Original subtitles

Awesome, so today's section will be focusing on

social media, but less about Perhaps my approach

because I want to hear more about what

you are going through and how you're applying

it to your business I will start with

a cursory outline of how I approach social

media for my business, but running a business

today is Fantastic, and it's wonderful because we

are the owners of our content We are

the captains of our ship We choose the

direction in which we want to go and

for so many years marketing took on one

shape And it was very formal This was

how you marketed you bought a radio ad

or a TV ad you bought a print

ad you Advertised in the penny saver I

mean these are the things that people pursued

then social media happened and it completely changed

the game it Leveraged the playing field in

ways that people have a very hard time

understanding now on that note Social media is

wonderful But it can also be very daunting

because there are so many different Ways to

use social media and so many different platforms

that what I see quite often amongst photographers

are Photographers doing every form of social media,

but doing them all a little bit Not

so great my opinion is that I see

common mistakes That are easy fixes that photographers

should stay away from for instance When a

photographer says oh, I don't use Twitter.

I have a Twitter account, but I don't

use it I just sync up my Facebook

with Twitter I think big mistake because Twitter

it why I went like this no idea

big mistake Later on if I make a

mistake.

I want you guys go like this Why

I think it's not so great is because

Twitter is limited to a hundred and forty

characters and Traditionally on Facebook our status updates

are a little bit more verbose So what

it what it parlays to on Twitter is

I had such a great Saturday went or

flew a kite hang out with the kids

dot dot dot Nobody ever clicks to the

Facebook link to read the rest of your

thought not when they're in Twitter And what

I see quite often happening as well as

people are Syncing from Instagram the photos to

go to their Facebook account and to go

to Twitter now syncing your Instagram to Facebook

is not So much a bad thing because

Facebook bought Instagram They make it very friendly

these days now when you are following somebody

on Twitter And they update with an Instagram

link fewer and fewer people are actually clicking

on the link How you so all of

this just begs me to say?

Respect the platform if you are using Twitter

use it in the way that it should

be used I in and it is so

much more powerful a photo update on Twitter

when it's actually Updated as a picture because

people can see the preview one of the

one of the greatest Uses of Instagram and

linking Twitter was when Instagram actually uploaded a

picture within Twitter it no longer happens that

way It's just the link so Respect the

platform dwell in that space and be okay

knowing what that space is now sometimes photographers

ask me Am I missing out if I'm

not on Facebook?

Am I missing out if I'm not using

Twitter?

Pinterest YouTube snapchat vine tumblr I mean There

are so many so they asked me am

I missing out and my quickest answer would

be yes, and no Yes, you are missing

out on potential marketing opportunities But no you

are not missing out if that is not

the target audience you want to reach So

take a step back and this goes back

to a previous a previous lesson that we

had discussed Who is your market who is

your client because once you know that you

know where those clients reside Now for me

the key is the key is to focus

on platforms that I feel make me stronger

that I feel Make me better Now for

example, I have selected three types of social

media platforms that I will heavily get into

First and foremost is Facebook Secondly is Instagram

thirdly is Twitter now a very very close

fourth but it's for different reasons is a

YouTube and periscope now what happens with YouTube

and periscope is that video has changed the

dynamic in which I'm able to interact However

video is that is a different is a

different Machine in its entirety it takes more

time to think about you have to use

it with Intention and you have to be

really smart about the things that you're saying

and how you're saying it So what we've

seen now is people and photographers using more

periscope and I love it But I think

that people if they're going to invest time

watching you it should be with intention So

when somebody follows me on periscope, I want

them to know The the voice in which

I possess and the voice in which I

possess is I'm going to share something with

you Because while I'm watching a great sunset

I don't think it's all that great and

Interesting to show you the great sunset that

I'm looking at because I could just take

a picture, right?

You don't need to see the sunset under

every single dropping along the horizon So when

somebody follows me in periscope, I have used

it at a wedding And I say this

is how I shoot reception details.

I've used it at a rehearsal dinner I

said, I'm at the rehearsal dinner.

Everybody's eating.

Nobody wants to have a photograph taken So

I'm going to show you some of the

details and how I'm shooting it I use

periscope as I shot the not dream wedding

as well Because I want people to be

part of that.

But furthermore I have used periscope just last

week I was in my student in not

my studio the studio It's a shared studio

space and I happen to be working there

on content for creative live and the studio

was empty And so I said, okay, I'm

going to periscope.

