How to Create a Successful Advertising Plan

Many factors have to be considered when making an advertising plan. Like the type of message to be delivered, the audience to be targeted, how they should be targeted, budget, etc. all of which depends on the nature of the advertisement.

Regarding the type of message to be delivered, try thinking from the point of the customer. What will impress him and catch his fancy. Note down points what the customer expects from the company and what advantage will he have when dealing with the company. Effort should be made to retain viewer or listener’s or reader’s interest in the advertisement until the end. This procedure is known as message selection.

After creating the outline of the picture, pick lines that will actually attract the customer. The message shouldn’t be long enough to bore the customer. Some advertisers are under the illusion that more the matter written, the better the message delivered. Usually they fear that they don’t miss out any information. This does nothing but decreases the effectiveness of the ad and customer is left unsatisfied.

For example, the heading of the advertisement shouldn’t be just “We Sell Clothes”, which is too precise. The liking of the people should be studied and the headline should be designed such that the customer feels that his needs are met. It should also take into consideration seasonal changes like If the season at that time is summer and there are lots of beaches around that area, the heading of the ad should be something like “Summer Clothes for Sale” or “Get the heat off – Buy Swimwear”. The body of the advertisement should talk of the necessities to switch to summer clothes like cotton clothing. It should discuss the health point of view too, like cotton cannot be used as swimwear as it will cause contamination, therefore the swimwear is made of synthetic material. Also include lines about swimwear for overweight people.

Ads are either traffic builder or relationship builders or reputation builder. Suppose the budget involved is less, the target should be relationship builder. Because once the customers are established, they will start trusting the company and won’t switch to other companies. According to a research it takes ten percent less resources to retain existing customers than attracting new customer. If the focus is on brand recognition, the advertisement should be traffic building.

The next point is whether the advertiser wants quick results or long lasting results. If quick result is desired, then a time limit should be levied. Like in case of seasonal sales, the customer hurries to get advantage before the offer is over. So quick results are expected in this case. But the disadvantage with advertisement with time limit is that the customer are bound to forget about the product or the company within a short period and it doesn’t creates a deep impact on the minds of the customer.

Competing against rival company’s ad also contributes to a successful advertising plan. The power of the message should be compared to that of the competitors’. It doesn’t mean that the advertiser should use the same plan like his competitor, it would look like imitation and effectiveness will be decreased. But the advertisement should be planned smartly via a different and effective path, to out-do the competitor’s advertisement.

The description of the product is also very vital like suppose an advertisement is made for a restaurant, it will get customers immediately, if it is attractive. But if the advertisement is for a computer, it won’t yield immediate results, as it’s not every day that someone buys a computer. This is called analysis of the purchase cycle.

If targeting for a higher impact, newsletter is the best bet. But if the newsletters are sent to the real potential customers, then this approach should be adopted for message delivery. It should only be opted be after thorough analysis, no matter what the budget is. Another important point is to always hire a professional advertiser or an ad writer because not hiring one will sometimes be more expensive and results in more losses.

Read More......

Get your creative juices flowing if you want to be an Ad Maker

Those who don’t have creativity as an in-built talent, it takes some hard work to learn the art of advertising. There are some really basic tricks involved.

First, try to put things that you have, to use i.e. the five senses along with the brain. Eyes can capture the most beautiful scenes; try remembering those that are creative. Try to observe the Mother Nature like observing the sunset, the patterns of colors like yellow, orange, red and violet. Observe greenery around, the flora and fauna. Next put your ears and mouth to use and try increasing the observation power. This can be done by walking around the neighborhood or nearby park and trying to observer new things everyday at the same location. Just seeing a thing isn’t enough, analyze the expressions of the people around you and analyze the emotions they depict. The brain can be fed with many things at once, so carry a camera along and take a lot of pictures of objects from different angles and lighting. Try to understand and capture the mood and things, which will help in creating a perfect scene. Like vanilla ice-cream will becomes more attractive when cherry and mint leave are added as topping. Play around with the lightning effects.

Take notes along with the pictures. It is like creating a blue print that will be useful in future works. Things that are important can be underlined or marked with a star. During this procedure if any question arises in your mind, note them down also, so as to find an answer for them at a later stage. This is a great learning technique. Try to listen a lot, compile those things in brain and then output it through your mind. Try to create a rhythm between works, something like poetry, but not exactly it. The fifth sense, touch can be used to learn a different perspective of life. Try closing your eyes and feel objects around you like the feel of a satin sheet is more tempting than a cotton sheet.

Develop a habit of carrying a pen and notepad all the time. It’s not only useful for taking down notes, but also it can be used as a reminder of meetings and interviews. While waiting for something or someone, scribble on your notepad. Try to draw things and apply those amazing ideas which come to mind. Go back home and then paint those ideas, if not everyday, at least on weekends. Other than painting, try doing something new on weekends like golfing, canoeing, or rock climbing. Watching television and shopping can also provide good ideas. When something is troubling the mind, don’t go to sleep until the issue is resolved. This increases the enthusiasm and determination. Again, note down points in the notepad at this time.

If there is ample time available, join courses that increase creativity like photography, painting, martial arts, etc. It need not be necessary that they be directly linked to advertising. Maintain a diary and note down daily happening, especially good things. Learn the art of humor, read books, watch people and animals and then apply it practically by trying to put a smile on faces around you. Do research about great personalities who are related to arts. Read their biographies, some of the problems you are facing may be answered and the path to be taken can be learned.

After going through all the above steps the creative instincts will start to develop. So the next time any idea clicks, trust your instincts and work on it. Don’t hesitate to try new ideas. And try to interact with people who encourage you with this and believe in you and not inhibit your thinking. After breaking the core you can approach newspapers, ad agencies with your stories, articles and original work. Whatever being learnt during the whole experience, there is no harm in sharing and teaching that with others.

Read More......

Getting started in Advertising

Most of the professionals in the advertising industry agree to the fact that obtaining a degree isn’t a must to get started in the industry, but on the contrary all the classifieds ask for a bachelor’s degree at least. Another advantage of taking a degree is that if internship is taken during the course, it will provide the adequate experience that ad agencies and companies usually ask for. The internship director of the university can help in this regard. He may have links that could make it possible to get a break in radio, television or even in an ad agency, the choice totally depends on interest.

In case the internship director is of no help, become a part of a network and get to know people around you. This will surely land you somewhere. It wont hurt to search for an internship on your own. Check out the local newspapers for classifieds; call up local radio and television stations and even ad agencies inquiring about any vacancies. Usually there are lots of ads in the Sunday edition of newspaper, drop in a resume at their office. Best idea is to get in contact with the production manager or the news director of the company. Send them a mail; give a good reference, which can be of big help.

Usually there are lots of chances for internships in the production department. If there is any success in finding an internship, bring it to the notice of the internship director; most probably her reference can be of some advantage. If these attempts don’t work, volunteer to work for free at any local fair, functions and events. Display your creativity to the fullest. This can catch the attention of someone important sometime who can give you that jump-start.

For people who don’t opt for regular college, they can always find lots of material related to advertising on the Internet. Other than studying the theory work, try to observe the work of famous personalities in the industry. Get some ideas, mix it with some creativity and create some original work and approach the local radio station or television channel. Since there are number of shows running there will be some kind of a vacancy.

Get a chance at cross-training too. If initially a job was provided with other shows at the station, try to switch to advertising after winning impression. After getting a break into advertising, it will automatically increase the exposure to the advertising industry and even to other ad agencies. This will be a good point on the resume, as most of the employers get impressed with television experience. And when working on your first job, there will be a great chance of learning the basics, so don’t hesitate to explore the ground. But since it is easier to get a job here and there is lots of competition for that post, the returns aren’t that good and there is no job security.

After getting good experience whether it is internship or local radio or television station, resume is the next important step. Fill it up with creativity as that is the main essence of this field. Don’t forget to include past experience, even if it is small or not related exactly to the job description, recommendation, if any. The more the information added, the more strong the resume and the easier it is to maneuver to the top.

Read More......

How to get a job at an Ad Agency?

The first and foremost criterion for getting a job at an ad agency is having tons of creativity. Advertising business is all about creativity; once the creative juices begin to flow the rewards are overwhelming. A good degree can take you places. Any course or a degree at a reputed university or an advertising school is a big advantage. People with fewer resources can utilize the Internet to maximum, as lots of material regarding advertising is available online, learning from the comfort of home. Having internship experience counts when trying in an ad agency. Internship provides ample exposure to the advertising industry and basic training can be skipped after getting a job. It is better to opt for an entry-level position as this makes your foundation in advertising very strong. Many successful people are known to have started from the bottom most position. This provides us with an opportunity to work outside the job zone assigned which helps to learn the tricks of the trade. Even if future doesn’t look bright enough in the present institution this experience will certainly count when looking for a job elsewhere.

