Photzy

THE INTERNET IS A NOISY PLACE!

HOW TO CULTIVATE AN AUDIENCE IN A CROWD
Quick Guide
Written by Kevin Kleitches

THE INTERNET IS A NOISY PLACE! HOW TO CULTIVATE AN AUDIENCE IN A CROWD // © PHOTZY.COM 1

 Indeed, the Internet is a noisy place.

In fact, it’s the noisiest it’s ever been.

As of July 2017, Instagram has over 800

MILLION monthly active users. Facebook
reports over 2 BILLION monthly active
users. And those numbers are growing.

With so much content being posted, is it

even possible to get noticed anymore?

Thankfully, it absolutely is.

Not only that, but what if I told you that

it’s possible to build a loyal following,
meet tons of other creative individuals
just like you, and even find paying clients
without spending a dime on advertising?

With a proper strategy, all of that is

achievable.

But if you’re like most photographers, you

might not know where to start.
Photograph by Kevin Kleitches

Where do you find people? What’s

the best way to engage them? Which
“hashtags” should you use?

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 Here’s what you’ll learn today to help
you cultivate an audience for your
photographic work:

·· Why creating value is absolutely

necessary
·· The power of Facebook groups
·· How to optimize your Instagram
hashtag strategies to build an
audience

Ready to start growing your tribe?

Let’s get to it.

Note: For any Internet newbies

out there, a “tribe” is your followers.
A “hashtag” is an Internet device
used to “direct” your posts toward a
potential audience.

Recommended Reading: If you’d

like to improve your composition
skills for better images, grab a copy
of Photzy’s best-selling premium
guide, Advanced Composition.

Photograph by Kevin Kleitches

THE INTERNET IS A NOISY PLACE! HOW TO CULTIVATE AN AUDIENCE IN A CROWD // © PHOTZY.COM 3

 WHY CREATING VALUE IS CRUCIAL

Let’s set the record straight. Here are a few ways to do it:

In order to attract an audience, you absolutely MUST 1) Share your camera settings within the caption
have good content. – Your audience most likely consists of a good
percentage of people who are photographers
If you’re not creating value in your content, you’re themselves. If you’re sharing a killer image, then
missing the most important ingredient to developing there’s a great chance that someone out there
an audience. will be curious about the settings you used to
It’s like trying to make banana bread without get the shot. Sharing your lens selection and
bananas. It just won’t work. camera settings are a great way to help others
out. (You’re adding value!)
However, posting solid, properly exposed, well-
composed images just isn’t enough these days. 2) Tell a story – How often do you scroll past
images on Instagram, Facebook, Flickr, or 500px
You need to ensure that people are taking away that have one-word captions? Boring, right?
something whenever they view your work. Too many people take their caption space for
granted. Instead of using the same words and
The best way to make that happen is to use a phrases that other people are using, why not
caption. tell a story instead? Engage your audience
by sharing something interesting or funny that
relates to the photograph somehow. Talk about
how you almost got kicked out of the place
you were shooting at, or your thought process
behind the shot. People love stories, so why not
indulge them? (You’re adding value!)

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 3) Share a helpful tool – I recently
educated my “tribe” (my audience)
about the importance of tracking
their mileage for business purposes.
It turns out, many of them didn’t
know that as of 2018, you could
deduct up to 54.5 cents per
business mile. In my Instagram
caption I shared a tool that I use. It’s
an app called “MileIQ.” The app
automatically detects, and tracks, my
driving.

Screenshot by Kevin Kleitches

A recent interaction in a photography group

where I shared the details of my shoot.

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 Here’s a screenshot of the post where I shared this tool: Now, here’s a look at the insights/statistics
that I received from that post:

Screenshot by Kevin Kleitches

Screenshot by Kevin Klatches

Did you notice how many people discovered

me from the Instagram Explore page?

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 That’s quite a lot of new eyeballs on
my post.

Sharing a helpful (and especially FREE)

tool that people could use immediately
undoubtedly played a huge part in why
that post performed so well!

Key Lesson: When mentioning

any helpful resources that you use,
why not see if “said resource” is on
Instagram, and then tag them in
your post? Sometimes brands will
repost your image when you do
that, which will serve your content
up to an entirely new audience who
otherwise wouldn’t have discovered
you!

