Archive for the ‘Social Media’ Category

Social Media: Relax…

[by Thomas Werner]

Much has been made of social media and it’s importance in terms of building your market and creating greater visibility for yourself and your business. While I agree social media has become essential to a well-rounded marketing a program, I find the emphasis many have placed on this topic a little extreme.

While giving lectures I often hear people say they have been told to spend one hour a day on social media. That is an extraordinary amount of time to devote to what should become a consistent but casual interaction in which relationships are developed over the course of time. If you spend a couple of hours a week reaching out, creating new connections, and letting people know what you are doing via Facebook, LinkedIn, and Twitter, you should find your network slowly growing and the benefits to yourself and your business growing as well.

Leave the five or seven hour a week to those who want to become online  “experts” in this field. Get out, create images, have lunch with an old client, find new ways to partner with an expanded network of creatives in your city.  Develop your marketing plan and relax when it comes to social media; grow your social network in a manner that you are comfortable with and your “friends” and “contacts” will be comfortable as well.

By Thomas Werner | Posted: March 5th, 2010 | 7 comments

Future Success

[by Rosh Sillars]

The last decade brought the standardization of digital photography, an increased interest in the craft and the commoditization of photographic images.

Many of the bread-and-butter jobs that once fed our families are now gone. Let it go and don’t look back.

Change is constant. Turn around and face the future. Technology, which has taken our opportunities, now offers new possibilities.

Photographers can be more creative than ever with higher quality image capture, unbelievable post processing and multimedia opportunities.

The Internet and social media have eliminated the barriers to sharing your vision with an international audience.  Photographers are connecting with people in cities, states and countries not even on the radar just a few years ago.

Over the next year we will hear more about real-time applications and augmented reality. People will become more connected, social and mobile.

In the future, photographers will need more creativity, communication and marketing skills to succeed.  One thing that will not change: people and relationships. They are and will continue to be the foundation of a photographer’s success.

By Rosh Sillars | Posted: January 6th, 2010 | 1 comment

How I Learned to use Twitter without being Consumed

[by Charles Gupton]

At first blush, I found Twitter to be nothing but noise. Thousands of people (and companies) screaming “look at me, me, me!” A large number of them, when they run out of anything meaningful to say (which is fairly quickly) simply get a book of quotes and tweet their way through them.

I’ve started using it differently. As the first part of conversation, I’m mostly listening. By using particular tools (I use Hootsuite and Tweetdeck), you can group the people you’re following into different categories. I view it as pulling up a chair to join one table or another in a crowded bar rather than walking through and hearing nothing but meaningless snippets of dialogue. As a result, I’m learning what’s important to the people I want to know better. When I do speak, it can be to their needs, which are, after all, more important to them than mine.

One strategy I’ve found useful is to shine the spotlight on others using their “@twittername” and mention something good they’re doing to the Tweetterverse, as well as, taking the time to RT (re-tweet) the good posts I see. I see this as relational and not manipulative – who doesn’t enjoy getting a public pat on the back? I’m also using the direct message (DM) function to connect other people when I see that they can produce value for each other without my involvement. I see this act as a no-cost gift.

Using the advanced search feature at www.search.twitter.com, one can find people in a number of ways – including by certain words, names, places and even attitudes – that allow you to follow their thoughts on the things they value.

These are a couple of ways I am able to add meaning to the conversation without overtly drawing attention to myself or lurking in the shadows.

By Charles Gupton | Posted: December 18th, 2009 | 3 comments

Blogs and Your Business

[by Jay Kinghorn]

About six months ago I began blogging regularly and I can safely say it has become one of my best business planning tools. When establishing an audience online, you are constantly striving to provide that audience with meaningful, thoughtful, useful information. In turn, you’re committing yourself to thinking deeply about your craft and staying ahead of the information curve. This thought process is incredibly valuable as it helps you clearly articulate what your business’ role is in your field and the value you bring to your clients.

