Learning To Be Social Media Savvy: Day 1

" You can't do today's job with yesterday's methods and be in business tomorrow."

"Whenever you see a successful business, someone once made a courageous decision."

-- Peter F. Drucker


 As I wrote in my previous post, I'm taking the information that is coming across my Timeline in Twitter,
and LinkedIn, using those tips, tricks, steps, secrets, etc. and I'm going to see if I can use them
for my small business...my VERY small business and write about the results.  I'm going to
attempt to take at least one piece of advice per day and apply it to my little one-man-show.
One person I follow on Twitter is Brian Moran, Executive Director for the Wall Street Journal,
and an expert on small business.  His mantra is: "Social Media is a 'means to an end'. I've
watched his 'Tweets' and have watched as he relentlessly takes questions through Twitter from
around the globe on the subject and recently relayed to his audience 6 reasons why we, as
a small business should engage in Social Media:
Lead Generation, Customer Service, Market Research, Competitive Analysis, Networking and
Public Relations. It's within those 6 categories that I'll be measuring my level of success or failure
during this project.
Another great resource I follow is Jeff Bullas.  www.jeffbullas.com Jeff's blog is completely
about everything to do with Social Media, Online Marketing, Blogging, Facebook, YouTube,
LinkedIn, SEO and Inbound Content Marketing. Today, I'm following his "37 Tips for Optimizing
Your Blog" which he relays via TopRank Online Marketing Blog, written by Lee Odden. You can
read what I'm reading through this link: http://www.toprankblog.com/2009/03/blog-feed-seo-sesny09/
Some things I'll need a little assistance with, like adding 'deep links' to my RSS Footer, so
for those things, I'm making a list for when I see my geek niece, who understands that stuff better
than me.
My next marketing tip(s) are coming from Rosh Sillars, who I also follow on Twitter. Today,
he has shared "Six ways photographers earn income through Facebook". The link to his
blog is: http://www.roshsillars.com/2011/01/six-ways-photographers-earn-income-through-facebook/
1. Network with other photographers to trade leads and referrals. (I do this already)
2. Share photographs on Facebook as a passive form of advertising. (I do this too, and find
    that it really is a great way of advertising your work.)
3. Tag people. Offer clients a free image to share if they like your Facebook page, which
    will lead to more referrals. (I haven't been doing this, so this is one item to begin today.)
4. Use Facebook to advertise and directly target your demographic, make adjustments
    quickly, and control budget costs.  (I think this is the whole reason you have a
    Facebook page, so I don't really see the value here; correct me if I'm wrong.)
5. Promote other people related to your industry. Theory being that when you promote them,
    they will promote you.  (I do this already also - so this one is a 'check')
6. Create events.  Facebook has an excellent event notification system, so take advantage
    of it to invite people to your next show, party or networking event. (I'm going to use this
    advice and perhaps create a photography exhibition event with fellow photographers; I'll
    keep you posted.)
Next, an advice post on Word Of Mouth Marketing by Zenologue. Website link:
http://www.zenologue.com/blog/2011/11/photography-business-word-of-mouth-marketing-solutions/#more-5144 
(Yes, I know it's a very long link)
The one thing that really stood out for me in this column was a quote about changing the game on
word of mouth marketing.  "What will change the game is actually changing the game. Changing

the experience of talking about you so fundamentally that people will choose to do it."  

That's a powerful statement. We need to create something worth talking about! Is the experience in

my studio so great that people will talk about it after they've completed their session with me?

I realize word of mouth today, isn't what it used to be. It's not likely to be Rose who sees 

Martha at the meat counter in the local grocery store, telling her about the studio shoot she

had in my studio.  Today, that word of mouth has morphed into 'word of thumbs' - texting

and Twittering her experience to her friends (The article uses the phrase "word of mouse") and you 

can COUNT on Rose putting her experience up on her Facebook wall!  Another great point 

within this article is this excerpt: 

"Interestingly enough, the closer the referring person is to you in social terms, the more likely 

you are to act on the information they give you. In other words, the influencing power of the 

message is dependent upon the social distance of the messenger from the receiver."

