Breaking News: And the winner of the free photo shoot is...

WE DID IT!!! Picture Your World Photography now has more than 400 Facebook Fans! I want to thank all those who have supported my creative journey from the onset and continue to do so today. In honor of this achievement, I promised that one fan would be awarded a free photo session with yours truly.

Using a Random Number Generator Service, would Fan No. 225 please stand up....

DONNA HARMON...come on down...you have won the drawing for a free hour long photo session! Congratulations Donna!

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!

Breaking News: Vote to win this month's free photo session!

One lucky studio fan can win this month's free two hour photo session! All it will take is one vote to be eligible! Cast a $1 vote for my entry in the North America's Cutest Family Photo Contest, email me your receipt after you vote at photos@pictureyourworld.net and get your name into the drawing for the free shoot.

It's that easy!

The more times you vote, the more chances you have to win the session. For example, if you donate $5 (or five votes), your name goes into the hat five times, making it five times more likely that I will pull you name and you will win!

You have until April 7 at midnight MST to cast your vote for The Ryan Family in the 2010 Sandy Puc International Charity Model Search benefitting Now I Lay Me Down to Sleep Foundation.



This family portrait contest entry has been accepted into the 2010 Sandy Puc International Charity Model Search for North America's Cutest Family!

But a free photo session isn't the only thing you could win! You could win a new car and I could win an amazing new camera!

Only the family with the most votes from each city will make it into the final round of voting for North America's Cutest Family!

Grand Prize winners in the contest will win:

First Place: A 2010 Hyundai Accent (metallic silver), 4 door sedan, automatic transmission, with air conditioning and valued at $15,460.00. A new Canon camera, a $50 gift certificate to J Crew and a limited edition numbered and signed photo art print from a renowned photographer.

Second Place: A new Canon camera and a limited edition numbered and signed photo art print from a renowned photographer

Third Place: A new Canon camera and a limited edition numbered and signed photo art print from a renowned photographer.

So vote now!

To vote go to the website, and click on the gallery link. The first page will show the top 3 families, click on the link at the bottom of the page to enter the gallery.

From here, you and those you know can search for The Ryan family in Denver. Once you click in the image, there is a blue button that says "Vote." Click here to vote!

Each vote is a dollar, and all proceeds benefit Now I Lay Me Down to Sleep. Remember, send me email confirming your voting receipt and you will be entered into this month's drawing for a free two hour photo session!

Breaking News: Facebook Fan wins a free 2 hour photo shoot

DRUMROLL PLEASE: Facebook Fan Franklin E. McDaniel is this month's winner of free two-hour photo session! Using a random number generator, I painstakingly counted through my fan list to figure out who the heck was No. 163. Congratulations Franklin and thank you for your support of Picture Your World Photography.

I will be holding a drawing every month for one lucky fan to win their own free session. So become a studio fan now for your chance to win. Keep the session for yourself or give it as a gift (retail value $150). Just pay for prints of any images you love!

Breaking News: 300 Facebook Fans!

Photo credit: www.blogtrepreneur.com

Just today, the Picture Your World Photography Facebook Fan Page experienced a major accomplishment: We now have more than 300 FANS!

In celebration of this feat, I will host a drawing in which one lucky fan will win a free two hour photo session! My studio wouldn't be where it is today were it not for the continued support of friends sharing the world about my business to their friends. More than 95 percent of my clientele have been referrals. And my business income has doubled since last year! Thank you to everyone who has and continues to support.

I've been considering offering this exclusive drawing once a month for a while, but I wanted to hit another advertising milestone before I did so. It's the least I can do to honor my fans.

Check back this weekend to see who wins! I will use a random number generator to choose one winner! If you haven't become a studio fan, do so TODAY for your chance to win a free photo session.

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.