Breaking News: Facebook pages disabled because of nude maternity photos!

Both my personal and business studio Facebook pages have been disabled after I posted several artistic nude maternity photos of model Cellista. I apologize in advanced for this inconvenience, but I hope it's only a temporary set-back, as I have contacted Facebook to re-enable the pages after I delete the images. With more than 1,000 friends and nearly 500 studio fans, my Facebook pages are of great importance to me and have been instrumental in my personal and professional life, as I often post about features articles I write for the Denver Post as well as promote my studio.

The photos in this blog post had been on both pages for nearly two days. I received numerous accolades for the beauty of these images, however Facebook sent me two warning emails earlier this evening letting me know two of the images had been deleted (although I don't know which ones were). But because I was shooting a wedding at the time, I could not delete the rest of the images before the account was disabled. Facebook's policy says it prohibits sexually explicit photos showcasing nudity. However, I do not see Cellista's images as explicit in nature, especially given the fact that I have bee able to successfully post numerous boudoir images that would be considered far more salacious than those showcasing a mother-to-be. But Facebook apparently has a no tolerance policy for nudity of any kind, and I would adhere to those rules from now on if my account is re-opened to public access.

Breaking News: Close to 400 Facebook Fans!!!

The studio is just 9 people away from 400 FACEBOOK FANS! Once I reach 400, I will do another drawing for a free photo session! Become a fan today to be eligible for the drawing!

Get Connected: Facebook targets advocates for your business

I have been doing a lot of research on how to utilize Facebook for growing my photography studio. Now, I have a first-hand experience about how amazing Facebook can be for creating advocates for your business. It's so simple, you just might smack yourself. When people on Facebook become Fans of your company, they also become its advocates. Think of gaining Facebook friends or business fans the same way you think of increasing your email subscriber base to help build your network.

I got a message from Jenn, a friend on Facebook, wondering how I knew her best friend Alexa? Turns out Alexa became a Fan of my studio Facebook page because her best friend Jenn did. Just by coincidence, Alexa actually won a free 8x10 digital download of one of my cityscape photos during a randomly generated drawing from among my Fans List.


Unbeknownst to Jenn, she became an advocate for my business. When she interacts with my Facebook Page, stories linking to my page go to her friends via the News Feed. As these fans interact on my Page, News Feed keeps driving word-of-mouth to a wider circle of friends. And I think this instance is a great example of the fact that new Fans are more likely to become a fan of a page if they see their friends have already signed up for it too. It's one of the reasons I have more than 200 fans since creating my page a few months ago. Your friends also become advocates because an ad will show up on their page saying for "Jenn is a Fan of Picture Your World Photography," for example, enticing their friends to join as well. Plus when someone becomes a fan of your page, your updates on the page show up on their wall giving additional exposure.

For more exposure, set up an advertising campaign for your page with Facebook Ads paying for clicks or impressions showcasing your page to targeted audiences on Facebook. So far I've successfully run several ad campaigns on Facebook, paying no more than a set amount per day for running my ad.

Facebook Fan winners choose their free 8x10 digital downloads!

Alexa and Ian have chosen their free 8x10 digital downloads! Those two lucky fans of the Picture Your World Photography Facebook Page were randomly selected to pick one favorite image from my Cityscapes, Landscapes and Flora and Fauna website galleries. Garnering 200 Facebook fans triggered the drawing. The next free giveaway will happen once I reach 300 fans!



Ian's pick of this cute little chick I found nesting in a bush in front of my house really took me back. This was one of the first images I ever took with my then brand new 75-300 Canon lens two years ago. Studying this photo again after all that time has helped me see just how far I've come. Back then, I wasn't even really sure how I got that image because I was still trying to figure out basic photo concepts including shallow depth of field, isolating a subject and framing, not to mention how the heck that lens worked anyway. Since then, I've not only grown technically as a photographer, but I've focused my business on what I do best -- shooting portraiture and special events. This little feathered guy hasn't seen much action among viewers. So it was fun to have Ian chose this one.



Meanwhile, Alexa's pick is one of my personal favs. This shot of the Platte River in downtown Denver was one of my first captures ever taken at night. I and several others were attending a free night shootout coordinated by Efrain Cruz's Illuminate Workshops. I remember the evening well because it was also one of the first times I had to force myself to use my tripod to steady long exposures. My friend Tiffany Trott and others were laughing at me because I didn't even know how to attach my camera to the tripod, and spent most of the night fearing the camera would fall off, crashing to the ground. Yep, fun times!

It's good to know I've progressed, and I'm proud to be sharing these images with two studio supporters. Become one of my Facebook fans today to be eligible for future giveaways, photography session discounts and fans-only specials.

