Trolls, Marketing and Guest Posts for Photographers - Highlights

One of the things I love about this industry and social media is the fact that everything is always changing.  As a result we have access to some pretty amazing people who appear in our social media circles.

On Trolls: While I realize it's almost impossible to really fix the problem, my post about Trolls at least made me feel better. It brought out a lot of comments and if nothing else, maybe we got a few people to think it through a little better. In the GoingPro Forum on Facebook, Adam Messer posted the most eloquent comment I've ever read on the topic...

"I feel the best way to kill a troll is to not feed them. A troll's mentality is to bait someone and then try to barrage them with insults, typically using a various assortment of logical fallacies. Insults and sarcasm are some of the weakest and inflammatory types of communication people learn at an early age. Unfortunately, this type of behavior stems from a lack of maturity, jealousy, and low-self esteem issues. I have noticed that some trolls exhibit a sociopath-like attitude, trying to prove intellectual prowess over an unsuspecting victim. It is easy to destroy, but only true creators ever build. Trolls build houses on sand, only to be swept away by the tide of influence."

On Marketing: Michele Celentano was our guest on Mind Your Own Business and did an amazing job of getting us all to think about the value of what we do. Out of this conversation came what might be one of the best marketing ideas yet to help you establish more value for your work with clients who only want the files...Just frame a CD or jump drive! While I'd love to take credit for the idea, it's 100% Michele's - I just executed it.
 

Guest Posts: In just the last week two outstanding photographers have shared images giving some of you a lot to think about when it comes to beefing up your skill set. Brian Marcus' images show outstanding skills, although a few of you questioned a baby portrait in the mix of wedding images. That was entirely my doing because first, I loved the shot and second, it made a point about diversity, but I should have explained it better.

Here's the point: If you did a great job on the wedding, then why wouldn't you want to be there when the first child was born? Why wouldn't you keep building the relationship with the family to cover all of their photographic needs?


Vanessa Joy's images featuring 19 groomsmen is the perfect reminder for every wedding photographer to practice group posing as much as possible. Vanessa never said it wasn't stressful - but she knew what she had to do and taking us through the process should give a few of you a more ideas on how to build out your groups in the future.

A Reminder: If there's a specific topic you need more help with, the SCU archives are loaded with a wide variety, but that doesn't mean we've covered everything you'd like to read. Give me a shout in the comment box or email me at [email protected] with your wishlist. I'll do my best to get you a post with the information you need. Consider it the SCU version of the old Burger King commercial...We're doing our best to help you "Have it your way!"

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