Spotless ..

You may know that I was recently in the privileged position of being asked to shoot an old friend's Wedding. Did I mention he also happens to be a press photographer? I have never before been given so much 'guidance' whilst I've been shooting a Wedding! "Try it landscape now.." he'd say .. or "Come in closer" or "Let's shoot some over there .." You get the idea! Grrr! However, I'm pleased to say he is delighted with the results and so is his new Brazilian bride. The funny thing is, I got a glowing revue on Facebook from one of her Brazilian guests. It's not exactly 'Lost in translation' but it's so cute I thought I'd repeat it in full ..

"Highly recommend Martin! Absolutely amazing making his job with a great sense of humour! You don't feel bored with him! His work is just spotless!!.."

Obrigado, Ms Gomes!..    

Flummoxed: Bewildered or perplexed!..

I admit it! That's me! Flummoxed! I just do not know the best way to promote my work anymore! On the face of it I seem to be doing everything right, at least as far as 'Social Media' is concerned. Blog? Check! (Obviously!) Facebook? Check! Twitter? Check! LinkedIn? Check .. and so on .. BUT .. none of it seems to be bringing in any work! So, yesterday, I decided I'd run a Google Adwords campaign - a small run of online advertising designed to point people to my website. I began it on Monday morning, and spent the day logging back on - with a desperate paranoid compulsion - to see if anybody had looked at the ad! Well, by last night, over 2,000 people had! (As I write, it stands at 2,408 views!) Nearly two and a half thousand views! Amazing!..

Except .. of those 2,408 people, a mere FIVE clicked through to my website! Five! I mean, I don't know .. was that a good click-through rate? Was I doing really well with that figure? The phone rang as I stared at the screen. It was a friend of mine - another Wedding photographer! "Martin .." she said "I'm flummoxed!" (She didn't actually use that word but let's leave it in there for good effect!) "I just don't know the best way to promote my work anymore!.." she wailed "I've not had a booking in absolutely ages! I'm going to start a blog and do Facebook and Twitter like you do!" "Why?.." I said, gulping audibly "What do you now?" "Google Adwords.." she said "I've run an ad for the last six months. Haven't had a thing from it..."

Waiter, another shot of bourbon....

©Martin O'Neill 2014   

Comfort and Joy ..

Phew! Made it! I've come through the other side unscathed! Actually, I've had a fantastic Christmas, and I hope you have, too! Now, for me, it's time to take off the party hat and put on the Photographer's hat, as I have a family shoot at the studio this afternoon! Hope I don't have to photoshop too many bloodshot eyes, ho ho ho!

Talking about making it through, one of the nice things to happen over the holiday came about because of a TV programme last night. It was about two 'famous' people crossing the Empty Quarter of the desert in Oman. I dropped a line onto Facebook about a chap who became my 'hero' - a guy from my home town of Eccles called Ted Edwards - who crossed the Empty Quarter of the Sahara desert alone back in the early 80s. No TV crew, no SatNav, no mobile phones - just him and two camels! He got barely an ounce of recognition and, sadly, a few years later, had a stroke that really debilitated him. Anyway, I've had a message to say he's alive and well, and I've been given his phone number so I'm hoping I'll be able to photograph him again after a gap of 30 years! Christmas! Bringing people together! Nice ..

    
 

Do you blog?..

Further to my ramblings about the Google ranking system and how to get yourself up it, I was chatting to a new chap at badminton last night who turned out to be a 'senior IT consultant'  (That was handy!) I asked him if he knew anything about SEO (Search Engine Optimisation) "A little .. " he said, self-effacingly, so I asked him if he knew how I could get my website higher up the search pages. "What is it you do?" he asked. "Photography!.." I said. "Ah, ok.." he nodded "So do you change the pictures on your site very often.." "Oh, yes.." I said "In fact, I just changed the front page this very day..."


He thought for a moment... "Do you actually submit the site to search engines?"
"I do, indeed" I said "And I use Google Adwords, albeit at a very low budget"
"And are you on Facebook?"
"Oh, yes, of course.." I said "I have a specific Facebook page for StudioFiveFour"
"And Pinterest, Flickr, etc...?"
"Yes, I use all of those.." I said "and Tumblr"
"And you Tweet?"
"I tweet"
He scratched his cheek and twirled his badminton racket as we waited for our turn on the court. "Ah, well..." he said, breaking into a smile "What you need to do is to write a blog!.."