The resume is an important part of the job search and should reflect the creativity of the applicant. It should be amusing and at the same time professional too. Addressing a letter to the Creative Director of the company can be of good help. Find out thoroughly about him before writing a letter, which might also help in creating an impression during the interview. If the response is taking time don’t hesitate to post another letter. Calls are usually not appreciated as most of the people at an ad agency are busy round the clock and professionals at a higher position have to deal with many projects at once.

Look out for people in your the network which can sometimes fetch opportunities through references. These networks can be a source of information about the seminars, educational workshops and local advertising clubs. Doing voluntary work for special events will be worth the effort because if the work is really eye catching it will be appreciated by the guests who visited the event and one of them can be a potential employer.

If the big break seems real far its better to start freelancing rather than wasting time. Try creating original work and approach ad agencies and small business with your work. This can spice up the on-going job hunt. A graphic designer and a copywriter will have an advantage in this approach. If it’s hard to get a start create spec ads. Spec ads are personal versions of a published ad. A little bit of twist can sometimes result in a better ad than the actual one. Even if it isn’t this sure will bring you opportunities in small local businesses.

Start with businesses residing in your locality like the grocery store or the butcher’s shop. Later on approach television and radio stations. They always have vacancies for commercial writers and need a helping hand to develop programs. Since the income is less in these type of jobs its easier for a beginner to get a job.

At the end of the day passion for work really counts. Sometime or the other there will be an employer who will have respect for true passion and creativity and all that energy will give you that much needed break and take you places.

Read More......

Different types of Television Commercials

Since the time the first ever commercial to be aired on television of Bulova Watch Company in July 1, 1941 many categories of advertisements have been formed. The advertisements have become a part and parcel of daily life and are playing a significant role in decision making of the consumers. Such has become the power of advertisement that even a politician cannot assure his success in election campaign in if he hasn’t advertised on television. The different categories of television advertising are political advertising, promotional advertising, infomercials, television commercial donut, promo, and sponsorship.

Political advertising is nothing but reaching out to the citizens of a particular region to capture their vote bank. It’s the most influential advertising method and is also very important as it affects the nation in a big way. The two main platforms to advertise for a political campaign are television and radio known as broadcast media. This also depends on the money raised through political campaigns. The earlier the money raised and the more the money raised, the better the method of advertising. Usually the candidate’s party committees contribute the money. To advertise through television specialized consultants are be contacted to buy slots on local or national network. It has been observed that even a candidate for local office position places an ad on television.

Promotional ads or product placement ads are commercials placed on television by marketers involving commercial products to increase their sales and services. Promotional ads can be featured on television, movies, music videos, books, websites and even video games. Good amount of money can be saved by consulting sales executives and by renting location, models and props.

Television commercials are popular with automobile industry and James Bond movies are credited for promoting them. Promotion of cigarettes or any other tobacco products in movies have always been a point of controversy as most of the State Governments have set up a limit for promotion of such items. Authenticity of the products and services being advertised are many times questioned by the consumer as some of them can be misleading. To tackle this, many consumer groups have been formed who ask for complete disclosure of the product from companies advertising them. In case of any refusal for cooperation of any kind these groups are liable to slam a case against the product and its company. The product ads can be differentiated on the basis of appearances like sponsorship, cost reduction oriented, brand integration and fee based. Sponsorship is the contribution by the company to soaps or sports matches. Brand integration is known as the annexing of the product in a movie or video song.

Infomercials are differentiated from other television advertisements on the basis of time. They are usually thirty minutes long like a regular program. They are also known as teleshopping or paid programming. One can catch them at odd hours of the day like early morning or late in the night. It’s actually a commercial letting out the complete information about a particular product like expert advice on the product, how it should be used, its cost, and where it is available. They resemble more like a talk show than to a commercial as the advertisers communicate to viewers with the help of catchy phrases, celebrities and experts.

Television commercial donut is a template. Its like a blueprint and has all the necessary elements to make a finished commercial but the actual product is missing. Usually advertisers who find producing a commercial difficult use it. The local networks in return of purchase of airtime on their respective channels usually provide the commercial donut. It is a very cost effective method but it has a lack of creativity that will not ensure customer attraction. With the advancements in video editing technology this option is becoming increasingly popular among advertisers.

Promos or network promotional advertising involves television advertising. The amount of commercials that are being hosted on local and national television has been rising by the day and has featured almost everything one can imagine in the world.

Sponsoring a program or a channel is done to promote products or a program for a cause. The group or individual supports financially to advertise his product, service or organization.

Read More......

Characteristics of a Successful Advertisement

Many small businesses don’t get success they want from advertising due to availability of very little resources. The results are simply flat due to lack of good ideas for improvements. Whether the ads are put in a local newspaper or are printed in the famous periodical or posted on a website, the money invested should gain the desired outcome. There are some common mistakes small businesses and professional service providers do when designing and posting the advertisement, which leads to the failure of the advertisement.

Bigger is better is believed in by many. That’s exactly what some of the small firms think when they want to advertise their product. They think bigger and select a medium where they need to invest a lot of money, but do not reach the targeted market. Like if a company specializes in designing diet plans and want to help out people who had disappointing results from their individual diet plans, and the company chooses to advertise a full page in the local paper instead of running advertisement in a health magazine, obviously not many of the dieters will notice the advertisement and the advertisement doesn’t get the desired attention.

So the point is to come up with the best campaign, which will increase the probability of the ad getting viewed and the right customers trying to buy the product or sign up for the service. Studies and research can be carried out on the market and targeted audience can be narrowed down. Once getting the list of newspapers, magazines and magazines meant for the customers in mind, find out how many readers they have and the cost they ask for posting the ad. Special deals are offered by them from time to time and can only be found by watchful eye.

It is estimated that everyday people are subjected to around three thousand commercials. That is a huge number and if someone desires to be noticed, he should certainly be different. Not only the services and product sold should be unique in the market, so should be the advertisement. For example, if a business selling mattresses says, “We sell mattresses”, it will not make a statement and will be passed off as any other mattress advertisement. But if they say, “Our mattresses are of the finest quality”, it will make the advertisement stand out in the crowd. Other catch lines are “Are you suffering from back pain? Probably you must try our mattresses ”, are more specific and will catch the fancy of the people who are suffering from back pains since a long time. The advertisement should also focus on the uniqueness of the product and how it is better compared to the competitors’ product.

Focusing on the problems of the customers and giving a solution for them, is what a customer demands. A customer does not buy a product; he buys benefits in the form of a product. The real value of the product should be realized and a clear picture of it should be presented to the customer so he will be able to relate with the product. If the advertisement doesn’t specify the solution it can provide, the customers will never know of it. So focusing on the customers problem is what some ads miss.

The last thing missing in most of the advertisement is motivation for the customers. If the advertiser has designed the advertisement and the customer had read the advertisement, all efforts and money invested will be wasted if he doesn’t get up and do something about it. It shouldn’t be assumed that the customer knows what to do; instead the advertisement should influence the mind of the customer and should tell him what to do. Call of action is the final job of the advertisement. It should call for information, or visiting the store or even visiting the online store. The message should sound confident and clear.

Read More......

Celebrity Branding

Celebrity branding is a method of advertising which uses the services of a celebrity to promote a product or service with the help of their fame and status in the society. This method has several approaches; it can involve a celebrity simply appearing in a commercial and the celebrity can be signed for attending events for promotion. Another method is to start a product line using their name as a brand. Perfume and garments are the largest product lines involving such a promotion. All the top actors, singers and models are known to give their name to a certain brand or licensed products. Jennifer Lopez started her own line of clothing a while ago which features designer clothes personally designed by her.

A customer’s buying behavior is hugely influenced by famous people. Marketing experts, using associative learning principles, analyzes the lifestyle of the celebrities to properly assign them to the brand which depicts them perfectly. Their fashion sense, appeal, awareness, fame and public image are reviewed thoroughly to assign them the right charity work or product. Repetition, blocking, CS pre-exposure, extinction, overshadowing, belongingness, and association set size are the principles on the basis of which analysis is done like the famous Miss World Aishwarya Rai of India who has very beautiful eyes was chosen to campaign for eye donation project. Some of the celebrities are known for their distinct voice. This concept led to the voice-over method in advertising. Their voices merely attract customers when used in a commercial.

