Facebook and My Space

[Tarocchi]

I also vote for Facebook. Create a group and invite all your friends to join it. Their friends may also join and so on. I know of one couple who run a shop, who have had a lot of business through their Facebook group.

[SteveSalt]

I've been on Facebook about 6 months (actively), and got two shoots that way. I have it linked to my real website (www.stevesalt.us) in my left column under my photo, and in my profile. I also have Flickr plug-ins that show up in the newsfeeds for all my friends ("steve just uploaded x photos to flickr" and it shows the thumbnails). Both shoots were friends that probably said to themselves, "Oh yeah, Steve does that photo thing." And both were in the last month. It's basically a means of word-of-mouth, you're going to get Friends, and Friends of friends. So be prepared to deal with friends ($), and set a precedent for price and maybe a tell-your-friends-deal (10% off next shoot or something).

But the the real thing to remember is to diversify yourself. if you're thinking just Facebook/MySpace is the answer, it's not. It's just one cog in the clock.

[starrylaurie]

Originally Posted by candleman

i havn't had it yet. but i'm waiting for the day i get a message from a friend of a friend saying... "i see you're a photographer.. i need this.."

I've had that happen on facebook already. I have a lot of friends that are actors, so perhaps that gives me an advantage that way. Actors always need current headshots!

Anyway - I've been on both for years now, and of the 2, I'd definitely say facebook is the more mature. Myspace started out great, but I hardly ever get on it anymore, because it is exactly what was said above --- full of kids, geared toward kids, just kids, kids, kids. And kids usually don't have the money to book a shoot. Facebook, on the other hand, is where I've managed to reconnect with people I'd not seen or heard from in well over 15 years. A more mature networking site = more mature pocketbooks, too! lol

Just my 2 cents...

[thenimirra]

Originally Posted by Liz Caldwell

LoL, I think I'm suddenly going to get a lot more competition!

http://www.google.com/local/add?hl=en&gl=us

thanks for sharing infor about this Liz!

[candleman]

Originally Posted by starrylaurie

Facebook, on the other hand, is where I've managed to reconnect with people I'd not seen or heard from in well over 15 years. A more mature networking site = more mature pocketbooks, too! lol
...

100% agree.. facebook generally is 17 and up from what i've seen.
i havn't bothered with Myspace and beebo.. or the others out there for those exact reasons..