Amy Cuttino of Huntersville, NC was recently named winner of Kodak's Picture of the Day Contest. Her candid picture has been splashed around news websites and papers because after all, she's a local who was recognized on the national level. As prize, her picture will be on display in Time Square, New York, NY for all the world to see on May 28. Quite a prize indeed, and a promising boost of advertising.
After I heard the newsstory, I dug around a bit to find out more about this local wonder. WRAL radio had mentioned her company's name: Photography and Art Blossoms. A short Google later, I popped onto their website to see if Huntersville was harboring the next world's greatest family photographer.
Their website was fairly basic but served the purposes of an amateur photographer. It had plenty of galleries and contact information. After spending a short time navigating the links, I glanced up at the url bar: http://www.phartblossoms.com.
Seriously?! Do you really want the word "phart" in your url address? Stunned, I looked at the pictures and saw cute family photography. Lots of candid shots of kids and parents and brides. The url address and the content just seemed inconsistent. (I am adding an update to this blog post due to a reader comment that the word 'phart blossom' is a local phrase used as a term of endearment) I still maintain, that to an outsider, it's confusing.
This experience reminded me that we (all business owners, especially small business owners) should be on the look out for opportunities of fame. Little contests and accolade ops that would take our business to the next level. After all, one big break like this could take an amateur photographer and make them a star. Being careful not to spend too much time filling out contest entry forms, we should search out plausible opportunities for free advertising. Once you find that perfect contest however, please make sure that you are ready to receive attention. Check through your website, fix broken links, swap out low-res images, update your blog, and for goodness sakes, don't use any words like "phart."
Posts
2 comments:
Just happened upon your blog post about Photography and Art Blossoms and couldn't help but comment...
When it comes to their URL, I'm not sure if you're from around here or not, but "Fart Blossom" is something of an endearment that we've heard from our country Grandmas for a couple of generations... the idea that their title just happen to jumble into "Phart" was perfect and many people immediately comment on having been called that as a child! They're URL is memorable & once they tell people their URL address, it's not easily forgotten.
Based on the other winners of the Kodak Photo contest, I'm not sure why you would've thought you were going to find some "professional." Most who win are amateurs & hobbyists. Amy just happens to have connections in some media outlets & those friends were excited for her. Plus, we'd never heard of the contest before.
Amy & Michelle are my friends and for those of us who have the pleasure of having them photograph for us, we will never step foot in an over priced, fake-pose, cheesy smile studio again. Their photos of our families & children may be "mediocre" to you, but to us... for the incredibly flexible schedules they have (they spent 6 hrs. yesterday shooting engagement photos with my sister,) their accommodating pricing, and their laid back, easy going personalities, they more than make up for their "mediocre," as you call it, talent.
While I don't think the point of your blog post was to critique Amy's work, it sure was kind of harsh. I don't suppose that it will do too much damage though since your "template based," *only* two column (haven't you heard we're all going to THREE,) mediocre blog doesn't look over run with readers and comments.
Thank you for your comment. I would like to offer my apologies for not understanding the cultural term of endearment "phart blossoms." I see the correlation between the phrase and the family photography and it is indeed catchy. I have updated the post to reflect this.
Please understand that this blog is dedicated to small business advertising and not a critique of artwork. I only saw this as an opportunity to discuss being ready for media attention. Congratulations to the winner and we wish you the best of luck next year.
Post a Comment