Today, nearly twenty percent of the advertising industry utilizes celebrity endorsement. A celebrity is bound to endorse many products and brands over a course of time. Each time a different image of the celebrity is being projected to the public. The company should keep in mind the previous identity and play accordingly. Projecting a different person every time will sustain the interest of the customers, but at the same time the two identities shouldn’t conflict with each other. The captain of England soccer team David Beckham has endorsed many products. While advertising for Gillette, his taste for hairstyles was considered and he was given a bald look. When campaigning for Police his passion for fashion was portrayed all over and heavily jeweled David Beckham was depicted.

If a celebrity isn’t comfortable with being pictured differently each time he or she can create a graphic image or logo of their own which can be used each time they advertise for a particular product. The logo can reflect the personality of the respective celebrity, like the font can be stylish if the celebrity is fashion conscious like Jennifer Lopez who created a logo of JLO, which is used to advertise perfume and even clothing line of her own. Another advantage in this approach is that the brand can still be appealing to the crowds even after the celebrity has lost his or her looks as they won’t require visual recognition and aids in the long-term negotiations. The celebrity logo itself carries the style and attitude.

Millions of dollars are being invested by marketers to get the promotional support of super stars every year. Davie Brown Entertainment has an agency completely devoted to the purpose of choosing a celebrity for a product. They not only judge a celebrity’s caliber to affect brand affinity and consumer’s taste but also design the advertisements for the celebrities to feature in it.

Read More......

Billboard Advertising

Outdoor advertising is a low budget and effective way of advertising a company’s product. Among the entire methods billboard advertising is the most sort after method, which has been proven to be the best sales strategy in the recent times. Nearly 5.6 billion dollar was spent on billboard advertising alone, in the year 2006, as analyzed by Outdoor Advertising Association of America.

Billboard advertising is the best bet in outdoor advertising and isn’t that costly. And with the amount of exposure the product gets the money is worth it. In the past few years several factors have triggered billboard advertising and cost effectiveness being one of the prime reasons. One of the reasons being if an ad is placed in the local newspaper or a television channel the advertisement gets noticed for only thirty seconds and when the same advertisement is placed on billboard, it gets noticed through out the day, for months. Thousands of people view billboard everyday on their way to jobs or home, it doesn’t get lost in the pages like an advertisement placed in a newspaper or magazine. There is a frequent and continuous delivery of message. No other advertising method can grab the attention of people like billboard advertising. It creates brand awareness and strong name recognition.

One of the reasons behind the cost being low is technology. In the early years the billboards were hand-painted due to which the labor cost was high. Now, advertisers design and print their advertisements on a huge poster board or vinyl board by a computer-aided printer, which is very cost effective. Creativity can be achieved to the highest extent, with ease and less money. The brighter, colorful, creative the advertisement is, the more eye-catching it is. With the advancements in technology, it takes very less time to design billboards with unlimited possibilities.

Before placing a billboard advertisement in a particular area it’s better that a research is done about the interest of the people in and around that area. Like if the advertiser desires to post a billboard advertisement on a highway, he can choose the advertisement on a motel, cafeteria, or gas station. Depending on the locality specific potential customers should be targeted.

The cost is really reasonable. It varies from $1,000 to $3,000 per month. Ten advertisements will cost around $ 30,000. It might look like a big amount, but it costs almost same if placing a full-page ad in a newspaper for only a day. And if the effectiveness is considered for both the methods, newspaper advertisements are not even half as effective as billboard advertisements. When an advertisement is placed in a newspaper or in a magazine, the customer should reach out to see the advertisement, but when an advertisement is placed on a billboard, it is like reaching to the customers.

Thus, Billboard advertising has high-impact on people and is a cost-effective method of advertisement. The above-mentioned advantages are few of the many advantages of billboard advertising. And that’s the reason why all types of companies and businesses are choosing to go with billboard advertising. From placing the billboard at a theater multiplex, highway, airport, and even pasting them on cars, any kind of product can be advertised to any kind of audience. And the effectiveness of it can never be underestimated.

Read More......

Advertising using Power Words

Word cannot only influence the minds of people but can completely change their perception abut a particular thing. Words have the persuasion power to entice and motivate. They are used by the politicians, public relations personals, and even by parents to pass on their message. These words are known as power words and they can do wonders when used in advertisement.

New or improved words create a sense of curiosity. The customers get an impression that the product is something that is different from others and he tries to get it before anyone else does so as to have edge over others. The laundry products have always been advertised as new and improved, from years. Although it can be either new improved version of the existing product, but the power of both the words and the product reinforces each other’s strength.

Take for instance the line ‘Money back guarantee’, these power words helps gain the trust of the customer. It is a must to print these words at the closing line of an advertisement. After this sentence, the methods of payment and how money will be returned if the customer is not satisfied should be stated.

Most of the successful advertisements have a little known secret that surely generated curiosity within the reader. People are knowledge thirsty, they want to know what others do not know. They think that there is some vital information they are missing because of which they haven’t gained success in something particular.

Words ‘Insider say that’, is similar to ‘secret’. It gives out information from some expertise that is still unknown to the outside world and only if the customer gives money, information will be divulged to him.

Free word in the headline of the message simply does wonders. The reader easily absorbs the message, unless and until something free is given to the customer in reality. By any change, if the company tricks the customer into paying money for something, which was supposed to be free, the trust of the customer is lost instantly. Usually the word FREE is spelled as FR~E on websites as ISP filters blocks messages having the actual word, considering it to be some kind of spam.

You is a very important word to be used in an advertisement. It directly points out the advantages to the customer, if he buys a particular product or service. Step into the shoes of the customer and try to note down the points which will be of benefit and what points will decrease the interest. The advantages then should be referred to the customer by addressing them with ‘you’. The customer feels that he is being directly talked to.

The word ‘Immediately’ rings in the emergency. It can be interpreted as ‘Don’t wait any longer, get it now!’ This motivates the customer to take some necessary and quick action.

Power in itself is a powerful word. Give that power to the consumer and see the magic. This gives the consumer a feeling that he can get possession of something that he lacked till now and this could make him achieve the impossible.

The basis of a successful advertisement is to understand the consumer’s needs and then design the advertisement accordingly. Just stating the advantages of using the product or service of the company isn’t enough. Sentence should be so designed that the customer should see his advantage in the product. For example, when advertising for a digital camera, just stating that the in-built memory of the camera is of 1 GB, won’t do the trick. Instead, the sentence should be changed to ‘enough memory to store 350 pictures or 50 videos’. The solution to the problem of the customer is reflected in this sentence. Ideas can be taken from advertisements of other similar brands like how the sentences are written and placed in an advertisement. After the sentence framing, adding power words to spice up the advertisement will definitely make a winning ad campaign.

Read More......

Advergaming: Advertising through video games

The practice of using video games to promote a particular product or an organization is known as “Advergaming”. Wired magazine first used this term in a column to describe the commissioning of free online games by large companies, in 2001. There are three categories of Advergaming: ATL Advergaming, BTL Advergaming and TTL Advergaming.

ATL Advergaming can be vaguely explained as a promotional video game. The business incorporates interactive video games on their website so as to create more awareness about their product among the website visitors. This method is also used to attract more visitors to the site and to increase the traffic flow on the website. If the games are made for product advertising, the product is highlighted in the game.

Before the invention of the internet, floppy disks and later compact disks were used as a medium to promote games and in turn a particular product. It started with floppy disk basically to create awareness as well as product promotion. The first Advergame was distributed by American Home Food, which was developed by Chef Boyardee. Taco Bell and Coca Cola followed it by giving customers floppy disks containing promotional games. The first Advergame to be distributed on compact disk was by Chex and General Mill. The graphics of these games have matured from arcade style flash to three-dimensional.

BTL Advergaming comprises of recruitment tools like In-game advertising, militiamen and edutainment. Usually the mascot of the particular company is depicted as the hero in such games. Pepsi man and Burger man were the mascots used in promotional games designed by Pepsi and Burger King respectively. The storyline of these games can be commercial, educational or political like the game American Army created to attract more youth towards devoting their life to army and also games meant to promote sports like Formula One racing are also a part of this technique.

In-game advertising is more commercial type and is purely targeted for promotion of the product via the game. This is really picking up and even movies are promoted by this method. Like on the website of the movie, The Mummy, there are games which have a storyline similar to the movie and the player is given knowledge of the facts about the movie and its subject, Egyptian Mummy. Educational Advergaming refers to games that portray a moral message to the players.

These games can also act as a medium of advertisement themselves like in the video game of EA Sports; banners of Pepsi line the frame of the game. By using this strategy the companies are able to provide low price or free games to the consumers. This is also effective in reducing the price of games that have a monthly fee.

