The business side of photography
Is “corporate journalism” an oxymoron?
How about the terms “business journalism” or “editorial business”? Perhaps “editorial marketing” might be more accurate?
This post is about how businesses can benefit by having editorial content and even outright journalism on their web sites. This is not to be confused with public relations or marketing. The benefits of quality and timely editorial content can equal and even surpass a company’s public relations or marketing efforts.
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If you’re a business person, especially in a smaller company, then you should be aware of the value of a business portrait. Larger companies, for better or worse (and it’s mostly worse), tend to photograph only their C-level people.
Here’s a link to a UK marketing expert’s blog, with a post about the importance of a business portrait to your branding:
A few years ago, I hired a professional photographer to take my picture. It didn’t cost much (£200, I think) but I think it was the best marketing investment I have made.
‘Nuff said?
Six months ago, I got a call from a medium-sized, business management consulting company in Toronto. They wanted portraits of their top executives, mostly for use on their web site. I quoted about $2,000 for business portraits and they never called back. To this day, the “About Us” page on that company’s six-year-old web site is still empty except for a list of executive names. I guess they couldn’t find a cheap-enough photographer.
Point is, it’s penny-wise but pound-foolish to treat a rather important marketing tool as a cheap commodity. A good, and even unique, portrait is an important marketing investment. This is one of those things that are worth more than what they cost.
A business portrait can be a simple and quick head-and-shoulders headshot. It can also be two hours of photography resulting in a variety of images with various poses, locations and lighting styles. It all depends on you and your business. Talk to your photographer about the possibilities.
The 34th annual Toronto Film Festival has come to an end.
A few things got better, some things got worse and most stayed the same (i.e. bad). One might think that after 34 years, the event could get it right.
• The main red carpet area was greatly enhanced:
No more TV crews in the background.
The arrival area was lit with just enough light to shoot late-night arrivals without having a jet-black background. Plus, the light was even daylight balanced. In previous years, night events were very dark, lit only by the existing one or two orange street lights. I suspect the new lighting was meant for the event’s own TV needs and not for photographers.
You may have noticed, if you live in Toronto, that the city, or at least its politicians, suffer from extreme New York City envy. Toronto copies New York’s tourism campaigns and slogans, follows all NYC trends, and constantly compares itself to the Big Apple.
Toronto, in 2002, unveiled its newest slab of concrete called “The Yonge-Dundas Square”, which was modelled after New York’s Time Square.
The “ydsquare” web site states: “A unique aspect of the Square is that it is not operated like other Civic Squares … City Council decided to … operate Yonge-Dundas Square as a business venture.”
The Yonge-Dundas Square has become a magnet for public relations events.
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Over the past two months, I’ve had the experience of trying to sell some used photo equipment online.
Most professional photographers try to keep up with technology by upgrading whenever a new tool comes out. Many photo businesses have to stay current to remain competitive.
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I photographed a week-long tennis tournament last week for the event organizers. The media relations folks were, as always, fantastic. They were friendly, helpful and always available. They answered every question, sorted out every problem, had all necessary tournament information available and arranged every interview. Free pizza and beer were handed out at the end of each day and ice cream was given out on very hot days!
The media work space was perfect: a large, air-conditioned room with tables, chairs, power, Internet access and refreshments. There was even some large comfy chairs for people to have a quick afternoon snooze. Did I mention that some days ran 14 hours?
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I just finished post-processing 1,017 images. Several of those photos will be used for marketing and public relations, both in print and online, later this year and next.
The client doesn’t know which images will be used over the next twelve months so all the photos had to be processed and delivered now. Over 2,400 images were shot and those were edited down to 1,017. I probably could’ve edited it down a lot more but I wanted the client to have a broad selection to cover all future possibilities.
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