How do I get recognized for my photography?

[Jennifer]

I have a group on facebook that's about a year old now, bt it only has 27 members and almost no activity. I have a flickr, but no matter how much I post and interact with people, I never get any views or comments. what should I do?

[hgerguheu]

Start your own face book page. Post a picture a day

[DG Andersen]

Start a fan page, post pictures daily, do promos, that's what I do. So far I've got 127 likes aka fans.

[fhotoace]

"How do I get recognized ... ?"

This is the question that artists ask all the time and the answer is to hang your prints in galleries, the more august the better.

Eventually if you have them hanging in New York or Chicago art galleries, then you will have been "recognized". This requires making appointments with the gallery owners or managers and taking samples of your work with you shen interviewing for space on the galleries walls.

Professional photographers just supply a service and their fees are hopefully set so that the photographer is constantly working and still able to stay in business. In this case standard marketing rules apply.

Which kind of photographer are you? An artist looking for some patrons or a professional looking for work?

Once you decide which you are, you can commence your campaign to become "recognized"

[WellTraveledProg]

I haven't seen any of your work, so I can't know for sure. But...

If you've had your work out in public view for some time, and aren't getting any comments or recognition, it's quite likely it's because your work isn't that great.
I'm not trying to be mean...my point is, do a good, objective, *critical* analysis of what you've put out. Look at work by others that *does* get recognition. What's different? Do work that's unique and has impact, and you'll get noticed. Put up a bunch of mediocre, same-old stuff, and you won't.

Peace.

[Tiffy]

Well I've discovered on Yahoo (Aside from the awesome Top Contributor in the Photography Subject) You often get mean people who just want to make fun instead of offering constructive opinions. If you're trying to advertise more and get your name out there I have a few suggestions. Of course I'm no professional myself, yet, but I like to think I have a way of getting things out there.
1) Create a photo of the day on your facebook and post a status everyday. Tell your friends to share the page, have family share the page, if you've got a few extra dollars go as far as spending it on an ad on facebook. Though alot of people will criticize any photographers even small time photographers for using facebook at all.
2) A good site I came across earlier is http://www.smugmug.com. You can easily display, share, network, etc for a low price. I'm sure there may be cheaper websites out there but this website literally has everything included you would need for making money with your photos, and advertising all made easy for beginners like myself and you. Also with their vendors you can do everything right there on the website including selling.
3) I would invest in your own domain.Try to create a name for your small business with good key words, a catchy name. This will take time but will be worth it. I suggest googling your ideas as well to see if they're already out there to guarantee your name is unique. Using those key words will optimize the chance of your page being found on search engines.
4) Word of mouth word of mouth word of mouth. Like any art career, imo, not only is it, What you have to offer, but also who you know. Get your name out there, talk to more people, talk to photographers on yahoo, answer questions, talk to other photographers on facebook, talk to new people on the street, ask friends/family to be guinea pigs to build a great portfolio to the point where they'll WANT To share with their other friends and get your name around.
5) Put your name on every site you can think of. DeviantART, flickr, smugmug, facebook, twitter, etc. The more the merrier and the more you show it means the more chance people have to look at it.
6) Beat the price range.. Look at photographers in your area, small and big time ones to see what they're charging. until you've established your name in the circuit undercut every one of em' so people like the idea that you're cheap too! Once you've established yourself more you can up your prices.

Alot of time and patience really have to go into getting your name around. Don't get discouraged just push on and work harder! I'm currently in the process of trying to open just a small time business for myself as an enthusiast and i've spent 3 days just naming the business and getting my pictures all stored together and got a lot of shoots set up. I also don't think professional equipment is required until you're doing professional work.

PS. Remember it always takes money to make money. A little will go a long way.

[The Writer]

Is your photography actually good? And are you willing to prove it if you say it is?

Odds are you're not getting any views or comments because your photos are not as good as you might think they are. Also, you cannot post and interact with others with the sole intent of getting more views and fans. If you're making it all about you it will turn people off because at that point you just look like a showoff who only cares about herself.

[Tim]

"Getting recognized" is not a measurable goal to have. It is pretty meaningless.

What is really your goal? To make a certain amount of money at photography? To have a certain number of new clients? To hang in a gallery?



Collecting Facebook "likes" is pretty useless unless you know how to use it. Facebook pages, websites, flyers, print ads, and website ads should all be part of an overall marketing strategy.



Personally I would rather have 1 Facebook fan that consistently buys from me, than a million fans that don't.