How many of you use Myspace?

[LeesaB]

I have been playing around with a myspace, a blog and my webpage.

Do you link them all together? How? Do you share them all with clients, or is one more for friends etc.

[Bollan]

Isn't MySpace a place for teenagers with nothing meaningful to do on their free time? Hardly a typical hangout for wedding photographers :-)

[R_Metzel]

Myspace sucks! I have a page just for keeping in touch with friends in other states. I have nothing but problems with that place though. Errors out all the time. Half the pictures don't load. Super slow loading of any page 90% of the time. The spamming that goes on there is horrible! I can't log on without 10 spammers hitting me with friend requests and message to join porn sites or buy a house.

Maybe a place to promote your business a little, but not to be used as your main site if you want to be considered professional. More for friends if you can put up with all the BS.

[Toogy]

I'm on facebook, better than myspace in my opinion!
I've got some business off it actually. People post my photos I've taken of them and it goes from there.... meet up with friends I haven't seen in years... "oh you're a photographer?, do you do family portraits?" etc.

[jj1987]

I think its a neat idea to add the brides/grooms you've worked with.

[LeesaB]

I have seen many photographers on myspace..including our own david J.

I started one, probably will just keep it active enough though...with a blog, photosharing and webiste that keeps me busy enough.

[jessiper]

Myspace sucks! I have a page just for keeping in touch with friends in other states. I have nothing but problems with that place though. Errors out all the time. Half the pictures don't load. Super slow loading of any page 90% of the time. The spamming that goes on there is horrible! I can't log on without 10 spammers hitting me with friend requests and message to join porn sites or buy a house.

Maybe a place to promote your business a little, but not to be used as your main site if you want to be considered professional. More for friends if you can put up with all the BS.

If you make your site private, then you won't get those requests, which is the reason I made mine private, but then it's not very good for business, but I only use mine to keep in touch w/friends out of state or country, not my biz. If your pics are fairly small, then they shouldn't take too long to upload.

[Anke]

Myspace: The internet for people with no design sense.

Prove me wrong.

[cosworth]

Seems that facebook is the place to be right now for the older crowd.

[mizuno]

I tried to get excited about myspace, but it's basically the most poorly coded and bloated site on the web and I just couldn't bring myself to use it.

[Lin-z]

I have myspace and facebook. Facebook is nicer, but I have more friends on myspace, and it seems you can do more with it.

I have a myspace profile for my business and for myself. I have booked a few weddings and a all of my senior portrait sessions because of myspace.

[sapearl]

I briefly considered the Myspace route, but then decided to invest my time in Blogger. It seems reasonably customizable and has a nice look to it. You can choose to code in it, or not (I can't), but I was up and running in about a half hour with something that I liked.

[cosworth]

If there were a Facebook POTN network, I'd join it.

[*Mike*]

We have had a myspace page for less than 3 months. I have over 500 contacts now and have been getting inquires from it.

The trick is to make your site look nice. Make it about your BIZ not about you personally.

It is also FULL of wedding vendors. It'd be a waste to have a MySpace page and not to use it to cross-market your biz with other vendors. We've contacted wedding vendors, done cross promos, found great models, MUA, couture gown companies, caterers, etc. The more you know about your biz, the more your clients think you know your stuff. MySpace is really helpful with that too.

[verty]

myspace sux

[Derweissehai]

I have no problem with myspace for my business. Yes I do get the porn requests but I just delete them. I am picky about who I choose for models and clients as is. I have facebook, but still learning it. So it has been very beneficial thus far. Lets see it facebook is as good.



Now i have been using facebook for awhile and I have had alot of inquiries about photography and found friends form home on there. So all in all not to bad. But I still get more business from myspace.

[nicolerork]

http://www.myspace.com/camerakid

Contrary to what every seems to think, myspace is a great marketing tool. A lot of my clients found me through myspace so it's safe to say that myspace doesn't completely suck. It has generated a lot of work for me in the past couple of years.

[gitsiemonster]

i use it as i'm just an amateur but i've made contacts with old friends and i'm shooting one's wedding in a few days as a result of her seeing my shots!

[stathunter]

I was going to start a new post but did a quick search prior and found this---so now that I have dug up an old thread let me ask.
Does anyone find much value in Myspace? Being 39 I am a bit over the hill for visiting myspace pages---but have thought about putting one up for business. The crowd is getting younger- But everytime I visit Myspace it truly irritates that daylights out of me.
Well any value???

