Site promotion Screensavers - Page 2

Jim Peters · #11 (**permalink**) 04-01-2008, 07:48 PM

Sounds Good!Let's Do it!

RSStory · #12 (**permalink**) 04-02-2008, 09:48 AM

I like the idea of an area here that we can post images to be used as desktop wallpaper, but I am not sold on the screensaver idea. But for the record, I dont like screen savers.

Understanding that there are alot of people that are not professional photographers here on the site, those of us that make our livings from photography are less likely to want to give away our work unless there is a payoff of some kind. In this case the payoff is potentially driving more people to this site. So, how do these wallpapers do that? If they are posted here on the site then people need to find this place before they can get the wallpaper so that doesnt work.

Any other ideas on how this could work and be a benefit to the people giving away their shots?

Scott

clarionite · #13 (**permalink**) 04-02-2008, 04:08 PM

Well, I have a few different Ideas on how they would benefit, and how to promote it.

First and foremost, as far as promotion, would be for a link to view the images and download the screensaver from the main page of this site. There are many other sites that promote and give away screen savers also. I'd have to do more research and look at some other areas to get it out before commenting on specific sites though.

The idea of two small watermarks on the images is for the benefit of both the site and the photographer. The photographer's website in one corner, and courtesy of ShotCritic.com in another. In the setup of the screen saver, there could be a hyperlink to this site. And somewhere on this site, there could be a list of photographer's sites included in the package.

I don't use screensavers on my development machine either. But I know a ton of folks who do. As far as giving away work... Is that any different than posting them on this site? Promotion and exposure is a good thing. I was reading a thread on another site earlier today about someone getting slammed and liabled in a blog by an idiot. Instead of getting an order from the ISP to remove the site that was hosting this blob, he forwarded the pages mentioned in the blog to his main page. His view point was that traffic to the site was a good thing, and he wanted to control what they saw when they came in. He felt that by doing this, it just made the blogger look like the idiot he was and he got some free exposure.

I don't know if I agree with the addage that even bad publicity is good publicity, but I do believe that getting your work out there for others to see can only help your business. And to control what is put out and how it is presented is key to that.

So, if photographers from this site chose not to participate in this I can understand. But I really think it's a good Idea. So, I guess it's something that if folks take enough interest in I'll message RG and ask his permission to do so, and his help in getting it integrated into the site. Who knows, He might not even be interested in it being part of this site. But if there's not enough interest, there's no reason to even bother him with it.

RSStory · #14 (**permalink**) 04-02-2008, 04:37 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by clarionite

As far as giving away work... Is that any different than posting them on this site? Promotion and exposure is a good thing.

Let me put it another way... How does having an image I shot in a screensaver or background directly result in me generating income? I can tell you that the likelyhood of me generating income as a result of this is not very good.

It may generate exposure for this site and therefore generate more members here and thus making it easier for RG to get industry people to sponsor the site and in the end make him and his partners money, but that isnt gonna pay my bills. I am pretty sure RG isnt starting this site just out of the love of photography. He is putting alot of money into this and expects that at some point he will get a return on that investment. Whether that be cash in his pocket directly from the site or from his book sales or his workshops or whatever. This could be a marketing tool. I see people argue all the time about RG's skills as a photographer (mostly because of their own insecurities) but they all agree that he is a master at marketing.

The difference in posting images here for me is that I am doing it for others to critique my work and thereby improving my skills, but if my work is being used in a commercial way then I am looking for a direct benefit from it. That doesnt always mean cash but there does need to be something that benefits me. That is the question that has yet to be answered.

Hobbiests and amatuer photographers dont have to think in those terms as they have other sources of income. For me and many others, RG included, this is how I pay may bills.

I am NOT saying I am against this idea, I am just saying that for working pro's there would need to be a benefit to it.

Scott

r_fredrick_smith · #15 (**permalink**) 04-02-2008, 04:47 PM

I don't care for screen savers either and never run one except the "blank" one that comes with the OS. I use it for security only (attach a password to it) so if I leave my computer for a while where others are around, they can not access my computer while I'm away. Wallpaper can be used to promote the photographer if it has his website information on it, but that's probably a very low level of promotion. The other problem with screen savers is that you are providing a download of an executable and so you usually have to make very sure it hasn't been hacked in some way. Since any site can be hacked, that means there is always a risk.

I suppose we could set up a forum Category called Wallpaper and let people post images to it. But even that has drawbacks. To make wallpaper effective you have to provide a number of full screen images (so you have to have multiple copies of the file with each being bigger than the last). So there is a bandwidth issue also.

Anyway, its something that RG can look at, and decide what he things.

Cheers,
rfs

clarionite · #16 (**permalink**) 04-02-2008, 05:09 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by RSStory

Let me put it another way... How does having an image I shot in a screensaver or background directly result in me generating income? I can tell you that the likelyhood of me generating income as a result of this is not very good.

I'm no marketing guru, but I do listen to some regularily. <G>

Let me ask you this, do you sell prints from your site or do you make all your money shooting for clients? If it's strictly from clients, then you're right, the chances a really large client will find you because of this is probably slim. And I can fully understand you not wanting to put an effort towards something that won't benefit you and your business.

