HG: “So, social media. Jason, I wanted to start with you on this because I noticed on your Instagram you have a lot of behind the scenes. So you have a recipe for what you put on social media? Do you say, ‘I’m going to do this much of this kind of shooting and this much of this,’ and do you mix it up at all?”
JE: “Well, there are all kinds of consultants who will tell you there’s a formula for everything. And I have decided I am in a creative business because I want to be creative, so no. I don’t. I just kind of do whatever the fuck I want. I do do weeks of something. I’ll do a week of behind the scenes. Right now, I just started a week of a lot of car shows…like fast and loud, that kind of stuff. I’m going to show a bunch of car stuff. But I specifically make sure week to week it’s radically different. Just until it’s not boring. You know, so I don’t get bored with it.
“My Instagram feed is: I have two main categories of work. I have entertainment, and I have advertising. So when I do…I have multiple campaigns from both. Entertainment is deep; I’ve been doing that for ten years. So, a week of car shows is then followed by a week of maybe shark week. It’s really in terms of this; I’m just trying to intuit that I can handle entertainment campaigns. That’s the view of what I’m doing. Then when I do advertising stuff, I’ll really just let people know: here’s my vision of how I would handle your campaign. So, really, I have two categories. They’re all over the place, because one’s farm, one’s coffee beans, one’s whatever, but it’s really sticking to this singular vision of what motivates me.”
HG: “I notice that you post heavily on LinkedIn.”
JE: “That’s because of my reps. I did not understand LinkedIn until my reps got me into it. There’s a premium level you pay for on LinkedIn, and it gives you access to, [things like] looking up people. It’s great for researching people..where you can research every company you’re interested in and all the creative directors there. So I’ve started posting on LinkedIn. Still not sure I fully understand what it does for me, but my reps really think it does something, so…”
HG: “I like…[your reps] tag me all the time. I love that.”
JE: “Every time I tag you, you comment. So thank you.”
HG: “Zach, I want you to tell me what tricks I need to know about Instagram because I feel like you know stuff. I mean, first of all, you hashtag.”
ZA: “Yeah I hashtag the shit out of it. Yeah.”
HG: “Yeah.”
ZA: “And that’s how you get followers, and people find you. And I don’t only just put personal projects up or art commissioned work, I also [post] if I’m hanging out with my friend. Or, if it’s a cool shot I post it and just hashtag if it’s lifestyle, fashion, whatever I want to shoot it in .I’ll even put clients in there, like Vans, or whatever. I’ve gotten work from that too.”
HG: “So it’s not-so casual thought. Your hashtags are pretty deliberate. You say location—”
ZA: “Mmmhmm. On location, production.”
HG: “No, I know, but you say THE location. Where you are.”
ZA: “Oh yeah, absolutely.”
HG: “So how many hashtags, Zach?”
ZA: “I’ve about 30. About 20-30.”
HG: “Thirty is the maximum.”
ZA: “Yes.”
HG: “Yes?”
ZA: “Well, it’s just different galleries of where [people] are going to go into.”
HG: “Right.”
ZA: “I mean, each of those galleries have maybe 500 thousand posts or something in them.”
HG: “Okay, so that’s why I’m saying ‘hashtag tricks man.’ So there’s stuff that falls in that brings more people to you.”
ZA: “Absolutely, yes. For instance, when I did a personal thing in Joshua Tree, I posted on Instagram, and within a week I was shooting for American Airlines in-flight magazine, a job in Joshua Tree. So I mean they found—”
HG: “Because you hash tagged Joshua Tree.”
ZA: “Yeah.”
JE: “I used to not understand why, [I would say] I want Instagram to be my one place where I’m not working. But this client right here, this is for Country Music Television. She said to me, ‘Don’t you want to be part of the creative conversation?’ And she said that’s what Instagram is. That’s why now I’m really into posting on Instagram, the creative stuff. I mean, [one] week was all just behind the scenes. But really I try to show…I want to contribute to the inspiration that I get from looking at Instagram. I follow primarily photographers. A lot of my friends are pissed off that I won’t follow them. But I want to really just follow photographers and tattoo artists. So, I really like seeing what other people are doing. I’m going to follow all three of these photographers, these people on this panel, because now that I know them, I can link [that] to the way they shoot. That’s really fascinating.”
