Needless to say, last night’s first Collages.net Austin CLASS meeting had some very information-hungry photographers! It amazes and saddens me how many new and seasoned photographers feel like they’re completely alone out there. Which is why I decided to have us do headshots of each other to help break the ice!

Afterwards, we had food and drink, then sat down to talk about the real meaning behind our CLASS meetings. I stressed that we are here to help each other build up our businesses. Even though we are competition, we learn from each other and improve our skills which enhances the experience for our clients. So many times, I’ve heard and repeated that there are no secrets in business. And it’s so true! With that out there, everyone was extremely excited to be apart of something that will grow and make a huge positive impact in the photography community. Everything from experienced photographers to beginning shutterbugs, all of us getting together to help each other grow. What a thought ;)

Anyway, our meetings are held on the second Wednesday of every month. We have a Facebook Group that you can join if you’re interested. We’d love to have you!

I travel… a lot. I’m always excited to see new places, make new friends, and learn things outside of my comfort “bubble”. It’s how we grow, right? Why go through life thinking the same old thing or seeing things in the same old way?

A lot of my travels are usually work-related, whether it’s for destination weddings or other photography adventures. Recently, Sophia and I found ourselves in Las Vegas again for WPPI. As fun and educational an international professional photography convention can be, networking, traveling, hanging out, and all that walking will eventually take it’s toll on you.

So it’s time for a little “us” time. We decided to stay an extra day in Vegas, after all of our old friends and new friends had boarded planes back to their various homes and countries. And it was so worth it. We slept in, the curtains to our suite shut tight so as to maximize as much snoozing as possible. Eventually, we ventured out into the sights and sounds of the city. First, making our way to the shark reef at Mandalay Bay. Then taking a relaxing walk to past the Aria to the Bellagio.

After having spent all this time networking with my vendors and friends, staying out late, eating fabulous dinners, hosting amazing parties, all we needed to recharge our batteries was to hold hands and take a relaxing walk through the city.

It’s times like these that you have to tune out all the noise of daily life and think about why you’re working so hard for what you want when all you need is right there in front of you. I love my wife and daughter, and I love my life. And it doesn’t matter what we have or where we are to keep me happy.

This is definitely an honor for me because they only pick about 40-50 photographers to speak/teach at this national convention. Also, it was my first time to ever be asked to speak professionally in front of professional photogs. Wow, lucky bid, right?

My Master Class is called “Go Where Your Clients Are”, which is geared towards helping studios navigate social media and using it to market their studios. This includes blogging, Facebook, Twitter, Google Buzz, etc. Plus, I also found out that not only is my class SOLD OUT, but I have attendees in my class all the way from Ontario, British Columbia, Quebec, Australia, Guatemala, Oxford, and Cabo!

Needless to say, I’m extremely humbled and extremely excited. I’ve made a lot of great friends over the years attending WPPI, and I can’t wait to make more friends from all over the world. I’m very grateful for everyone’s support, especially my vendors Canvas Press, MpactPhoto, and Collages.net. I’ll be posting updates on here, as well as on Facebook and Twitter, so enjoy the ride   :)

Thanks to everyone,

Dustin

I’m very excited to share with you an interview of me for WPPI 2010 explaining in detail my Master Class program “Go Where Your Clients Are”. Enjoy!

Twitter 101 for Photography Studios

Are you a Tweeter or a Twitter? Studios across the country and around the world are learning how to harness the power of Twitter to communicate their studio brand with future and current clients, network with other photographers, and build relationships with vendors. If you already use Twitter, you may already know its potential, but are you seeing the results you are looking for? There are some Tweeters out there who are failing to reap the benefits of their Twitter efforts. If you are one of these individuals or are new to Twitter, continue reading for tips, suggestions, and best practices from two successful photography studios.

Dustin Meyer, Dustin Meyer Photography

JP Elario, Joe Elario Photography

After signing up for a Twitter account and branding your page, gaining followers is key to making Twitter a successful marketing tool for your studio. A good way to gather followers is to attach a Twitter Feed to your blog or studio website. Both Meyer and Elario are fans of this practice. Speaking of fans, it is also possible to connect Twitter updates to your Facebook fan page. This is a great way to “quickly and efficiently link up your social networks to keep content fresh,” according to Meyer.

Meyer brings up an excellent point. Twitter should not be used in a vacuum. Yes, Twitter is a huge resource, but it can’t be your only way to connect with your clients. As Meyer states perfectly: “All clients are different in how they want to connect. Twitter provides another way to connect.” There are several social networking sites to consider, but Twitter and Facebook are the 800 pound gorillas in the social networking sphere. Combining these two services along with your blog gives your studio maximum exposure to your target market whether you shoot weddings, portraits, or birds.

Meyer says, “The bigger the web, the more flies you catch.” He has been using Twitter for five months now and has been more than happy with the results. Using a predetermined strategy, Meyer systematically posts new portrait sessions and weddings on Collages.net’s Premium Websites, asks clients to use the free social networking tools to link the site to their profile, creates a blog post, and then updates his fans and Twitter followers. This approach is working well in his studio to create buzz around the images and to spread the Dustin Meyer Photography brand. Meyer even created a video to show clients how to link their event site to their Facebook page.

Elario uses a similar process by using Tweetdeck to update his Facebook and Twitter statuses simultaneously. Whenever a new blog post is ready, he cleverly gets people’s attention with witty comments driving traffic to his blog. Personality is important. “I try to show I am me and not a computer generated Tweeter,” says Elario. “Be yourself and don’t sound like a machine.” Tweeting gives you a chance to show clients your personality and make a connection with your studio. Consistently telling them what you’re eating, watching on TV, or doing at work is okay within reason, but watch it. If all you talk about is your food choices, people will get bored and stop following you.

When tweeting, use a model of 70-20-10. Seventy percent should be interesting content. Think of your target market and what might be of interest to them. For brides, this could be wedding images, wedding blog articles, good ideas for favors, etc. Seniors may be more interested in celebrity gossip, music suggestions, or sports. Whatever your audience, post updates that will be valuable to them. Twenty percent of your tweets should engage people in conversation. This could be an @ reply or starting a dialog with an interesting comment. Both Meyer and Elario do a great job of this. View their Twitter pages for examples.

Finally, ten percent should be studio promotions. Talk about new products and include images using Twitpic. Elario advises that studios should try not to always talk about the studio, but instead include enough personal information to keep followers interested. Meyer says that mixing it up with a variety of messages and formats (Tweetmic, Twitpic) also keeps followers engaged. “Just keep it fun, interesting, and original,” he says.

There are studios out there that are hesitant to take the Twitter plunge. Elario says, “Why be hesitant of something that’s free and takes thirty seconds to reach a large audience of people?” So what’s stopping you? After all, “The number of people you can reach is insane,” Elario says. It’s true; the small amount of time it takes to Tweet has a huge impact. If you are stuck all day editing images, why not take a break every so often to send out a Tweet message with a cool image? Reaching your clients on social networks gives your studio an edge. Gain larger sales, more referrals, and a hip image with this free marketing resource.

Do you still have questions that have been left unanswered? Contact us at @collagesnet or leave a question or comment below and we will respond to you. There are several excellent sources on the web for using social networks to market your studio. One resource that has truly been helpful is @mashable. They have a Twitter resource that will blow your mind. Twitter has recently released their own site Twitter 101 for Businesses.

Collages.net would like to thank Dustin Meyer of Dustin Meyer Photography and JP of Joe Elario Photography for talking with us on how they have incorporated Twitter into their marketing mix. Follow them on Twitter @dustinmeyer and @jpelario respectively.