Oh, bugger....

Point me to Google..

Bloomin' poo and wee and sausages! I don't know whether I'm coming or going! I've had real problems lately getting up the mysterious 'Google Rankings', despite spending ages tagging every flippin' photograph on my site with keywords and venue names and Wedding terms. So, I've done what no man is supposed to do .. I've admitted I was flummoxed and turned to the experts! "Ah.." they've said "No, no, no..." (I imagined fingers being wagged at me, even though we were speaking on the phone) Seems Google doesn't read words within images any more. Oh, you silly man! Text! That's what you need! Tons and tons of text on your pages. Text that Google can read, text that Google can assess for relevance, text that's taken bloody ages to add to my site, and there's the day gone and I've not moved from my desk since 7am! So, when did that change then? And why? And can someone please warn me about the next sneaky shift in 'their' way of checking things! It only seems ten bloody minutes since I was advised that I must be on Google Adwords, and then that was a no-no, it was all about Facebook, and now it's blogging and tweeting and emailing that you've blogged about your tweet on someone's wall .. or something! Aaaagh!

Still, as long as it brings in business..

When I were a lad...

Eyeballs boggled, scanner in melt-down .. and scores of negatives still to go! Big tidy-up in the office the other day, and I found a box of negs from years ago. Well, I say found .. I didn't actually know I'd lost them but, oh boy, what a treasure trove of memories from my past! So, I've been hard at the Epson getting a start on scanning in the beauts, though I can see this'll be more a job for those dark winter afternoons when every man just has to have a project! I couldn't wait to see 'em, though. I mean, look at the shot in today's blog. It looks like something out of Bert Hardy's 1930s work .. bleak, desolate, drab .. yet this was Salford just over 30 years ago, with one of the last buildings on Salford Docks coming down in the background. (Actually .. still bleak, desolate and drab! Only joking!) If you follow me on Facebook - and if not, then why not?? .. you'll have seen quite a few shots go up over the last couple of days, and it's been great to read the comments from people, many of whom I don't even know. One of the most popular shots has been of this petrol station on Patricroft Bridge, in Eccles. The petrol's up at 37.2p per litre and the baby in the pram'll be in his early thirties!

As I've said before though, that's the wonderful thing about photography. I didn't set out that day to make a picture showing how much petrol cost, but with the lens' all-seeing eye it's there for the record, just as are blasts from the past like Rumbelow's, Woolworth's and poor old Jane Street in Salford, which isn't even on the map anymore! Eh, it's all changed since I were a lad...

You never know what's around the corner...

Today's image is a picture I've decided to enter into a 'Social Reportage' photography contest. I thought it was appropriate because I found out this morning that the engagement of a good friend of mine has come to an end, and he's alone again after a couple of years in a relationship. Thing is, he didn't call to tell me and I certainly wasn't told by a friend. No, I heard it on the modern grapevine that is Facebook! His relationship changed from 'Engaged' to 'Single' on his page, and with the click of a mouse we all now know. It reminded me of that day, back in the mists of time, when an ex took off from me, and I was straight on the blower to my mates for a bit of sympathy. Trouble was, one had just been sent to Afghanistan to cover the war, and another had just been whisked into hospital after a heart attack. Kinda put it all into context! Enjoy yourselves, folks! You never know what's around the corner!

Back of the net...

I had a fantastic dream last night! I dreamt that Manchester United beat Arsenal 8-2! Can you imagine that? 8-2? All the better to know then that it was true, and Oh boy, what an afternoon at my local that turned out to be! It's not often I talk about football on my blog, but that result was fantastic, and my arms are still aching from all the goal-celebrations!
Well done, Man U !

So, Bank Holiday Monday - well, here in the UK, anyway - and that means, of course, appalling weather! The heavens opened right on cue at the weekend, and it's still raining now as I type this. I had the weekend off, Wedding-wise, so my heart goes out to all the soggy brides and drenched Wedding photographers out there! Anyway, the bad weather's meant I've been able to work on my website, and there's a lovely pair of photographs up on the home-page now. I'm also introducing a fab offer in conjunction with my Facebook page. If you become a fan, and then book me for your Wedding Photography, I'll knock 25 smackers off the price, right there and then (£15 off Crunchtastic!) That's even good enough to put the smile back on the face of an Arsenal fan! Back of the net!...