TTL Advergaming or through the line Advergaming is the most rare form of Advergaming. URL links are embedded into a game that takes the players to the web pages, which has BTL Advergaming. Different methods are used to attract the player to a particular webpage. In the game ” Enter the Matrix” URL hyperlinks are depicted in the background, which the player is forced to click to learn about the facts relating to the plot of the next level and at the same time advertises about the product. The curiosity to learn about the theme of the game attracts the player, although it might not be necessary to click to finish the game. Such kinds of games are usually known as link-chases as one link will lead to another. Website visitors are sometimes tempted with a prize to prompt them to click the URL.

This technique of advertising is really beneficial as it not only creates awareness among the player but also among his friends who lands the website upon friend’s suggestion. The success of Advergaming is dependant on word of mouth and thus is also known as viral marketing. In the year 2004, this industry generated around $83.6 million and involved 105 million players.

Read More......

Advertising: Self Promotion

Self-promotion is similar to spreading the word by any other means but with an artistic approach. If the artistic part were taken out of the equation advertising would look more like barging rather than self-promotion. There are many steps involved in this process. The first step is to collect and create useful content relating to the topic, which is a not an easy job.

In today’s fast paced world owning a website for your business is a must which is not a big deal anymore with so many people available who excel in web designing and also offer a competitive rate. There are many types of technologies involved in the creation of a website, a one page flash website wouldn’t take you places. Intense graphics should be incorporated to catch the eye of the customer. After the creation of website, the website content should be emphasized upon. Writers who expertise in search engine optimization should be raked in so that the page ranks amongst the top pages on Google, Yahoo and Msn. Search engines have become popular universally and your website doing good on them plays a more vital role than getting other kind of references. Hence, efforts should be made on making remarkable progress to bring your website in the hit list. Also, material on the website should be updated frequently to meet the changing needs of the people. Get someone to design a logo for the company and website which is catchy and delivers the right message to the customers.

Other than website content, articles should also be published in newspapers, magazines and online publications especially business oriented emphasizing on ten strong points which describes the best about the business or the product. Online publication will facilitate in providing successful searches to the targeted audience.

The next target method of advertising should be television. Putting a commercial during the prime time will spread the message to a larger crowd. The content of the advertising should be akin to the value of the product. Famous personalities can be roped in to endorse the product, which will not only attract common people but also their fans in buying the product.

From time to time it is essential to review the past work and improving on the mistakes previously committed. Once the previous mistakes are tackled, it wouldn’t hurt to analyze previous milestones, awards, and acquisitions. This increases the chances of running into something that really deserves to be highlighted to the public. The more accomplishments you display to the public the more fan-following your product will get.

Reviewing competitor’s work on a regular basis would prove fruitful. This would also help identify loopholes in your product that have been overlooked before and would provide the key reasons to improve on.

Although this is an old approach, snail mails are also one of the best advertising methods. As it’s a more energy consuming approach, it’s important that you have the addresses of the customers who are really in need of the product. Regular mails containing details about the new development will keep people informed about your company’s products. A more modern approach to this method is collecting e-mail ids of the targeted customers and posting them ads and latest deals. This is a cheaper and less time consuming approach compared to snail mails as you can mass email as many people as you want at any time.

Before releasing any product in the market, product testing should be done by giving out samples among the targeted customers. The feedbacks makes it more clear whether the product is ready to be released in the market or whether changes should be made to make it more appealing to the public. It is recommended to approach sincere friends, acquaintances, partners and clients at first to test your product and then go to the public, as expert advice is more useful.

To make more brownie points, address the customers and clients and appreciate them for their contribution in making the product popular. Send a token of thanks on special occasions like festivals or on accomplishing an important task. Customers can also be thanked by offering special discounts and free gifts. After gaining popularity focus should be on retaining the reputation rather than taking things for granted.

Read More......

Low Budget Advertising

After the advent of online selling sites, shopping has been made so easy that it can be done within the comfort of the home. Online selling gave rise to online advertising also known as iAdvertising, which is proving to be the best way to reach a larger audience within a short time using less money.

There are many options available on the Internet to get started. Creating a website and then placing its link on different websites is one of the ways. Pages can be submitted to the search engines after applying search engine optimization techniques. Websites offer various payment methods. Some take money for simply placing an ad or link on their website, some take money only if a visitors clicks on the link or website and some take money only if the visitors visits a link and have bought something or availed some service. There are options available for the type of ad being placed. There are pop-up ads, banner ads, wallpaper ads, polite ads, video ads, etc. Businesses with really low budget can send mails to targeted customers.

Radio stations offer a good price to advertise during the non-peak time. Get in touch with the local station and try to ask for a discount. The same applies to television; even they have a minimal amount for advertising slots during the non-prime hours, especially after midnight. Contact different television station to compare pricing.

The age-old tradition of advertising in yellow pages directories is always a success. All businesses from small to big register themselves in the yellow pages and have sworn to be benefited from it. People can look up for contact numbers, addresses and services offered directly from the pages.

Newspaper is the next best thing. First analyze the audience to be targeted by age group, sex, and location. Choose the local newspaper and section where the ad should be placed depending on the audiences to be targeted. The classifieds department of the local newspapers have special offers, find out in detail about the pricing structure for the size of the advertisements, number of words, font size, etc.

Design the business cards with accuracy. Try to include all the vital information about the business like the name of the company, where it is located, services provided, working hours, and contact information like landline number, cell number and person to be contacted. Personalized business cards are good way of reaching the genuine customers.

Other way to advertise is to give presentations on your products. Brochures can be inserted in the business presentation package. Other than things like history of the company and annual turn-up, once again business cards can be included in the package. Distribute newsletters with information about the latest offers and discounts. Informational letters of a page length and e-mails can be sent too on a regular basis. All this can become lot easier by getting in touch with companies who can provide the mailing list of a particular locality and it comes for a very small price. Again the yellow pages can be referred to get information about such companies. After getting the information get in touch with company to get a copy of the latest mailing list. Different companies charge different prices

The word of mouth is also a good method of advertising. Try growing the links in your network and join organizations which deals with advertising like trade associations and chamber of commerce. Active participation in events of these organizations eventually helps reaching more number of people.

Read More......

Advertising on Television

Advertisements of products, organizations, and services are generally aired on television. This is be done by buying slots on the airtime from a particular television channel. Price depends on the popularity of the channel, time the commercial is being aired, number of viewers and length of the commercial. Placing a commercial on local channels is more affordable than on national channel where the cost is almost double.

When thinking of placing a commercial on television it is advised that you first understand what audience needs to be reached. Different audiences have different taste, which can be determined by their choice of television show like celebrity talk, cartoons, sports, reality, news, movies, soaps, prime time etc. Prime time is usually from 6 to 7 pm and is the most expensive slot. Following it is the news time at noon or 10-11 pm slots, which are proven to be the most effective time slots for the success of a commercial. More affordable is the 12-4 pm soap time. Always check out with the sales representative for the prices. When advertising on national level, check out an ad agency that usually works on commission basis. It’s highly recommended to negotiate during a re-run of the advertisement and stay away from paying the complete amount.

Compare the prices of different networks and different programs before you place an ad. Another money saving trick is to buy a thirty seconds slot and air commercials of ten to fifteen seconds of length one after the other. This increases the possibility of target viewers seeing the commercial without the cost of re-runs. But this is risky as the pressure of conveying critical information in a short period of time increases. So the commercials should not be so short that the actual message couldn’t be delivered correctly to the audience. Usually a reminder commercial can be of a shorter duration.

Look out for the people who would like to buy a slot that has already been purchased. This can be very tricky as it will be more like a bid for which they will be ready to pay a larger amount sometimes even double because they badly need a slot. This usually happens during the holiday season, which comes in the last quarter of the year around New Years Eve, Thanksgiving holidays and Christmas holidays. Best time of the year to buy slots for commercial is the first and second quarter of the year. Price is usually negotiable during the first quarter as the sales representatives give discounts to advertisers who have spend a lot of money advertising during the holiday season and are trying to recover from it.

If planning to pay for advertising commercials for the whole year check out the discounts that are being offered for advertising round the year. Usually a five percent discount is offered when signing for a six-month time period and ten percent when signing for a twelve-month time period. But do keep in mind to check out exactly when the commercials are being aired because these discounts are usually offered to distract people from this point and the commercials are aired during odd hours and also not during the holiday season.

The very first commercial to go on air was of Bulova Watch Company on WNBC, United States of America on July 1, 1941. And ever since then there have been no stopping and now commercials sell anything that one can ever imagine.

Read More......

