Facebook and high school seniors.....how I do it.

Since Facebook is becoming more and more popular these days as a way of marketing I thought I'd share how I'm working it with regards to high school seniors.

I'm in my second year of really pushing seniors and using facebook.

Last spring I decided I needed some senior reps. So, I hit up facebook.

There are ways to search by class and school.....you can use the search for classmates tool...you might have to change your profile to that class in order to do it. I honestly don't remember the specifics because I have an "in" as my day job is as a high school teacher.

So, what you do is send a friend request to a few high school kids. When you send a friend request make sure and include a message explaining who you are and why you want to be their friend (so they don't think you're a creeper) and make sure and add them to a friend list. I have a list for class of 2010, 2011, and yes even 2012.

Once kids start accepting your friend requests go through their friend lists and look for more kids. Repeat. Repeat. Repeat.

I also keep an eye out for kids that look (based on their profile pics) like they would be photogenic and are in the following graduation class. So, as I was searching for class of 2010, I would come across 2011 kids and send them a request as well.

This builds you a base to start marketing to.

Then, I used the event option in facebook to create an event. I titled it "senior model search" or something similar. I included details, photos, web links, etc. Then, I invited all the kids in my class list (depending on which class I am marketing to). The event feature is super nice as it gives you feedback. You can see who is maybe thinking about working with you, those that decline, and those that are definitely wanting to work with you. You can also message your entire guest list with updates, reminders, etc. When sending messages from your personal account you are limited to just 20 people so being able to message them all at once is great!

I mainly use my personal page to market with because with a fan page you don't get notifications of when people become fans, comment, or write on your wall.

I also use my status to keep my name out there reminding kids of my current promo etc.

As your senior season draws to a close you can easily purge friends who didn't use you. Before you do though, once again sort through their friend lists and check for people from the following two years. Then, delete! HAHAHA. You've made it easy as you have them on a specific list.

I know for a fact this works. Last year I had 3 reps from local schools. This year I had 21 applicants and will be working with 15 kids. Many of them are those kids that I contacted as sophomores.

Another thing I have been doing as well is logging onto facebook chat as I'm working on this or just dinking off on facebook in general. A number of kids have contacted me this way. I also make sure and watch my comments. If someone comments on a photo I took I make sure and gently point out that I'm looking for a model/rep or having a promotion or something.

Another thing I plan to do is have my model/reps suggest me as a friend to kids in their schools as well as post any promos or anything to their statuses as well.

ETA: I also always tag the kids in their pictures and, many times the parents request to be a friend as well and so I will also tag the parent in the photo. That way I know the parents' friends (the other moms and dads that have the checkbook) will see the images as well.


ETA2: Make sure and HIDE your friend list. No sense helping out the competition if they decided to poach all of your hard work and steal your friend list. Trust me.

ETA3: (9/13/10): I've started getting my marketing list together for class of 2012. What I have done is enlisted the help of my senior models and even other clients. They get $1 print credit for every person they suggest to me as a friend from class of 2012 up to $50. They are loving it because it's easy print credit. I love it because it's WAY easier and less time consuming than searching them out myself.

So, that's what's been working for me.

SAMPLE WORDING

Friend request looking for models for current year

Hi! I'm a senior photographer in Belmont, WI and I'm currently looking for senior models to represent my studio for the class of 20xx. You can earn your pictures for free and earn other goodies and cash! Check out the details here: http://rfpstudio.com/i​nformation/, read the fine print: http://rfpstudio.com/t​he-fine-print/, and apply!!! http://rfpstudio.com/a​pply/

I hope to work with you!

Tiffany Austin
rfp studio

Friend request if I find someone interesting from the following year's class

Hi!! I know it's super early to think about senior portraits but I came across your profile on facebook and I think you would make a super senior rep next year! I just wanted to friend you early so I can keep in touch with you.

My website is: http:rfpstudio.com

Thanks!

Tiffany Austin
rfp studio

And for an event promo:

Hi, I am a senior photographer in Belmont, WI and am currently holding a great summer promo sale where you get 50% off your session fee and a free photo dog tag for booking by July 4th. If you want to see some of my recent work, friend me and check out my photo albums. The invitation to the special sale is here: http://www.facebook.co​m/home.php?ref...d=116​562975398

Thanks!

Tiffany Austin
rfp studio

Thanks for the helpful tips!

Its refreshing to see someone use sites like this, rather then to complain about not getting business.

Thanks, very interesting.

Great IDEA! Thanks for the tip. I will give it a try this year.

Awesome idea, now if only i had the time!

aebrown wrote in post #9728271
Awesome idea, now if only i had the time!

It IS time consuming to be sure. But, worth it!

Nice writeup. I have the entire girls' basketball squad on my fb now. Same/similar process except for athletics. I upload their pics and tag 'em as well as encourage them to tag themselves. It's now at the point where their friends are adding me rather than the other way around.

I'm not purging anyone though. Seems a little too cash-centric to do that, IMHO. Besides, they may have siblings and/or get married one day.

Quick question, are you using your personal facebook to do this, or did you create a page that specifically handles your studio?

cdifoto wrote in post #9728298
Nice writeup. I have the entire girls' basketball squad on my fb now. Same/similar process except for athletics. I upload their pics and tag 'em as well as encourage them to tag themselves.

I'm not purging anyone though. Seems a little too cash-centric to do that, IMHO.

I just got tired of seeing their pics they had taken elsewhere. And, I wasn't as good about organizing my stuff when I started so my friends list was way cluttered.

Good point on the siblings too. But, I don't do weddings so I'm not worried about that.

aebrown wrote in post #9728310
Quick question, are you using your personal facebook to do this, or did you create a page that specifically handles your studio?

Personal page.

I don't keep my biz page up to date and well, you can't tag anyone that you aren't already friends with anyway.

Plus, with the biz page you don't get notifications when people post on your wall or comment and that drives me crazy!

Oh and one thing you have to be careful of is how often you update your status with promotional tidbits. People CAN hide their friends from their newsfeed and if you get annoying, they will make use of that feature.

cdifoto wrote in post #9728326
Oh and one thing you have to be careful of is how often you update your status with promotional tidbits. People CAN hide their friends from their newsfeed and if you get annoying, they will make use of that feature.

Yeppers! Which is why I tend to be careful about how much I post about it and what else I post.

the one thing about doing it with the personal page is that you have to be careful what you post...so as to not be unprofessional. I use my business page for my contacts because they can't see my personal page. But then again, I don't friend them either...so the traffic isn't as high.

Maybe making a separate ID just for this sort of thing (business) might be the answer?

cdifoto wrote in post #9728326
Oh and one thing you have to be careful of is how often you update your status with promotional tidbits. People CAN hide their friends from their newsfeed and if you get annoying, they will make use of that feature.

that's true. I have several hidden for this very reason.