I agree with this statement to a certain point; however, I have gained clients through sharing
photos on Facebook; the person in the picture shares with cousins who live far away, and have
been asked to photograph the cousin when they come to town. So - -

The end point is to build a WOMM Strategy (Word Of Mouth Marketing). The book that will

expand on this idea is called "Word Of Mouth Marketing Secrets For The Professional

Photographer" and is available in three different versions (Kindle, Nook or PDF.

I believe this book will have a great impact on my marketing efforts.  If you buy it and you like

it, let me know. 

All of the articles from above are about marketing efforts - getting the word out about your

brand or product, targeting your demographic and the resulting interaction between your

clients and THEIR audience - - of whom hopefully, will become your future clients.

Not too shabby for Day 1.

The Sea of Social Media & My Very Small Business

Recently, I began to ponder the true effects of Social Media sites like Twitter, Facebook and 
LinkedIn - within the small business world, the VERY small business world.
Yes, there are literally THOUSANDS of articles on how you too can become a 
Marketing Mega-Star, best tactics, lead generation, how to engage your audience, 
and it goes on and on.
Strategically, any business I believe thinks about the best way to reach their demographic. 
The question I have is do we [ me ] really need to follow these media experts and jump on 
every social wagon out there? Almost daily, there's a new 'latest and greatest' that somebody 
tells me I need to be a part of.  Quite frankly, sometimes it makes my head spin and I begin 
to envision little mice running from one corner of a box to another in packs!
As you probably already know, I'm a photographer.  My small business staff consists of, 
well - me.
I'm not a famous photographer by any means, but my little business has started to grow, 
and I'm actually able to make a living from it, albeit barely.  So, how will all of this social media 
mumbo-jumbo help somebody like me? I have a Facebook page for fans to "like" and I 
jumped head-first into the Twitter world; which, by the way has allowed me to make fast 
friends within my field and out and for that fact alone, I'm grateful.  I don't have a huge 
following yet, but I've decided I'm not going to pay any agency to help me find followers 
and I'm not going to say "I'll follow you if you follow me."  ...I think that's bullshit.  I want folks 
to follow me who are truly interested in what I do for a living and what I have to say about it.  
I also want to find comradery in special interests I have, such as sailing, music, discovery,
and global news.  I follow lots of professional photographers from around the globe and 
follow almost anything to do with sailing -oh, and don't forget the comedians.. I do love to laugh.
But does that really do anything at ALL towards marketing efforts and my business?  I don't think 
so. What it does do for me is this: It brings information TO ME. 
Is that narcissistic? Probably, but hear me out.  I'm a one-person show. Marketing with a big 
budget just isn't in the cards for me right now but within this particular venue, some of the 
best of the best are giving me FREE advice on how to build my business.  All day long, 
there's a steady stream of professionals who have made it and want to share with you how
they did it; some used social media, some did not, but either way, they want to share that 
information with me, you and the world!
One day, I'm sitting at my desk editing photos from a shoot and half paying attention 
to the Timeline on my Twitter. I wondered....what if I tried to actually take all of the advice 
that came through my Timeline in a day and actually do it. ??? Would it improve my business 
and how?  Whose advice would prove to be the best? Perhaps I should have been doing
all of these things all along?  Why HAVEN'T I been doing these things?  Well, for one thing, I 
know where my audience is; about 1/3 of that audience doesn't use a computer
for anything other than to receive email from grandkids, but the other two-thirds do, and
that's who I'm going to target. In the past, the best marketing for a photographer has been 
word of mouth, slowly building through the years, and exhibition venues.  Let's see how 
photography fairs in this fast-paced sea of social media.
Everyday, I'll tell you who's advice I'm following, any links that are offered, how long the
anticipated results should take and if they do, and within what venue i.e. Facebook, Twitter, 
LinkedIn, etc.
If you decide to do this with me, I want to know and I want to read your comments.
Ready? Let's do this.