Advertising in odd places

[quark]

A friend of mine keeps encouraging me to advertise on Craigslist and similiar websites because she keeps noticing other photographers. I am not a user of websites like this and the other things that people advertise seem questionable to me.

Anyone having any luck with this type of thing? Or should I steer clear?

[jerryr]

Hi - It depends on the market you attempting to capture...
I have notice that a lot of photographers I have worked with advertise
on wedj.com and onewed.com for the 'wedding/event' market.
I believe the cost associated is $6 a month.
No comment on Craiglist, but do some homework before you advertise
so you attract the right clientele.

- jr

[Michael Ray]

Use your head, roll the dice, learn from results, repeat as needed.

:+)

[dogwood]

My experience with craigslist is many folks are looking for TFP photographers. That's in my area, anyway. Some of the "photographer wanted" ads I see make my hair stand on end ("no pay but photographer must give copies of images to models for UNLIMITED use...")

I see a local photographer posting ads/bulletins on myspace-- that's free too but you'll need to generate a list of 'friends' for it to be effective. The photographer I'm thinking of puts out "one-day only" specials... book a shoot that day and get the discount. Stuff like that.

[3rdPlanetPhotography]

I've advertised on CraigsList many times.... it has produced ZERO... if anyone says it's a good source I'd have to say


:bigbs


IMO anyway.

[quark]

Thanks all. Very helpful. I think I will steer clear for now and focus on more traditional methods I am comfortable with. Word of mouth + google have seemed more than sufficient so far.

[cmason]

Well, its not like there is any risk, listing on Craigslist is free. Put some 'tag' in your listing so you can track what kind of business it generates...say something like "call 555-5555 ask about our spring special"

[Shay Stephens]

Don't waste your valuable time "advertising" on craigslist. It is the wrong venue...completely, even worse than radio ads for a photographer.

[ChrisRabior]

Entirely untrue. Don't write off any means of free advertising.

I landed a job shooting for a Big Ten team via a craigslist job posting. Took pictures of the fans for the school's marketing dept, and had free reign of the stadium after halftime. Paid pretty well too.

Also managed to get in touch with the magazine I'm currently on staff with via a craigslist ad.

People are giving negative comments on CL, and that's expected just because of the nature of those who abuse the site. Just be smart about it. I won't skirt the issue, there are a lot of people looking for a photographer to work for free and to hand over full usage and copyright. There are also a lot of models out there who obviously have no real experience and will assume you'll give them whatever they ask just because they're models. To top that off, there are a lot of sick perverted "photographers" who are obviously only out to get dirty pictures or to hook up with aspiring models. And if that wasn't enough, there are some creepy people out there who are actually LOOKING for the sicko photographers because they want some really off the wall pictures of themselves doing some less than PG-13 style poses.


It's always good to market yourself. You can certainly use CL for that matter, just be very specific about what you will and will not tolerate.. and include exactly what it is you're offering.

[Art Scott]

Entirely untrue. Don't write off any means of free advertising.

I landed a job shooting for a Big Ten team via a craigslist job posting. Took pictures of the fans for the school's marketing dept, and had free reign of the stadium after halftime. Paid pretty well too.

Also managed to get in touch with the magazine I'm currently on staff with via a craigslist ad.

People are giving negative comments on CL, and that's expected just because of the nature of those who abuse the site. Just be smart about it. I won't skirt the issue, there are a lot of people looking for a photographer to work for free and to hand over full usage and copyright. There are also a lot of models out there who obviously have no real experience and will assume you'll give them whatever they ask just because they're models. To top that off, there are a lot of sick perverted "photographers" who are obviously only out to get dirty pictures or to hook up with aspiring models. And if that wasn't enough, there are some creepy people out there who are actually LOOKING for the sicko photographers because they want some really off the wall pictures of themselves doing some less than PG-13 style poses.


It's always good to market yourself. You can certainly use CL for that matter, just be very specific about what you will and will not tolerate.. and include exactly what it is you're offering.
Kind of like the old addage: "Any Publicity is Good Publicity, even the bad".

It could very well happen that somone that cruises the CL will see the ad and tell someone they know whose looking for a photog just like you......and it is FREE (aside from your time to post on CL).

[Shay Stephens]

I am sure there are exceptions, but I wasted a year on craigs list, and other than the example posted, have not heard any consistant success stories of photographers regularly getting paid gigs from craigs list. It may work sometimes, but not nearly reliable enough in my view.

[docwalker]

Advertising in weird locations works. I remember one NASCAR driver that had a reputation for flipping his car. One of his sponsors even considered putting a logo on the bottom of the car. The sponsor knew that even though it was bad press it was good press. He knew that while it was bad that the car was flipping over, on TV replays he was sure to get a few seconds of air time.

[Shay Stephens]

Advertising in weird locations works. I remember one NASCAR driver that had a reputation for flipping his car. One of his sponsors even considered putting a logo on the bottom of the car. The sponsor knew that even though it was bad press it was good press. He knew that while it was bad that the car was flipping over, on TV replays he was sure to get a few seconds of air time.

But the operative word here is TV. Do you think they would do the same thing if the race were only broadcast on the radio or only covered in the newspaper? Would there be many sponsors at all if it were only on the radio or tv?

This may go nowhere, but I would like to ask all photographers who do or have advertised via craigslist to please post your results. Was it worth it, did you make any sales, and how do you compare the results to other forms of advertising? So far we have only heard two stories, and it looks like we need to hear more.

[Scott_Quier]

In about 3 months, I have gotten two inquiries and one booking (wedding) directly attributable to CL. Of course, nothing has happened since. I wonder if the ad has expired? That tells you how much attention I'm paying to the CL listing. But, it did get me one booking.