When I first returned from war I was often asked why am I such a jerk. Now that I have been home from war for over a decade and after countless hours of therapy, self medication, and finally finding my way back into society I have looked back on this question.

GuruShots is a fun photo contest site that allows you to submit photos for contests and vote on your favorite photos. GS turns photography into a game with how their platform works. When posting a photo on GS you will see the ability to do different “buffs” for your photos like Boost, Auto Fill, and Swaps. Basically, the way your photos are “seen” is by playing the GS game and voting. Voting gives your images the ultimate amount of exposure to better your chances of being voted on. You only get a few of these buffs so when you run out GS has a store where you can purchase extra buffs.

Simply put, Twenty20 is a stock photography platform. Whether you are buying or selling or both, the purpose behind this online creative community is to drive sales. Twenty20 has partnered with some of the largest photo sites like iStock, Getty, and many others to provide them with access to “everyday Joe and Jan” photos. I am not a millionaire, nor am I a thousandaire, but I am a hundredaire after selling photos on Twenty20 for the past couple of years.

According to the Viewbug website, “We connect millions of visual creators in a community with photography tools to help them explore and grow their craft.” I can attest to this being exactly what Viewbug does. This online photo community provides consistent contests where the photographer can submit their photos for recognition, awards, and winners can even receive photography gear. In addition to the contests, Viewbug created a challenges function for photographers to launch their own challenges to the community or join challenges launched by other photographers or both! This is a great way for new and experienced photographers to fine tune their skills and learn more about photography, try something new, or simply compete for the best photo.

Starting a career in photography is a big step and took a lot of time, money, and energy. Here is a story about how I got started.

Whether you just picked up your first camera or you are a seasoned professional, understanding how to market your photography company is important for future success. I call it getting found. What are you doing to make the phone ring, get new bookings, sell online prints, or sell stock photos? Over the next few weeks we are going to explore the wonderful world of advertising, marketing, digital marketing, and search engine optimization. While this is not going to be an all encompassing list, this will however, be a great start to getting your photo business on the map.