Perhaps more important, it helps you constantly see your business from the client’s perspective, which can only help you provide better, more targeted services.

It’s helpful to answer these questions when planning your blog presence and the unique content you’ll bring to your clients.
- What information does my audience need?
- How can I provide that information?
- What is my true expertise and how can I use it to help clients?

If you haven’t already answered these questions about your business, then this is a better time than ever to start.

Some of the practices I employ when writing blogs:

1) Passing on an interesting news article or link: Don’t just recycle it and send it out just as it came in. Instead, reference the article and put it in a context that applies to my readers and what it means to them professionally.

2) Original works: Try to address challenges you know your audience faces. If you are writing about something of interest to you, tie in why it’s important to your readers.

3) Blog often. There are so many blogs out there. Don’t just expect your readers to stay with you just because you’re there. They will stay only if you regularly provide interesting, useful information.

4) Gather data on the success of your blog posts through analytics. This will give you insight into what your readers find interesting and helpful.

Writing your blog thoughtfully and with your clients in mind will reap big rewards. You’ll be able to clearly articulate your business purpose and produce better better work for your clients, because you’ll have a better handle on what your clients need and want.

For a great recent article on blog posts, read this from problogger.

By Jay Kinghorn | Posted: December 16th, 2009 | 7 comments

Got Google Goggles?

[by Rosh Sillars]

For those still in doubt about the growing importance of social media, please consider the following ideas.

Approximately 80 percent of people with Internet access use search engines to find or review products and services. Google, the No. 1 search engine, recently announced that social media activity would be displayed along with the traditional site links in search results.

This means up-to-the-minute posts on blogs and popular social media platforms such as Twitter will be prominently displayed. This action, along with similar upgrades from the search engine Bing, will draw a larger audience to social media platforms and communities.

What about the offline world?

As smart phones continue to grow in popularity and applications become more powerful, social media will continue to impact traditionally offline businesses.

Smart phone applications such as Yelp allow users to photograph a row of businesses along a city street and within moments, obtain business names, social media ratings and reviews.

Google just released Google Goggles, a smart phone application that lets users photograph an object such as a book, logo, business card or landmark in order to obtain information about that object.

Additionally, Google Goggles can read easily accessible bar codes, which business owners can display in creative ways, such as placing them on street-side windows, packaging or marketing materials, to share additional information for smart phone users about their products or services.

People will continue to seek guidance and opinions from social media communities they trust. This includes searching for and hiring a photographer.

By Rosh Sillars | Posted: December 15th, 2009 | 2 comments

Social Media – Conversation or Bullhorn?

[by Charles Gupton]

For more than a year now, I’ve been wading into and through the murky waters of social media (SM). I have found the process challenging at best with a lot of frustrations in the process. All though I’ve learned a tremendous amount along the way, I still have a long way to go.

However, as I’ve slogged through, I’ve had more than a few “Aha” moments I’d like to share. Because all of the SM platforms are simply tools, each person using them is going to shape something different that fits his/her particular needs. I would love to have your feedback as to how you’re using these tools to shape your business and add value to the community.

First, I’ve come to see that all social media is either about conversation or the process of laying the groundwork for relationships so that one can have a conversation. Although many folks use SM as a bullhorn to shout their message, I believe we’ve reached such a level of noise that most people are just tuning most of it out. When I started exploring, I signed on to more than a dozen sites trying to figure out what the “buzz” was about. All I got was overwhelmed.

My second “Aha” came when I decided to pick one area at a time and explore it before moving to the next. Trying to get a better understanding of what other people used, how they used them and why, I forced myself to stop, reassess and develop a plan. I chose to begin with my blog.

Many people don’t see blogging as social media, per se. But I see it as a public commitment to have a voice and to contribute value to my community as it develops. Because I started with no readers, it was a means of developing my voice to prepare me for deeper involvement in public conversation. A successful blog requires consistency and if I was going to show a conversational partner that I was committed to being at the table, it seemed a good place to start with my own contribution. Now it’s up to my readers to decided if I’m giving enough return on their attention to come back and talk.

