Today we feature a guest post. Sahdev Thakur has over 10 years of experience in technology and outsourcing businesses. His love for photos has inspired him develop innovate business model for photos using social media. He is currently CEO and Founder of PixWand a Delaware Company.
As a photographer, 15 years back, when the Internet sun was just rising, if someone were to ask you to start your own website, your first question would have been, “What’s a website?” The second, “Why would I ever need one?” Do you find yourself asking similar questions today when you see the rise and rise of social media… first MySpace, then Orkut, now LinkedIn, Twitter, Facebook… who knows what’s next? Stressful, isn’t it?
Whether you are a fan of online social networks or not, you cannot deny the simple fact that they are enormously popular, for a few simple reasons: they make it easier for people to connect with old friends, make new friends from corners of the world, which one couldn’t possibly imagine in the good old days, and share information, ideas, jokes, photographs, videos… whatever suits one’s fancy. Whether you and I like it or not, social networking is changing the way we connect, communicate, share, develop relationships and thus, the way we conduct business as well.
Consider these simple facts about social media:
- Facebook has 400 million active users, including 225 million who joined in just the last one year.
- Twitter has 75 million users with an annual growth rate of 1,105%.
- Linkedin has 60 million members and has added 5 million users in less then 2 months between Dec 2009 to Feb 2010.
- An average user spends more then 5.5 hrs per month on social networking sites like Facebook and Twitter, an 82% increase from last year.
- All the above numbers are changing drastically by the hour.
Now as a professional dealing with photography, consider this whopping fact: on Facebook alone more then 3 billion photographs are uploaded every month, i.e. 100 million photos a day (Source). Thanks largely to the proliferation of digital cameras (every device seems to have one these days, mobile phones, mp3 players, laptops, etc.), today almost everyone clicks photos and uploads them. Whether this qualifies for them to call themselves photographers is a different question.
What is evident however is today everyone considers himself or herself a photographer. This is a huge shift and it is accelerating at a very rapid rate.
Impact of social media on the photography industry:
With billions of photos taken every month, photography is no more considered an art. Rather, it has simply become a way to share our lives and communicate with those around us: something that conversations did in the past. And all the pervasive ways social media is touching peoples’ lives is altering consumer behavior and developing new imaging habits today. Thus, the future of photography for photographers is not what it used to be. The future is changing, and it is for you to figure out, what more you can do with photos, what unique services you can offer. Indeed, what more can you offer?
Collaboration will be the way of the future. Social media platforms facilitate connection and collaboration with individuals and groups across the world to offer innovative photographic services. An example: PhotoTownship. Shortly PhotoTownship will provide a unique opportunity for mass customization and collaboration of photo products/services online. It will allow individuals to do more with photos beyond the format of printed paper.
People are starting to see the broader possibilities of photos and various things they can do with them. There’s a whole shift of perception happening. This is just the beginning of a whole new world, and the sooner we embrace it, the better it is for the entire photographic community.
Some social media resources:
The number of photographers or small businesses using social media well is very small. Below are two great resources to get you started with social media and also help you explore further
- PhotoFizz.info: Content is king. So, a good way to get started in social networking is to start by sharing good content.
- PhotoShelter’s report on Social Media for Photographers: A free guide on how to grow your photo business with social media
Luckily the monetary investment in social media is hardly anything, and allows even the smallest company or individual to play on a level playing field with those bigger than they are. Take advantage of this opportunity by getting in early, to grow into a leader in the social media space.
If you still doubt the power of social media, view Social Media Revolution on YouTube. It presents the kind of statistics that shows the extent to which social media is conquering culture and businesses across the world. It is bound to get you excited about the changes around, and the possibilities it opens up.
Photo by dariuszman86, used under Creative Commons licensing
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