Recommended Reading: If you’d

like to improve your composition
skills for better images, grab a copy
of Photzy’s best-selling premium
guide, Advanced Composition.

Screenshot by Kevin Kleitches

Check out some of the great interactions that I received!

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 THE POWER OF FACEBOOK GROUPS

Let’s talk about Facebook groups.

There’s a Facebook group for virtually anything and

everything now.

Just now, I thought of three completely random

niches off the top of my head: Detroit mechanics,
vegan moms, and Asian photographers. Sure
enough, there’s at least one group for each of them!

In the past two years alone, being active in Facebook

groups has been a major contributor to the growth of
my blog and business.

As a result, I’ve landed consulting contracts, paid

blogging opportunities, and I have networked with
hundreds of like-minded creatives.

Just last month I was in Miami for the first time and I
called up a friend whom I met in a Facebook group
for Fuji users.

We got together for dinner and he showed me

around Miami. It was awesome!

But (!!) just joining random Facebook groups and

spamming them with your photography isn’t a good
Photograph by Kevin Kleitches
strategy.

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 Here are four best practice tips for using Key Lesson: Make sure you join at least
Facebook groups to your advantage: two or three local groups to maximize the
chances of picking up work in your area. You’re
1. DIVERSIFY YOUR COMMUNITIES much more likely to get hired by someone if
you’re local.
When choosing which groups to join, consider the
different niches that might exist. For example, I live in
Wilmington, North Carolina, and I shoot with Fuji and 2. APPROACH WITH THE MINDSET OF GIVING
Sony. I also specialize in portrait and editorial-style VALUE!
photography. Let’s think of a few groups we could
research given those characteristics: It’s best not to jump into a group and share links to
your website right away.
·· Wilmington photographers
·· North Carolina photographers Instead, use the same strategy as you would for
·· Fuji shooters your Instagram, Flickr, or 500px posts. Leverage
·· Sony shooters your caption space to share camera settings, your
·· Portrait photographers creative process, or the story behind the photo you
·· Fashion/editorial photography took.
·· Fuji portrait photography Whenever you post something, ask yourself, “Would
·· Sony portrait photography anyone find this post helpful or inspiring?”
Are you seeing the possibilities here? Don’t put too much pressure on yourself, though; not
every post you create is going to be earth shattering
or profound. Just aim to create value whenever you
contribute.

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 3. INTERACT WITH MEMBERS 4) GIVE PEOPLE A CALL-TO-ACTION

Being a part of a community is about so much more You want to be careful with this recommendation,
than sharing your own work and expecting everyone as some Facebook groups specifically state that you
to grovel at your feet. aren’t allowed to share links.

Get to know the other creatives! Feedback is But for those that do allow it, leaving your website
invaluable. If someone posts a question that you can URL or Instagram handle as part of your “signature”
answer, help them out. (at the bottom of the posts you make) can be a great
way to get new site traffic and followers.
Also, it’s CRUCIAL to reply to comments on
your posts. Take the time to thank people who Important Note: Make sure you’ve
compliment your work. Remember, a little effort goes contributed enough value into the group before
a long way. doing recommendation #4. If your posts
consistently get good engagement through
Recently, I responded to a comment on one of likes and positive comments, you’re on the right
my posts, only to discover that the person I was track.
corresponding with was the owner of a fashion
agency in my state! We ended up arranging a shoot Recommended Reading: If you’d like to
together, and I’ve worked with several of their improve your composition skills for better
models since then. images, grab a copy of Photzy’s best-selling
premium guide, Advanced Composition.