Although there are countless resources for what and how to blog to gain a large number of readers, the first question I asked is “What do I hope to accomplish? ” I doubt that my thoughts will ever attract a large following. However, I decided early on that my desire is to be more relational with people I already have a connection with while also allowing for potential clients to get a feel for who they might be investing their time with.

Because most of us serve different roles in various social and business circles, I saw my blog as a means of presenting my thoughts as I connected with people in the ones I’m involved with. I don’t receive many comments on my blog but get a surprising amount of feedback when I see folks at community activities or meetings. That’s where the conversation occurs.

By Charles Gupton | Posted: December 14th, 2009 | 2 comments

What About Flickr?

[by Thomas Werner]

Art buyers and art directors look for photos in the places they are most familiar and comfortable with. Put your photos up on Flickr, a large number of art buyers and photo researchers look for, and purchase, images there.

By Thomas Werner | Posted: December 9th, 2009 | 14 comments

I want my ASMP Video….

For as long as I have been on the ASMP board, first as Education chair and now as President, I have heard from members and chapter presidents that we need to know more about video / motion, that we should use video for our education programming and that video should be utilized on our ASMP website.

During the SB2 seminars we utilized video both in the live seminars and later to capture some of the key presentations. They are available on our SB blog as well as a free download at iTunes Podcasts; see link to the right or search ASMP at the iTunes Store.

I have been researching possible solutions for both video podcast and live streaming meeting options. I discovered one possible solution literally below my studio, Vivolive, a local Pittsburgh startup, had just launched a consumer / soho live streaming service at the Consumer Electronic Show. I have been experimenting with the service for a few months now and ASMP will use the service to broadcast for the first time, our ASMP Annual Meeting to members, wherever they are. Members will receive an e-mail link to attend this meeting online.

The broadcast will include a segment featuring ASMP’s Executive Director, Eugene Mopsik, discussing our current education and advocacy efforts. I will speak about some ASMP policy initiatives moving to the future. We will then invite ASMP member Jack Hollingsworth for our Keynote presentation, “Leveraging Social Media for Your Business.”

This ASMP Member Meeting Live Stream is a good test for a very affordable and simple solution for ASMP and our chapters who desire to broadcast their meetings.

One of the initiatives that I will be discussing at the Annual Member Meeting is the creation of a “Motion Study Group” to look at the business practices that we may need to address regarding the business side of Motion Production, as well how ASMP can use video more effectively in our communications and education platforms.

By Richard Kelly | Posted: October 20th, 2009 | No comments

Quick Tip: Automate your social media

[By Ed McDonald]

Unless you have unlimited amounts of time on your hands, you should automate as many steps of your social media as possible. Like cross-posting all content in multiple social media outlets. Take some time to set up a few steps to automate the process. Here are a few good tools for sharing and automating content through social media outlets : Hootsuite, Ping.fm, Involver, Tweet later, Social too. These are just a few. Make sure to keep it in your own voice and keep it personal.

By Ed McDonald | Posted: October 2nd, 2009 | 4 comments

Social Media – One Step at a Time

[By Jack Hollingsworth]

A lot of photographers seem to focus more on the risks of change. But I would argue that the risk of not making-over your business is far, far greater.

The rules have changed. Almost overnight. A totally different mind set to shooting and selling photography is required. Whether it’s assignment or stock, advertising or editorial, portraiture or wedding – it doesn’t really matter.  Those that are nimble and agile enough to make these changes…will flourish. Those that don’t, won’t, or can’t…flirt with obsolescence.

And while this industry metamorphosizes, at break-neck speed, retooling and redefining your brand and business will not and should not happen as rapidly.

Take a deep breath. One step at a time here.

Make a goal to set aside one hour a day for your social media makeover. Dive in. Join a few online forums. RSS feed a few sites. Read a few books. Set up profile pages in FaceBook, LinkeIn, Flickr, Twitter. Develop multiple online personas.  Join the conversation that is going on all around you.

