Trends alter the way we as consumers view the world we live in and the products we use every day. For example, 2009 saw the rise of the “netbook” computer as an auxiliary device for the home or travel, and 2010 has already seen the first launches of tablet-style computers.  As these devices proliferate and we become increasingly reliant on Web-based applications for everyday business, the paperless office and the wireless world we once dreamed of are becoming a reality. At the same time, growing adoption of these various devices means that demand for new content is greater than ever.  
 
What does this mean for me?

Keeping an eye on trends in the marketplace is essential to making your work as a content creator relevant to buyers. For example, trends in the technology sector change not only the way we do business but affect the way we spend our free time. Staying one step ahead of the curve and identifying trends in images that may interest corporate and other clients, including art directors at marketing and advertising firms, editorial outlets and other businesses that use images, may seem like an impossible task. But with all the resources available on the Web it should be part of your business strategy.

Last year, we talked about how in today’s photo marketplace, it helps to cultivate a specialty. Whatever your specialty, trends affect every aspect of your work and how it will be received in the marketplace.  This is the first in an occasional series that will identify upcoming trends and what they may mean for your business. Listed below are some of the big trends from 2009 that will continue to influence us into 2010 and beyond. In future posts, we’ll explore some of these trends in more depth. Meanwhile, keep these trends in mind as you market yourself to clients in the months ahead: 

Going Green Green may be an overused term that covers a very diverse range of industries and topics, but in 2010 there is no denying that it affects all of us. Whether you are talking about renewable energy, reducing carbon emissions or upgrading the windows in your home to save money on power, the thinking behind going green is simple. Save money, create jobs and make the most of what we have.

The Cloud Cloud computing is the phrase of the day in the IT world with more companies moving to cloud-based solutions. Cloud computing is a general term for anything that involves delivering a hosted service over the internet. Software, infrastructure and development platforms are run as a service. All a consumer needs is a computer with an internet connection. Cloud-based computing greatly reduces the cost of running and maintaining servers, software and IT support. The ability to access enormous amounts of data from multiple locations at very low cost is allowing companies across the world to build elaborate applications with easily scalable virtually unlimited amounts of computing resources, customer storage and IT services.

Are there any trends you’re seeing that are important to photographers and are not mentioned above? If so, please let us know by posting them in the comments section below.

Apple created such a buzz around the launch of its latest hot product -- the iPad -- two weeks ago that sites and services all over the net slowed to a crawl and some suffered outages for upwards of 20 minutes. At the AlwaysOn OnMedia conference in New York a few days later, Apple’s new product remained a hot topic. Consider the amount of discussion about how this new product will not support flash by participants on a single panel, “Online Video…Who Profits?”

This kind of awareness is not created solely by the Apple PR machine, but is a clear indication of the widespread interest in changing the way we as consumers experience media. The demand for a real interactive experience and a thirst for new information mean the demand for high-quality, easily licensable content has never been greater.

Just look at the impact of the iPad. Although not as revolutionary as some had predicted, Apple's 10-inch touch screen iPad tablet packs a mighty punch. Along with the ability to surf the Web and handle email, the device can stream video from sites like YouTube and Vimeo and is capable of running powerful applications like iWork. In addition, Apple introduced iBooks.  The ability to download books is nothing new, but the iPad reader app adds a fresh look and feel to the idea of reading from a digital device.

Among the print publications featured in Apple’s official demo video for the iPad were LicenseStream customer SPIN magazine and The New York Times. At launch, Martin Nisenholtz, a senior vice president at The New York Times showcased a version of the paper on the iPad that displayed just like the regular paper, but that could be manipulated by the user to zoom in to read articles, flick through pages and access video right from within news articles. Nisenholtz’s declaration that “this is just the beginning,” makes it clear that the executives at Gray Lady are embracing the iPad in a big way.

WHY DO I CARE?

Companies such as The New York Times and other large publications already use massive amounts of visual content on a daily basis. They also face the growing costs of producing this content. In addition, advances in digital fingerprinting, watermarking and tracking for online content are forcing changes in the media industry as they require greater accountability by sites and publications that otherwise might use content illegally or without proper licensing.

Demand for content will continue to grow exponentially as newspapers, magazines and other media companies form business relationships with companies that are creating new conduits to the consumer – whether it’s Apple’s iPAD, Amazon’s Kindle or Barnes & Noble’s Nook. As a result, the ability for media companies such as The New York Times to search for and easily license digital content is more important than ever.  Just as important is the need of the photographer or videographer to be fairly compensated for the original content he or she creates.

ImageSpan's LicenseStream with ImageSpan's partners already provide the tools to make your digital media license-ready, and to monitor, manage and monetize unauthorized usage.

In addition, ImageSpan and its partners are making it easier for potential purchasers or your content – such as The New York Times – to monetize the content they publish. Instead of relying solely on advertising – which is a reactive model as ImageSpan CEO Iain Scholnick pointed out during a recent AlwaysOn OnMedia conference  panel in New York titled, “What's the Online Monetization Strategy that Will Save News & Publishing?”, content creators and owners should play to their strengths – which is leveraging their creative content more efficiently and effectively.  To actually monetize the content, he added, content developers need to be able to link into a licensing backbone, such as the one LicenseStream provides, from any iPad (or for that matter, iPhone) applications they’re creating to distribute content.

The upshot? LicenseStream offers content owners of all sizes a powerful solution that makes it easier for editorial and other media companies to find and license the content they need.