In our February print edition, we talked to one photographer who is using Apple’s iPhone technology to promote his work (see “Self Promotion? Monte Isom Has an App for That." Here, we take a look at another photographer’s app designed to keep clients tuned in to studio news, award updates and, most importantly, fresh work.

“I love technology,” exclaims advertising photographer Caesar Lima. “It’s amazing what you can do these days. “Whether I’m creating an image or promoting it, anything and everything is possible.” Lima says that when the iPhone first came out, he and his staff designed an iPhone Web site so that viewers could see the same content from his regular site but formatted specifically for a phone screen (as well as to accommodate for horizontal and vertical phone positions). “Then the apps started coming out and we decided to jump right in,” he says. “Not only can you view my work on my current app, you can also see and access my Tweets, my Facebook page, my blog, all the video we put on You Tube. There’s also a fan wall to leave feedback and chat. If someone really wants to spend 20 minutes to half an hour with it, they can.”

Lima has had 1,200 downloads in the past three months, and he didn’t have to use an expensive developer to create his app. While Monte Isom paid $10,000 to use a developer out of Maine and have his app super customized, Lima says he used Mobile Roadie,“a turn-key platform to quickly and inexpensively build and manage iPhone and Android apps,” as described on the company’s Web site. “Mobile Roadie specializes in applications for musicians,” Lima explains, “but I quickly realized I could use its core programming and just change the categories.” So, for example, instead of showing LPs or records, Lima could use it to list awards or new jobs. He also made an adaptation for himself on the standard app to include an interface that allows him, in five or ten minutes, to upload new images or videos that people can then access immediately.

“One of the most appealing and useful features on a photographer’s app or Web site is the ability to update and change your images easily and quickly,” he says. “If you don’t change content often, it becomes old quick.” With this particular app he says he can change 80 percent of his content without users having to download again. “You just check your e-mail via your phone and can see that there are six or seven updates and then just click on them,” he says. (Mobile Roadie quotes its fee as $499 to start, then $29 a month to host.) The first 1,000 downloads of your app are free; after that you pay $0.01 per month. If you charge for your app Mobile Roadie takes a cut, as does Apple. If your app is free, as Lima’s is, then there is no additional charge.)

“When people download with iPhone,” Lima explains, “they are giving you permission to give them updates. . .I call it ‘permission-marketing,’ as opposed to just barraging someone with e-mail blasts that they more than likely won’t even open."



When someone downloads Lima’s app, there is an area for them to add their name and address, which Lima can then use to send further updates through e-mail or just through the app. “We’ve had 1,200 downloads since November so that means there are 1,200 people willing to see more of my work,” he adds. “Do you know how long it would take me to build a mailing list of 1,200 names and addresses from scratch?”
 
The bottom line, Lima sums up, is that he has a portable hub where client can see everything that he’s doing, which in turn creates buzz about him and drives traffic to his Web site. “If nothing’s going on with me or if I’m not continuously telling people all the new things I’m working on, there’s no impact. People only come back if there’s something fresh or new.”

“Now that the iPad is out,” he adds with a laugh, “I’m ready to jump on that too—if it’s any good—and take my marketing up another notch.”

The key point to remember, he adds, is that all the hardware and software are just tools. “Without the idea, without the content, there's no hardware that will do it for you.”

The Caesar Lima Studio App 3.0 iPhone app is downloadable at http://bit.ly/22GX4i. His iPhone Web site can be accessed at http://caesarphoto.com/vr/iPhoneApp.html.