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Defining your social media strategy begins with knowing you.  This week we’ll get you on the path to building a useful strategy that aligns with where you want to take your photography business.   If you haven’t done so already, check out my Week 1 post, Social Media for Photographers: Where to Begin, as I’ll build on that information this week and each week throughout this series.

The Photographer’s Social Media Strategy

As often as we see and interact with social media, it’s uncommon for us to think strategically about how we use it.  If you’re like many, you dabble across the different social media platforms and wonder which ones you should be focusing on to get the most return.  This is where many photographers go wrong. Instead of asking, “What social media do I need to be using?” you might instead ask, “Why do I need social media for my business in the first place?” It’s a simple question, and one that’s often overlooked, but even attempting to answer it will help you begin to look at social media as a tool for achieving your larger business goals. And when you begin to do that, you are definitely on the right track.

3 Steps to Help You (Re)frame Your Social Media Strategy

Before you can game plan your social media attack, you must first understand why you’re in the game to begin with.  Try following these three steps to (re)frame your social media strategy.

1. Identify a series of end-goals and set a time frame for achieving them. Keep it simple, but definable. For example, “I want to increase the amount of wedding-related inquiries I have by 15% over the next three months,” or “I want to expand my client base 50 miles beyond what I normally do now.”  List timely goals and prioritize them.

2. Identify what’s limiting you from reaching these goals. Maybe you feel you need to have more people see your work, or you feel like you don’t have enough exposure in public venues.  Be clear about what you think is holding you back. Doing so will help you focus on overcoming such barriers.

3. Identify what you’re currently doing to be successful. As you begin to define your process, and to implement social media strategy, you should start to see some success. Document your methods of achieving that success and build on it. Then continue to try new ideas.

Once you’ve identified your businesses goals and begun to think about ways to achieve them through social media, you can begin to look at specific platforms for achieving success. For example, you might use real-time Twitter updates or Foursquare promotions to encourage people to check out your location. Or, you can use Facebook to build your community and advertise an event. Whatever you come up with, you’ll be much more effective with your social media time by connecting it to real, measurable business goals.

In conclusion, it’s important to recognize social media as a series of tools and not a be-all-end-all marketing solution.  At the end of this exercise you should have a clear idea of what larger goals to focus your social media efforts around.  If you’ve taken the time to define the “why” of your social media strategy, the “who” and “how” will naturally follow. Good luck!

NOTE: Tune in next week for Part II of this post, when I’ll help you segment your social media market and clarify action steps to reach the various segments.

For the latest news from liveBooks, and for added information and access to tools that will help you grow your photography business, stay connected to liveBooks through Facebook and Twitter.

If you are like many photographers, you understand the need to leverage social media in your marketing mix, but maybe you’re uncertain of where to begin.  Are your “tweets”, “pins”, or “posts” actually driving page views and business transactions?  If so liveBooks has good news for you. In addition to empowering you with the ability to present your work in a professional manner, we also know social media for photographers.

Beginning next Thursday and continuing throughout November, we will deliver a series of posts that detail how you can engage your audience through social media channels, and in the process build brand recognition, loyalty and trust in a way that drives quality, meaningful traffic back to your site.

Sound good? Okay! Here’s what we have in store:

Week 1 – “Social Media for Photographers: Where to Begin?”

This week we will focus on the two most popular Social Media platforms; Facebook and Twitter and why they are important to your web presence as a photographer.  You will learn the different uses for Facebook and Twitter, as well as some improvements you can make today with what you already have.  We will conclude with a discussion of how to fit social media into even the tightest of schedules.  This post will serve as a launchpad for our week two discussion of defining achievable goals for your social media strategy.

Week 2 – “Defining the Photographer’s Social Media Strategy”

The first step in any effective social media strategy is understanding what your needs are and defining what goals you want to achieve for your photography business through social media.  The next logical step is to define who your target audience is.  We will take you through this process and get you on your way to delivering relevant content that your audience actively engages with.

Week 3 – “Executing Your Social Media Strategy”

Now that you have your social media strategy defined, it’s time to ignite your social media wildfire.  We will help you understand how to pace your content, react to your community’s feedback, and understand what the appropriate level of engagement and energy is that you can consistently give to Social Media.  Even if you’re a professional photographer who can only devote 15 minutes a day, we can help you understand how to best manage your time and resources.  By the end of this post you should feel comfortable executing your defined social media strategy to meet your social media goals.

Week 4 – “Social Media Measurement Strategies”

There are many different ways to measure your social media impact.  We will begin by showing you how to track and understand basic social media data.  Based on the goals you set forth in week one we will help you make meaning out of this measured information and determine ways that you can refine your strategy.  To reach your goals faster and with a larger impact, you will learn which metrics are most relevant to your photography goals.

Week 5 – “Using Instagram To Promote Your Photography Business”

In week five we will discuss the value of introducing Instagram into your social media mix.  We will cover the ins and outs of how photographers can use Instagram to increase their business.  You will learn about mobile technologies and how Instagram may be your link to a larger photography audience.  Our conversation will conclude with a discussion of 5 simple ways you can effectively introduce Instagram into your social media mix.

liveBooks would love to hear your ideas, questions and comments so post a tweet to @livebooks. And while you’re on the social media forefront, “Like” us on Facebook and Follow us on Twitter. For more information on how you can use social media channels, and in the process build brand recognition, loyalty and trust, click here or call: (888)458-3678.

