Blog or Website?

Dave,

Today, you need both, plus any other social media network accounts you care to make.
I base mine on Wordpress, which can be both at the same time.

Feel free to take a look at Zuikography.com and do let me know if you have any inputs, good or bad.
 
shadowfox said:
Dave,

Today, you need both, plus any other social media network accounts you care to make.
I base mine on Wordpress, which can be both at the same time.

Feel free to take a look at Zuikography.com and do let me know if you have any inputs, good or bad.
Click to expand...

Ugh...I can do both a blog and a website if need be but I absolutely hate and have no time for friggin social media. Tried Facebook, it sucked both time and energy. Linkedin, no better. Twitter was a joke and another waste of time.🙄

Keeping up with a blog and/or website will be difficult timewise so there will be no social media considerations. Sorry.:angel:
 
Your delivered your own answer right there... Sounds like you wouldn't make much of a blogger so do a nice portfolio website and update the photos as often as you can.

I like the current crop of pay-for-service photographer websites from places like LiveBooks, DripBooks, the service "a Photo Editor" hawks... they all work very well, are easy to update, search engine and mobile friendly, and they have familiar, easy to navigate professional-quality interfaces and clean, not-intrusive or confusing design. Many photographers pay more for a custom site and end up with something worse. And their prices have been coming down, especially in the case of LiveBooks, as the competition has increased.

Ideally you use a blog and social media to drive new traffic to your site but if you aren't disciplined or interested enough to keep up with it, then it probably detracts and confuses more than it helps.

The worst sites are some of these home-rolled, half-baked Dreamweaver iWeb concoctions.... or anything done by a "Flash Artist" lol.
 
Website 100%
Use a photographer/artist hosting company with predefined templates. There is usually some ability to modify the look of each template slightly and upload some kind of identity image such as name or logo.
These sites really are cheap to use and most importantly are up and running with absolutely minimal time and effort.

one such is http://www.clikpic.com but there are lots of others.

Then after a year or so you will have a much better idea of where you are headed with this without having wasted any time or money on it.
 
Double Negative said:
Forget the social media crap (Facebook, Twitter) and photo sites (Flickr, Smugmug, etc.).

A website is your best tool, and possibly a blog.
Click to expand...

I disagree. I have a Facebook page with 400 fans of my work, and they have bought from me after seeing my work. I update almost daily with new photos on my website and then put a link to the new photo on my Facebook fan page. It keeps them interested in my work and the conversations started about the photos bring people back for more.

I want to reiterate: People on my Facebook page BUY MY WORK. Facebook costs nothing, completely free, and has sold more than enough to pay for the time I spent setting it up.

I also have a blog, which serves as a "what's new" page for people who do not do facebook, and of course my website, which is a portfolio of all my work and the place to buy the pieces (Facebook and the blog link back to the sales page for each picture I feature on the FB or blog).
 
shadowfox said:
Dave,

Today, you need both, plus any other social media network accounts you care to make.
I base mine on Wordpress, which can be both at the same time.

Feel free to take a look at Zuikography.com and do let me know if you have any inputs, good or bad.
Click to expand...

Will, thanks for sharing your site. My site is now mainly in Flash and I can't view it on my iPad, so I'm planning to rebuild it. The combo approach had not occurred to me, but I like it and might give it a try.

BTW, your site would be much nicer without the ads. If you don't mind me saying so, you should pay the fee to eliminate them.

John
 
dave lackey said:
Ugh...I can do both a blog and a website if need be but I absolutely hate and have no time for friggin social media. Tried Facebook, it sucked both time and energy. Linkedin, no better. Twitter was a joke and another waste of time.🙄

Keeping up with a blog and/or website will be difficult timewise so there will be no social media considerations. Sorry.:angel:
Click to expand...

You can choose to do whatever you like, but that won't change the reality of the world in 2011.
All of the options are simply tools, which can be used to build something over time. You can choose not to pick up a tool but if the point is to get your name and your work 'known' and distributed, it seems odd to not do so.

"Friggin" social media is whatever you make it. If you want to play Farmville all day, then that's what it is. If you want to use it to see what other professionals in your chosen field are doing and thinking (and share likewise for yourself) then it's pretty useful, from my observation.

To answer to OP, do both. A blog is a section of a website, very easily done. Just like your posts here are like a blog, and your gallery of photos is like the 'site'...a place for both.
 
Double Negative said:
That's just it. Not everyone is on Facebook and I doubt they'll join just to see your work and interact with you - and keeping a Facebook page updated takes time in itself on your part, dealing with messages, etc.

If you're already on Facebook, then sure - it's probably worthwhile. But if not, it's going to take a while to setup and build that fan base, etc. Now that Google+ is building up steam you have yet another social media site to contend with, and that's in addition to MySpace, LinkedIn, Naymz, Twitter, etc.

I still think setting up an independent website that requires nothing but a browser to access to be the best way to reach everyone in the world.
Click to expand...

There are tens of millions of people on Facebook. To ignore it just because 'everyone' isn't there is silly. If you have just a website, people still have to find you. Facebook lets you tell more people you exist. If you're an amateur, then you can say 'who cares'. If you're a pro, then you need to do this stuff. its your advertising, except unlike advertising in the old days, this is FREE and it works.
 
Chriscrawfordphoto said:
There are tens of millions of people on Facebook. To ignore it just because 'everyone' isn't there is silly. If you have just a website, people still have to find you. Facebook lets you tell more people you exist. If you're an amateur, then you can say 'who cares'. If you're a pro, then you need to do this stuff. its your advertising, except unlike advertising in the old days, this is FREE and it works.
Click to expand...

+1

Gotta adapt to the times if you want to stay in the game.
 
what do you mean by useful? What are you trying to achieve? Who are the target audience? Are they teeny boppers? Are they a specific group of locals? Are you wanting to sell images online? What type of images will it be showing. Will it just be purely generic images of anything that takes your eye? Have you got a plan? What is your plan?

And silly me I forgot the most important question. How much annual income from sales do you want this website to generate for you and how much are you prepared to pay someone to provide you the means to generate that income for you year on year?
 
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I would be most interested in having a web site to display my pictures with the hope of generating print sales and commissions.

How can I do this with minimal expense and computer web site creation savy?
 
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Double Negative said:
What can I say. If you're looking for photographers on Facebook, then you're already lost. 😉
Click to expand...

I don't give a damn if they're lost, so long as they put money in my hands. This is a business, not a stupid ego trip. Businesses make money ONLY when someone with money gives some of it to the business. My experience is that people on Facebook have money and are willing to buy art. What part of that are you not understanding?

Dave Lackey, the original poster, wants to sell his work. I know this because we've had conversations about it. Dave is my friend and I want him to succeed, so I give him advice on how to do so. End of story.
 
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Every business web site needs a "blog" page - to me there is no difference in a blog and a website, and you want both.

Facebook is a fine place to interact but put content on Facebook that drives people to the landing page on your own site.
 
I suggest everyone boycott, like the plague, anything that attempts toringfence the wonderful freedom and exchange of information that the interweb has given us. I refuse to join facelink or anything remotely looking like a private club.
Just because trillions of others do it doesn't mean I am wrong...I think?

As for the Dave's question. website and blog..the later only if you can entertain on a weekly/monthly basis
 
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