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       Ian Plant
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       #Post#: 159--------------------------------------------------
       Business Related Questions
       By: CB Friedland Date: September 20, 2015, 2:23 pm
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       Hi Ian,
       Would you mind talking a bit about the behind the scenes aspect
       of your job.   In particular, would you talk a bit about how you
       use the following to drive your business.
       Blogging
       Web-site
       Prints/Training/Sales
       Giveaways
       How do you think is the best way to go about "establishing"
       oneself?
       Do you have recommendations for specific sites to host one's
       work, promote it, etc.
       Thanks!
       CB
       #Post#: 166--------------------------------------------------
       Re: Business Related Questions
       By: ianplant Date: September 22, 2015, 4:04 pm
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       Hi CB, here's a rough breakdown on my business. Approx. 1/3 of
       my business is workshops and tours, another 1/3 is sales of
       ebooks and instructional videos on my online store, and the
       final 1/3 is assignment and editorial work. I use my blog
       generally to promote my work and my business, along with social
       media (Facebook in particular is very good for me). I've built
       my online presence over the past five years in particular,
       relying on social media and blog posts to promote my website,
       but I've also been very active in getting published (in books
       and photo magazines), and am a frequent contributor to many of
       the top photo magazines in the world. I used to participate
       heavily in a number of photo sharing sites (such as NPN, Fred
       Miranda, DeviantArt, and a few others), but now I just
       occasionally contribute to 500px, which is one of the largest. I
       also built my business by giving presentations to many camera
       clubs in the areas I have lived in over the past 10 years. Of
       course, I turned pro when the Internet was just beginning to
       really take off as a place for photographers to promote
       themselves. Now, the Internet is flooded with photographers
       trying to make a name for themselves, so it is very difficult to
       capture the attention of people (of course, there are so many
       people interested in photography, it is in some ways easier to
       connect with people and build a following). This business is
       incredibly competitive and always changing, with social media
       having a huge impact on the ability of photographers to
       successfully market themselves. All I can say is to try
       everything - just work hard to capture great images and spend
       all your free time marketing and promoting your photos on the
       web. It can be a tough, hard slog, but once you start to pull
       away from the pack, things get considerably easier.
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