Need Advice, Feedback Requested

We all have various sites and blogs that we check daily. The internet has become more about routine these days than discovery. Let's face it, when most of us were younger and the internet was still fresh and relatively new, we spent more time finding new sites than we did revisiting ones we already knew about. The world wide web was wide and fresh with info. Nowadays though, through syndication of content, most people really only need to check a small handful daily. Thanks to things like MySpace, Twitter, Facebook, Digg, and the like, a lot of what we're interested in is already indexed for us daily and spoon-fed. Sure, it's great because it saves a lot of time, but how often do you really come across a new source of info that you decide you will go to daily (and I don't mean by adding it to a bookmark site or RSS feed)?

Since my blog is relatively small, with few viewers as of this writing, I need people's opinions on how to drive up the number of people that come here.

I'm no slouch, but it can be difficult at times to provide quality content that I can be sure people will be interested in. Leave some advice in the comments section below and let me know what would make this blog (and the related website) more worth your time on a daily basis. Do you want to see more pictures? Do you like more of the how-to stories behind a shoot? Are you interested in product reviews or gear articles? I've got some ideas lined up for some new entries but I want to make sure that I can get people's attention.

I think part of my problem is that I'm too concerned with my own personal privacy. I don't like the idea of putting photos of myself on the internet, despite the fact that it's been proven that it helps make people feel more comfortable contacting you. I also don't like to put too much personal info out there, even though that helps people feel like they know you. Lastly, at times I can be overly concerned with being as professional as possible, which sometimes causes me to lack a sense of humor about things, or at least that's how it can come across.

Some of my favorite photographers, who are very successful at what they do, are very accessible in the sense that they communicate directly with their fans/followers, they put out videos and do seminars and workshops, they use photos of themselves, and they know how to let professionalism go when necessary. Don't get me wrong, I'm no square, and can be as ridiculous as the next guy, but I think I'm still trying to find my public voice.

Zack Arias, one of my big influences and photographic role models, just released 2 videos that I personally find hilarious. I start to wonder if I'm using the wrong approach to my self-promotion. What do you think? Take a look at these videos and you be the judge.

Workshop World
Sucksessful Commercial Photographer


Don't forget to leave some comments, I would really appreciate feedback. You can also find me on Twitter

New Look, Book

Well, I had said back in the first blog entry for the year that 2010 would bring some changes to the way I do things, and one of the most important things I needed to work on was the layout of the site and the color scheme.

When I started DIGImmortal Photo, it was geared 99% to bands and the music industry. I pretty much only had photos of musicians in my galleries, so the dark colors fit really well since most of what I shot were Rock and Metal acts. However, over time my work has shifted around to various subjects and styles and the dark, broody black layout just wasn't cutting it. On top of that, by expanding the subject matter of my work the site became a hodgepodge of different galleries which started to look really cluttered. There was no flow to the site anymore. Since I'm using a template setup from my site provider, I couldn't do much with the look of the site. Until they finally released a bunch of new layouts and site tools.

Long story short, I changed the look of the site, from the color scheme/theme of the homepage (other pages will be changed soon, I just did most of this work in one night and needed to take a break of my head would explode). I also changed the layout to a more portfolio-esque setup, allowing me to showcase a slideshow of some of my favorite images right on the homepage. So now, even though there aren't as many galleries available right on the homepage, you can easily see the variety of styles I shoot just by watching a short slideshow. Don't worry, all of the galleries that were on the site are still there, just more coherently organized. There is a new menu bar at the top above the slideshow that can take you to just about every corner of the site painlessly.

With that, I decided it was time to overhaul the blog was well, so the first step was to get the color schemes to match up. I will also be cleaning up those links and ads on the right side shortly so it looks less messy. There will be some more changes added/updated sporadically here and there; the more important ones will be talked about here on the blog so that nobody feels lost.

One last thing: I've been throwing around the idea of putting together a book. Just something small that I would self-publish, perhaps make available on Amazon.com and some other sites. I'm not sure exactly what I want to do yet though, I would really love to put together a book of my favorite concert photos, since that's how this whole mess got started in the first place ;) - However I'm not sure how that would pan out. I have a lot of photos to go through, music related and otherwise, before I really tie any loose ends together, but I just wanted to give the heads up to everyone that there might be a limited edition coffee-table book from me in the future. How near or distant that future is, well, that really depends on a lot of things, but you can be sure you'll hear about it first on here or on my Twitter page, so be sure to head over there and follow me for daily updates on things.

Well, that's all for now. Take a look around the new site layout, feel free to leave feedback here. Should have some more developments to report on soon, if everything goes well.

More soon,
-Rob

Climbing that Mountain

So I'm gradually getting caught up on the massive backlog of work and different projects that have been keeping me from seeming very productive lately. But I have still managed to stay on schedule with my 365 project. It's really a relief because when I started it I was worried about how long I'd actually be able to see it through. It's hard to be artistic every single day, and I wasn't going to let myself settle for just some snapshots. I wanted to do things that took some degree of thinking, even if only relatively little at times. Some nights I am up into the AM hours trying to find something worth shooting, but I make sure I get it done.

I finally uploaded 7 days worth of backlogged 365 submissions to my website last night after (also finally) finishing the latest issue of Paragon Music Magazine (link goes directly to PDF issue).

The new issue contains some awesome interview with Faith and The Muse, Mark Tremonti of Alter Bridge, Matt Heafy of Trivium, and Toby Knapp. There is also a full page photo I took of Duff McKagan when he passed through NYC a few months ago with his band LOADED, as well as other goodies.

Upcoming tasks in my scope are to finally sort some nature shots for the website from my last trip a few weeks ago, finally finish the HAIL! photos from NYC, updates to Paragon Earth, and some new stock photography that I've been wanting to shoot for a while now.

As I complete these things you will updated, either through here or through my Twitter page, so make sure you head over there and follow me. It's a great way to get quick, short updates, without having to read a whole bunch of stuff. You can get Twitter updates sent to your cell phone even if you don't have one of those fancy iPhoneberrydroid gadgets. So you could think of it as a personal message right from me to your phone. Or not, do as you wish. =)

More soon,
Rob

Follow me on Twitter

Yeah, I know, anyone who has seen my writing over the years knows I hate "social networking sites" like MySpace, Facebook, Twitter, etc...

But like I've said already on those sites, you can't fight proven marketing techniques. You eventually should at least try them and see how they might help. This is true when you're not getting much attention or just want more than you've got.

So I caved, again, and got a Twitter account for DIGImmortal Photo. You can click here to follow me

I'm slowly integrating all these different kinds of updates to form some sort of marketing plan. How it'll pan out, I have no idea, I'm just kind of shooting from the hip here. But if you're a reader of any of my sites or my work at Paragon, or a fan of my photography, don't be shy, come on board and follow me, leave me a tweet, join our Myspace and Facebook friends. Just reach out and let us know you're there.

That's all for now but I've got some great photos to share later today.

More soon!