I think you will be surprised at not only how easy it is, but how exhilarting it is as well. The process itself could be enough to kick start your thinking in a whole new direction, as it has done for me. Doing things in the same old way, will generally net you the same old results. Change your tune. Walk to the beat of a new drummer.

By Jack Hollingsworth | Posted: September 4th, 2009 | 5 comments

Don’t Be A Spectator Be Social

[By Paul Bartholomew]

Social media is the hot topic lately. Some think it’s great and some think it wastes valuable time. Yes, it can be both and it may not be for everyone. However, don’t expect the world to come right to you without some dedication on your end. It won’t work if it’s not routine and it won’t work if you don’t push yourself a little into trying new things.

So many social media sites out there and so little time. First of all, don’t try to jump into every single one. I suggest gradually checking them out and getting a feel for what you like best. I have my favorite sites, but it took me a while to feel comfortable with the daily routine and this new way of communicating.

Daily routine? Communicating? You mean we have to actually do something? The word social is in there for a reason and we have to remember that this is all about a new way of interacting with people. Text, video, audio and images all come into play and best of all we are communicating internationally. It’s the new version of pen pals but on a much higher and complex level.

You may want to be a spectator and just observe and that’s fine at first, but how will people take notice of what you do? If your intent is to promote then get out there and mingle! Share ideas, your photography and whatever else you have to say. There is an audience for everyone but you need to get yourself out into the social media world. This may be your best investment in a long while.

By Paul Bartholomew, ABIPP | Posted: September 3rd, 2009 | 3 comments

The NFL and Social Media

[By Ed McDonald]

Leave it to big business and old thinking to try and control Social Media. In a report released this week the NFL has revealed their plan for a Social Media Policy. One of the new rules of the policy would prohibit players or anyone representing them from posting to social media networks during a prohibited block of time spanning from 90 minutes prior to kick off to 90 minutes after game time. This new rule applies not only to players but also to coaches, team personnel, and officials. The media has also been put on notice.

I understand the idea of protecting the leagues lucrative TV contracts, but social media hardly serves as any threat to the NFL league broadcasted games. I doubt seriously that any fan would opt out of either attending a game in person or watching it on TV, just to read tweets about it instead. Quite the contrary, many fans that might not be able to attend or be near a television might be well served by the fact they can follow the NFL via their twitter accounts. What the NFL does not say in the report is how they intend to stop the other 75 thousand plus people in the stadiums from posting and tweeting their thoughts and photos of the game. Meaning anyone with a cell phone will have a leg up on any professional news gathering agency. It is unfortunate that the NFL seems to be missing a golden opportunity here to involve the fan on a much deeper level with their product. This would only serve to improve the game and the overall fan experience. Now I’m not advocating wide-outs tweeting from the end zone after their latest T.D., no, far from it. The missed opportunity here is, to join the conversation, have a voice, and take part in the direction of the fan perception of the league.

I can think of at least a dozen ideas on how the league could use twitter to enrich the overall fan experience. Here are my favorites:
1. Encourage players to tweet to their followers right up to game time. Give the fan the locker room experience.
2. Encourage fans to tweet about favorite teams using hash tags for following, trending and better SEO.
3. Open a direct dialog with fans to tweet about their product.
4. Show tweets during the NFL network reports.
5. Run contests trough twitter using trending and search tools.

Trying to control the conversation won’t work for the NFL and it won’t work for your business. You can build your brand awareness and credibility by using Social Media, but you have to genuinely participate and you have to be willing to give up control.

By Ed McDonald | Posted: September 2nd, 2009 | 6 comments

Developing a Social Media Plan

Social media does not replace what already works in your marketing plan. It’s an addition. The key word is planning.

Many people mistakenly approach social media like it’s direct marketing. They look for the ROI with every action. In the world of social media, ROI represents Return On Influence. It’s about becoming an expert and developing a community of people around you who admire your work and tell other people. It’s more like public relations.

