Social Media for Professional Photographers

Social Media for Professional Photographers

With so many consumers joining social networking websites like Facebook and Twitter, it goes without saying that photo assignments will follow. Social networking sites are becoming household brands to this expanding group of consumers, making it easier for people to stay in touch with others, and providing new opportunities for savvy business owners to promote their businesses. Photography is a very relationship oriented business and adopting an effective social media strategy can be a valuable addition to your marketing plan!
How can a professional photographer use social media to drive increased business volume? For starters, they can show off their skills by putting one or more high quality portfolios on a couple of popular social media networks. Studies have shown that looking at pictures represents more than 75% of the activity on all social networks. People love to look at images and will "spread the word" about your artistic and technical talents. As traffic and fans build, your social networking pages will serve as a powerful "on ramp" to bring significantly increased traffic to your existing website. For photographers, a dedicated web site is an absolute necessity, but the old "storefront on internet main street" model is rapidly giving way to the more chaotic, social media "crowd in town square" metaphor. This model is far more effective at rapidly disseminating valuable information and ideas, since it relies on the unique "one to many" community features unique to modern social media.
The attractiveness of social media lies in its ability to communicate appealing, yet fundamentally personal content or impressions. As an accomplished photographer, you have an unfair advantage here, as your images always convey unique and powerful perspectives of everyday places and events. For optimal appeal, all you need to add is some personal and insightful perspective about the location or event. For example, if you include an environmental shot from a wedding, add a few words to perhaps explain why you use the location. Something like "the expansive north facing windows in the conservatory offer bright yet soft natural lighting in virtually all seasons." For you, this should be easy, since that is the reason you use the location in the first place! For that perfect baby shot, you might add "Julie was a little out of sorts that day, but when her puppy ambled in she settled down as if finally protected!" A few comments like these, accompanying your best images will makeyou a "hit" to your target audiences. They will show why you are an insightful and exacting professional, who does everything possible to get that perfect image for each of your clients. It explains how and why your images are at once personal yet spectacular. Remember, even if your displayed images are not exactly what a given client might want, after looking at your best and reading your perspectives, they will be comfortable that your intuitive visual skills and techniques, coupled with your personal desire to please, will result in that perfect image, be it for senior citizens, families, married couples, babies or graduating seniors.
But there is more to the magic of social media than just your own perspectives. In the past, most photographers judged whether someone liked their work by looking at the number of "hits" on their web pages. This methodology, however, is flawed. Social media also enables public feedback and discussion as you exhibit your best stuffin the town square! It is also extremely important to acknowledge what many refer to as "the 3 C's," those being conversation, community, and collaboration. You need to be prepared to interact with individuals who may be interested in their own works, including other photographers as well. Before the internet, few people knew about many accomplished photographers. Today, individuals around the world have access to pictures from a wide variety of artists, and a photographer's needs to use this capability to maximum advantage. Through opinions received from more prominent and experienced photographers, novice professionals can learn what their own wo!
rk lacks and in this manner, advance their own professional development. Build a connection with everyone who comes to the social networking site looking at your pictures. Engender trust with all these potential clients, and realize that everyone who is interested in your pictures has many friends with whom they can share their opinions.