social media

LensFlare 35 is a weekly show brought to you by Dave Warner. In this week’s episode, Dave interviews Wedding Photographer Seshu. Seshu creates images for clients in Connecticut, Rhode Island, Massachusetts, New York, Pennsylvania, New Jersey and beyond. He does destination weddings, important events, engagements, bridal portraits, family photography and special events. When the moment strikes, Seshu is there to catch it.

In this episode, Seshu talks about his photojournalism background, social media, multi-cultural weddings, destination weddings, thoughts about HD DSLR’s and much more. We created a special video of Seshu’s images with his explanation of each that plays (above) and then the full podcast interview, which is below.

Equipment, Software and sites mentioned in this podcast: Nikon D300, Nikon SB 800 & 900 flash, TiffinBox.

Show Sponsors: ExpoImaging, Inc., onOne Software and Tafota.com. Podcast network commercials from Rosh Sillars New Media Photographer, Jim Goldstein EXIF and beyond and Martin Bailey Photography.

Podcast on iTunesTo listen to the full podcast interview, click on the player’s forward arrow below. You can also play the Podcast in a pop up window, download it OR subscribe to it via iTunes. You can download a List of Questions (PDF format) that I ask in the interview.

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Happy Talk

by Deborah Kaufman on May 7, 2010

Turning the love fest into cash…

Deborah Kaufman

You’ve heard it and seen it. The number of followers on Twitter and FaceBook that many photographers have is simply astounding. It always makes me wonder how they manage to find the time. I struggle, like everyone else, with too few hours in the day to accomplish half of what I need to do. So, to say that I’m in awe of their numbers is an understatement.

I do wonder, however, how many of their contacts actually result in increased business for the photographer. I would guess that while their reputation is soaring, the cash register is still a little empty. I know what you’re going to say…it’s the network that will ultimately result in referrals to new clients. But does it? I’m not seeing as much of that as I’m seeing fan clubs that are great for the ego, but do little to help the bottom line. And, in some cases, that is good enough. Many of us post to social media sites for the entertainment and fun associated with staying connected to people we value. If that is the case, then read no further. What I’m talking about is the business use of social media and measuring results.

I know I’m opening up a can of worms when I suggest that if you are going to spend a number of hours doing anything for the purpose of advancing your business…shouldn’t it generate a positive outcome? There is nothing in shorter supply to a small business these days, than time. When your days are spent trying to juggle cash flow, staffing, inventory, taxes and staying ahead of the competition, every hour of time spent must translate into earned income. If not immediately…certainly, within a reasonable amount of time.

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Inspire Me!

by Deborah Kaufman on May 5, 2010

Deborah Kaufman

Deborah Kaufman

The growth of workshops for photographers we’ve seen lately was the subject of conversation over coffee this morning. There are so many great courses out there, one wonders…is it too much for people to digest? Are we, as an industry, experiencing information overload?

My mind wandered back to 2002 and to a workshop Dave and I planned in Costa Rica. It was going to be a fabulous workshop with great guest speakers, hands-on training, and a gorgeous setting to shoot. We planned very structured days of field work, then back to the lab, more shooting, and back to the lab again. The hours began before dawn and ended at 10 PM. It was going to be a very intense 5-day workshop, but by the time they left, they would be stars! Or, so we thought.

What we discovered, after experiencing weak (putting it mildly) results from our marketing initiative was that we had crafted a workshop that involved way too much ‘training’ and not enough ‘fun.’ Our marketing materials were centered on outcomes and how intense this program would be. We forgot one of the basic tenants of any learning experience and that was to ‘inspire’ the person first to want to learn!

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LensFlareLive is a show created and brought to you by Dave Warner. In this week’s episode, panelists Deborah Kaufman, Rosh Sillars and Lindsay Adler discuss Facebook Twitter and Websites for Photographers. In addition, they answer questions from the live listening audience.

Lindsay is a professional fashion and portrait photographer in New York and London. Her work has been featured in dozens of fashion and photography magazines internationally, including Sublime, Existence, Oasis and Chic Today Magazines as well as MindFood Magazine, Popular Photography, Shutterbug and dozens more.

She currently owns a successful portrait studio and continues to shoot fashion editorials on commission for a variety of publications. Her first book will appear in stores in March. Lindsay travels throughout the Northeast, US and abroad to teach photography workshops and share her knowledge at conferences and seminars.

Deborah previously was the President and co-founder of Bremond House Gallery. Her area of focus was art acquisition, market strategy, and profitability enhancement for client fine art print programs. Kaufman was also one of three founders involved in the development of the Earthman Art Center, an artist incubator in Galveston, Texas. Ms. Kaufman is a seasoned entrepreneur with over 20 years experience in developing marketing strategies for technology and publishing companies. Kaufman has founded six companies throughout her career, working in the areas of book publishing, online content publishing and software development.

Prior to Bremond House, Kaufman co-founded Embella, Inc., a technology infrastructure company for regulatory content and applications. Kaufman was Director and President of IBT Technologies, one of the first e-learning technology companies providing a Web services platform to adapt content based on user profiles and device. At IBT, Kaufman was responsible for securing over $14 million in capital from venture and investment banking funds. Kaufman grew the company from four founders to 115 employees within one year. Kaufman also played a key role in securing top accounts for the company in the healthcare sector such as Columbia HCA, University of Texas Medical Branch, and AGA-Home Healthcare. These three contracts were estimated at over $10 million in potential revenue.

Earlier in her career, Kaufman founded two traditional publishing companies: Dockery House Publishing of Dallas, Texas, a boutique book publishing company targeting the Fortune 1000; and Mountain Home Publishing, Inc. of Kerrville, Texas, a healthcare publishing company targeting the consumer geriatric market

Rosh is a photojournalist, magazine and corporate photographer and specializes in capturing images that tell a story, evoke an emotion or represent the subject in its natural context. He also contributes regularly as a staff and free-lance photographer for multiple daily, weekly and monthly newspapers and magazines. Rosh has photographed presidents, pro and amateur athletes, pop stars and local heroes through his 20 year professional career and he shares photography, new media and creative business ideas at Prosperous Artists.com and New Media Photographer.com.

Podcast on iTunesTo listen to the full podcast interview, click on the player’s forward arrow below. You can also play the Podcast in a pop up window, download it OR subscribe to it via iTunes. To find out when the next live show is going to air, visit our Live Shows page.

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QHT 0017: Interview with Marqueax Price, LNT 3 Group PR Firm

April 21, 2010

This is a Quick Hit Podcast short.  Today we’re going to talk to Marqueax Price of the LNT3 Group. We became acquainted with the firm as a result of interviewing Gail Nogle, our show that was released on Tuesday, April 13th. Since Gail was successfully using a PR firm, we thought it would make an [...]

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LensFlareLive 008: Our Panel Discusses Social Media, New Media and Marketing for Photographers

March 20, 2010

LensFlareLive is a show created and brought to you by Dave Warner. In this week’s episode, panelists Jack Hollingsworth, Rosh Sillars and Lindsay Adler discuss Blogs for Photographers. In addition, they answer questions from the live listening audience. Lindsay is a professional fashion and portrait photographer in New York and London. Her work has been [...]

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