Photography Emailers - Is this Spam?

What I really hate is a great lunch ruined by the rest of my industry when I get that inevitable comment "so, what's up with this email thing, it's killing me". It's the constant criticism of the way photographers go about promoting themselves is the charming bulk email that we think of as "reaching out". Yep, that bit where we hit send on multiple thousands of emails sent to creatives is actually not a huge hit with them.

Let's think about why shall we? First off how often have you suddenly decided that "Rolex" or knock-off Viagra from Canada is a great purchase and that the online-retailer is a reputable source. So what's the difference between them and you; you're both sending bulk unsolicited, unrequested marketing materials. Photography is a unique product, you should sell on quality and style, I'm a big proponent of direct mail, opt-in email and on-line content (hence a blog with a twitter-feed). What I am against is the use of your potential clients primary source of communication (email) to scream your "message". It's insulting and demeaning to you and them that you think that tossing a quick email into their inbox is suddenly going to make you their top-choice.

So what's the alternative; unfortunately you're going to need to focus on networking, public relations and targeted direct marketing. Meet those creatives that can hire you in person, build a name for yourself and your work with a defined style and genre and then match the two together with marketing materials that have genuine value.

So how does this happen. The key protagonists in this practice and the organizations that represent the photographers’ professional interests (funnily enough they sponsor each other – funny isn’t it) are AdBase and Agency Access, who sell those details, and APA and ASMP who represent thousands of professional photographers. The basic practice is that once every ninety days a representative from AdBase and Agency Access and ask for the personal details of your clients and a receptionist hands them over. Then a photographer buys access to the list and pings thousands of unrelated creatives they have never met.

If you’re interested in trying to stop this flood of unsolicited mail feel free to contact them and let them know how you feel:

Agency Access www.agencyaccess.com
Click on the contact info

AdBase www.adbase.com
Nelson Nunes President & Co-Founder
nelson@adbase.com

American Society of Media Photographers www.asmp.org
Click on contact info and contact the board

Advertising Photographers of America www.apanational.com
Constance Evans, National CEO
ExecDirector@APAnational.com

I believe this practice is killing the perception of photography; it devalues us and our clients. If you want to do something else then here’s an online petition I set-up:

http://www.ipetitions.com/petition/photographerspam/index.html

Go sign it, tell others to sign it, spread the word and who knows APA. ASMP, Agency Access, AdBase and thousands of individual photographers may pay attention. Or they may not. I would love to hear from other people on what they think of this issue.