Advertising on Internet

Ever since the advent of Internet, advertising on the World Wide Web has been very popular. Many corporations, companies and business have taken advantage of this and you can see ads on any web pages you visit. Consumer can go to any search engine and type the keyword relating to what they are looking for and hit search and they will be provided with a huge list from which they can select. This is a very cost effective and time saving method of advertising.

It has become really easy for any business to have a personalized website by which they can advertise, directly interact with the customer; provide details about their product and services. Regular newsletters, offers, discounts can be pasted on site to increase the interest of the website visitors.

Since it’s easy to reach any kind of audience concerning any kind of business, the possibility of misuse is always there. Based on this Internet advertising is classified into two kinds of advertisement, legal online advertising and illegal online advertising. Legal online advertising includes online advertising directories, search engine advertising, e-mail advertising, and desktop advertising. Illegal advertising is more commonly know as spamming. This is usually done by altering some system settings with the help of external applications after which pop-ups are sent to a particular network or computer. The external applications are known as adware or spyware. Some of these are really harmful, the most famous being Trojans, which are very hard to uninstall and remove from the system.

With the increase in technology, special effects are being used to make advertisement more interesting. Vivid colors, good page layout and lots of imagination is involved. Typically Adobe Flash is used to design advertisements these days. Depending on the technology being used to design advertisements can be classified into various categories.

Banner ads are animations displayed on the website usually created in HTML or Eudora. There is a range of type and sizes of the ads. Trick banner ads are banner ads that have an extra functionality of dialog boxes and buttons and are displayed as an alert or error message.

A pop-up is an advertisement displayed in a new window that covers up the active web page. A pop-under advertisement opens in another window that is under the active web page and can be seen after the present window is either closed or minimized.

Interstitial ads are those that are displayed before directing over to the desired page.

Wallpaper ads form the background of the web page.

The ads that float on the screen are known as a floating ad.

Polite ads download on a low pace without interrupting the normal functioning of the website.

An ad that enlarges and changes the contents of the page being displayed is known as expanding ad.

Advertisements which are displayed in a video form on a website is known as a video ad.

There are many ways by which advertising slots can be purchased on Internet like CPM, CPV, CPC, CPA, CPL and CPO. CPM or cost per mil means that the advertiser is meant to pay for a particular number of people to whom the advertisement will be exposed. CPV or cost per visitor means that the advertiser is meant to pay for the people to whom the advertisement was delivered. CPC or cost per click means paying for the number of clicks made on the advertisement by the visitors. Although the advertisement is put up on the website, the amount is paid only after the visitor clicks on the URL of the advertisement. CPA or cost per action means that the advertisement publisher bares all the charges of advertisement, but he gets paid only if the visitor clicks on the advertisement and purchases a product or signs-up for a service. CPL or cost per lead is similar to CPA, only that the visitor doesn’t have to necessarily buy anything; he or she can simply apply to get regular newsletters and special offers. CPO or cost per order is where the advertiser pays each time an order is placed.

Online advertisements cannot only be used to promote a product or service but in fact they can be used for purposes like promoting charity and spreading education.

Read More......

Advertising in Yellow Pages

Some people believe that yellow pages do not receive response like other advertising methods do and this is true to some extent but not in totality. When talking about traditional yellow pages, there sure is a decline in number of people opting for advertising in it. According to a recent report, even the most attractive advertisement in a particular section is not getting the response from callers like they used to get before. On the contrary, the prices of placing ads in directories are on a rise, which speaks a different, story altogether.

In reality different categories are witnessing different rates of decline. Like the lawyers category is seeing the maximum decline, where as emergency service provider’s section has the same call rate. And sections like mobile phones, real estate and furniture are seeing a rise due to the increasing customer demand. Altering the size of the advertisement or changing the look cannot do wonders any more.

Experts suggest that relying on yellow pages to get customers isn’t enough. Other options should be considered as well along with it. With the Internet reaching every home, nearly half of the Internet users use the net everyday. They prefer to buy stuff online, from the comfort of their homes. Research should be done on the Internet to get reviews about the product. People, who don’t usually shop online, also are also opting to shop online as information is provided at the click of a mouse. It is easier for people to trust as customers who used the product give their feedback about the product after using it.

A relatively newer concept is the yellow pages going online. The good thing about them is that they are updated frequently unlike the printed directories and can be viewed from any part of the world. According to researches conducted, the response increased by twenty five percent every year. So those who are interested to invest in yellow pages advertising can think of going online. Directories are submitted to search engines, which on typing a keyword or phrase bring the results. Small and local businesses, too, can land on the pages brought by the result. The cost of creating a website can be saved if all the relevant information about the company is included in the online yellow pages. Look out for the date to renew the directory listing, and if there is a need to change the advertisement, it is not a big problem on online yellow pages. Some starter websites offer to place advertisement in their yellow pages for free. Search out for such websites on the Internet.

Larger businesses can start their own websites and place links in the online yellow pages. Articles can be framed about the business and can be submitted to Ezines and websites related to the area of business. Some websites also allow posting articles for free. The purpose of the yellow pages is basically to get potential customers but that doesn’t mean that existing customers should be neglected. Steps should be taken to strengthen the relationship with them and to retain their trust by maintaining the standard of the products supplied to them. Once they are completely satisfied, the price-rise won’t bother them and they will talk about the company to people they know, which will fetch new customers.

The objective is to work smartly and select the right method of advertising. If a business isn’t using any other method for advertising apart from using yellow pages, it can cause problems and the products may not sell. Analyze how much money is spent on placing ads in directories and estimate whether the amount of customers the business gets is desirable. Whenever a call is received from a potential customer, ask them how they got to know about the enterprise. This will help to analyze which advertising method is ideal for the business. It is never late to correct the mistake and go for the right method.

Read More......

Advertising for Free

Advertising for free seems like an impossible thing when heard. But there are several ways by which the cost of advertisement can be conserved, with the help of some imagination and creativity.

A business wanting to advertise, can write articles related to their field of expertise that can be submitted to media and publications having interest in that particular field. The advertising article can have information about the company and dealership opportunity. Due to the rise in Internet users and websites, new websites have sprung up which offer free services. Articles can be written for these websites and they can be broadcasted for free, which will be viewed by hundreds of people everyday.

Once the business has gained some recognition, within no time it will gain popularity also among the crowds. This popularity can lead to them being invited on radio and television talk shows and even to interviews. Such kind of opportunities shouldn’t be missed as they provide a chance for free promotion. If it is taking a long time to get a break, the producer can be addressed with a letter that can be followed up by a telephone call or in-person visit. During the visit, the nature of expertise can be discussed about the business, which will be of interest to the viewers of the particular channel. Once a businessperson gains the status of being public-friendly, more offers start pouring in.

Free bulletin board located in the neighborhood, like in grocery stores, libraries, and salons, are another good idea. Advertising circulars can be posted on such boards for free. Circulars for mass distribution can be handed out at the mall, shopping center, bus stops, particularly on weekends when there is a big rush. Students can be hired on part time basis for this purpose.

Promotional advertisement can be printed on the envelopes used by the business firms. Both the sender and the receiver can view this advertisement. Promotional offers can be sent to customers by postcards, which should be utilized to its full, leaving only place left for writing the address.

Some of the new mail order publications offer free first time and seasonal deductions for advertisers. Other publications offer pay per inquiry space. Inquiries can be made about stand-by space, which means that the publication holds the submission of advertisement until the space is not sold and in that case, thirty three percent saving can be achieved. Usually local newspapers provide these kinds of offers.

If the business is involved in ad sheet or catalog publishing, other publishers can be contacted for the purpose of bartering an advertising exchange. They can place advertisement in their publication, in return for placing their advertisement in the business’s publication.

Free offers can be provided to the customer. This can be done by emailing or printing newsletter about information regarding the area of interest of the targeted customers and can be made popular by using tag lines. Attach a free coupon with it, which the customers can use it for shopping, if a criterion is met like minimum purchase of $ 50. By this the response will be huge and most of them will purchase something or the other to avail the free offer. The basic ingredient for advertising for free is imagination and research. Opportunities should be searched and a strong working force should be applied to increase the sales.

Read More......

Will Camera Phones Destroy Photography?

In any “photo op” moment any more, it is impossible to miss the invasion of the camera phone. Where it used to be easy to tell when a camera was around and if people had them handy, now anyone with a phone could be a clandestine photographer. Even at occasions that used to be ruled by the professional photographer such as weddings and the like, we now see those dozens of hands going up snapping photos with camera phones that seem to dominate the scene.

