Social Network Sites and Photography

[Scott-LYP]

<link> I just read an interesting article that said Face Book is now in the number one spot globally with 132 million users. Certainly any large community of active users should be explored as an avenue to reach clients.

Please share the social network profile(s) you use for your photography business and list your favorite. If you are so inclined, I would be happy to have POTN folks join my networks.

Ok so here are our lists, we located in Fort Myers and I am sure different social networks have deferent benefits to photographers located in other areas.

Face book – This is my personal favorite as a photographer. Very easy to use and setup looks more professional then some of the others. Always a plus, even with just a few contacts we already were contacted by someone for their wedding photography
www.facebook.com/pages/Fort-Myers-FL/Leap-Year-Photography-of-Fort-Myers-and-Sanibel/18134312606

Twitter – least favorite... I tried this about a week ago and really am having a hard time seeing the value as a photographer, or anyone really. I am open to trying for a little longer... http://twitter.com/Photographer_FM

MySpace – could be better but I have heard quite a few photographers say they have met clients via MySpace http://www.myspace.com/fort_myers_photographer


I think the real question is how does anyone keep up?

Scott

[laurielozano]

I use LinkedIn as my professional social networking. I have a myspace and a facebook account but dont really keep up with those like I do the LinkedIn. I'm not sure which (if any) are working for photography contacts because when asked where a client heard about me, they typically just say 'I found you on the internet'. So I'm not sure if it was via one of these or just a basic search on the web.

[lil_miss]

I have a Facebook group and know of many others that do as well... I typically add/invite people that i've taken photos of and by tagging them other people get to see the photos as well etc...

[sfaust]

Why limit yourself? Use all of them.

I use Facebook, LinkedIn, MySpace, some of the secondary ones, and a host of listing sites.

[aram535]

LinkedIn is much more of a professional networking site, than any of the others listed. If you're looking for higher end corporation clients I would recommend it. I have gotten other jobs through there and its been a very good resource for me.

Facebook, myspace, etc. are too full of kiddies who would rather steal your 72 dpi/watermark encrusted image than pay for anything.

[cdifoto]

Problem with Facebook is your image isn't viewable to anyone except "friends." If there's a way to change that, I obviously cannot figure it out for the life of me. I still have an account there and on myspace. I don't know any of the "secondary ones" sfaust is referring to. I can give credit to one of the two for getting me the Mexico gig. I knew the bride from school days, but it was through one or the other that she found me again (we hadn't seen each other in something like 10 years and were never that close) and that I do photography and got my phone number.

Myspace hasn't really paid off business-wise in the 3-4 years I've had it and I only signed up for LinkedIn a week or so ago.

[craiglee]

you can create public profiles and ads for your photo biz. you can have private galleries or fully public ones. it's all in the settings.

[Scott-LYP]

Originally Posted by laurielozano

I use LinkedIn as my professional social networking. I have a myspace and a facebook account but dont really keep up with those like I do the LinkedIn. I'm not sure which (if any) are working for photography contacts because when asked where a client heard about me, they typically just say 'I found you on the internet'. So I'm not sure if it was via one of these or just a basic search on the web.

I know what you mean... we get "found you on the Internet" a lot too...

[wcameron]

What about other social sites like Flickr or other sharing sites. These, along with blogging, microblogging (aka Twitter) and others. Share your success with these as well. What are your strategies for getting the best out of Facebook etc. How about YouTube? You could add sites (although I'm just beginning to explore them) PhotographyVoter.com and MyShutterspace.com.

Social networking is getting bigger every day and is more than just Facebook and its ilk.

[Alleh]

I have a Myspace http://www.myspace.com/allehlindquistphotography but I don't use it very much. I have been trying to think of a way to be successful in marketing to specific clients through it though.

I also have a flickr http://flickr.com/photos/lindquistphotography/ I love flickr but I never got a client from it. Maybe if I key worded my work I would have a higher chance but I just like it as a network with other photographers.

[Jon Foster]

I have a small website I'm redesigning but never really started using to begin with. I usually end up sending just about everyone to my Pbase site. I just recently signed up with ModelMayhem.com and hope to get some business through them.

I also use LinkedIn but it's more of a business - professional place. I wouldn't really try to sell pictures or find new clients there. I do use it for regular business work though as I'm a long time I.T. person.

I don't use any of the facebook or myspace sites. They do get a ton of traffic but they are really places that attract kids and people I'd rather not do business with (no offense).

Jon.

[michaelanthony]

i use myspace mostly as it has been lucrative for me over the past 4 years...

all depends on your genre and your target market...

i can book small headshot sessions with the "kiddies" at $200 per 1 hour session... get 3 of them a day and its all good...

as for my commercial clients it has all been due to networking, either in physical outreach or referrals from clients who know someone who knows someone...

my approach to this industry is "... it's not what you know, but who you know."

the person you hook up today could very well hook you back up tenfold later on...

[Jon Foster]

Originally Posted by michaelanthony

my approach to this industry is "... it's not what you know, but who you know."

the person you hook up today could very well hook you back up tenfold later on...

Man, I hear ya on that!

Jon.

[Wend1982]

I definately agree it's best to use all of them - I have a facebook, myspace, linked in, flickr and PhotoNetwork account ... different people use different ones - im' not professional as in being paid for my work yet so has to be said linked in is the least useful for me ... whereas PhotoNetwork (photography-network.net) is my fave cos it's just for photographers to load their work etc for feedback.

i'm also still a facebook addict

[Starikaans]

Being Russian, I found that one of the Russian social network sites (translated as "classmates"), worked pretty well for me in terms of clients. There are 2 main design advantages there. First, your account by default is "open", so everyone can go to your page and see info and photos. Second, and that is the most important, every time when someone visits your page, you get a notification with their names. That is a fantasic tool for you as a photographer. You "wonder around" other people pages, they notice you visited them, they get curious, they check your page, and if they like your pictures, they leave comments and you start talking... I wish places like facebook or myspace had the same options...

Facebook has not generated me a lot, in fact only few questions and a couple of pounds in a pocket, unless I am doing something wrong there.

Myspace has been absolutely useless and I also find the design pretty cluttered...

Don't see much point exploring every single site - it's hard to keep an eye on 2-3, and without regular presence you lose touch with the site completely...