# What has social media done for you?



## jowensphoto (Sep 15, 2012)

I  have spent nearly two wonderful years without Facebook. I removed my account because my family is nucking futs. Lol

A good friend and fellow photographer is trying to convince me to get back on, in order to market myself. 

Online Social media is so, so huge these days! It's the preferred mode of communication by many, the best form of word of mouth.

So, what has FB done for you in terms of marketing? What percentage of your client work is a direct result of social media?


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## cgipson1 (Sep 15, 2012)

Bugs all of over the world have "liked" my photos of their cousins and other family... and have scheduled many shoots with me! Not very lucrative.. but hey!     lol!


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## MK3Brent (Sep 15, 2012)

Yup. Post one photo and tag them, then all their friends view and comment. Then everyone of their friends wants some.


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## Derrel (Sep 15, 2012)

I've managed to get a few paying shoots out of it, without even trying. Plus it's a great time-waster; one of the BEST time-wasters ever invented! It's a good way to communicate with friends and family as well. Even those nucking futty ones...


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## sm4him (Sep 15, 2012)

Facebook has helped me to eradicate all of the extra time from my life, as well as much of the time that wasn't really "extra" in the first place. It has helped me focus less on housework and more on how many "likes" my curent clever post has. 

Seriously--not that the above wasn't absolutely 100% accurate--I am an amateur hack and so marketing isn't something I've even bothered with. I don't have a photography FB page, per se--just my personal account with a lot of photos I upload for friends and family to see. That said, I have sold several prints because someone saw them on my FB page--including at least one that was to someone I didn't know. I've also had two different people contact me and ask if I have a portfolio; one is the director of a fairly large department at the HGTV division of Scripps, who wants to send my name and portfolio link to the art directors she works with, so who knows?

But yeah, mostly it's a huge black hole of time-wasting absurdity...and I can't quit spending time on it. Kinda like Angry Birds.


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## tirediron (Sep 15, 2012)

Precious little.  Probably because that's the amount of effort I put into it...


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## Bitter Jeweler (Sep 15, 2012)

I wish FaceBook kept track of like's.


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## IByte (Sep 15, 2012)

I have to admit, I found a lot of military buddies on Facebook.  Good for some, not for all but you can't underestimate how much they changed the world.


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## 12sndsgood (Sep 16, 2012)

Well I can't say I have booked anything from facebok yet, but only being open for a few months, most of my paid work has been from people I know. But What i'm using facebook for is another place to show off my photos and get people to know I exist. For instance the photos I posted of Kendra, when I posted up the coming soon pre-photo in 24 hours it had been seen by over 500 people, had 70+ likes and about 20 comments and it gained me about 5 fans to my site. I have had a few people message me about prices in such, though I think i was to expensive for them. it at least generated the conversation. I just use it as a way to become known. Thats why most of my stuff on facebook I watermark, Not for theft, but in hopes of just more people seeing my name and learning who I am.


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## JAC526 (Sep 16, 2012)

Absolutely nothing.


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## tbc (Sep 16, 2012)

I love FB. I did wedding mostly, Facebook let me post some preview and tag the bride and groom so everybody who care about these pictures can see it and so far brides and grooms very appreciate the preview. Also, a place to promote your website if you have one.


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## mommyof4qteez (Sep 16, 2012)

It's free advertisement...I get the majority of my clients scheduling sessions through my fb page...


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## janineh (Sep 17, 2012)

You post pics, ppl tag themselves, friends love it - they book you too. 

Get a lot of work through fb.


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## orljustin (Sep 18, 2012)

I learned how to play "Words with Friends".


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## rexbobcat (Sep 18, 2012)

It depends on your social circle sometimes I think. I'll post a photo and 10 of my college friends will like it and ask me to take photos of them

And I'm just like w/e you guys can't afford it. And I'm right. They can't. Social media at least in my area is a "something for nothing" sort of thing.

"why do I need to buy photos when I can save them off of FB"

I only post them to FB after I I've given whoever the photos.


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## mommyof4qteez (Sep 18, 2012)

rexbobcat said:
			
		

> It depends on your social circle sometimes I think. I'll post a photo and 10 of my college friends will like it and ask me to take photos of them
> 
> And I'm just like w/e you guys can't afford it. And I'm right. They can't. Social media at least in my area is a "something for nothing" sort of thing.
> 
> ...



I never save mine in their original size on the web & I also watermark my web photos.


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## JoshuaSimPhotography (Sep 18, 2012)

And i mean, fb is the general population, you wont have proffesionals looking at ur photos. You&#8217;ll have people that are more interested in actually buying your work. Chris Jarvis&#8217; reputation was boosted as soon as he created his succesful youtube account!


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## Tbini87 (Sep 26, 2012)

We have really liked being able to use facebook as a marketing tool. The vast majority of people we know and shoot for have FB and use it to post photos of themselves. My wife is also very into blogging and will advertise a new blog post on FB with a photo and link to the blog. She tags the people in the photo so it shows up on their wall and all their friends and family can see it, like it, and comment on it. We think it is a great way to get our name out there.


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## Gaqua77 (Sep 27, 2012)

Social Media gave me my lost friend of school days. We were not in touch from the past 14 years


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## gsgary (Sep 27, 2012)

Facebook is for people with no real friends


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## 12sndsgood (Sep 27, 2012)

Nope. It's a place where you can easily stay In touch with friends who maybe don't live next door anymore.


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## Dorothy_Hanna (Jan 21, 2013)

yes you are right. The online Social media is become so huge and in terms of marketing it is a very good, easy and cheap way to promote your business. In fb you tagged photos and get likes.I also get many likes in Instagram loaded that photoes in fb, twitter and i also get good results and popularity.I think overall now a days fb and social media working near by 70% result.


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## Richichi (Jan 21, 2013)

It really is free advert. Some utilize it better than others. Just like anything else the more you put it the more you get out of it.


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## Patriot (Jan 21, 2013)

I thought about deleting it, but then I would lost contact with all of my military friends and Korean friends. However I do a "spring cleaning" every once in awhile by deleting those I no longer talk to. I only have 60 friends as of now.


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## Steve5D (Jan 21, 2013)

I've sold a few prints as a result of posting the photos on Facebook...


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## skieur (Jan 21, 2013)

I fit in with more "anti-social media".

skieur


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## ratssass (Jan 21, 2013)

...the only reason i signed up on facebook was to track down a deadbeat.Which I found,and eventually got paid.Oh,and lucky me,now I'm friends w/2 ex-wives and a former girlfriend.Sure am glad of that........lol


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## Awiserbud (Jan 21, 2013)

For me i've bagged a few paid gigs on FB, mostly birthday parties, family portraits, and a couple of weddings. I haven't sold any images via FB, Most FB users i know assume if they can see it online then they dont need to pay for it (i always watermark them), probably not the best place to show images that you intend to sell anyway.
Aside from photography FB is undoubtedly the best way to keep in touch with friends you dont get to see very often, I dont live in my hometown anymore so it works well for me.


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## rexbobcat (Jan 21, 2013)

I'm not gonna sugarcoat it.

Honestly It helps my self-esteem and allows me to show off to my less photography oriented friends.

It also allows me to easily find people if I lost their cell number or something.

And it lets me know who I should refrain from talking about politics with. Lol

The people who actually talk to me about photos on FB generally want something for nothing. Lol


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## Awiserbud (Jan 21, 2013)

rexbobcat said:


> I'm gonna sugarcoat it.
> 
> Honestly It helps my self-esteem and allows me to show off to my less photography oriented friends.



I post a lot more pictures on FB than i do here.....


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