| | It was a birthday month 🎉Another year older and more LEGO to build 😁 and not just any LEGO, but Snoopy LEGO 😝, oh, and F1 😊 Anyway, people seem to be realising the sun is out and that they need photographs of their premises when everything looks its best. So it’s been quite a busy month, and the drone has even made an appearance to get those extra-special shots.
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| | Good SEO is good GEOEvery few months a fresh acronym lands in my inbox and a client asks whether it's time to tear up the playbook. GEO. AEO. LLM SEO. The fear is always the same: that AI has rewritten the rules and everything you've built no longer counts.
Google has just put out a refreshingly blunt answer, and it's one I've been giving clients for a while now. Good SEO is good GEO. The foundations haven't moved. AI Mode and AI Overviews are built on the same ranking systems that have always rewarded businesses for being genuinely useful.
What did catch my eye, as someone who shoots photography and video for a living, is where Google says your real advantage now lies: original, first-hand content that only your brand can produce, backed by quality images and video. That is exactly the kind of work a generic competitor can't fake.
Here's what Google had to say, and what it means if you run a business here in the West Midlands. | | | |
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| | | | CC Keys - Product PhotosThese might look like simple images, but creating clean, striking images for online stores is a must for any online business. Amazon stipulate that the first image must be on a pure white background for a reason. They’ve tested what the market responds to and what drives sales; they are in the business of selling, after all. | | | |
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| | | | Creating a ZineA while ago, I went to a workshop with the RPS, where they taught us to approach things from a storytelling perspective to create Zines. Now, whilst I often look at things from a storytelling perspective, I very rarely do so outside of work (probably because I don’t bring my work home 😳😂), but I realised I was missing something in my personal work.
So this is my first Zine about nature and the city. It’s only a few pages; I wasn’t trying to write an epic novel. Enjoy 😊 | | | |
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Lungo This is a Mac-only tool (seriously, did you expect me to use anything else 😳). Most computers, especially Macs, will go to sleep very quickly, but only a few apps talk to the operating system and pause sleep while they carry out the task you left them. This little app keeps the system awake for a set time; sure, the screen will go off and everything will look like it’s fully asleep, but it’s busy working away on the task you left it doing. | | | |
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| | | | Fractional Marketing DirectorYou might not have known, but for the last few years, I’ve been a fractional marketing director to a few businesses, helping them with their marketing strategy and expanding their reach, from getting to new markets and exhibiting all over the world to moving from trade only to include direct-to-customer offerings. I’ve used my years of experience building and selling businesses (yes, I did other things before starting my photography business 17 years ago) to understand the marketing landscape and what it takes to succeed in this ever-changing world. The reason I’m mentioning this is that I realise I don’t tell people what else I do and have been doing in this newsletter, it’s either photography/video or LEGO 😁 | | | |
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| | | | Hare and HoundsWe were back at the Hare and Hounds as the Lodges were ready to be photographed, and they needed to be advertised and earning their investment. | | | |
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| | | | Behind The ScenesJust a few photos from on location so that you can have a peek into my world. | | | |
| | Photographing furniture on location (well, talking about it actually here) | | | |
| | My ideas book - with a photo of the completed project, just so I get validation from completing the idea 🎉 | | | |
| | Not sure if this was an exercise I was trying to do or give direction on posing 🤔 Portraits of the new headmaster at OSH. | | | |
| | Images being used in clients social media marketing | | | |
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| | | | | Previous newsletters are available, providing a treasure trove of marketing advice and some delightful pictures, too! Take your time to check them out and enjoy a few extra minutes of reading. | | | |
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| | | | This month's Landscape‘House on the Hill' A solitary house sits on a grassy hill under a cloudy sky, surrounded by trees. Are you local and recognise this place? It has been modernised and expanded, but its original identity remains apparent. | | | |
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| | | | Well, that’s it for this month and I hope there has been something in this which has sparked an interest for you. If there is something you would like to see in future, then just let me know. | | | |
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“ Quality means doing it right when no one is looking."
Henry Ford
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