Coming up with a new idea - every Friday, pick an idea, and write a blog entry about it.

It could be current events, something person, poetry, whatever I choose, but I have to write something here every Friday.

Who will hold me accountable?

Let's roll today with the idea that artist are expected to work for free...

Exposure. Promotion. These are seen as adequate payments to an artist these days. With social media making exposure to a broader audience increasingly possible, and probable, especially with an art platform such as photography, and videography, people seem more comfortable with expecting services in exchange for exposure.

The implied concept is, "I need this work done, but I can't afford it. However, if you help me out, and do it for free, I will help you reach a broader audience that you may have not reached before."

Let's examine that a bit deeper.

Do you have a marketing concept that you will employ in order to push my brand into a larger market? Or are you simply saying you'll use my work for your promotion, and passively tag my social media when you use it? Will you ALWAYS tag it, or only while you feel the work is fresh, or current to what you need, even if you're still using my work for years to come?

I find "exposure" in these terms to be much more the latter concept. Rarely is there ever an actual focused effort by those who use my volunteered, and donated work to truly help my brand reach a broader audience. I am speaking in generalities, not as all inclusive. Some people have actually put that effort out there to help me promote at least more than just through passive tags.

But it is certainly not the majority. And many don't even bother to tag, or make sure the tag they use is linkable, or the correct, and preferred tag.

I'm not trying to shame anyone, or make anyone feel badly. I just want to examine this concept, and the example of my work is a direct experience. Don't get me wrong, I love seeing my work used. I love seeing the appreciation for what I do. Those random moments of someone using a photo that I took of them at an event as a profile photo because they liked it always gives me some warmth.

However, it rarely leads to the promotion of my brand.

You might respond to this by saying, "But you have the option to decline to do the work," or, "You're cheapening your own product by doing the work for free anyway."

Both true statements, and I won't disagree, or argue against them. But I have a few of my own initiatives when it comes to my photography, and they don't always revolve around profits. Yes, I want my photography to be seen, and appreciated. Yes, I want to get clients, especially business clients looking for professional imagining services. But I also want to know that my skills, and talents; the valuable pieces of me that I can offer my community, my friends, the people whom I love, can be offered to help them reach their own goals, and find their own success.

I would like to think I have accomplished that.

I see the growth of the local Yelp community, a community I have been providing photography for since 2012, and I would like to think my efforts have been a benefit, and help it in that growth. I look at the new opportunities Cortney has had, and the growth of her career, and I would like to think I've contributed in meaningful ways. I look at the success of other projects, and people I've supported through the years: Dance Days, Carley's Club, my friends in the filming community, in the music community, Buffalo Aerial Dance, Fashion Shows, Witches Ball, and Buffalo Rising... so many I could name. I want to know that I have given, more than I have taken.

It's who I am.

But is it too much to expect that those who offer "exposure" as a compensation, or who solicit services as a donation, to actually step up, and go a bit beyond a social media tag, and interact with the provider of those donated services in more active ways? Active Shout-Outs are always good. As I have often said, the active purpose of social media for businesses is, "if you like it, share it." People share plenty memes, political posts, funny videos, cat videos, doggo photos, etc. but I rarely ever see people sharing posts from their friends' businesses, projects, and endeavors.

Share a link to a website. Share a link to a photo you really like. Give a description that resembles more of a customer testimonial. Evangelize the good work, and the good people who help you directly.

Give a positive review on review sites, or business pages, and state descriptively, and specifically what you liked about the help you received. Find their business on Google, and review them. Find their page on Facebook, and review them. Find their page on Yelp, and review them.

I think that's one of my biggest frustrations. In six years of photographing for Yelp, my page on Yelp has TWO reviews. TWO!

Just some thoughts. True exposure, to be of value, needs to be big. Commercial big. Billboard big. Exposure means you're exchanging work, and services for advertising, and marketing, and to be honest, a tag on a post isn't exactly marketing, or an advertisement. I think we can agree on that. It's just an acknowledgment, and it doesn't truly direct people to the services you valued receiving, or the people who provided them, or tell anyone why they should hire that business, artist, performer, etc. when they're looking for the services they provide.

So when you speak of "exposure," let's make sure we're speaking on the same page. Tags are polite, professional courtesy, and technically required. But exposure means getting a bigger, more positive, and active message out throughout your networking circles.

By the way, my YELP PAGE is HERE if you would like to leave a review on that. And my FACEBOOK PAGE could use some LOVE too!