If you’ve been in sales long enough, and we are all in sales, you understand the power of good people who refer your work. They can direct a lot of business your way. One of the foundations of social media for business is to attract, encourage, and champion your evangelists. Reach out to them and give them the ammunition they need to send more opportunities your way.

I like to think of the development of a social media plan as a solar system.

In the center of your solar system is your sun or your Web site. The Web site is your brochure. Nearby, your blog orbits like a moon. Your blog is designed as a center point for your community to gather and develop a deeper understanding of you and your work. Your Web site is where you sell.

Next are the inner planets. These are hybrid sites such as YouTube and Flickr. Share and connect ideas on these sites. Since they are hybrid sites, you can also blog, comment and share deeper insights into who you are as a photographer.

Finally, there are the outer planets. Sites such as Twitter, FaceBook and LinkedIn cultivate and develop your community. While all of your sites should attract new community members, your outer plants are your front line for engagement.

The goal is to use the outer planets to direct people to your inner planets, moon and sun. As people travel deeper within your solar system, they likely will become fans or evangelists of you and your work.

What Web sites do you develop and place within your solar system? The answer is it all depends on your target market. Many of the standard sites mentioned above are a good start, but look deeper for Web sites, communities and forums where your target market actually hangs out.

Talking shop with other photographers is the slow way to develop a community of new prospects and clients – unless your target market is photographers.

Develop a plan, earn trust, and grow your business through engagement with people who care about you in your personal solar system.

By Rosh Sillars | Posted: September 1st, 2009 | 3 comments

Using Social Media for your Photographer Makeover

Most of you know me as a stock guy.  And rightly so.  Since that’s where I’ve spent the last couple of decades.  Shooting commercial, travel and lifestyle imagery for every major stock house in the business.  I saw record highs in 2005-2006.  Then record lows in the beginning of 2007 to the present.  Because of this decline in return-per-image (better known as RPI), I began exploring other potential revenue streams.  To not just survive…but thrive.  Enter social media.

I’m flat out making my business more web 2.0 centric.  For me, that means migrating my role from photographer to publisher. From production to education. From stills-only to multi-media content.  From word-of-mouth to word-of-mouse.  From narrow marketing to viewing the world as my oyster. From stock-only income to a wide range of products and services – including photo tours, international shootouts, webinars, blogsites, eBooks, and consulting.  All geared to this new connected generation of customers: photographers, producers and storytellers.

The amazing thing about virally making-over your core business is, while painstakingly tedious, once in place, it will allow you the luxury of focusing on what you’re best at.  And perhaps shooting the sort of pictures that brought you to the dance in the first place.

Plunging into a photographic makeover of your business, so it’s more web 2.0 saavy and compliant, means taking all of those experiences, brand equity, good will, personas that you have painstakingly, over time, developed offline and creating the same – online.

I’m starting to be convinced that survivability no longer depends on ‘offline’ value only. You need both. Off and online equity and value. Working in concert with each other.

Invest the time now and the rewards will not only be immediate, but potentially lucratiave. It’s time for photographers to make-over their brand and business.

By Jack Hollingsworth | Posted: August 31st, 2009 | 1 comment

Quick Social Media Tip

Increase your social media (linkedin, FaceBook, or Twitter) reach by a minimum of five qualified leads a week. Use programs & web sites to help you, like Mr. Tweet.

By Ed McDonald | Posted: July 31st, 2009 | 1 comment

Twitter – A New Way Of Sharing Ideas and Your Work

Twitter has grabbed a lot of attention recently and many of you may have tried it out. Some may just roll their eyes when someone even mentions the word Twitter or some may just be overwhelmed with such a means of communication that requires 140 characters or less. I admit that I was bit hesitant at first but after an investment of time and learning the lingo it has become a great way to exchange ideas and bring attention to my own work.

