Expanding My Photography through a Social Network

[erickson_abreu]

hello everyone, iam fairly new to the world of photography, i love and enjoy doing it every single day from when iam awake, to when i go to bed: i created a page on facebook because i figured that is the easiest and surest way for me to expand, hoping to discuss with everyone or most people their ideas on this, and how they would do it differently,

check it out, its
SantosAbreu Photography - Arts & Entertainment - Bronx, NY | Facebook

please tell me what i can improve on what i should do more, if theres anything i should be doing... thanx alot guys

[BigFuzzy]

Hi Erickson_Abreu,

First off welcome to DPS, you'll find this a great community to learn.

The best way you'll find to learn stuff is not to simply try to drive people to your facebook page, but to start, and participate in, posts here in the forum (and the website in general). Particularly it'd be beneficial to you (most of the times!) to post images in the Critique Section and ask for feedback as per the forum rules.

People generally don't like it when the forum is used simply to drive traffic to their site, in fact, this will often get your posts moderated. So, feel free to post your link in your signature, and start participating in the forum.

See you around,
Al

Originally Posted by OsmosisStudios

"ZOMG OHAI I IZ NEW FOTOG PLZ TO GO TO MAI PAGE NOW PLZKTHX"

That, that right there... that's how you come off. To me at least.

I said it before, and I'll say it again: This is such a nice, welcoming site for new people.

[erickson_abreu]

actually i was asking genuine advice on how to expand my photography, and thanks bigfuzzy for the advice on the critique section of the forum, will check it out soon.

and to Osmosis, it becomes a problem when u interpret things incorrectly, from what u think is said to how u believe it was being said, there is always a difference, if u dont like the post then dont go on to acknowledge it and criticize it, that was the second mistake you made...
that being said...
iam sorry to all the moderators, for lashing back...
have a great day

[erickson_abreu]

you've proved your point...
very well then...

how would you have done it differently osmosis?

[OsmosisStudios]

Something along these lines:

Hi all,
Im a new photographer looking to break out into (insert photography type here) photography. I've used social media to get a few practice shoots and even paying clients in the past and have read that it's a great place to start. Do you have any advice?

I've noticed that a lot of photographers on Facebook have their own fan pages, and I thought that would be a good launch pad. Thoughts?

I'm looking for any advice or tips/tricks/etc you might have for me
Thanks in advance!

Notice: You dont link to your own page. Not yet at least. If youre looking for help its not because youve already got a page up, it's because you need it. Putting the link in the first post is like saying "Look what I did, see isn't it fantastic?". Even if you have a page up, you wait until at least your first reply to link to it, otherwise it just looks like youre trying to drive pageviews.

Of course, this information applies in this instance almost exclusively; you came to a forum and asked for help while pimping your page and it sends mixed messages. There will be times when pimping your page is the right thing to do.

[ericbloemersphotography]

Originally Posted by Photoboothguy

I said it before, and I'll say it again: This is such a nice, welcoming site for new people.

I agree, too many people here that like to play Bully! its mostly the reason I dont post much here anymore. I do read it everyday, BUT, you have to go through a lot of condescending remarks to get to the good information. its a shame really!

Originally Posted by ericbloemersphotography

I agree, too many people here that like to play Bully! its mostly the reason I dont post much here anymore. I do read it everyday, BUT, you have to go through a lot of condescending remarks to get to the good information. its a shame really!

Mine was a sarcastic remark. When I mentioned this a couple weeks ago, I was told by Mr. Fuzzy that I was full of crap.

Thanks Osmosis, for proving my point

And to the OP, I generally don't look at Facebook for photography. I go to a lot of weddings with my side business (fully automated photo booth), and talk to a lot of wedding photographers. When I ask the photographer for his/her website, I'm constantly amazed when they tell me a Flickr or Facebook URL/username. It's usually a sign that they won't be in the industry much longer.

It doesn't take long or cost much to make an official website for your photography biz. Pick a domain name from godaddy, chose their Wordpress hosting, and buy a theme from Themeforest. You'll be up and running in a few hours.

For that reason, when a professional says "look at my facebook page" instead of giving me a web address, it tells me that they aren't really very serious because they haven't taken a few hours and $5/month to make a real website.

[Jim Bryant]

No comment!

[NathanFranke]

Originally Posted by Photoboothguy

Mine was a sarcastic remark. When I mentioned this a couple weeks ago, I was told by Mr. Fuzzy that I was full of crap.

Thanks Osmosis, for proving my point

And to the OP, I generally don't look at Facebook for photography. I go to a lot of weddings with my side business (fully automated photo booth), and talk to a lot of wedding photographers. When I ask the photographer for his/her website, I'm constantly amazed when they tell me a Flickr or Facebook URL/username. It's usually a sign that they won't be in the industry much longer.

It doesn't take long or cost much to make an official website for your photography biz. Pick a domain name from godaddy, chose their Wordpress hosting, and buy a theme from Themeforest. You'll be up and running in a few hours.

For that reason, when a professional says "look at my facebook page" instead of giving me a web address, it tells me that they aren't really very serious because they haven't taken a few hours and $5/month to make a real website.

^^This. Every single word.

Except for the photobooth--I don't do that. Yet. (And I may be moving to Seattle soon, so we won't be in competing markets.)

I've got Facebook and Twitter, which I use rarely. I've seen other photographers use facebook very successfully for branding/advertising, but they also have a dedicated blog with a personalized domain (e.g., myphotopage.com, not myphotopage.blogspot.com). Facebook is great for getting in peoples' faces and minds ("who is that photographer that my friend used last week--oh yeah, here are 5 posts about it. XYZ Photography"), but it's not great for actually hiring the photographer. I want a website I can navigate without all the FB clutter. I want to look at the images on a plain background, possibly with a slideshow option, and then I want a contact info page, with prices. Facebook doesn't do that.

As for everything else--

--professionalism is key. Spell out your words. "u" in the place of "you" is never appropriate. If you're old enough to be on the internet, you're old enough to write like an adult. Just because some people on the site are not as welcoming as others, there's no reason to give them legitimate cause.

Good luck with your photography.