how Copublish "refreshes" its data, so I waited and day and sure enough it was working again.  Since then I've scheduled two weeks of posts to two different boards.  On the whole, I'd rate Copublish a B-.  It's working well now, but I worry about what will happen if I add a new board.  If it can handle that, I'd upgrade it to a B+.

Ultimately, of course, the most successful Pinterest campaigns are run by people who love Pinterest, post regularly by hand, and are interacting with other users.  If Pinterest is an important tool for your business, I wouldn't skimp on your time investment.  For those of us who are social media introverts, Copublish is a handy tool.