Posted by Bret Edge on January 2, 2010 at 11:13 PM
I just published a new blog post titled, "Social Media Marketing: It's Not The Boogeyman". It's the first in a series I'm writing about developing a social media marketing campaign to grow your photography business. I hope you find it useful and I encourage your feedback.
Posted by Doug Roane on January 3, 2010 at 3:45 AM
excellent blog post, Bret - I like your writing style - can't wait for part 2!
Posted by Joe Rogers on January 3, 2010 at 10:28 AM
Bret,
You're going in the right direction here....many of your fellow photographers in the Portrait and Wedding business have being doing the social media thing for some time now as part of their marketing programs and with a good deal of success. I see it as very important to you, especially in your workshop and guide business. I read your blog myself and find it informative and enjoyable. You do have a good casual writing style. Joe Rogers
Posted by Scott Bacon on January 3, 2010 at 11:56 AM
Great read. And it sure has been interesting watching SMM develop.
One comment... I'd be careful with describing some aspects of SMM as "free." While access to services like Facebook, Twitter, etc. might be free, the time spent generating updates, writing articles, posting pics, etc. is not. Time spent at these marketing activities has value, just as your time spent processing images or creating prints. You do a good job mentioning that these new marketing activities can be time consuming. But it might be interesting and worthwhile to quantify and attach a value to this time. It is certainly a cost to factor into your marketing plan, even if it is an activity that you might otherwise be doing for "fun."
Posted by Bret Edge on January 3, 2010 at 12:43 PM
Scott: Excellent point! I didn't intend to downplay the time commitment involved in SMM. Time is money, as they say. Initially I spent entire days doing nothing but SMM as I was trying to figure out what worked for me. I've now got it down to a manageable chunk of time. I think anyone who decides to commit themselves to it for the long haul will follow a similar pattern of "oh my God this is an all-day, every day thing" to "I can do why I need in an hour a day". Thanks for the reminder that although the services may be free, our time is anything but.
Joe: Thanks for taking the time to read the post and comment. Much appreciated!
Discussion
4 repliesYou're going in the right direction here....many of your fellow photographers in the Portrait and Wedding business have being doing the social media thing for some time now as part of their marketing programs and with a good deal of success. I see it as very important to you, especially in your workshop and guide business. I read your blog myself and find it informative and enjoyable. You do have a good casual writing style. Joe Rogers
One comment... I'd be careful with describing some aspects of SMM as "free." While access to services like Facebook, Twitter, etc. might be free, the time spent generating updates, writing articles, posting pics, etc. is not. Time spent at these marketing activities has value, just as your time spent processing images or creating prints. You do a good job mentioning that these new marketing activities can be time consuming. But it might be interesting and worthwhile to quantify and attach a value to this time. It is certainly a cost to factor into your marketing plan, even if it is an activity that you might otherwise be doing for "fun."
Joe: Thanks for taking the time to read the post and comment. Much appreciated!