THE INTERNET IS A NOISY PLACE! HOW TO CULTIVATE AN AUDIENCE IN A CROWD // © PHOTZY.COM 10

 HOW TO OPTIMIZE YOUR INSTAGRAM HASHTAG STRATEGIES

There’s a lot of speculation about the Instagram #portraitphotography. This would bring up all of
algorithm. What factors affect your reach with a post the portrait photography posts that were
to the site? In my personal experience, following hashtagged with #portraitphotography
these three strategies will help ensure you have (including yours). One other way that an
healthy engagement from your followers. Instagram user can access a hashtag is by simply
clicking on it within a post. They may have never
1) KNOW YOUR AUDIENCE heard of you, click on #portraitphotography in a
completely random post, and when they arrive
Who are you trying to reach? Knowing your target
at the destination page they may see your
demographic is crucial to successfully increasing your
hashtagged image! Boom! Perhaps you have a
reach, engagement, and conversions (whether that’s
new follower.
someone who wants to book you for a photo shoot,
pay you for a promoted post, or even sending you Think about the kind of photography you do and
free swag). the value you create. Who’s your customer? Is
it newly engaged couples looking for wedding
The biggest mistake that most people make on
photographers? Or actors and actresses looking for
Instagram is not having any idea who they want
updated headshots? Or fine art poster publishers
to attract, so they just throw a bunch of hashtags
looking for new content?
together and hope for the best. (Does this sound like
you? If so, don’t feel bad. I was guilty of this too!) Make sure you’re targeting your hashtags toward
your specific niche and the audience within it.
Note: For the Instagram newbies, a hashtag
looks like this #. You place this symbol in front of
a word or phrase. Here is an example:
#portraitphotography. Anyone using Instagram
who has an interest in portrait photography
would click on the search window and type:

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 2) DIVERSIFY YOUR PORTFOLIO

Many photographers are guilty of only using super

generic hashtags that have well over a million posts.
The outcome of that practice is that their images
are quickly buried by following posts. Someone who
browses those hashtags won’t see them because they
are way down in the feed, giving them practically no
discoverability.

Think of hashtags as a mutual fund. (If you know

nothing about mutual funds, just bear with me, as
this is an easy analogy.) Screenshot by Kevin Kleitches

You want to diversify your chances of being Notice that I used a mixture of popular hashtags
discovered by choosing a mix of “popular” hashtags (#dowhatyoulove, #inspiredaily, #liveyourpassion) as
and “niche” hashtags. If you only use super popular well as niche hashtags (#mileiq, #businessdeductions,
hashtags or super niche hashtags, you probably #businessowner) and localized hashtags
won’t see much growth. (#wilmingtonnc, #wilmingtonphotographer,
#wrightsvillebeach).
Let’s use myself as an example.
Rather than just “swinging for the fences,” use a
I’m a portrait photographer, blogger, and marketing
variety of hashtags, of varying popularity, to maximize
strategist. I help photographers grow their online
your discoverability to potential followers.
presence and create a side income for themselves.

Here’s a look at the hashtags I used for a recent well-

performing post:

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 3) Mix It Up

This is a point that I mentioned in a post

last week.

Instagram wants users to find exactly the

content they’re looking for when they click
on a hashtag. So, it doesn’t help at all to
use a popular hashtag if it’s not relevant to
the content that you’re posting.

Many photographers use the same copied

and pasted hashtags over and over in their
posts, but you should avoid that.

Some people have reported that by doing

so, it has resulted in their posts being
“shadow-banned” by Instagram. This
means the reach of your post is severely
restricted, and in some cases not seen at all.

Whether shadow-banning is a thing or

not (because no one knows for sure at
this point), it’s a good idea to mix up your
Photograph by Kevin Kleitches hashtags so that they’re relevant to the
image you’re posting.

Remember: Good content + specific

audience + relevant hashtags =
success.

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 CONCLUSION Self-Check Quiz:

1) True or False: You need to have good

Creating good content isn’t enough. In order to build content in order to build an audience.
an audience, you need a clear strategy of who you
want to reach and how you’ll deliver value to them 2) Name three ways you can engage your
when you post online. audience in your post caption.

Once you have this strategy in place, share your 3) True or False: You have to pay for ads to
work, and in the process help others as much as reach anyone on Facebook.
possible – good things will happen as a result.
4) What are the four best practice tips to
follow when participating in Facebook
groups?

5) True or False: You should use only the most

popular hashtags to get maximum visibility.

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 ABOUT THE AUTHOR Congratulations! You’ve completed
this Photzy guide!

If you liked this photography tutorial, check

out one of our premium composition guides
to help you produce truly outstanding
images: Advanced Composition.

IF YOU’D LIKE TO CONTINUE

Kevin Kleitches is a photographer, and educator, based in LEARNING AND IMPROVING
Wilmington, North Carolina. He believes that creating and
collaborating have the power to transform your life.
YOUR PHOTOGRAPHY PLEASE
VISIT PHOTZY.COM
You can read his photography and business tips on his blog and
check out his Instagram where he posts daily.

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