Infographic by Constant Contact

A new Fall, 2011 survey of small business attitudes and outlook about social media reveals that social media marketing efforts are paying off. Respondents said they have found success in significant numbers:

• 86% found Facebook effective, up from 82% in Spring 2011
• 60% found Twitter effective, up from 47% in Spring 2011
• 55% found LinkedIn effective, up from 47% in Spring 2011

What this means for you: While we constantly encouraging studios to focus on Facebook marketing, photographers should not ignore Twitter or LinkedIn.

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I was at a party recently, and ended up talking to a lady much younger than I am. We didn’t have anything in common, so I kept the conversation going by asking her two questions: “What did she do?” and “Where did she go to school?” She did most of the talking, but it was enjoyable, and after a few minutes we both drifted off into other conversations.

A week later, I ran into the same young lady at another event. Only this time, she acted like we were long-lost friends. As she chatted away, it occurred to me that the conversation we’d had a week before had somehow got her to trust me.

It works the same in marketing. Sales start with trust. Trust is built by communication, and communication starts with questions.

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You can now order 2 flat cards, 2 designer cards, or 2 folded greeting cards with envelopes and your custom images for only $2 in ROES. No shipping or minimum order fees. Pearl, linen, standard paper and standard paper with coating are all available at the same $2 price.

These new studio samples will make it even easier to get holiday card orders from your clients.

Instead of showing clients generic card designs, you can show them a card you’ve customized with their image. Keep one card as a studio sample, and share the other one with your client.

To place your 2-card order in ROES, create a card as you would normally, then select one of the “2 Card Sample” options. The cards will be printed at the lab, and sent to you via first-class mail. No shipping or minimum order fees apply.

Note that you can combine several 2-card sets for different customers into a single order, or you can print different samples for the same client.

If you’re looking to connect with potential clients under 40, your marketing channels are more limited than ever before.

A recent study by the Pew Research Center’s Project for Excellence in Journalism, asked people where they get their local information. They then divided the participants based on both age and medium (newspaper, Internet, TV, etc).

The results indicate that for local businesses like photographic studios, consumers 18-39 depend on the Internet and word of mouth to choose where to spend their money.

While these results are not surprising, it is further proof that TV, radio, yellow page and newspaper advertising has become less useful for reaching your potential clients.

MyDigitalProductsOnline.com is an “unbranded” website hosted by JD that displays all the press-printed graphic layouts available in ROES.

Since JD is never mentioned anywhere on the site, you can show the My Digital Products Online website to clients at your studio, or you can call a client and have them pick a card style while you’re on the phone

Use it to quickly view all our card styles at a single place:

• Graduations, Weddings, Holidays, Announcements
• Dozens of horizontal and vertical card styles
• Folding cards include optional sentiments
• Always adding more

If you use ROES, bookmark MyDigitalProductsOnline.com and check back often. New card designs are constantly being added.

As a small business owner, you are regularly forced to make a quick decision about your studio’s marketing. “Should I put an ad in this program?” or “Which postcard is better?” While big companies can afford marketing research to answer these questions, chances are you cannot.

That’s why the 10-Second Market Research can help. Simply ask yourself – and honestly answer – these two questions:

1. Would I recommend this to my mother?
2. Would anyone tell their friends about this?

If the answer to either question is “NO”, then move on. Your gut feeling is probably right.

If you think video isn’t important to photographers, consider this: YouTube is owned by Google, so YouTube videos surrounded by your keywords will rank well in Google search results. This means that not only are potential clients more likely to find you online, but that the more clients who watch your YouTube videos, the more your website will rise in Google.

But there are other reasons for you to make a YouTube video. If you’re a senior photographer, a short video showing a senior shoot will put the student’s mind to rest – they will know what to expect at your studio. The same goes for child photography. If you’re an event photographer, show your potential clients how the process will work if you are hired. If you’re a wedding photographer, show how you work before, during and after the ceremony. Or make a video that shows a couple at your studio selecting images for their wedding album.

The fact is, the average customer would rather watch a video than read your website. And once they are watching the video, they will remember you, stick around your website longer, and be more likely to call.

How to Create a YouTube Video:

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You’ve probably seen the new changes in Facebook’s Wall feed over the last two weeks. Basically, Facebook has changed the wall so that the most recent, most clicked or most commented-on posts are on top, then the rest of the posts are underneath it.

These same changes are being seen by your customers too. After two weeks, research is coming out that shows individual post impressions are down by 25% In other words 1 out of 4 folks are reading the top posts and ignoring the lower ones.

If you want your FB posts to be seen, focus on these 3 strategies:

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With holiday season fast approaching, here are 5 things you can do today to get ready.

1. Turn Products into Gifts. What promotions will you offer? Christmas cards are easy. But how about mini albums as gifts for newlyweds to give their parents? Think of ways you can repackage your existing products as gifts, then decide today how you’ll promote them.

2. Plan your Holiday Promotions. Planning works backwards. Want to have a Christmas card promotion? Customers need their cards by the end of November, which means they will need to order by mid-November, so your promotion needs to be running by November 1st. You need to plan the promotion today, order advertising space, or get marketing materials to the printer today.

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Kirk Russell has created a new studio promotion designed to increase sales, create a database of potential new clients, and increase client awareness of your studio.

According to Kirk, “This is a tested cross-promotion that works. It produced over $10,000 in sales for the photographer, a list of potential clients to market to well into the first quarter of the year, and the other business said it was the most effective campaign they had ever done.”

Download the promotion here.

Included are the instructions, example artwork, forms and templates you’ll need to implement the promotion.

This promotion is available for free for JD clients. You must create a (free) 3Lenses account to verify you are a current customer in order to download the promotion.