[lil_miss]

I stay away from Myspace... have a blog though, but just on Wordpress...

[Banbert]

I dont use myspace and I guess one of the reasons I dont use it is because I dont know a single person who does use it, maybe that would change if I did start to use it though so in the future who knows.

I have been using facebook for a little while now and I can see how that could be very useful for making contacts as my circle of friends grows and then as we shoot weddings we try and add any brides and grooms that we can find on there as that strikes me as a great way of spreading the word about us and expanding our network.

Bloggings been a big help for us this year we get a lot of emails from B&G's that mention stuff they have read about on the blog and I think they definitely feel like they know us a lot better as a result of the blog. If you aint blogging your losing out big style imo.

Weve only got one wedding left to do this year and so as things calm down a bit in the run up to xmas I am gonna redesign the website and one of the things I am gonna try and do is integrate the blog feed into it a bit more. I still want to keep them seperate as I believe thats the best way but theres ways to integrate the blog feed into the pages so that the site looks more dynamic even though its still static code.

Marketing is one of the areas we are concentrating on in the off season as I think we have done ok so far but I think the web holds some really good marketing opportunities outside of the static website that we have and we have a few ideas that we will be following up.

It will be very interesting to see what David Jay offers with his showit sites (http://showitsites.com/).. not sure it will be something that interests me directly because I have a few websites and I am happy to design and host my own for a lot less cash than showit sites would be cost me ..... but I reckon the designs will be interesting as I expect them to be configured in such a way that they are active and easy to add content to. DJ is definitely a leader in the marketing game so I reckon his new sites offering will be quite inspirational.

[computerguru3190]

Myspace is a tool that can be beneficial if you can attach to the clients you are searching for. If you are looking for models, then myspace can offer several opportunities to get your name out there.

Now if your looking to shoot weddings and landscapes, then maybe myspace isn't right for you. It all depends on what your are working with and what type of clientele you wish to approach.

[Derweissehai]

Now i have been using facebook for awhile and I have had alot of inquiries about photography and found friends form home on there. So all in all not to bad. But I still get more business from myspace. I agree with3190, if your trying to do weddings and portraits, it isn't so bennificial. I have joined ifreelance.com and have also gotten referals form there as well.

[SHULTSIE!!!]

I have both myspace and facebook. I like facebook much better, but like some of the others said, I have more friends on myspace.

[stathunter]

I am focused on wedding work....but my full time job has me working in the executive world. I am blessed that I have done almost no marketing but still have customers coming to me. Since I have been booking so many weddings I am thinking about doing a directed marketing effort and then doing less weddings but charging more for them.
I hate to admit it but I have never even been to facebook. The few myspace pages I have visited have kind of bothered.....poorly laid out and trying to turn off the music asap---is most of the time the case. I also am put off by the garbage others post on their pages........lots of kid stuff....not very professional---even on the business ones I have been to.
I think Banbert is right with focusing on blogging. Seems like people actually read that stuff.
Wow just not enough time to do everything!

[sapearl]

I started blogging back in May - haven't done anything with MySpace or Facebook (don't really intend to) - and so far I've been enjoying writing articles when the muse strikes ;).

I don't honestly know if it's boosted my business, but I do find it to be very useful for telling clients a bit more about me than what's on the website. When I mail them a quote I also include the blog link as well.

I look at the blog as a living, breathing, dynamic document, which is easy to use since I can't code html. I also treat it as a convenient soapbox for things going on in my life as they relate to photography.

Recently I had some of my urban landscapes accepted in a local show. The blog proved to be a convenient vehicle for announcing the show to friends and associates beforehand, as well as a way to thank those who attended after the fact. Actually, one of our fellow POTN members showed me her support by attending with her husband.... but you'll have to visit the site to find out who that was :lol: :

http://www.pearlphoto.blogspot.com/

[stathunter]

Thanks Stuart but you are waaaaaaaaay over the age limit to be in myspace.........HA :).

PS- I did visit your blog and well done.

[josh237]

I have found a place seems to be really new and just starting.
www.friendshotspot.com

[sapearl]

You've got that right Scott :lol: - but I have found it useful for finding out what's going on in the lives of my daughters and their friends since they've graduated college.

My wife and I became pretty close to a number of these young people, and it's always very gratifying to read about their successes and accomplishments. Not to mention that they've also shared some quite interesting photo galleries of their travels.;) And thank you for the comments about my blog. I've got a whole mental checklist of photography topics and subjects that I want to write about, and I plan on using the blog concept to accomplish that.