Before going into this more I should point something out. I hear people saying they really don’t want to know about who had what for lunch or about some random everyday task. Yes we have people who use Twitter for that purpose and it’s your choice to follow them or not. Twitter is what you make of it. Some people use it for personal reasons and some use it for professional. I like to use it for directing people to my work but I also like to show my personal side within limits. Just as anything else put out there for the public to see, you want to be careful about the message you’re sending and have a purpose.

So how can you promote your work and share ideas? As mentioned in other posts, don’t be a salesperson or sound like a spammer because you will be treated as such. Actually don’t sell at all. My experience with Twitter has been to share information and post links of educational materials and images related to my profession. Every time I have a new blog post or project to share it gets mentioned. Within a short while I’ll get responses not only on Twitter but also comments on my blog.  This is an interaction so I also try to comment to people who have something to share.  I find that when you show an interest in certain people, they will pay more attention to you too and often spread the word about you.

Where do you find followers? Start by following interesting people and hope they follow you back. This is my criteria for people I follow. Either they are someone who may be interested in my work and/or they are someone who has something interesting to offer.

My advice is to check out people who do this well and learn from them. I see a lot of great photographers on Twitter and they all have something in common – they all have something interesting to share and they are all very active.

By Paul Bartholomew, ABIPP | Posted: July 2nd, 2009 | 6 comments

Tips For a Better Facebook Experience

1.    Complete your FB profile by sharing as much information as you feel comfortable sharing, drawing a line to keep some of your private life private. But, let people know who you are, people and businesses want to know whom they are doing business with and they want to like you.
2.    Stick to your core message. Who or what do you want to be? What image do you want to portray to potential clients? Make sure your message is clear. Don’t deviate from your message.
3.    Fan Pages vs Group pages. Fan pages are used for developing a business or a brand over a long period of time. Also, Fan Pages have more flexibility in the long run for adding applications to the page, delivering digital content to your fans, SEO, statistics and possibilities for vanity URLs. Group pages do not offer these benefits. Group pages should be used more in a club sort of way (they have a non-commercial connotation to them).
4.    Building your list of Friends or Fans purposefully. There are varying views on this… one mindset is “the more the merrier” but others tend to build their friends list a bit more methodically. Sometimes you just don’t know who has a friend of a friend that needs or likes your services.
5.    Care about the people that are following you. It’s about having a conversation with your friends, fans or potential clients. You must contribute value to the conversation and be able to listen. If it’s all about you and what you are doing, it won’t be for long. Do not try to be a marketer, be a member first. Relationships before business!
6.    Be consistent. Use the feeds on FB to communicate with your friends. Post Photos, videos, status updates and more to keep a steady stream of content in the community. Keep your viral visibility high.
7.    Limit your time to a daily schedule. Set limits on your time and delegate tasks where possible. All social media can be a time suck if you let it, but so can TV. Have a strategy and schedule tasks accordingly.  Try to delegate to interns or employees to monitor or track conversations about your Pages. Just make sure you are the voice of the message getting out.
8.    Facebook is just one piece to your marketing plan. Social marketing today, can and should also include others such as Blogs, YouTube, Twitter, Linkedin, and so on.

In closing, let me assure you that social media is NOT just for being social. Anyone who thinks these outlets are going away is mistaken. The way in which we market and communicate with each other about our products and services has radically changed and will continue to shift more to the side of permissions marketing.

Ideas used in this post were compiled from a recent webinar I attended presented by Mari Smith, a relationship marketing specialist. To get more information about FaceBook or Mari go to http://www.marismith.com and http://www.whyFacebook.com

By Ed McDonald | Posted: June 26th, 2009 | 7 comments

It’s Not About Going to a Movie

As a professional Tweeting isn’t about going to a movie or where you are having dinner, it is about letting people know that you and your business is alive and vital. It is letting people know that you are shooting a job, making new work, traveling to different places, helping them understand what you can offer them by letting them know you are interesting and busy. I don’t get twitter on my Blackberry, but I do tweet from there at times.

