|
INSTRUCTIONS FOR ENTERING
YOUR PHOTO DESCRIPTIONS: |
Your PhotoSource International Home Page on the PhotoSourceBANK
Website will be an important promotional channel for you. Photobuyers
from across the nation and around the world visit the PhotoSourceBANK
daily.
They are looking for highly specific pictures. If yours are listed in
the PhotoSourceBANK, you have increased your chances for sales,
and positioned yourself to make new contacts for further sales and assignments.
Whenever you get an inquiry, be sure to post a thumbnail up on the PhotoSourceGROUP.
In order for the PhotoSourceBANK to be a successful arm for marketing
your photos, it's essential that you enter your photo listings in a way
that allows photobuyers to locate you and your PhotoSource International
Home Page.
Following are helpful instructions. Take some time to read
them and you'll be on your way to photo marketing success.
Want
to see a 7-minute video that photobuyers
use to learn how to locate hard-to-find photos using the PhotoSourceBANK?
Click
here.
The Google Factor
Remember, editorial photobuyers search first
for the source of a photo, not the photo itself. They
use a text search. If your photo descriptions
are in the PhotoSourceBANK correctly, you will get
inquiries from buyers seeking highly specific pictures.
The researcher usually uses one to three words
to find the source of an image. If you enter one to three words,
you'll have better success in getting hits. (separate your single
words and phrases by a comma for easier reading.) |
Throughout these instructions you'll hear us refer to
your entries into the PhotoSourceBANK as 'photo listings,' 'keywords/keyphrases,'
'photo descriptions,' or 'captions.' In like manner, keep in mind that
for each listing image there will be several different terms or descriptive
words a photobuyer can use when searching for that photo. Since web search
engines are not based on an exact science, and since there is no standard
search format available to researchers, it's best to err on the side of
volume.
In other words, you may wish to enter each photo's description
2, 3, or 4 different ways. You can list 3 or 4 different references to
the same photo, to cover the different words a photobuyer might use to
search for it. Example: dog eating from bowl; dachshund eating from bowl.
Your allocation of 3,000 words describing your photos
gives you plenty of room to do this. For example, for a picture of a "carpet,"
also list it as "rug." If it's an "aviation" subject, also list it as
"flying."
HINT: When you make your own search
on Google or another search engine, do you use one word or a series fo
words? You probably use a phrase, not a single word.
The same
goes for photobuers. They make multiple word searches. Anticipate what
phrase a photobuyer might use to locate your picture and enter several
combinations of this phrase describing your picture.
Remember,
you have an allotment of 3,00 words, so use them all!
Directions for the
PhotoSourceBANK
PhotoSourceBOOK
Stock photographers can have their own site in the PhotoSourceBANK,
listing text descriptions of their photos, using up to 3,000 words.
PhotoSourceBANK is an active and powerful Internet bank of data
listing specific photos and specialty areas of photographers,
making this information available on a no-charge basis to photobuyers
in the publishing and promotion industries.
Here are instructions on how to enter your photo listings:
| TIP: |
Prepare your photo description list ahead of time on your
computer's word processor. Once you have it complete, then
proceed to enter your listings, by the simple copy and paste
method. |
commas, commas, commas...
REMINDER: Separate your first 500-600 words and phrases
by a comma. These words will be indexed in the yellow pages
of the PhotoSourceBOOK. After word #600, commas are not
necessary.
|
TIP: Pay careful attention to the following
8 steps:
| 1. |
If you should make an error when filling
out the informational form, leave it and continue. You'll
be able to re-do that part of the form later. |
| 2. |
Leave blank any spaces that don't apply
to your situation. For example, if you have no fax, leave
it blank. If you have no publishing credits, leave it blank. |
| 3. |
If you wish to make corrections-- you can,
today or any day in the future by using your ID# and the
password you were issued when you signed up. If you've lost
your password, no problem, you can be issued a new password
in a matter of minutes. Call us at 1 800 624-0266 |
| 4. |
There's no need to put your listings
in alphabetical order, unless you wish to. Remember,
the computer does the searching and highlights
the selected word(s) the photobuyer is looking for. The
buyer doesn't have to eyeball all the words in your list
individually. You can use commas, semi-colons, or other
punctuation marks. (It makes for easier reading.) |
| 5. |
If there are 2 or 3 alternate spellings
of your word, enter them all. That way, you are reasonably
sure to include the spelling a photobuyer might use when
searching. Remember, you get 3,000 words. So use them all! |
| 6. |
Capitalize proper nouns. Minnesota, John,
Maryanne, France. Most everything else requires no capitalization.