Conventional photography is a highly developed art form and profession. The precision of the equipment and the ability of photographers to deliver a high quality product to their customers is well known and the result of decades of evolution of the craft. But today it is possible for anyone to become an amateur photographer using that tiny cell phone in their pocket or purse.

The question needs serious consideration for three audiences. For the professional photographer, is this the end of your profession? Will digital phones wipe out your customer base and make you obsolete? For the aspiring photographer, what about your future? Should you even invest in learning to use the sophisticated equipment that makes professional photography so superior? Why bother if camera phones are going to make it all obsolete? And for you the consumer, can you get the same quality of photographs with using camera phones as you can by hiring a photographer?

These are valid questions. It is very common when a new technology begins to make inroads into a profession for the old guard of that profession to feel threatened. It happened when television came along and the media called it the death of radio. It happened when talkies and then color was introduced to movies and television and at each technological improvement in the music world. And with each dire prediction of the demise of an industry, the opposite took place and that industry adjusted, evolved, got better and prospered all the more.

So there are good reasons not to worry that camera phones is going to destroy photography as we know it including…

* Camera phones cannot achieve the same levels of quality. There is a good reason that the professional photographer has invested in the highly sophisticated equipment that he has in his studio and that he or she takes to a shoot. The many years and decades of research have surfaced the problems with quality that primitive equipment could not deal with. Modern photography equipment has precise instrumentation to handle lighting issues to properly frame each photograph and to produce a professional quality outcome that people want from a wedding, a portrait or any kind of professional photography. You can bet that forensic photography, fashion photography and photography for publication will ever be willing to accept the low standards of quality that are the outcome of camera phone pictures.

* It’s an amateur game. When you see kids holding up their camera phones at a concert to steal a picture, you know that device is not going to result in a professional quality shot. This is especially true in a live setting like a concert where there are myriads of issues such as lighting, visual noise and other problems that have to be overcome with sophisticated instrumentation just not available on a camera phone. Camera phones are an amateur photography device. And they will always occupy that niche.

* Standards of the final product would be compromised. And high standards of quality are what make professional photography a value to it’s customers.

This is not to cast camera phones in a negative light. They have their place and they are great fun. But we in the professional photography world have nothing to fear from the growth of this technology.

Read More......

Wildlife Photography, Catching The Animals By Surprise

Photography has been around for more than a century and our topics will never cease. There is portrait, landscape, wedding, and wildlife photography just to name a few. One of the most rewarding styles of photography centers on wildlife. It may take you several hours before finding the perfect picture and capturing it, but the reward is more than worth the wait.

Wildlife photography is perhaps the most difficult in the profession. You have to have the time, inclination, and of course the camera. Most wildlife shots are captured using a telephoto lens because the animal will not walk near you. Every once in a while you will be able to capture the fox, elk, bear or other animal as it comes through the woods in your path, however most of the time they are yards away and elusive.

Wildlife photography doesn’t wait for you to happen a long and snap a photo. You need to immerse yourself in the site you choose your camera at the ready, and set for the light of the day. Most automatic cameras work great on the preset for those who are just learning to take wildlife photographs. Photography has always been about the moment and the best photographers can catch the moment with a speed and agility of the animal they are capturing.

Start with small subjects when you begin your foray into wildlife photography. Practice on your pet. Let them roam naturally and see if you can capture the wild and crazy moments on film without the photograph ending up blurry. All great photographers have studied and practiced. They also use more than one shot. Making sure your camera has a quick shutter speed will help you take more than one shot as your move with the animal. When you have the subject in your site you need to follow it while focusing and then quickly snap as many pictures as you can before they move out of site. This technique is known as panning. Rather than the subject coming to you, you follow the subject.

When you have mastered your pets you can begin to explore the outdoor world of wildlife photography. Some of your subjects will be standing still and this is another practice technique. Be aware of the lighting and placement while trying not to disturb the animal. It is most easy to get a squirrel when they are intent on eating or foraging for food. If you stay silent and walk carefully you can often get pretty close.

If you are choosing a larger subject such as a deer or bear you will want to stay far enough away to get the shot, and not draw attention to yourself. Bears are dangerous creatures, but they can be photographed if you use common sense and don’t tread upon their territory. Wildlife photography and thus the photographers have a code of ethics when attaining the perfect shots. You will want to follow these ethics for your safety and the animals.

Wildlife photography is a waiting game for the perfect picture to sprint across your viewfinder. It takes patience and a lot of practice, but the reward of having a family member or friend go, “ where did you get that photograph? I have got to have one,” will sweeten the deal.

Read More......

Where to Go to Learn From the Photography Masters

Whether you are looking for the right path for your budding student photographer in your family or looking on how to jump-start your own photography career, the right school can make all the difference. There is no question that photography is an outstanding career path with many different directions that someone skilled with a camera might go.

The diversity of careers in photography is truly amazing. From the base talent in photography and a solid understanding of new and emerging technologies, the sky is the limit for a talented photographer with a solid education under his or her belt. That is because photography is both an art form and a solid technical skill. So the same school might produce an award-winning artist, a successful wedding photographer, a fashion photographer, a police investigator taking pictures of crime scenes, or a crack newspaper photographer.

So the question emerges as to what kind of photography school to pick for yourself or the student in your family that wants the best education possible. How you pick any school is very much influenced by both how you approach education in general and what your objectives are.

Some would advocate that you look to get into the finest artistic photography schools in the country. If you wish to go down that path, then for sure the Brooks Institute of photography or one of the elite east coast schools of artistic photography is a noble ambition. But there are three drawbacks to trying to attend such schools. First is, of course, the potential cost. Any elite school is going to charge elite prices. And if you are like most of us, you want to get the most education for your money. So doing some caparison shopping for a school is in order.

The second drawback is getting admitted. Most of the top-flight schools have waiting lists and tough entry requirements that may make that ambition more demanding than is necessary. But the most meaningful drawback is that these schools may not be the right choice for the career you or the photography student in your life may wish to pursue. So a good general set of guidelines on how to evaluate a wide variety of photography schools is in order. The guidelines might include…

. What kind of photography is right for the student? A program geared toward artistic photography that will result in pieces hanging in a modern art museum will have a very different approach than a program to train forensic photographers. Your student may not know right away what field they want to go into. If so, getting started at a generic school such as a photography emphasis at the local junior college may be the right choice until the career path becomes clearer.

. Is it a legitimate school? You want to avoid schools that are run from the internet or that you read about on the back of a matchbook. A legitimate school will produce a recognized degree that will be well respected in the industry and will help the student get jobs.

. What is available locally? Why go out of town or out of state if you have good local schools? Many state universities, junior colleges and local tech schools have find programs.

. How diverse and up to date is the program? Will your student get exposed to the newest of technology in the field of photography? Will they get trained in how to service many different types of photography assignments?

. How does the program’s job placement rating look? What percentage of graduates from this program get jobs? How well respected is this school by businesses who employ photographers?

These are solid evaluation criteria. And if you apply these standards to a couple dozen of the finest schools both locally and nationally, before long a short list of good schools will emerge. From there, some site visits and interviews with teachers and graduates will narrow things down. And you will be glad you “did your homework” to find the kind of photography school that will take you or the student in your life to the next level of success in their love of photography.

Read More......

What Do You Know About Stock Photography

Stock photography, groups of photographs that people take, grouped and licensed for selling purposes. Instead of taking new pictures every time they need pictures, many people use the stock photography method. People that work for magazines, as graphic artists, and advertising agencies sometimes use public pictures instead of hiring photographers for individual projects.

Alternate names for stock photography is picture libraries, photo archives or image banks. Typically, in order to use these pictures, although publicly available, there is a small fee or a purchasing of usage rights that comes with a fee in order to use the pictures. Sometimes a membership purchase allows you to have access to a particular group of stock photography.

Saving time and money, stock photography is a great way to enhance newsletters, blogs, advertisements, company brochures and more. It is obviously less expensive than putting a full time photographer on staff and takes less time if you need images of something specific. Many times, it is as easy as using a search engine or checking an email.

Sometimes full rights and usage is available for purchase. Other times, full rights are limited. In those cases, photographers might be requiring that they receive a certain percentage of sales and or royalties of usage. Agencies usually hold the images on files and negotiate fees. With the technology and easy access that the internet provides, negotiations are quicker and easier.

The cost of using stock photos depends on how long the pictures will be used, what location the images will be used, if the original photographer wants royalties and how many people the photo will be distributed to or seen by. Prices for stock photography can be anywhere from one dollar to two hundred dollars.