Get Out There: Advertising on Facebook

Definitely read this great article on understanding the difference between marketing and advertising on Blogtrepreneur.com


It made perfect sense! One of friends told me that since she updated her status on Facebook as "engaged," she had been seeing a ton of advertising on her profile page pegged toward the bride-to-be, including ads posted from wedding photographers, event planners, destination wedding sites, flowers and catering and gowns and tuxedos. The same thing happened as soon as I wrote on my profile that I was now fostering dogs for a local shelter. Suddenly, I started receiving all of these ads about rescuing abused dogs. "You should create an ad too!," my friend told me.

She was right. For only a few dollars a day, I now have an ad that brands and promotes my services on one of the most popular social sites on the web. The ad is 100% branded by the advertiser with copy and image and does not include any social actions. It can link to a Facebook Page, application or external website. Plus an ad directed to a Facebook Page or application can generate social actions for future campaigns.


I loved this "explanation" when I found it on Pronet Advertising.

Facebook Ads display in the right side column on Facebook pages in the Ad Space. The key to having as many people as possible see your add is to use keywords. The better your keywords, the more effective your add in narrowing the audience who receives it based on interests that match my offer. Even if you aren't interested in advertising on Facebook yet, be sure to check out the "best practices" guide because the information provided is great for helping you begin ANY marketing campaign.

This has also been a great opportunity for me to try to specialize my branding, since Facebook advises that ads are more likely to perform better and continue running successfully if it's displayed to targeted, smaller, more specific group users. There are tons of ads already out there for general photography services. Wedding photography is definitely a more targeted ad campaign. So I decided to narrow it down even further with a pitch for my boudoir photography as a way to test the waters about potential interest.


Teri's Rose is now featured in my new ad campaign on Facebook.

I've extended my boudoir special started earlier this month to extend throughout the wedding season, which lasts through September 2009. My Facebook ad keywords target everything I could think of (until they wouldn't let me add anymore) including girls night out parties, wedding photography, brides and grooms and the ultimate gift. I think I mustered up about 30 keywords.

Since the ad was approved yesterday, I've had more than 100 extra visitors to my business website, starting at my boudoir galleries. That may not seem like a lot, but that's 100 more visitors than I might have had otherwise. All I need is one person to book a session, and my Facebook ad campaign has paid for itself 3X over.

Get the Job Done: Facebook fosters sales

Yesterday while on Facebook, I posted up all 10 of the links to galleries showcasing my edited photos from the National Black Skiers 2009 Summit in Snowmass/Aspen last month. Turns out the organization has a Facebook page regularly visited by 440 members!

Just a few hours after posting up the links on the page, I got my first print sales from the event! In this instance, Facebook was definitely a great free resource for marketing my services and generating sales. I am hoping they will be the first of many more in the coming weeks as more members view the photos.

SmugMug, which hosts my business site, allows their professional users to view their sales. While reviewing the order a client placed yesterday, I noticed that she accidently chopped off several heads in the photos when she tried to crop the images to a 5x7. Once I realized her mistake, I emailed her, explained the situation and then sent her the correctly cropped images in the size she wanted. Excellent customer service is a given at Picture Your World Photography!

Wanna check out the images? Here are the links:

http://tinyurl.com/nbs2009superbowl

http://tinyurl.com/nbs2009welcomeparty

http://tinyurl.com/nbs2009concert

http://tinyurl.com/nbs2009openingceremonies

http://tinyurl.com/nbs2009annualmeeting

http://tinyurl.com/nbs2009comedyshow

http://tinyurl.com/nbs2009presidentsdinner

http://tinyurl.com/nbs2009picniconthehill

http://tinyurl.com/nbs2009skiraces

http://tinyurl.com/nbs2009lectures

Growing Pains: Free Marketing For Your Photography Business

A great thread on the Digital Photography School forum tipped me off about a free marketing services we can use for our businesses.

In the thread, people talked about whether or not networking organizations such as Facebook or Myspace helped their online business presence. One poster mentioned creating a free ad with Google Maps Local Business Center; so I decided to give it a try.

It was incredibly easy to create a listing for my business. I love that it allows you to upload samples of images as well. Plus, I got to create coupons to run with my listing, which will be especially helpful in my efforts to secure new clients during the upcoming holiday season. Be sure to check it out!

As far as Facebook and Myspace goes...well, I prefer Facebook for social networking because I don't get spammed as bad as I did when I frequented Myspace. But I'm not sure yet how helpful this application will be for my business. I was able to create a group specifically for my business. Hopefully, I will be able to gain some "fans" and see if those contacts lead to some booked sessions.