If you are listing a foreign name, spell it correctly. If
you aren't sure how to spell it, look it up. But do include
alternate and/or typical misspellings, to help photobuyers
find it. You might miss a sale if you don't. |
| |
Don't use generic terms. Example: Don't
enter "vegetable." Enter the vegetable families you have
photographic coverage of and access to: corn, corn stalk,
bean, dried beans, celery, diseased tomato plant, cauliflower,
pea-- [Note: Enter the singular rather than the plural.
When in doubt, enter both: pea, peas.
You get up to 3,000 words, so you have
plenty of space.] List your photo subject entries in any
format you like. Here is an example: gravel, limestone
rocks, wagon wheel, shoe shine kit, basketball hoop, basketball
net, WWII, World War II vintage aircraft, vintage airplanes,
Spitfire, Mustang, Corsair with wings missing, Messerschmidt,
Messerschmitt, cantaloupe, cantalope. [Separate your multiple-word
phrases with a comma.] |
| 7.
|
It is not necessary to list your descriptive
words alphabetically or by related groupings.
You can categorize your listings if you
wish, but keep in mind that when you are ready to add
to your list when you return from a trip or a shoot, it
is easier to add words at the end of your listings, rather
than insert them in alphabetically or in categories. In
either case, the photobuyer searches your list by specific
words, and our search engine finds and highlights
the selected words immediately, no matter where they
are placed in the body of your list.
Your listings don't need to be alphabetical
or by categories. This is especially true for the first
600 words you enter. Since they are captured to be included
in the index (Yellow Pages) of the PhotoSourceBOOK, your
book page would not feature a representative selection
of your photo collection if they were all words beginning
with "A" or "B." |
| 8. |
Words from your PhotoSourceGROUP page
will also be added automatically to your psBANK page.
For some "inside secrets"
to listing your image descriptions on the PhotoSourceBANK,
Click here.
Return
to PhotoSourceBOOK page.
To
sign up for the PhotoSourceBANK only, Click Here.
|
| 9. |
Numbers: Spell out numbers also
Eight-ball; 8-ball |
Be Specific!
(your researchers
will be...)
The following 6 sections will help you understand
how you can use the Web and PhotoSourceBANK to sell your
photos.
1. BACKGROUND -- What is PhotoSource International? Click
Here.
2. HINTS FROM THE EXPERTS -- Some helpful tips. Click
Here.
3. SOME "INSIDE SECRETS" -- To listing your image descriptions.
Click Here
4. SAMPLE LISTINGS --
To see how others list their descriptions. Click
Here.
5. PHOTOSOURCEBANK CHANGES
--
When you need to make changes. Click
Here.
6. Q&A -- Answers - And More! Click
Here.
Note: If you know other photographers who could
benefit by listing in the PhotoSourceBANK, you are welcome
to make a copy of these pages for them.
Or, if they are on the Internet - our URL for
this section is http://www.photosourcebook.com/bank/.
They'll find these same instructions there.
Set up your own Webpage
at the PhotoSourceBANK site, which
is searched daily by photobuyers.
You can list your specialized areas and
specific photo subjects, to let buyers know of you and
your work and what you have available. You also have the
option of displaying six of your stock photos in the section
called PhotoSourceFOLIO,
to demonstrate your particular style and creativeness
to photobuyers who search the PhotoSourceBANKIf
you subscribe to both the psBANK and psFOLIO, you are
eligible to have your images appear on our PhotoSource
International Home Page along with
your biography. |
|
|
|