There are several different pricing arrangements. Royalty free stock photography allows the buyer to use photographs multiple times in multiple ways. When you buy royalty free pictures, there is only a one-time charge for unlimited usage. When the images you purchase have a royalty free section, the agency is able to resell the image to others. If an image is rights managed, there is a negotiated price for each time that it is used.

Sometimes a buyer of stock photography might desire to have exclusive rights to the images. In that case, no one else will be able to use the pictures once exclusive rights have been purchased. It may cost thousands of dollars to purchase exclusive rights because agencies who handle the sales have to make sure that they are making a profitable sale. If a photograph would make more money staying in circulation, they would lose out selling exclusive rights.

Stock photographers sometimes work with agencies producing images for them alone. Different subjects and categories might need multiple varieties of images. Sometimes contributors work for multiple agencies selling their photographs for a fee. They work out arrangements for royalties or they sell their shots for full rights. This has proved to be a big business for photographers around the world.

Stock photography started in the early 1920s. It especially grew as its own specialty by the 1980s. Galleries hold hundreds, thousands and even millions of pictures available for purchase. Stock houses sprung up in many different places. By 2000, online stock photography became microstock photography, which we call photo archives online. Companies like istock photo and bigstock photo offer you the opportunity to purchase so many pictures and when you use them up you can add more credits for another fee. Photos that are distributed online are typically less expensive than those that are sold hard copy.

Websites like www.shutterpoint.com and www.fotolibra.com allow stock photographers to upload and sell their images. It is a great way to market pictures and earn money with photography. You can also purchase images at those websites as well. With all the stock photography sites available, one may find pictures you never even heard of before.

Read More......

Wedding Pictures with Style

Your wedding album will be one of the most precious memories of this big day that you will have. But have you ever noticed how so many of those “professional” pictures are all the same from wedding album to wedding album? In fact, one thing that jumps out about the wedding photographer is that for a little while on the wedding day, everything halts and it’s all about him.

You know the drill. The ceremony is exciting and fun and full of joy, some tears and plenty of meaning as the bride and groom kiss and become one family. Then it’s all over and everybody files out to go to the reception to dance, have cake and celebrate this union. But wait, the whole proceeding has to grind to a halt while the photographer stages the wedding party for as long as an hour or more to “recreate” the ceremony and make those perfect wedding photos. Meanwhile the reception may be getting underway and many of the guests that the bride or the groom or others in the family want to hug and share the joy with may have to go because they just can’t wait out a fussy photographer.

Somehow this complete disruption to the day has become accepted as just part of what the wedding day is all about. And the worst part about it is that the photographs, while nice and well staged, look like a bunch of mannequins being arranged for a store window. The joy and fun of the ceremony is over. For decades to come everybody will say they are beautiful and meaningful but if you look closely the wedding party looks nervous, uncomfortable, bored and like they wish they were somewhere else.

Well maybe its time to throw that tradition out and put some creativity into how the wedding photos and the wedding photographer works in your wedding. By finding a photographer who will put together some wedding pictures that have some style, some creativity and some sense of inventiveness, you will have that wedding album that really is full of memories worth remembering.

To get that kind of photographer, you are going to have to start early. You have to find that maverick photographer that “gets it” that the wedding is about the people, not the gowns and the hall and that his photographs must shout out “this was a wonderful day and we celebrated this union.”

You may have to look outside of the conventional “wedding photographers” listing in the phone book. An artistic photographer may be more appropriate. But be patient and find one that is just as professional as any photographer in that yellow pages but can bring some creativity and investment of getting to know this wedding party to the job of taking your important wedding pictures.

That wedding photographer should become as much a part of the wedding party as the groomsmen. After all, if he is going to capture the personality of this couple, he will have to get to know you. Spend some informal time with him and share those fun memories of when you met, those special times while you dated and certainly those very special places where important moments in your relationship took place.

Armed with that kind of creative individual in charge of your wedding photographs, you will look forward with great anticipation to what he comes up with. Many of the best shots will be created before the wedding, at some of those special places and he can Photoshop them to blend them with wedding day moments.

Above all that wedding photographer will understand that he is there to serve this wedding and capture those special moments as they occur. Sure, you may “pose” for a picture from time to time but this whole business of bringing the wedding day to a grinding halt to take stilted pictures of bored wedding party members will go out with the trash. The outcome will be wedding pictures with style, with life and a lot of love in them to reflect the love that was exchanged in those vows and the love of family and friends as they enjoyed this magical day with you.

Read More......

Video Like Scorsese

When your passion and perhaps your livelihood is the creation of quality videos for people’s events, you probably have some heroes. Martin Scorsese is somewhat of an icon because he is known for his stylistic videography in his movies. Now, you don’t necessary need as much style as a Scorsese gets in movies that win him academy awards. But such professionals who are both precise and very good at their work and creative in how they get their shots are an inspiration to the rest of us.

So how can you go about becoming your own version of “Scorsese” in reaching higher standards of professionalism in the video you do for your customers or friends? Well, sometimes you just have to go back to basics

When you go on a shoot, think of yourself like you are going on an assignment into a war zone. Of course, hopefully, nobody will be firing guns at you. But like a battle, you have to be totally prepared going in. There is no calling “cut” if you are filming your son’s first baseball game. You will get it or not on the first take so your equipment has to be ready and you have to be ready. So think through some of your pre-shoot preparations for the big day.

Inspect, clean, repair and test your equipment the night before. Make sure you have any support materials such as batteries, lights for your flash or if you use a lamp to accentuate indoor shots. And think through the various ways your equipment may have to support you and how you can support it?

What if something needs electricity but is too far from the outlet? Bring extension cords. What if you need more electricity then plugs are handy? Bring power strips. What if have extension cords where people will walk? Bring duct tape. What if you have to get that duct tape up fast? Bring a good knife or cutting blade. It pays to play these situations out in your mind and be prepared as you go to battle.

Framing a shot so it looks good in the final cut takes some talent and skill to get what you want where you need it to happen. If the scene is very active, like a sporting event, you need to be able to move, set, shoot and break down and do it again and again all day long.

That means your equipment has to be light and self contained but you need to be armed to swap things out on your feet. A well prepared supplies bag that you can get into, swap out a lens, a battery or other needs on the fly is essential to being that mobile. And you have to know your equipment so well that you can literally lock and load in seconds so important shots don’t leave you behind. Some practice with your camera, tripod, lights, supply bags and anything else you have to have for such mobility will pay off big time during the shoot.

You may have cringed when you saw the word tripod but get used to it. Don’t cut corners on this “accessory”. The tripod should be as flexible as your body so you can drop it for a ground shot and have it up and set quickly each time you need to reposition. But despite the “bother” this might cause, the tripod alone may make your shots 100% more professional.

Knowing your gear and being prepared are the two top commandments of producing high quality professional video. It may not make you a “Scorsese”, but it will take you a long way in that direction in the improvement you will see in your work.

Read More......

Videography Tips from the Pros

Making videos or “videography” is a different animal from photography. When you are trying to capture great pictures for a portrait or an event, you think in terms of still shots. In your mind the objective is “what will make a great picture.”

Video opens up whole scenes to be captured on film, for better and for worse. But it also opens up a lot of opportunity for mistakes, unexpected results or interruptions and surprises. Not only do you have to continue to think about what makes a great shot, you now have sound and movement issues to factor in. So while videography is much more fun, it also can be a lot more work.

You are trying to find a middle ground when you start offering video as part of your services. You know that anybody can bring a camcorder and capture video streams. These days they can even do it with their phone. But you want to create a more professional shot than the high school kid with a camcorder. Then again, you are not trying to win an academy award here. So the level of professionalism has to be better than amateur so you can justify charging for it but it doesn’t have to be great art to be a good video that the customer will be happy with.

To accomplish this mix of perfectionism and compromise, a few tips from the pros who have already set up a video business can help a lot. Here are what many of the old pros tell us to focus on especially as we are getting our video business up and running…

The cornerstone advice that the pros give about making great video is plan ahead. The more you know about your shoot, the better equipped you are when you show up. If you are shooting a wedding, visit the chapel, perhaps the reception hall and plan where you will set up to capture the best images. Plan your routes as you move around so you can create a smooth flow that works with the wedding procession rather than interrupts it.

The same is true of any event. Even a sporting event, as spontaneous as that is, will offer some less traveled areas where you can position yourself to catch the action. If the best location for capturing video is above or a distance from the activity, then you know you will need to use zoom and focus differently than if you can be in the middle of the action. This helps you plan how to prepare your equipment and your crew who will be supporting the shoot.

