Creating Recap Slideshows as a Marketing Tool

Intro by Skip Cohen

There's so much great content in the Photodex blog archives. From shortcuts in building your shows to new features in ProShow 8 and on to great ideas from some of the industry's most creative artists, the goal is always the same - helping you build a stronger skill set and business.  I found this post from Lisa Robinson. We did a Building Your Business podcast together last year, which is well worth your time to listen to. However, this is a new topic, recap slide shows.

Here's why I love the idea - even if you were only to create one new show each quarter, it's a great way to showcase your most recent work. A recap slide show gives you a chance to share your best images and techniques with potential clients. It's also a way to show new things you might be trying. For example, you should already be experimenting with hybrid technology and combining single frame images with short video clips and music. 

Imagine a potential client coming in to check out your website, but instead of image after image in a static gallery they've got a recap slide show to watch with some of your most recent images. It's a great way to create a little excitement for your work and separate yourself from the competition.

Wander into the Photodex blog and then bookmark it. The information being shared changes every day.  There's also a lot of great seasonal information with great how-to content and often FREE themed templates.

And, if you haven't checked out ProShow 8, just click on the thumbnail to the right. Photodex never stands still. They're constantly working to make their software the very best and ProShow 8 has so many new features.

---

---

by Lisa Robinson
​
If you’re at all like me, you struggle to keep up with your daily or (sometimes even) weekly social media updates with your current workload. I know it’s important to share frequently. Admittedly, my day-to-day schedule just doesn’t allow for that to happen. That’s why committing to a monthly recap can be a great solution to creating a balance in your time management juggling act. Albeit not a large quantity, it does however create a regular time frame that is easy to stick to and gives visibility to your current projects and work. Thus, getting your work out there for people to see!
What I like about Photodex, is that their slideshow tools are so easy to use. It makes creating this monthly recap a breeze. Typically, I can pull a video slideshow together faster than I can put out a blog! Here’s how I do it:

1. Once I finish with a shoot, I select my favorites and export them to a “Favorites” Lightroom Catalog. The Lightroom Catalog lives on my Dropbox so I can easily access it anywhere at anytime. It’s just like using ProShow Web.
2. At the end of the month I can filter by date in my catalog and pick a bunch of my favorites (probably 20+ photos) to export.
3. I upload the photos to ProShow Web and then pick a song for my show. I pick the song by filtering by the length of song. For a monthly recap, a 1-2 minute song is the perfect length. It keeps your recap video short and sweet.
4. Lastly, I export a web ready video, and then post to whatever social media I choose.

If you still finding committing to a monthly show a struggle, then perhaps think about doing a seasonal slideshow of your work. For wedding or nature photographers this might be a natural grouping for Spring, Summer, Fall, and Winter.
Do you have other ideas that you would like to contribute for regular slideshows? I’d love to hear them!