HG: “This question is for Shelly. How do you research creative buyers on social, and what do you think would attract those potential clients?”
SW: “Oh, I’m not looking them up on Insta; I’m looking them up on LinkedIn. I can just do a creative buyer search on LinkedIn, [and] to Jason’s point, that’s where you’re going to find them, and that’s where you’re going to find their names, and that’s where you’re going to find their personal links to their personal work. Then you’re going to find them on Instagram, and you can stalk them. Then if you find something that you really, truly like what they’re doing, and it’s gotta be authentic. Because there’s no point in my sending you a DM on Instagram and saying, ‘Oh my God, I totally love your picture,’ when I really hate it and think ‘awful.’ But if you really like what they’re doing, you can send them a private note: ‘Hey that’s cool,’ and follow their stories and send them little notes. I love following people’s stories because they are only there 24 hours…and if they actually respond. [Instagram] Stories people respond to really quickly. I was posting pretty much for the first twelve hours of my day today of my travels down to LA. I’m from the Bay Area. I flew down here, and I thought it was really funny because I was literally doing Planes, Trains, and Automobiles. So, I was seeing how many planes, how many trains, how many automobiles I rode in all the way down here. And people were responding to my story, ‘Oh, my God! You’re at Oakland Airport right now! I’m at Oakland Airport! Are you flying to Burbank or LAX?’ ‘I’m flying to Burbank.’ ‘Oh I’m flying to Burbank! What plane are you on?’ And I’m like…”
HG: “I don’t want to tell you now.” (Laughing)
SW: “Turns out three of my friends who live in LA were in the Bay and were flying Southwest back down here and were all an hour apart. None of us were on the same planes. So, that’s how I would find creative buyers; I would start on LinkedIn. I will do a search for creative buyers or for the company I want to work for. Or somebody that I might already know at that company, and then look at who comes up as recommendations within them, all those different channels to find them. If I really, really want to get to know them, I will send them a personal note. For instance, on LinkedIn, I follow PDN’s Taste competition every year. I am a food photographer, so that’s a big competition for me. But I specifically look at who are the judges for that competition, and I will reach out to them on LinkedIn and send them a note. I will say, ‘Hey, I see you’re judging this contest. Thank you so much for taking time out of your day to be a part of this contest. It really means a lot to us in the food industry that you do this.’ And I’ll get a lot of notes back on LinkedIn which say, ‘Oh, thank you so much.’ And I’ll usually get the connection. And now they’re in my wheelhouse, and I can advertise to them.
“And I’m advertising through LinkedIn. You guys were talking about, ‘I don’t know how to use LinkedIn.’ I use LinkedIn to post articles about what’s going on in the industry, what I’m up to, what my friends are up to, and things I’m really passionate about. Anyway, that’s how I find them. And that’s how I would ultimately attract them, right? Because they’re interested in what I’m interested in. And there are a few people who follow me on Instagram, but I will say most of the people who find me on Instagram are people I’ve met in person, and I’ll say, ‘Oh, what’s your handle? This was a really fun conversation. I want to follow you on Insta.’ But most of the people will follow me on LinkedIn and then find me on Insta.”
ZA: “Nothing drives me more insane than someone just going through [my Instagram profile] and then all of a sudden I’m getting 30 likes, and it’s just the same person going through it. I know creative buyers and art directors don’t like seeing that either. Because it’s just a weird [stalker] kind of thing. So I would just be subtle about it, right? Don’t blow up their feed.”
SW: “Well, the one network we haven’t talked about is Behance. [I don’t know] if anybody on this panel, I mean I have some friends in the industry who use Behance. It’s now owned by Adobe. It’s a great place to share the work you’ve done and the people who have worked with you. Also, it’s really fun to follow other people’s projects. I know a lot of people who [use it], because it seems like a pretty big network, but it’s kind of a small pool, a lot of my friends get work on Behance.”
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