Lighting is something that must be part of your preplanning so you have sufficient light so the action and facial reactions are easy to pick out on the video. Outdoors, keep the sun behind you if at all possible. Indoors, scout out how the existing lighting will look on video during the hours that you will be shooting. If they are not sufficient, you should get in there and set your lights in place well in advance of the event and work with the event organizers so they know your lights will be on during the event. The people who hired you want a great video so they will work with you. But you have to let them know what is going on.

A good video is a combination of stability of the camera and constant movement. So use a tripod to stabilize the shots when the video is being actively shot. But you have to be able to move the set up quickly to a new location. So make sure that your equipment is well maintained and that cameras, tripods and that all supplies are quickly accessible for field changes or repairs.

One of the most valuable insider tips is to shoot with the intention of editing. In that way, you will shoot more footage than you need, knowing you are going to edit it together later. You can go back and capture connecting video shots to smooth out the action and you don’t have to get upset if you get some bad footage. These and many other talents you will develop will take you to that level of professionalism you want to reach. And your customers will notice it too and come back for more of your talented videography.

Read More......

Tips For Photographing Your Cat

Every cat is proud of his or her friendly feline. Cats make perfect subjects in which to photograph. You can catch your cat and a variety of interesting and fun poses when you know how to take pictures of your cat. If you are interested in photographing your cat, here are some tips to help you get the best shots.

Catch your Cat Napping

Nothing looks quite as relaxing as a cat taking a nap. Cats do sleep a lot, so if you take a picture of your cat napping, you have plenty of opportunity. The best time to take a picture of your cat is to catch it when it is asleep. You can take close-ups of your cat either as it sleeps, or gently wake your cat up for a relaxed look. For a nice shot of your cat, try gently rubbing your cat’s belly right when you want to snap a picture. This will encourage your cat to roll over on its back.

Natural Sunlight

When you think of a sleeping cat, where do most cats enjoy sleeping? You can usually find a cat napping in the sun. If you have a window that gets full or filtered sunlight during the day, then try to open the curtains or blinds to encourage cap napping. As soon as you see your cat sit in the sun, try to take a few pictures. When the sunlight is good, try a few shots without using your flash. This will give your picture a nice natural glowing effect. In addition, natural light often works best anyway because if you use a bright flash, your cat will usually close his or her eyes or the eyes could end up looking red.

Forget Posing and Planning

Cats are much for posing. You cannot really ask that a cat stay and sit. When you take pictures of your cat, you should always have your camera on hand for candid shots. Look at your cat during the day and determine your cat’s schedule and favorite places. Work around your cat and you will get better pictures. Try to be spontaneous, and above all stay patient. It may take several tries to get a couple of great shots, but posing your cat rarely works.

I have tried to get my three cats to pose and let me take a picture, but even though they sleep together, play together, they cannot stand or in this sit next to each without someone starting something. If I had three people to help and set back out of the picture, it might work. As you can see, cat’s needs to do what cats do and take your pictures that way.

Get Help

Another good tip for taking pictures of your cat is to get help. You can get great pictures of playful cats and kittens by having someone help you wiggle a string, the throw a ball or call the cat’s name. It is very difficult to try to play with your cat and take pictures at the same time. Your pictures will turn out much better if you get someone to help you. In addition, if you are trying to get a picture of your cat looking directly at your camera, have someone stand above you can call the cat's name, or make a noise that will prompt the cat to look directly above your head.

If you are a patient and willing, you can get some excellent shots of your cat. Cats are so fun to take pictures of because you never know what they will do. Keep your camera handy and ready to go as soon as your cat springs into action. Cat’s normal activity seems to make us smile and laugh, their antics always may wonderful pictures. Pictures of kittens playing from birth on also make for some great pictures. If you have the camera, you will never miss the perfect picture.

Read More......

The World Of Underwater Photography

Underwater photography can be very fun and interesting. It is not everyday that people get to go under water and take pictures of the wildlife that exists there. There are many different types of wildlife underwater including the living and moving ones such as fish and sharks, and the non-moving ones such as coral. Underwater photography has become a huge sport because of the different kinds of things that one finds to photograph underwater.

Many digital cameras today are underwater cameras. More and more pictures are popping up all over the internet from underwater sources. This is because of the availability of taking cameras underwater and taking pictures of everything there.

The only problem with these photos is that the people think that they can take a camera, go underwater and start taking pictures. The key is knowing how and where to take pictures. Many underwater photos come out horrible and it is impossible to see anything because the picture quality was poor. The sunlight works differently underwater and many times photos are just a white blur because taken directly into a sunray.

Pictures underwater can turn out beautiful if you take it the right way. There is a lot of different gear that goes along with underwater photography. Many different forms of cameras, camera holders, and lights need to be purchased to make some perfect underwater pictures.

Taking pictures in the ocean is probably the first step to taking great pictures underwater. Many times, lakes and ponds can be much too murky with mud and dirt and makes it unable to see anything. In the ocean, some parts are so clear you can see up to five feet down, so the underwater picture comes out perfectly because there is no pollution to disturb the image.

Some different designed cameras work better underwater than others when diving. These pictures come out amazing, because they are usually several hundred feet underwater where not a lot of pictures come from in the first place. Some of the photos come out with strange things that one has never seen before.

Other then the life forms that live in water, it is also fun to take pictures of people underwater. Underwater expressions can be quite funny if the right moment is captured. Many people take pictures of their children and each other under water while they are vacation. In Florida, many people take pictures of themselves with the manatees while they are swimming by. Taking real life underwater pictures is a great keepsake for the entire family and great to share with family and friends as well as area photographers who have never had the chance to experience such good fortune.

Water is unpredictable and that is what makes underwater photography so great. The underwater effect that makes everything unpredictable makes pictures that were not expected. This makes the pictures all the better because it is extremely hard to set up a pose for an underwater photograph. Underwater photography will continue to change as the cameras in today’s world continue to become more advanced. Photos can already be taken underwater while the person is still on a boat, making it much safer than before. We will continue to see more and more of these underwater adventures with amazing pictures coming from deep below the ocean surface in the coming years and see extraordinary photos from strange creatures that no one has ever identified

Underwater photography will continue to become a thing that everybody wants to do more especially when you go on vacations and out of town to the ocean. It is a fun sport that anybody can participate in without much experience but a fun sport if the people know what they are doing with their equipment. When you decide to show your photography skills to everyone, they will see what they are missing and might decide to take up the hobby of underwater photography themselves.

Read More......

The Use Of Lenses In Photography

Just having a camera is not going to get you the best pictures. Most of us who take photos are amateurs in the art world, but with the right equipment our photography can be elevated to a new height. Lenses are important especially when you settle on a medium you will train in. Most photographers choose one area of photography to specialize in. There are many types of lenses, the standard 35- 80mm, telephoto, and panoramic lenses.

Most cameras have a 35- 80 mm lens, even the point and shoot type. Often when you purchase a camera casing they will sell you the standard lens with it. All lenses are interchangeable. You do have to stick with the same brand of lenses as your camera and make sure the diameter is the same. The diameter of most lenses is the same as long as you keep to the same brand. The 35- 80 mm lens tells you the extent of reach. While you can take photographs several miles away with a standard lens you will not have the distinction of features in the print that you need. The standard lens is great for close up shots, such as flowers, spider webs, people, and pets. To gain more defined picture miles away you need a larger lens.

There are many telephoto lenses in photography. One is the 75- 300 mm lens. While this is not as massive as other telephoto lenses you may see a professional walking around with it is a great step up for mountain and wildlife photography when your quarry is some distance away. When you begin to move from the 35mm into something larger it is best to have a stabilizer with the lens. A stabilizer will help you hold the camera steady for clear shots even if your hand moves a little bit. When you move into the world of the telephoto lens you can by accessories to help with angles and light.

Photography in the world of panorama is another way to take spectacular landscape photos. The panoramic lens allows you to widen the photograph, especially with a digital camera. If there is a mountain range or glacier that you wish to get the whole picture without pasting them together in Photoshop the panoramic lens is the best way to go. I’m sure you have seen landscapes with a panoramic view and wished you could have that option. Even with film cameras you could have a panoramic lens to widen the photograph.

All three lenses are just the icebergs on the use of lenses in photography. Whether you are an amateur photographer or a budding professional you will want to maximize your photo taking skills. The next equipment you may want to purchase to help you with the larger lenses would be a tripod to stabilize the camera even more. Tripods are pretty simple and lightweight pieces of equipment and work great for portrait photography. All mediums in photography require moderate to top of the line camera equipment to produce a photograph with quality. Photography also relies on the photographer’s skill and eye. Lenses are just a small part of the photography world when you start to study the art. If you have any questions on lenses the best places to find answers are your local photography shop.

Read More......