Editing in Marketing, Writing, and Photography

True words about photographs in a digital age, and how critical it has become to select and print only those few that are good, that serve a purpose or meet our needs:

We edit for our audiences, real or virtual. If we share too much, people shut us out. If we share well, people become fans. We’re not known for the quality of our photography as much as we’re known for the quality of our editing. Abundance has made us all publishers at some level, but that also means we’re all editors at some level, too.

via The Kodak Moment — Unleashed from Scarcity, Editing Becomes More Important « The Scholarly Kitchen.

This applies to our communications, too. I’ve spoken to many business owners who want to use social media for marketing, want to “get out there” on Facebook and Twitter, want to run an ad or print a brochure or buy a booth at a trade show.

But first ask, why? What is our purpose for this? Good marketing isn’t about doing more activities, it’s about doing the right ones and doing them well.

Treat your marketing activities like those 100 nearly identical photos of the snow last weekend. Do you really need all 100? Do you even need one?

Edit  your marketing and edit your message. Communicate the right thing to the right people, and you will succeed.

Subject them to endless vacation slideshows, and they’ll bolt for the door while you change the slide deck.