Tag: marketing

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A Marketing Challenge for the Year 2023

This is a follow-up marketing challenge to what was started in January 2022.

This is NOT a New Year’s Resolution – they don’t usually work. This is a re-commitment of something I did in January last year to jump-start my art photography business. It worked very well last year – and positive results/metrics were shared here on this website.

This year I am modifying the goals just a bit to make a longer-term commitment well within reach. I am continuing to wean myself from social media and put more emphasis on positive results from the major search engines. I want to (need to) increase the organic search results that bring people to see my photography and my galleries on the various POD (Print On Demand) art production companies that host my gallery stores – listed in the site menu.

Blue Flams heating the Tea Pot
Let me get the fire lit and get underway.

The goal is to create one new article per day for the entire first quarter of 2023.

The caveat is that I will give myself weekends off. (Hey, I am supposed to be retired.) I also will not adhere to a strict schedule. That means, overall, I will publish an average of 5 articles per week on one or more of my websites, 20/21 per month for January, February and March. (Yes, I will count this article among the list below…)

Obviously, this particular article will be a Work In Progress

January Articles

  1. Fenwick Island Dunes and Waves, USPictures.com, 01/01
  2. Fenwick Island Lighthouse Historic Panorama, USPictures.com, 01/02
  3. A Marketing Challenge for the Year 2023, BillSwartwout.com, 01/02
  4. Fenwick Island Lighthouse, SouthBaltimore.com. 01/02
  5. Eclipse of the Moon over the Indian River Bridge, IndianRiverBridge.com, 01/03
  6. Simulated Watercolor from a Photograph, IndianRiverBridge.com, 01/05
  7. Staying on the Boardwalk in Ocean City, Maryland, OceanCityBoardwalkHotels.com, 01/11
  8. For Purple Mountain Majesties, BillSwartwout.com, 01/12
  9. A Cat in a Fishbowl, BillSwartwout.com, 01/14
  10. One Cat Eye Looking Directly At You, BillSwartwout.com, 01/15
  11. Red Sky at Night, Sailor’s Delight, IndianRiverBridge.com, 01/15
  12. Dangerous Passage, BillSwartwout.com, 01/16
  13. Tuckahoe River Railroad Bridge in Delmarva, USPictures.com, 01/17
  14. Photo Tip for Photographing Sunsets, BillSwartwout.com, 01/20
  15. I’ve Always had a Keen Interest in Astronomy, BillSwartwout.com, 01/23
  16. Catching the Sun in Her Arms, BillSwartwout.com, 01/23
  17. Having Fun at the Beach in Ocean City, MD, OceanCityBoardwalkHotesl.com, 01/25
  18. Finding Places to Stay in Ocean City, MD!, SouthBaltimore.com, 01/25
  19. Ocean City Twitter Account Is Now Verified, USPictures.com, 01/26
  20. Iconic Red Barn, USPictures.com, 01/28
Fenwick Island Dunes and Waves
Fenwick Island Dunes and Waves and Sea and Sand in the Afternoon Sun

February Articles

  1. This Crab Saw His Shadow, BillSwartwout.com, 02/03
  2. Starry Night at the Indian River Inlet Bridge, IndianRiverBridge.com, 0204
  3. Before Sunrise at the Indian River Bridge, IndianRiverBridge.com, 02/05
  4. Starry Night Over Fenwick Island Lighthouse, FenwickIslandLighthouse.com, 02/06 (first sale was 02/07)
  5. Stay on the Boardwalk in Ocean City, OCtheBeach.com, 02/09
  6. Fenwick Shoals in the Atlantic at Fenwick Island, FenwickIslandLighthouse.com, 02/09
  7. Should I Choose a Hotel or a Condo for Vacation? OCtheBeach.com, 02/09
  8. Artificial Intelligence Art Imagery, BillSwartwout.com, 02/10
  9. Indian River Bridge Cam at Delaware Seashore State Park, IndianRiverBridge.com, 02/14
  10. Indian River Inlet Bridge Gift Shop, IndianRiverBridge.com, 02/14
  11. Song for Sunrise over the Bridge at Indian River Inlet, IndianRiverBridge.com, 02/14
  12. Ocean City Gift Shop, OCtheBeach.com, 02/14
  13. About Dead Tree Pictures, DeadTreePictures.com, 02/16
  14. Ocean City Jigsaw Puzzles, OCtheBeach.com, 02/18
  15. New Website Created, aiArtImagery.com, 02/20
  16. Artificial Intelligence (AI) in the Art World, aiArtImagery.com, 02/21
  17. Right Time Right Place Photo Tip, BillSwartwout.com, 02/22
  18. Why Are Barns Painted Red? BillSwartwout.com, 02/23
  19. Free Shipping Now Available for Bill Swartwout Photography, USPictures.com, 02/23
  20. Visiting Myrtle Beach, SC? USPictures.com, 02/23
  21. Do You Have a Tote Bag for the Beach? OCtheBeach.com, 02/23
  22. Vacationing in Ocean City, Maryland, OceanCityBoardwalkHotels.com, 02/24
  23. Virtual Sisters Feline and Human, aiArtImagery.com, 02/27

