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Started by jinky, June 21, 2011, 03:32:36 PM

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jinky


Sorry I`ve not been too active on here or elsewhere lately due to trying to get back top full fitness and trying to develpop my part time self employed photography business on a level that works for me. I`ve worked where I can on tips given re: websiote elsewhere and appreciate your comments. Just started a blog linked to my website and promoted on facebook trying to develop a presence. I know I need a better website at some stage and my Yell free listing led to me being bombarded with advertisers all aiming to get some of my money and all rebuffed.

It`s alright I`m not asking for free busieness advice as such Jonathan. One question I have currently is around facebook. I did set up a business page that has all of 26 people liking it :-[. No surprise as up to this time I have spent most of my life avoiding facebook, twitter and the like and even my personal page only shows 65 friends - which is about 55 more than I thought I had  ;)

Anyway Facebook have spent the last hour trying to sell me a new business page which they will build as per my instructions and add 1000 names to from the local area that have said they are looking for photographers in the next 6-18 months which they will  add the social plug in to me to build up my facebook presence. This would be for a one off fee of £175 and I`d only pay again if I wanted to add more names / tie in to new surveys etc which they will obviously keep coming back to me for each 6 months. The facebook page I can add  to / change as I go along . Example cited was this Audi page:
http://www.facebook.com/audi?ref=ts

They say that my current business page is "static" as it has not got the social plug in and effectively revising it with it attached would mean a building in likes / contacts/ additions of reveiws etc and maybe more dynamic than my website can be at this time.
I am tempted but has anyone any experience of this or warnings?

I am beginning to fear that my decision to try and get some paid work form my photography is getting in the way of me enjoying it! Done a couple of commercial shoots and some events stuff thus far but it`s how to get out there! Trying to put together some wedding sample books at the moment but so many to choose from!

Beaux Reflets

#1
I would keep your funds in your pocket, and concentrate on more direct local aspects to target for business. Perhaps even put on a local exhibition, or create a project or two for businesses and organisations in your area to meet their marketing need.  ;) ie. The likes of Audi or PRadar are promoting products be it car or magazines etc.; which is not quite the same, as you are effectively trying to promote 'a service to supply an end product'.  :)
:beer: Andy

"Light anchors things in place and gives perspective meaning."

The choices we make are rooted in reflection.

http://beauxreflets.blogspot.com/

ABERS

I know that I'm a bit of a dinosaur when it comes to these types of sites, and perhaps I'm missing something here.

We're looking for a writing desk at the moment and have made several dealer contacts via the web. The last place if I would be inclined to look would be Facebook, I thought that was just for the communication of activities between friends. If you were thinking of buying a new Audi would you look for it on Facebook?  :-\

jinky

Yes but my eldest is an active facebooker and hitting that age when a lot of her frineds / friends of friends are getting around to marrying. Yes people like many of us would do a web search for a photographer but facebook is the regular haunt for many young people in that age range I am thinking.

Beaux Reflets

Quote from: jinky on June 21, 2011, 05:20:41 PM
Yes but my eldest is an active facebooker and hitting that age when a lot of her frineds / friends of friends are getting around to marrying. Yes people like many of us would do a web search for a photographer but facebook is the regular haunt for many young people in that age range I am thinking.

There is an old adage, never do business with family and friends  :tup: that said, I can see where you are coming from. I'll ask my youngsters, but I think they tend to look at word of mouth recommendations regarding most things and that is something you cannot buy but comes with time. A fan page may be good if you can get past clients to leave a comment.   
:beer: Andy

"Light anchors things in place and gives perspective meaning."

The choices we make are rooted in reflection.

http://beauxreflets.blogspot.com/

Cathus

I'd also keep my wallet in my pocket, at least until you can find some people who have paid £175 & got more than £175's worth of business from it.

just my opinion, I have a photography page on Facebook & haven't started exploiting it yet, but I do have over 220 FB friends, all of whom know I take photos. Whilst I have been engaged for paid work from a few of them, none of them have ever done so via or because of FB. Almost all my work has come from people who know me personally or who know me & have recommended me to their friends.

jinky

Yes looking at my friends on facebook I don`t expect many coming through that way as they are mainly friends I`d shoot for free / mates rates at most for ( if not close friends) but then again a lot of them are fellow enthusiasts. That`s where the appeal comes in for getting stranger friends with potential spin offs. I suppose I am impatient as I feel ready to step up a gear just now and things are slow. My "regular" commercial ones are feeling the recession and doing in house shots with compacts/ agreeable hobbyist staff adn the evnts stuff I am getting does not pay as much as I would like although it`s all fun and experience. I`m hoping for something out of my link up with a local advertising magazine who send out 30,000 copies a month locally and I have swapped some shots for space / credits so we`ll have to see.

