Let’s start 2017 with a fantastic new WordPress plugin, Million Eyez, that has made it possible to connect writers and photographers enabling them to interact and create articles with impactful photos. Writers, get ready for a year full of handpicked, authentic photos that will bring your posts to life, and photographers, this is your chance to get your work out there and integrate your images with articles all around the world.
I had the opportunity to sit down with the CEO, Ido Sher Sever, and Chief Photographer, Essdras Suarez of Million Eyez, who are reinventing visual storytelling every day.
What is Million Eyez?
Million Eyez is a simple, yet powerful concept that brings together writers and photographers by allowing photographers to upload custom photos to the writers posts. Ido, tells me,
Million eyez is a photobox that the writers install on their WordPress dashboard, giving them the option to ask photographers for specific images that can enrich their posts.
Long gone are the days of stock photography. Writers have full control when choosing photos, so they are always relevant and pertinent.
Here is how it works
As a writer you need to install Million Eyez on your WordPress dashboard. You can do that here. Also, it’s completely free. When you have activated your Million Eyez WordPress plugin, you will see an add million eyez button on your dashboard.
Where you would like to add your image, insert the photobox and ask the community of photographers for an image that fits your post theme.
You will receive images from various photographers that will make suggestions. It is up to you as the writer to choose which image/s fit your post best. Approve the ones you like.
Now you have yourself a quality post that is accompanied with a strong image.
Synergy between writers and photographers
Ess, who is a Pulitzer Prizewinner, tells me that when he started working, the writer and photographer used to go out together, and there would be a certain connection between them, he calls this a synergy.
Good relationship and communication between a writer and photographer is what makes a final piece incredible. – Ess
It is especially important for the writers to be able to trust the photographers, because they are letting someone else express their ideas in images. Nowadays this connection is lost on the web, with stock photos, and images being available everywhere online, the writers struggle to find unique photos. These are limited and expensive.
Good writers often don’t have access to good photos. Here you ask and they come to your door. – Ess
Million Eyez guarantees good quality photographers
When you ask a Million Eyez photographer to contribute to your post, you can be sure the quality has already been checked. All photographers are vetted before they are allowed to submit photos. Anyone is allowed to apply with a link to their work, but the Million Eyez team decide if the quality is there. Another thing that is checked is how photographers and writers communicate, Million Eyez wants to ensure that the photographers are able to understand and respond to the writer’s wishes. Photographers have a great opportunity to showcase their work in the heart of the story. They might just have the photo a writer needs in their archives.
Photographers get applying so that us writers, and our readers can enjoy your work. Here is how to apply.
Keep your story alive
Photos that keep coming to your post will both keep your story alive and harness your readers. As a writer, most of us define success by reader engagement, which comes in different forms. Why not allow your readers to contribute photos to your posts? Million Eyez photobox is open, if you want it to be, so that the photos keep rolling in. Invite your readers, who are photographers, to join in, let them express their feelings through images.
Photos also keep your readers on your posts for longer, now that no one wants to dedicate more than a few seconds to a post, it’s more important to grab someone’s attention with a striking image. Ido explains this well, “if you take out the visual from the web, you are back to the sms”. He also goes on to talk about the future of the web.
Selfie is the state of the internet now. Milion Eyez is the evolution to more than just the selfie. Our mission is to enrich the web. – Ido
Why you should use Million Eyez
This is the way of the future, best way for photographers to be showcased, and the best way for writers to have their story visualized in an individual and creative way. It’s also about keeping the human touch, talking to each other, and together producing something incredible.
Ess and Ido from Million Eyez
Get reader engagement, create impactful content, use unique photos.
