New Year, New You...

...well not really a new you. But it's the time of year to send out reminders of new work, new websites, new promos, new everything.

I've been getting a bunch of email promos with subject lines like:
New Year, New Work
New website for 2009
not participating in the recession so here's some new work

Lots of "new" in the title

A few suggestions when sending out e-promos to celebrate the new year and draw people into your 2009 marketing, website, imagery, etc.:

Make sure the work really is new. Don't include a few filler images from previous e-promos or imagery that people may have already seen. If you're calling out that it is new work, make sure it's brand new imagery that your audience hasn't experienced yet.

Also think about what your competitors are doing... the same thing. I get bombarded with emails the first 2 weeks in January and then hit a dead zone until late March or April.

I'm a big hater of New Year's resolutions (mostly because I can't keep them past 5 days). I always suggest making any resolutions/changes mid to late January or even in February, this way you actually have a chance of sticking with them. Same goes for e-promos and mailers, everyone sends them out at the same time and then you don't see or hear anything for several months after. When you start out the year with a marketing campaign, stick to it. Come up with a plan that works for you and gets a good response from your audience.

This is the biggest suggestion I have, to come up with a solid marketing plan for yourself this year. With all the hype about the economy, ad agencies having layoffs, magazines closing up shop, and the rest of the doom and gloom it is crucial that freelancers and artists have a plan to market themselves and make their work visible. There are several resources out there that can help with suggestions and ideas (consultants, websites, blogs, etc.). Having a plan can help you achieve this year.

Happy 2009!

Updating Materials

How often are you updating your site and marketing materials? If you're not thinking about updating your website and its imagery, it should be something on your to-do list. Most times it's your website that art buyers and photo editors peruse through to get a sense of your work and your clients before your book is ever called in or a conversation is had about a project. If it's not consistently updated, there may be a a possibility these people will pass over you.

It's so worth taking the time to add new projects/images that you've been working on and replace some of the older images... or keep the older ones if you love them but make sure the flow works well.

Does the layout of the site feel dated? If so, update that too.

These are the bells and whistles that attract people to hire you for jobs. While you might not be a designer by trade, photographers/illustrators are creative people and as a buyer I would this creativity transcends through your imagery and to your marketing material. It doesn't have to be changed every three months but update imagery when you can, definitely at least once a year. And when you have a new project or when you update this imagery send out some promos/newsletters to drive traffic to your site.

I just received a simple e-promo newsletter layout from Sharpe + Associates that included one new image from a recent project for each of their photographers. No lengthy explanation just brand new imagery to click on that sent me to the site and the blog for more news.

Updating your website and its imagery is a smart way to keep people interested and consistently drive traffic to your work.

Email promo subject lines

A little while back I posted some info about email promos and I made the offer for photographers and illustrators to send me their epromos for some feedback. I had a few people take me up on the offer (which still stands for anyone interested). Armando Bellmas had a great question: "What kind of subject lines make you open an epromo?"

It's always a little tough to say because everyone has a different reaction to the subject line. I've run across subject lines that were witty, some that were cheesy, and some that reflect the work. I try to open all the email promos I get.

I always like the "New Work by..." or "Hi Caitlin" - using someone's name and making it personal is always a good way to go... although I'm sure it would be hours of work for for the sender.

There's no sure-fire way but the subject line is usually what makes or breaks an email promo to be opened. You have approximately 2 seconds to grab your viewer's attention with the subject line and take the action you want (which is ultimately to go to your website). The other tricky part is to keep it away from junk file or spam detector software.

A helpful hint is to check out newspapers and magazines. Writers have to sum up the article in about 5 words to get the audience to read the entire piece. Making an announcement or sharing news is a great way to get the email opened. For example: Photographer won creativity award or Photographer just shot X campaign.

I would suggest testing out a few different ways and see if you get any feedback and what works best with your target audience (which subject line delivered the highest click through rate).

My "edit, copy and proof" college professor always use to say "when in doubt KISS"... Keep it simple short (or "keep it simple stupid" he preferred).