You are new to G+, are a good photographer, and have not been noticed
[Long]
Read on if you think you meet the above criterion and want to have others here seeing and appreciating your work.
Let us face it, G+ started a few months ago and the early joiners had the advantage of interacting with a small set of people. G+ suggested (and still suggests) people you could add to your circles. The people you added had time to notice who added them, checked their work and added them back. Friendships developed on the way and some hot photographers became stars of G+. Those were the days when the only way you could get noticed was if someone shared your work, and this often went with a recommendation to others to circle you. It helped if this recommendation came from a well-established photographer or someone with a large following. My first big break came when +Robert Scoble enjoyed his coffee while watching an image of the Himalaya that I had posted. There were no shared circles, no themes and a manageable list of good photographers. You were hot if you had 2,000 followers.
Things changed very fast when G+ went public and circle sharing was introduced. Overnight the trickle was replaced by a deluge. No established photographer had time to check those who circled them with any degree of effectiveness. If an established member knew some outstanding new entrant then the process was simpler as the share mechanism quickly ensured early recognition and integration into the popular set of photographers. Regional photographers who had a leader in G+, and specialized theme photographers quickly got added to popular circles and flourished. But there were many very talented photographers who failed to make the breakthrough because they did not fit in to any of these categories.
Here are 10 points to keep in mind if you want to make yourself more visible on G+
1. Have a good profile pic. The days when Micky Mouse would do are over. If you photograph birds, you may want a bird as the profile pic till you get going. It will encourage bird photographers to click the notification image. If you use your own image, use a good professional shot. Almost nothing works worse than a high noise and unsharp profile pic.
2. Write something about yourself that shows up when the thumbnail is highlighted. 'Professional photographer' is a good invitation to check further as is 'fashion' , 'landscape photographer' etc. etc. Saying that you work at an office and enjoy your photography may not improve your chances of drawing attention.
3. Post some of your representative work in your stream. At least 7 gives an impression of variety and interest in posting. Posting one good image only suggests that you may be happier somewhere else. The larger size of the thumbnail works better here than Scrapbook images.
4. Scrapbook pics are a good start. Post representative work to give people an idea of what you like photographing.
5. Write an introduction to images that you post. This is social media. People like to communicate here - and that goes beyond just sharing images.
6. Follow some people whose work you like. Google + Counter runs Popular Google + Lists at http://gpc.fm/l/all. That should give you a headstart in selecting people to follow.
7. Follow some G+ big guns. People with mass reach like +Trey Ratcliff or +Patrick Di Fruscia or others in your line of work with significant following. Someone like +Robert Scoble who is not just a photographer is like gold dust - his reach is widespread. You can be well known overnight if anyone with large following likes your work. Many people with more than 10,000 followers have mentors who shared their circle with over 100,000 people,
8. Interact with people you follow by commenting on their posts and adding +1's. Most posters check who commented, especially if the comments are interesting. It is possible that you may not reach +Thomas Hawk though your comments because he gets hundreds of them. But he may read the comment of someone he knows well or see the share of someone in his circle. Good work gets noticed in the long run.
9. Circle 'Daily Photography Theme' page at : https://plus.google.com/u/0/104772045073519492155/
10. Be mindful that most photographers here do not like:
i) Animated gifs
ii) No information in the 'About' tab
iii) Too much resharing without original content.
iv) A few posts a few months old
v) Endless images on the same subject. Like 20 images of your dog in the garden one Sunday.
vi) More than 4 or 5 image posts a day, Most 'cream of the crop' photographers follow at least a 1,000 people and get irritated by overload.
vii) Addressing posts to a photographer directly. That is an invitation to get blocked.
viii) Making familiar comments when you hardly know the person is also a big 'no-no'.
ix) And don't critic if not asked for.
Good luck!
Please share if you think this is useful to some
[Long]
Read on if you think you meet the above criterion and want to have others here seeing and appreciating your work.
Let us face it, G+ started a few months ago and the early joiners had the advantage of interacting with a small set of people. G+ suggested (and still suggests) people you could add to your circles. The people you added had time to notice who added them, checked their work and added them back. Friendships developed on the way and some hot photographers became stars of G+. Those were the days when the only way you could get noticed was if someone shared your work, and this often went with a recommendation to others to circle you. It helped if this recommendation came from a well-established photographer or someone with a large following. My first big break came when +Robert Scoble enjoyed his coffee while watching an image of the Himalaya that I had posted. There were no shared circles, no themes and a manageable list of good photographers. You were hot if you had 2,000 followers.
Things changed very fast when G+ went public and circle sharing was introduced. Overnight the trickle was replaced by a deluge. No established photographer had time to check those who circled them with any degree of effectiveness. If an established member knew some outstanding new entrant then the process was simpler as the share mechanism quickly ensured early recognition and integration into the popular set of photographers. Regional photographers who had a leader in G+, and specialized theme photographers quickly got added to popular circles and flourished. But there were many very talented photographers who failed to make the breakthrough because they did not fit in to any of these categories.
Here are 10 points to keep in mind if you want to make yourself more visible on G+
1. Have a good profile pic. The days when Micky Mouse would do are over. If you photograph birds, you may want a bird as the profile pic till you get going. It will encourage bird photographers to click the notification image. If you use your own image, use a good professional shot. Almost nothing works worse than a high noise and unsharp profile pic.
2. Write something about yourself that shows up when the thumbnail is highlighted. 'Professional photographer' is a good invitation to check further as is 'fashion' , 'landscape photographer' etc. etc. Saying that you work at an office and enjoy your photography may not improve your chances of drawing attention.
3. Post some of your representative work in your stream. At least 7 gives an impression of variety and interest in posting. Posting one good image only suggests that you may be happier somewhere else. The larger size of the thumbnail works better here than Scrapbook images.
4. Scrapbook pics are a good start. Post representative work to give people an idea of what you like photographing.
5. Write an introduction to images that you post. This is social media. People like to communicate here - and that goes beyond just sharing images.
6. Follow some people whose work you like. Google + Counter runs Popular Google + Lists at http://gpc.fm/l/all. That should give you a headstart in selecting people to follow.
7. Follow some G+ big guns. People with mass reach like +Trey Ratcliff or +Patrick Di Fruscia or others in your line of work with significant following. Someone like +Robert Scoble who is not just a photographer is like gold dust - his reach is widespread. You can be well known overnight if anyone with large following likes your work. Many people with more than 10,000 followers have mentors who shared their circle with over 100,000 people,
8. Interact with people you follow by commenting on their posts and adding +1's. Most posters check who commented, especially if the comments are interesting. It is possible that you may not reach +Thomas Hawk though your comments because he gets hundreds of them. But he may read the comment of someone he knows well or see the share of someone in his circle. Good work gets noticed in the long run.
9. Circle 'Daily Photography Theme' page at : https://plus.google.com/u/0/104772045073519492155/
10. Be mindful that most photographers here do not like:
i) Animated gifs
ii) No information in the 'About' tab
iii) Too much resharing without original content.
iv) A few posts a few months old
v) Endless images on the same subject. Like 20 images of your dog in the garden one Sunday.
vi) More than 4 or 5 image posts a day, Most 'cream of the crop' photographers follow at least a 1,000 people and get irritated by overload.
vii) Addressing posts to a photographer directly. That is an invitation to get blocked.
viii) Making familiar comments when you hardly know the person is also a big 'no-no'.
ix) And don't critic if not asked for.
Good luck!
Please share if you think this is useful to some
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