Quote:

Originally Posted by RSStory

It may generate exposure for this site and therefore generate more members here and thus making it easier for RG to get industry people to sponsor the site and in the end make him and his partners money, but that isnt gonna pay my bills. I am pretty sure RG isnt starting this site just out of the love of photography. He is putting alot of money into this and expects that at some point he will get a return on that investment. Whether that be cash in his pocket directly from the site or from his book sales or his workshops or whatever. This could be a marketing tool. I see people argue all the time about RG's skills as a photographer (mostly because of their own insecurities) but they all agree that he is a master at marketing.

I don't know RG at all. I've read his bio, visited his site, joined G1, bought one of his books, and contemplated going to one of his workshops. That's the extent of my knowledge of him. But I'm sure you're right, I'm sure this isn't an altruistic endevour for him. Not that I'm trying to down him in any way. But the expense and work put into a site like this is not slight. He's like all the rest of us I'm sure, and enjoys having an income and feeding his family. I don't fault him at all, and if something I do on this site helps him I have no problem with that either. I'm getting benefit from this site. If nothing other than entertainment, it's a benefit.

Quote:

Originally Posted by RSStory

The difference in posting images here for me is that I am doing it for others to critique my work and thereby improving my skills, but if my work is being used in a commercial way then I am looking for a direct benefit from it. That doesnt always mean cash but there does need to be something that benefits me. That is the question that has yet to be answered.

And that's an answer I probably can't give you. If you sell prints, then I can see something like this working out. I have a friend who hangs prints at some upscale coffee shops in Canada and who hangs prints at local print shops in several month long photo displays at his own expense because he's building his exposure. It's working out great for him. He also shoots local events, including some loft concerts, and hands out some business cards. His exposure is starting to pay off. He's selling prints, he's being contracted to shoot more events, and he's shooting some portraits for some album covers.

Quote:

Originally Posted by RSStory

Hobbiests and amatuer photographers dont have to think in those terms as they have other sources of income. For me and many others, RG included, this is how I pay may bills.

I completely understand that. I'm a programmer by trade. That's how I pay my bills. And although I do donate quite a bit of time doing little things like writing articles for a trade mag a friend of mine operates (he of course pays me in subscriptions) and posting example code and templates I've written for others to take advantage of and learn from, I don't expect others to take kindly to the idea of something for nothing. I have noticed though that because of my articles and example code that I've become quite well known in the niche programming market I'm in and have actually gotten work from it.

Marty

Edit: Just saw the lastest event my buddy in Canada is shooting.

The Mitsubishi City Chase

And his site

Leroy Schulz

PhotosbyChuck · #17 (**permalink**) 04-02-2008, 05:45 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by clarionite

Is that any different than posting them on this site?

The difference is in the resolution. My desktop is 1920 pixels on the longest side. The site limit is 600...which isn't large enough to turn into a very good print. But 1920 would be.

I'm not sure I get the value of the screen saver. Windows and OS X both will display photos the user puts in a folder in a built-in screensaver. I agree with Scott that distribution of the screensaver would be limited to sites RG already controls, so they wouldn't drive much in the way of new traffic. That would require things like link exchanges and buying search terms from popular engines. Search for "photo critique" on Google and you won't find ShotCritic in the first 5 pages.

Right now the keywords and description for the site (the meta tags) are a bit weak. As we build up some content and RG gets his features set, he'll then be able to turn his attention to SEO ... together those things will drive more people here more than anything. Keep posting photos, comments and advice!

clarionite · #18 (**permalink**) 04-02-2008, 05:51 PM

Ok... I know when I'm whipped.

PhotosbyChuck · #19 (**permalink**) 04-02-2008, 05:54 PM

That's me....Crusher of Dreams!

I think as the site builds the idea of a desktop wallpaper of contest photos is pretty cool. I just think until we have enough content here, it's probably premmature.

r_fredrick_smith · #20 (**permalink**) 04-02-2008, 05:58 PM

I make my living at SEO work on websites so I can tell you that it is not at all unusual to not see ShotCritic scoring well yet. It takes a certain amount of ramp time and link building to get onto the first page. But in six months, I suspect it will be on the first page with no optimization at all. Already the Title tag is working for this because it gets seeded from the titles of each post in the forums. But it is way too short of time for it to be scoring very well yet. And the real key to first page positioning anymore is to have sufficient incoming links (with appropriate keywords in the linking text) from larger sites. That takes time. The importance of the description and keyword metatags is very very low nowadays. Google doesn't even index the keyword tag anymore as far as we can tell from the latest research. The Title tag is quite important, as are Header tags (h1, h2, etc). Also Alt tags are indexed. All of the photos of ShotCritic have Alt tags with keywords, so that is a plus.

But actually, there are some key words that will put ShotCritic #1 in Google right now. For example when I searched for "fast dof fixes in photoshop" ShotCritic is the #1 listing:

Cheers,
rfs