Social media for Photographers

Should you be a part of every social network?  - No. Should you be a part of any social network at all? - Yes.

Social Media Marketing For PhotographersI have a good friend, he's not very 'social media' friendly, I mean, he's always busy and he's always working and doing quite well with his photography. He has a blog that he posts on once in a blue moon (however often that actually is, in this case it's not very often) and he tweets, but not really in a 'selling himself' kind of way - just a 'this is what I'm doing today' kind of way. He shares his work via Twitter and Instagram form time to time. He doesn't like Facebook and we've not even touched on the topic of Google+ yet...

Is he doing it all wrong? Could he be getting more work? - No & Maybe

He's currently doing what he can handle doing without bringing someone else in to assist, he's not having to gouge out chunks of time that he doesn't have - he's getting his name out there. But, is he doing it wrong? Well, I personally don't think there's a wrong way to do social media - as different ways work for different people / companies / industries.

There are certainly ways that don't work very well with the majority of people, but they still work with a select few. For example, the pushy, sales only type of social media approach. It's not my thing. Consider this for a minute, you've finished work on a Friday afternoon and you've gone to the bar with your workmates, you're there having a nice cold beverage and someone walks in, pulls up next to you and starts offering for you to buy his photographs, you don't say anything so he says it again... "Buy my photographs, Hire me!" ...this keeps happening until you leave the bar and go to another.  You didn't go to that bar to be sold at, and Facebook / Twitter etc, they're pretty much the same - they started out as a way for friends to communicate - you have to remember that first. Social media marketing needs to be a lot more give than take by businesses.

I personally think that you have a great opportunity to reach an audience that you could generate a sale from, raise awareness in or become a valuable part of by using multiple social media channels.

Feed your audience ice cream, they may just come back for more.

Next Week : Don't Make Your Audience Jump Through hoops for you....

a photo of a childrens playground for social media

Sime