I just recently signed up for Flickr and spent about a weekend figuring out what gets you the best exposure and what gets many viewers to notice you. For me, Flickr is not only a place to display my photos, but also a marketing tool that links back to my main website (Imaginis Photography) and my blog. With a few simple rules to follow, I received more exposure than most people get after weeks of being on Flickr, which also increased the views on my other websites. Below are some guidelines of what worked for me.
Before we get to the guidelines though, feel free to check out my Flickr page: Sven Bannuscher on Flickr.
Add your Photos to Flickr Groups
After you upload your first batch of photos, search for Flickr Groups that match your content. As you can imagine, I joined many groups on Fashion Photography and Travel Photography. Once you are accepted into a group, start adding your best pictures to the pool of the group. This is your first step at making your work visible to others with the same interests as you. Just keep in mind that your photos need to stand out. Many groups have hundreds of thousands of images in their pools and you only have a few seconds to grab people’s attention.
Comment on the Photos of other Flickr Members
Feels good to have people say they like your work, eh? Well, others feel the same way, so if you leave a nice comment on someone else’s picture that you really like, they may feel inclined to take a look at your Photostream. Now keep in mind that a nice comment is not something like “Good job.” A nice comment shows that you take a genuine interest in the picture and may even offer constructive criticism. One of the nicest comments I received so far was someone telling me how much he liked my work but while the image he commented on was great, he felt that the two other pictures next to it were stronger and gave me the reasons why he felt so. Naturally, I went to take a look at his work and gladly reciprocated the comment. What I really hate about comments though is people putting stupid pictures as a comment. That may be cute for some on MySpace, but I just find it really annoying.
Add the Photos of other Flickr Members as Favorites
After you commented on a photo, consider to add it to your list of favorites. That adds their photos to your favorites list and will probably get them to favorite some of your photos as well, adding you to their favorites list. Keep in mind to only add outstanding images to your favorites, as you do not want a favorites list with thousands of pictures that are just so-so. Scared of the competition? Don’t be. If you treat others fairly, they will treat you fairly.
Participate in Group Discussions
This one adds to the whole issue of treating other people with respect. If you know something, share it. Again, don’t be afraid of the competition learning from you. I have taught people for quite some time know and consistently share my knowledge on this blog. Has it hurt me in any way? I don’t think so. It rather makes for respect and good friendships. On Flickr it will even get people to take a look at your photos and maybe even comment on them.
Add other Flickr Members as Contacts
If you like someone or their work, add them as a contact. This will help you keep up with their newest pictures on your Flickr homepage, but you may also make a friend. That person may also add you as a contact and will be able to keep up with your newest pictures.
Keep Adding Pictures
Why would you want to stop adding pictures anyways? There is a trick to adding pictures though. After you established a decent portfolio on Flickr, only add five images at time. Why? Everyone that added you as a contact will only see your five latest uploads. Of course, if you feel inclined to upload more, do so. It’s just something to think about.
Tags
Tags are important because they help people find your work. These tags can be your name, the theme of your shoot, emotions, etc. Can it be annoying? Absolutely, but it will help you gain more exposure.
Explore Interestingness
If you click on the “Popular” link in your Photostream, you can see your photos sorted by interestingness. What makes a photo interesting to Flickr? I have no idea. Some of my most viewed, most favorited, and most commented pictures are not even on the first page based on interestingness. All I know that it’s some internal Flickr algorithm that ranks your photos based on comments, who comments it, discussion groups, favorites, internal and external links, tags, colors. The 500 most interesting photos each day appear on the Flickr Explore Page. I don’t think I ever made it on there, but if you want to find out if you did, try out this nifty tool: Scout
Final Words
I am sure that as time progresses, I will find out more about improving your exposure on Flickr. If I ever feel it necessary, I will probably update this post or write an entirely new one. For now, this should be good primer to get you ahead of the game on Flickr.
Plug
As always, if you like this post, you can help me keep writing stuff like this by buying your camera equipment using my promotional links for Amazon, Adorama, and B&H Photo. I have been using these stores for years for their great customer service, quality, and low prices. Using these links does not cost you anything, but it helps me cover some of the costs associated with running a website and taking time out of my day to write.
worked for me too.
But can’t people copy and print your photographs? Isn’t that like giving away your work. How do you protect you copyright on Flickr?
@Cindy:
There is no need to upload full-res images. 600px on the longest side at 72dpi should be more than sufficient. In addition, I add a copyright watermark with my website to all images. So even if someone uses one of my pictures, it’s free advertising.
Svenler
Interesting ideas.
@Cindy: Watermarks are a good way to make sure people know the image is yours. Just a faded logo in the corner of your image, but not somewhere easily cropped out. I’m not a fan of the people who plaster a huge semi-transparent logo over the centre of their image though; I think that is just going too far, and makes it difficult to really see the image and turns me off it.
Very well thought out, indeed, making it an encouraging post. As a new Flickr user, I’ll be putting that into practice.
About Cindy’s concern, yes, no matter what you do, there will be those who will steal photos, including using them on their blogs without your permission, even though you may have a restriction clearly stated right next to the photo. It’s that, or don’t show your work at all. I though about uploading smaller sizes to Flickr, but the problem here is that you can’t take full advantage of the full screen slide show.
All the best from Santiago…