Social media is everywhere, isn’t it??
Instagram, Facebook, YouTube, TikTok… where do you even start when it comes to promoting your photography business?!
Because as amazing as those apps are, they can also be overstimulating (and time-consuming).
The good news is, if you're INTENTIONAL about social media, you CAN use it to grow your business without letting it take over your life.
Like many of you, I grew up without social media.
So I've come into it kicking and screaming (which might surprise you!).
When my kids were growing up, I felt super protective and wanted to keep my family life very hidden.
Facebook was the main platform at that time, and I rarely posted.
But as a photographer, I realized creating content that promoted my business could be REALLY beneficial in helping me reach more right-fit clients.
So I learned how to showcase my products, advice, and tips online… without getting distracted and lost in “scroll-holes”.
I figured out how to share my photography business and NOT get stressed out – and I’m going to share all of my guidelines with you today!
1. Cheer, don’t jeer
Be a cheerleader on social media and lift others up!
That's really a core value for me. In our community, we lift as we climb.
When you are a small business owner, you can't rail on another local business on social media.
If you want drama, you can find it all over on social media.
But you only have so much time and emotional energy.
Why would you want to give it away to someone who potentially believes the opposite as you, while everybody's watching you?
I was raised to keep our opinions to ourselves because we can serve clients who have opposite beliefs as ours.
Everybody doesn't have to believe everything I believe in order for me to serve them, help them, and change their lives!
When you are a business owner and you want to attract clients to hire you, I personally think it pays to stay a little bit like Switzerland publicly on social media.
Switzerland just stays neutral out there.
I love people even if they have a different view from me.
In small groups, I don't have a problem talking about things that are important to me.
But when you do it publicly, you're really asking to alienate potential clients.
We live in the results of the decisions we make.
So if you've been stirring things up, participating in drama, or saying negative things online, it really puts a barrier up to you running your business.
2. Be intentional with how you use social media
When using social media to grow your photography business, only follow clients, potential business partners, potential clients, important things happening in your city, and business groups!
If it's REALLY important to you to share opinions with your friends and family, you can create a second profile and only allow the people who are super important in your life and maybe share your views to follow you.
The key thing is just to really make sure you're careful and you're being intentional with how you use your social media as a business owner.
3. Educate and tell stories
Now, you can definitely use social media to tell stories about your personal life!
As long as it fits into rule number one – where you're cheering, not jeering.
Stories can be a great tool because if you're only posting things that are salesy and asking people to buy, then you're not creating value or getting interest.
Your posts aren't going to be shown as much.
I have a lot of photographers asking what the algorithm is for certain platforms…
And I always say, think about it from a user perspective.
The owners of these platforms want value for their users.
So they want to reward people who are interesting and share things of value!
They determine that by how many people are following you and how many people are engaging with your content.
So you really want to be careful and not be salesy all the time.
You want to educate and share stories!
4. Set limits
Treat social media like a job, not an escape or excuse to go into a mind-numbing abyss.
If you spend 90% of the time on social media interacting with clients and Dream 100 people, set a timer and do those things.
Have a plan for what you're posting and when and how long it'll take.
Really set an intention for how you're planning to use social media for that little timeframe when you're hitting that icon on your phone.
If you use it as an escape, it's just going to suck away your valuable time.
That is your most precious commodity!
5. BONUS: Have guilt-free scrolling time, but set a limit
Look, I do it too…
Use your guilt-free time to just surf for a little bit!!
Social media can be fun!
But set a limit so you're not there at 2:00 AM still watching TikToks.
The better habit is to put the phone away two hours before bed and get something productive done in the morning before you open emails or social media.
I totally get how mind-numbing social media can be, and sometimes when you've had a bad day, you just need an escape.
When we have something hard on our to-do list, it's easier just to check out and watch Reels, but this is where setting intentions and creating excellent habits comes into play.
I want you to build a high-performance life, and that starts with a high-performance business in my mind.
Think about it.
A profitable business is the answer to what you've been missing in your life!
If you're overwhelmed and have no time, a profitable business gives you more time (because you should be working less if you're following the boutique model that we teach for portrait photographers).
And if you're always fighting about money, a profitable business will alleviate that.
So truly, you making the decision to make your business profitable is going to change your life, but only you can decide that you're tired of settling for the things in your life that you aren't happy with.
I want you to put your best self into the world for your clients, your kids, and yourself.
So when you make that choice, just know I am here for you!
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