March Articles

  1. Decaying Red Barns, BillSwartwout.com, 03/01 (Almost ready…)
  2. Vanishing Red Barns in America, aiArtImagery.com, 03/01
  3. Myrtle Beach Beach, Sand, Dunes, Ocean and Sky, USPictures.com, 03/02
  4. Watching the Sun Setting Under the Indian River Bridge, IndianRiverBridge.com, 03/03
  5. Pier Against the Storm, aiArtImagery.com, 03/09
  6. What’s Cooking in the Kitchen?, aiArtImagery.com, 03/09
  7. Fenwick Island Lighthouse on the Rocks, FenwickIslandLighthouse.com, 03/10
  8. Last Bridge into Ocean City, OCtheBeach.com, 03/10
  9. Double Trouble – a Two-Headed Rattlesnake, aiaARTimagery.com, 03/11
  10. OC Vacations on Record Pace for 2023, OceanCityBoardwalkHotels.com, 03/31

OK, so March did not make the cut. We were on an extended vacation and I “finally” realized that doing a daily article was distracting. I will pick this activity up once we return home and things get back to normal (whatever that may be).

Results

Metrics and more… TBD

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Bill Swartwout Photography Has a Verified Twitter Account

The “Blue Check” indicates that I am now a paid subscriber to Twitter.

Why not? I’ve been a Twitter member since the first year of this popular social media platform. I joined in June of 2007, only a few months after the Blue Bird spread its wings and took to the air (Internet).

Twitter header with 'Verified" Blue check.
Twitter with ‘Verified” Blue check for Bill Swartwout Photography.

Twitter is still a viable form of social media for marketing my photography. Being a “Verified” tweeter gives my account a bit of extra credibility. Perception and a positive image is beneficial to any sales endeavor. If you also use Twitter please go ahead and click on over there to give my Twitter account a follow.

Sure, there have been a raft of social media memes about how badly the new ownership is doing but I do not believe it is going to fly away any time soon. Twitter had a lot of “problems” that have been ignored for a long time – mainly fake accounts, run by bots, that spread like wildfire. I do believe that problem is being addressed because I am seeing fewer “bogus” advertisements every day.

Do YOU have a twitter account?

If so, leave a link in the comments section (below) and I’ll give you a follow.

I also have twitter accounts for two of my commercial websites. They are not, however, “verified” accounts. Yet.

Link to: Ocean City, MD – (Active since May, 2008)
Link to: South Baltimore Peninsula, MD – (Active since March, 2009)

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South Baltimore Peninsula vs. Mastodon

I was looking to get involved in Mastodon, another social media platform, but…

I did open a Mastodon account but I am all-of-a-sudden too busy for anything new. Two days ago a major urban development project (the largest on the East Coast) announced a rebranding with a major media promotion in the local (Baltimore) market. I have a 23 year old website about the South Baltimore peninsula (that was our home for four+ decades). The project is on one small (235 acre) strip of land on the southern edge of the peninsula. The new name for the project is Baltimore Peninsula and, consequently, website traffic at South Baltimore Peninsula has spiked over 300% since the announcement on November 15, 2022.

rebradning of port covington to baltimore peninsula
This signage in this photograph has been “adjusted” to reflect the recent (11/15/22) rebranding of Port Covington urban development project to the new name of Baltimore Peninsula.

I am busy going through dozens of pages and making them a bit more SEO “attractive” for the many visitors who will be searching for Baltimore Peninsula – the name of my site is South Baltimore Peninsula at SouthBaltimore.com. The project is not too shabby and is valued at 5.5 BILLION dollars over the next several years.

The newly rebranded Baltimore Peninsula with the South Baltimore peninsula domain name.
This photograph of the newly rebranded Baltimore Peninsula shows the South Baltimore peninsula domain name from back in 1999.

Yes, I do have related Baltimore and Fort McHenry and Chesapeake Bay “collections” in my FAA gallery. I am not unhappy at having no spare time for the next couple of weeks. My main interests these day lies in my art photography. I enjoy shooting photographs of locations, both near and far, and also enjoy marketing and selling the wall art I create.

Use the links below to visit see more of my photography…

Link to: Baltimore Collection
Link to: Fort McHenry Collection
Link to: Chesapeake Bay & Bridge Collection

Link to: My full gallery at Fine Art America

Link to: My gallery at Pictorem (with Free Shipping throughout North America)