I was at a great new year’s party, and watched several of my friends take photographs with their iPhone.

But Tiffany took the idea to a whole new level. She snapped several group photographs, uploaded them to Facebook, then “tagged” every person in the photos. The next morning, we were all notified with links to view ourselves in Facebook pictures.

Since it was Sunday morning, I was lazy. Rather than post about how great the party was, I found myself sharing Tiffany’s photos with my friends and family. I’m sure many other folks did the same thing.

This same process could work at any event.

(more…)

If you post to Facebook regularly, there will be days when you’ll look at the screen and think, “I don’t have anything to say.”

While you can always comment on, like, or share someone else’s posts, it isn’t the same as making one of your own. Posting is important, and posting daily is important too.

So if you’re ever at a loss to think of a post, here are some examples to help. Each will not only get you started, but are designed to get your posts read (of course, finishing them is up to you):

(more…)

Dennis Yu video by Michael Stelzner.

This is one of the best, 10 minute presentations I’ve seen on how to energize your studio’s Facebook marketing strategy. Michael Stelzner interviews Dennis Yu, CEO of BlitzLocal, an agency that does Facebook advertising for businesses with a local presence. It covers:

(more…)

Have you every seen a link from a friend in Facebook that says something like:

“I just found this cool way to see who visited your profile –> http://bit.ly/F4SP5″

These are links to Facebook Apps (short for applications). Just because you know the person who sent you the link, doesn’t mean you should click on it.

(more…)

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.

(more…)

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.

(more…)

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:

(more…)

If you haven’t noticed yet, next to every Google search result is a little button with a “+1″ inside.

This is a preview of a new social networking service called Google+ that started in July. It is designed to compete with the Facebook and the ”Like” button. The folks at Google don’t want to miss out on the social networking bandwagon the way Microsoft was slow to embrace the Internet and web browsers (remember when Netscape Navigator was king?).

(more…)

Would you walk up to someone at a party and say that your latest product is now available for $149.95 for a limited time only? Not only would that person walk away, but so would everyone else who overheard you.

In the same way, writing how much your product or services cost in a Facebook post isn’t a good idea. Facebook isn’t about talking at someone, it is best when it builds a conversation with others.

So instead of leading with an offer, try sharing about photography, then ask people to provide feedback and participate. This bridges the distance between you and your clients, and gets them involved with your brand. Ultimately new-found fans will promote you without being asked because they feel included. The fact that you asked and listened goes a long way.

Here are some examples of not-ok, better and best Facebook posts:

(more…)

To maximize Facebook marketing, businesses should target the friends of their fans, according to a recent study by Comscore and Facebook.

The free white paper, “The Power of Like” explores the relationship between a business, its fans, and the fan’s friends. By focusing on friends, a business can achieve a much larger circle of views than by focusing on fans alone.

For example, Starbucks has 23 million fans, yet Comscore found that those fans had 670 million friends. By focusing on friends of fans, Starbucks was able to multiply the reach of their message by 30 times.

(more…)