If you were looking to learn how to enhance your brand and attended this year’s ASMP Photo Review last Saturday in Golden, CO, you didn’t leave disappointed. For those of you who didn’t make it, keynote speakers included liveBooks CEO, Andy Patrick, and Wonderful Machine CEO, Bill Cramer. Photographers from across the country were engaged in presentations about branding, SEO, marketing and social media to name a few of the topics. If you missed it, liveBooks has captured a few key insights from our CEO’s presentation at this year’s event.

Five Tips for Enhancing Your Brand

1. Have your pitch down: Every photographer should have a concise answer for the question, “What do you photograph?”. It is important to articulate the skill sets you possess in a way that shows command of your craft without being wordy or complicated.
2. Maintain discipline: One of the greatest challenges for professional photographers involves content. The content that you enjoy shooting is not always what will pay the bills. It is important to be receptive to where the industry is going and to maintain discipline with your brand. Great photographers often aren’t ‘every thing for every body’.
3. Work to brand ‘you’: Each piece of marketing that you send out (both online and offline) should be branded in a way that aligns with who you are as photographer and the type of work you create. Having a congruent brand image, tagline, and format makes it easier for clients to connect their desires with what you can provide. Authenticity is key.
4. Socially network both offline and online: It is important to remember that word of mouth is your most valuable form of marketing. Get out to events and meet other photographers, media people, students; the greater your reach the greater your ability promote yourself. Twitter, Facebook, and other social media outlets are key to connecting these offline and various online communities to the work that you do.
5. Engage your audience through various types of media: Using photo books, printed postcards, and other forms of high quality print media is one another way to extend your brand. Unlike a Facebook fan page, your branded business card or postcard is tangible and engages the audience with a physical presence. Sites like Pinhole Press and Pinhole Pro provide beautiful options for creating this type of high-quality, branded material.

Hopefully these tips have captured your interest and helped you think more about your brand. You can begin building your web presence today with liveBooks! Sign up for our FREE 14-day trial here. Hear it first; join our Facebook and Twitter communities to receive real-time liveBooks news and updates.

How does one become a better photographer? To find the answer I decided to ask industry veteran Gerald Ratto. For over half a century Gerald has used film photography to capture the world. Gerald is a former student of Ansel Adams, Minor White, Imogen Cunningham and Edward Weston; the list of industry legends he has worked with is extensive. His work has been displayed at the San Francisco Museum of Modern Art and his client list includes some of the largest architectural firms in the world.

Gerald has worked with film since he was 12 and began photographing with a 15-cent box camera. Many of his most celebrated images (See his Children of the Fillmore and Vintage Collections) were shot traditionally. I began by inquiring about what differences exists between photographing with film and digital.

“Photography is really about seeing. We are in an age where people confuse photography with image capturing. When you hold up your phone or high megapixel camera are you really being a photographer? I don’t know. That depends on how intentional you are in the process. It’s easy to capture a huge amount of space today and then use Photoshop to retroactively tell a story, but something is lost in that process. You can make adjustments in Photoshop but you lose some of the expression because you didn’t really consider the content and the story that is being told.”

Is there any correlation between the physical developing process and the creation of an authentic photograph?

“Developing isn’t really a huge part of the process because of previsualization; seeing the story in your mind before you capture it with a camera. If you are doing it right you already know what the story is once you capture it. Then, it’s about going through a process to bring it from a small format to something people can see and display. Each camera is really the same. Each is simply a different instrument. If your process is the same then you can use different instruments to more accurately tell the story.”

Herein I realized the error of my initial question. The question is really not of whether we gain or lose something using film or digital methods, the question is how we remain intentional in an age where technology removes our limits. What are we doing as photographers to keep our content intentional and relevant?

I ask what advice Gerald can provide for how to stay relevant as a photographer.

“Photography is like discovery; every time you look in the viewfinder you’re closing in on an image that is part of something bigger—a little vignette of the greater world. You don’t want to go into any project with preconceived notions of what you are going to capture because by doing that you impose yourself upon the subject. Authenticity is the key to staying relevant. Allow the subject to tell the story and use your mastery of the instrument to capture it.”

Gerald’s work over the last 50 years showcases many different thematic elements; a testament to the depth of his abilities as photographer. I encourage you to take a look at Gerald’s portfolios and pay special attention to his mastery of light. From architecture models to portraiture, Gerald’s work showcases the breadth of his abilities as a photographer. As we finish up I ask Gerald what his favorite photo is. He smiles and replies, “The one I’m taking tomorrow.”

Gerald Ratto and his wife Marla manage a studio and reside in San Francisco, CA. You can view more of his work on his liveBooks site; www.geraldrattophotography.com.

liveBooks wants to know: how do you view your work as a photographer? What tools/best practices do you use to stay relevant? Share a comment on our blog and start a conversation. “Like” us on our facebook page and be the first to receive exciting liveBooks news and content.