Like with so many things, the Internet has changed how one goes about getting a photographic education.
Certainly there are still traditional educational institutions like Brooks and the Santa Fe workshops that offer intensive classes in photography and the visual arts. And there are still books and magazine articles targeted at self-taught photographers.
Increasingly, however, the primary source of photographic information is the web. Rather than having to spend days and weeks in a formal class or wait weeks, even months, for a publication to come out, the Internet provides almost instantaneous educational opportunities at a pace that can match almost anyone’s requirements.
An essential factor in that dissemination of information is the proliferation of webinars. In the strictest sense, webinars are the live, online seminars and other short-term instructional programs that involve some sort of interactivity or participant involvement. In reality, the term is being applied to all sorts of different web educational programs. Sometimes live webinars are recorded and made available for download on-demand later. Sometimes, they aren’t much more than instructional videos. And, increasingly, educational apps, such as for iPhones and iPads, are also included. What’s notably is that webinars can be an important tool to keep you connected to your customers.
Many webinars are hosted by equipment manufacturers and distributors; others are presented by trade and professional groups, publications and photographers. As might be expected, webinars sponsored by corporations are generally developed around the products and services those companies offer. Regardless of the source, getting connected to these webinars is another way for retailers to get their customers educated on product lines you offer. Today, even savvy retailers can offer webinars in conjunction with or in lieu of their regular workshops and classes.
With some companies, the marketing effort is secondary to the educational content. That’s when webinars are most informative. There’s really nothing wrong with a company highlighting the features and capabilities of its products or services. It’s in the best position to help your customers get the most out of those products and services, increasing the relative value of their expenditures. With other webinars, the educational component is included simply to highlight the features and capabilities of the product. In those cases, webinars become more like extended ads, which quickly becomes evident as the webinar progresses.
Besides being marketing tools, webinars are also used to compile potential customer lists. Once someone has signed up for a session, they’ll continue to get marketing material from the sponsoring company from then on out. In some cases, information is coming from not only the company itself but also other companies that the sponsoring company is partnering with, such as a retailer.
Manufacturers like Bogen, Mamiya, Nik and numerous others are presenting monthly webinars. One company that utilizes webinars very effectively is X-Rite. Most recently, the company held two sessions of its Raw Color Power with the ColorChecker Passport. It covered such topics as creating and using profiles, color editing in Adobe Photoshop and Lightroom, and matching color with different lighting conditions. Sessions such as these provide important, straightforward and detailed information that would be difficult to get as easily any other way.
Another company with effective webinar offerings is Manfrotto, which presents its School of Xcellence educational program, a free webinar series. One recent Manfrotto webinar featured “David DuChemin Presents: The Creative Process & the Photographer.” Specializing in world and humanitarian photography, DuChemin detailed the challenges that he faces in his work and how he overcame them. In the process, he examined the internal process that leads one to create an inspired and unique work.
While most webinars hosted by photographers are actually sponsored by corporations, there are some that aren’t. Some are put on by commercial photographers who have gained a certain reputation in their field, to build their reputation even further and promote their services. These are intended to provide insight into techniques the photographer uses that may not be tied to specific products or brands.
One approach that photographers use is to present a free introductory webinar, in hopes of having participating photographers sign up for additional training. That’s what Canadian wedding photographer Jesh de Rox had in mind with his free webinar, which was billed as an educational forum to learn about his experiential technique to photography. Participants were a little surprised to find out that the webinar was a way to get participants to sign up for a one-day, one-on-one educational session—priced at $16,500. (That’s right, according to published reports he was charging $16,500 for the day, which supposedly was a $3,500 savings over his “normal” rate of $20,000.)
There are programs that not only cover the creative side of professional photography, but also the business side. PhotoStockPlus, an online stock photo marketing site, has presented a series of webinars targeting photographers who are interested in expanding their stock image sales online. Most are marketing tools to publicize the site’s online services and capabilities. Its “Introduction to PhotoStockPlus.com” provides a quick and easy overview of setting up an account, including such things as customizing online storefronts, setting image and product prices, and organizing image galleries, among other things. It has also offered webinars on such topics as advanced event marketing, stock sales training and self-fulfillment opportunities. PhotoStockPlus makes previously presented programs available for download. Being able to go back after the fact is one of the things that make webinars useful learning tools.
Sometimes grouped into webinars are the emerging iPad, iPhone, iPod photo educational apps. Noted photographer Rick Sammon has a number of these apps on his website. Sammon, who is a Canon Explorer of Light, a Westcott Top Pro and a Lexar Elite Photographer, has a complete line of such apps, including his flagship how-to app: Rick Sammon’s 24/7 Photo Buffet, which is basically a how-to guide. Others in the series include Light It, iHDR and Underwater Wonders.
Today, major retailers, particularly retailers that have a strong Internet presence, have online educational programs and are using webinars to effectively connect to their customers. Adorama has its AdoramaTV series, which covers such things as setting day rates and managing color on a computer system. Most retailers, however, still prefer to conduct in-store, rather than online, training. A caveat, while manufacturers really don’t care where a customer buys a product, as long as they buy it, retailers want to drive foot traffic into their stores, which is something that’s a little more difficult to do with webinars, since audiences could be international. So, it’s important to target your local customer with a webinar, or link your online storefront to the webinar for your not-so-local customers.