Thanks Stuart but you are waaaaaaaaay over the age limit to be in myspace.........HA :).

PS- I did visit your blog and well done.

[motion_projekt]

since i saw that post about David Jay's ShowIt Sites App.

enjoy the link.

http://sites.showitfast.com/app/install.html


the program has promise. Although i feel 40$ a month is a bit steep. That said, I am a poor destitute college student afterall.

[sapearl]

I agree about the recurring monthly cost KNP.

I've got a steady paycheck and even I feel $40/month, EVERY month is pretty steep for something like that. You're talking over $500/year. You can buy a lot of nice PS books, tutorial DVD's and even a seminar or two for that kind of money.

And that's the trick these days. People like to get you on a regular routine of what may seem to be small, innocent looking, monthly recurrining payments which is how they get rich when it's all added up at the end of the year.

since i saw that post about David Jay's ShowIt Sites App.

enjoy the link.

http://sites.showitfast.com/app/install.html


the program has promise. Although i feel 40$ a month is a bit steep. That said, I am a poor destitute college student afterall.

[DAVIDJAY]

Hey :) Stoked you guys are checking out Showit Sites and the way we came up with our pricing was because we wanted to give people a more affordable and flexible payment plan along with a unique website. :)

We saw that most photographers who bought templates felt "stuck" after two years and as their business grew they wanted their online presence to grow so they would buy a new template and then feel "stuck" again and have to keep buying templates.

So basically if you're just wanting to buy a website and never change it then certainly do buy a template for a one time fee and then be done with it.

...but if you are wanting your website to grow along side of your business then use a solution that can do that....and keep in mind hosting is FREE with us and many template companies are charging insane amounts for hosting so be sure to factor that in.

Rock on!
DJ

[cory1848]

I cant fathom why people think that free advertising sucks. IF you know how to work with php code, myself will not error out or fail to load. 95% of the time it is because people try and upload a whole bunch of crap that doesn't work with php. Myspace does have bandwidth restrictions as well. So those that cant get photos to load, dont use photobucket or any other free hosting site.. Host the photos on your own hosting service. This is pretty much eliminate any issues you run into. Free advertising to the world cant be a bad thing...

[dave13]

I have a Myspace account and can't complain. It's gotten me work shooting bands, comedians, families and more.

[ashleynaugust]

I have a myspace for my ebay account (never noticed a difference) and a personal myspace for keeping in touch.

Several people have seen my personal family pics on myspace and asked me to take pics of their family, I think it is useful as a semi-marketing angle. I think people go to myspace to find other people, and browse. Many local small-time photographers have a myspace, but in my experience, people are more likely to happen on you as a person there, not really searching for businesses.

I love photography blogs. Perhaps a personal myspace for friends/people/networking and link that to your photography blog? That way anyone looking for more could easily find it?

[sfaust]

Ditto many of those responses so far.


Myspace is for the teen crowd, and Facebook is more for the professional crowd. I have a myspace account so that I can view profiles of models, musicians, etc, which seem to have myspace accounts. But my professional clients all use Facebook or similar services. So my myspace account uses a nickname, while my Facebook profile lists me as a business.

[cory1848]

Myspace was orginally designed for unsigned bands and that just blew up to what it is today. Not just for the "teen" crowd. More for the 20 somethings crowd. All depends on what your trying to market too. Facebook doesnt hold anything to myspace as far as marketability goes... Sure if your work is the corporate commercial type, facebook is probably the better choice, but if your looking for models, bands, weddings, or anything to do with the younger crowd, dont be too quick to discount myspace. I would also use linkedin.com before facebook for a professional networking site.

[susaan evans]

Spot on,Cory..
And there are some FINE photographers on it-
http://http://www.myspace.com/acidezen
This guy really inspires me-wish I spoke better French to ask him some questions...
http://myspace.com/debususaan

[Boucher]

Myspace has a LOT of people on it. I guess it could be handy for advertising work as well as keeping in touch. It gives you more freedom over what you do with your page as well unlike bebo and facebook.

If you look at my page you will see it is very basic. Just search boucha_45 in myspace. Sure its nothing fancy but it does show you what you can do with your page.

[splithesky]

i get about 90% of my business through myspace. its all word of mouth, and it seems to travels alot quicker on myspace. no complaints as of yet. but like others have said, have it set up to look nice and professional.
www.myspace.com/danindrahos (http://www.myspace.com/danindrahos)