Twitter is also about aggregating information and getting a good read on what is happening in your world; technically, social moments, visual trends, and the lives and work of your friends, clients, and vendors.

It is being said that the uprising in Iran making Twitter a valid resource. Are we looking at a new version of our next evening news?How will this change affect your business, your ability to make and sell imagery. Is “citizen journalism” going to trend further into “citizen editorial and advertising imagery”? Yes, Twitter is important.

By Thomas Werner | Posted: June 25th, 2009 | 4 comments

“Word of Mouth” in the 21st Century

You can’t go anywhere these days without hearing someone talk about Twitter or Facebook or You Tube – all forms of social media. But how do you start utilizing these social media networks – or should you? All good questions and ones you should ask yourself before diving into twittering, posting on Facebook, Linkedin or blogging.

All of these social sites are about branding – whether for your business or yourself personally. So the first question to ask yourself is how you can “build your brand” utilizing social media. In order to do this – you need to have a clear vision of what your brand is and to be consistent when building brand equity across the board. If you notice, the people who are good at utilizing social media are consistent in their messages.

Some thoughts and tips for social media marketing:

  • Share your knowledge – create awareness of who you are. Social media is about sharing. People don’t want to be “sold” or “pitched” or “spammed”. Think relationship first – business 2nd. When marketers move in – members move out. Be authentic and genuine. Be part of the community. Build trust.
  • Become part of the conversation – comment on people’s blogs, Facebook etc. This helps you build your reputation and trust in the community. Create viral visibility – be seen everywhere, in all the right places by all the right people.
  • Drive people to your website or blog from Facebook or Linkedin. Both are SEO friendly and will drive traffic to website and blog. Make sure you complete your profiles, upload a photo of yourself and have an interesting bio.
  • Create a fan page on Facebook – Facebook allows you only one Facebook profile but you can have as many fan pages for your business or businesses that you want. Provide relevant interesting information about your business with direct links to your website and blog.
  • Use the “answers” section in Linkedin to start a discussion. Add value to a conversation. Show your expertise.
  • Tweeting – keep it conversational, keep it simple, use keywords and hashtags #. Use tiny urls or bit.ly and link directly. Increase visibility and brand awareness. Be a resource.
  • Blogs – Be engaging. Tell people about yourself – information they don’t get from your website. Tell stories that compel people to want to do business with you. Use keywords for SEO. Syndicate your content. Add value that is relevant for your target audience so they will return. Think of good headlines.
  • Everything is viral so use keywords, provide links and relevant information that people will want to share.

Essentially there are no gatekeepers in the arena of social media marketing. Your cost to build your brand is in sweat equity – not dollars and cents. It’s your own personal PR machine to build and control your message. Be a voice, be genuine, provide relevant information and be part of the conversation. Ultimately, you will create a buzz and an awareness of who you are and in turn this electronic “word of mouth” will spread virally and will lead to opportunities.

By Gail Mooney | Posted: June 24th, 2009 | 7 comments

I Don’t Have Time For Social Media!

The belief that social media is a waste of time is one of the biggest objections I hear when talking to people about the subject.

Social media is a communication platform.  A cell-phone is also a communication tool.  I can assure you my teenager doesn’t use it very efficiently, but this doesn’t diminish the fact that it’s an important part of my business.

Social media Web sites are the training wheels for how we will be doing business in the future. Corporations are employing and implementing collaborative business models to support creativity, efficiency and improve their bottom line.  Social media platforms are the foundation of these new models. Photographers will need to know how to plug in.

As mass media continues to decline, word of mouth and referrals become more important to business. Social media offers the tools for a photographer to establish themselves as expert to a larger audience.

Social media networking allows photographers the ability to communicate effectively and develop deeper relationships with current clients. Even more impressive is the ability to earn new prospects, evangelists and clients well beyond the borders of your local community.

Who doesn’t have time for that?

By Rosh Sillars | Posted: June 23rd, 2009 | 10 comments

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