Jonathan

I have it on my long to do list to get my head round the dynamic plugin for FB.

Are you any good with computers?  I can't honestly see how it could take more than a day to figure out (probably an hour or two).  So...unless your average profit is currently > £175 per day, it would pay you to do it yourself.  Then you'd be able to hire yourself out at £150 a day ;)
It's Guest's round

jinky

No Jonathan - I`m useless on computers so no chance of me knowing what it is I even have to get my head around! :)

It was interesting to hear the guy`s anti-yell pitch where he was saying that they have to come to them to access the codes. They say they would deal direct with my website suppliers to insert the code but gave no clues. I`ve only just got rid of Yell follow up calls after going the free listing route. They effectively told me I was wasting my time with the listing and trying to sell of course but hearing the experiences of another local photographer who is in dispute and heading to court with Yell for failing to deliver a service meant I could challeneg a lot of what they say. So many people selling advertising!

ABERS

Quote from: jinky on June 21, 2011, 08:15:24 PM
So many people selling advertising!
So many people wanting to sell photographic services!  :legit:

Mick

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OpenSea

spinner

ABERS, my Facebook page has a list of advertisers running down the right side of the page. They are all local to my neighbourhood. I think that's what they're trying to sell Jinky, they'll put his ad on the side of 220 people in his area who have a Facebook page. You are right, I don't think people go to Facebook to seek out services and if they're like me, they'll completely ignore those ads. Sorry Jinky, I go on the site for the 'social' aspect. I don't even look at the ads. I had to go and specifically look to confirm my suspicions. I think it's a waste of your money.
And more, much more than this, I did it my way
Ol' blue eyes

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https://www.flickr.com/photos/spin498/

jinky

No Spinner - it`s not the ads - they cost a whole lot more.As Jonathan says it`s the dynamic plug in you are paying for. They survey on a regular basis to see who wants a given service and may have 10,000 people say who have said they will be looking for a photographer for weddings / babies etc in next 18 months. They then sell you these names by the 1000 by designing / setting up a business page built on the look of your website or other format if wanted and then stick a "like" from all of the people "bought" - £175 for 1000 and the business page creation. Then every time you post / they post a review maybe not only the 1000 see it  and your services but also their friends - supposed to spiral from there on in.

The flaws I see are :

1. Easy enough for them to "unlike" your services if it`s not what they are looking for or you bore them with useless posts
2. I`ve never been surveyed by facebook on what services I am looking for - has anyone I know? Maybe they are just randomly adding 1000 but they hold that they are surveying.

In theory it is more targeted than the ads as it is attaching only to those in your defined area that have said they might be looking for a photographer.

Guess facebook is still a bit new fangled for many of us - I struggle to see it too.

Jonathan

Quote from: ABERS on June 21, 2011, 10:19:52 PM
Quote from: jinky on June 21, 2011, 08:15:24 PM
So many people selling advertising!
So many people wanting to sell photographic services!  :legit:

Amazingly I make decent money from Yell.  The ring me up and ask me to go and photograph stuff.  They pay pretty well ;)

Quote from: jinky on June 22, 2011, 06:58:36 AM

2. I`ve never been surveyed by facebook on what services I am looking for - has anyone I know? Maybe they are just randomly adding 1000 but they hold that they are surveying.

My guess is they screen scrape what you talk about (like Gmail does to serve up "relevant" ads).  There's a flaw in that for photography.

People who talk about for example "motorbikes" a lot are clearly interested in motorbikes and might easily want to buy motorbikes, insurance, mechanics' services, natty overalls etc.  People who talk a lot about photography on FB by and large want to sell photography rather than buy it.
It's Guest's round

picsfor

So that's why i get ads to get cheap tickets on Southern trains?

Clearly a flaw in the technology there - i don't have to pay to travel on Southern trains  :tup:

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