And so I had updated said if anybody

would like to see my studio space I'm

walking you through it It was with intention.

I could have just said at the studio.

Here I am Yeah, so I'm just talking

about stuff taking a sip of my coffee

That's not valuable to most people the value

showed what the experience looked like I could

have started it in the studio where I

meet my clients, but that would have only

mostly been interesting to Photographers if I backed

out of the studio and actually showed myself

walking into the studio up the stairs Where

I meet my clients the lounging area that

might also appeal to brides.

They might want to know My voice they

might want to know where do you work?

They might want to know the values of

spaces that I work in so for me

periscope with you strategically in two ways for

two different audiences photographers and brides When it

comes to choosing the right form of social

media for you, you want to leverage things

that work with intention Sometimes people ask why

I don't use Vine or why I'm not

really active on snapchat I Think for me

my client does not reside in the vine

Demographic the vine demographic is that 18 to

24 range and that's not my client However,

if you're just starting out and you have

a tendency or proclivity or desire to shoot

younger Brides and you're in that price range.

Maybe posting a short video divine might be

beneficial.

I don't know I know that my strength

isn't leveraged in a six-second video I'm

just not that witty or funny and I

just feel like it would be a waste

of time as a result So am I

missing out?

possibly but One thing that I want people

to always focus on when it comes to

social media Leverage what you're good at go

after it to use your target clientele and

respect the platform on that note Why I

think Facebook wins in regards to social media

is that it is powerful for photography Resources

and leverage the thing about it is that

the algorithm works in our favor if we

use it, right?

So my brides will share their photos on

Facebook Hopefully preferably by first sharing the link.

It's a very strategic the link to the

album within Facebook It's very strategic when I

release their images I don't want to release

all of their images and on the same

day Do a blog post and share an

album of my own images on Facebook because

they're not incentivized in sharing mine They want

to curate their day from the gallery that

they so chose so if I first tease

them with a gallery you usually an engagement

album on Facebook is eight to ten images

and An album of wedding photos about 20

to 25 after a wedding I want them

to share those because that is what I

feel is the best representation of my voice

and my work When they share it It's

great because then their bridesmaids will usually say

oh, what a fun day or oh, it

was so beautiful.

Yeah.

Yeah Yeah, that's great.

The more people that comment on their status

the more it ends up in other people's

feeds Naturally, this is how I get the

most word-of-mouth slash word-of-mouth

referrals Most often I am getting inquiries on

via Facebook not by people who were at

the wedding I'm getting like that third ring

removal Yes They're friends on Facebook, but they're

not close enough to be had to have

been invited and so just recently I booked

a wedding based on a referral From a

gentleman who went to school in the fourth

grade with the bride.

He wasn't invited to the wedding but when

he saw the photos he sent them to

his Fiancee and she said I really like

her.

Let's fly her up to the Bay Area

for our wedding.

We didn't meet same thing I recently was

booked by a client via email.

We didn't Skype.

We didn't meet We didn't call but she

felt confident sending me thousands of dollars based

on what?

She saw a friend of a friend tagged

on Facebook some from my photos Then she

visited my Facebook page because she wanted to

see who I was After she went to

the Facebook page.

I also included a link to my blog

within the album So she went to my

blog when she went to my blog she

looked around the blog Then she had noticed

that I had uploaded a YouTube video and

that YouTube video was how I work with

my clients on an engagement Session it was

intended for photographers, but she wanted to know

What my clients were doing what they look

like how I spoke she admitted this in

an email then she went to my Twitter

account to see my personality and It made

me think What were the first four tweets

that I had written when she had when

she had read it?

I asked you if somebody were to go

to your Twitter account right now What are

the first four tweets that they see are

they negative?

Are they funny?

Are they boring?

Are they self-promotional?

And if that's the pattern if three out

of four are one thing and that one

thing doesn't resonate with you I challenge you

to change the scope of your social media

because people are doing so much work now

She really got to know me because she

did all the work on the front end.

She sent me an email She admitted to

the path in which she found me.

She said I feel confident sent me a

retainer and that was it I Think that

is social media done, right?

Yes, it requires a lot of time a

lot of the questions a couple days ago

I posted on Facebook, and I said I'm

at creative live Do you want me if

you have any questions in regard to social

media?

Please ask me and we'll address them and

somebody had asked I have a list of

those questions But somebody had asked how do

you find time to blog and Facebook and

tweet?

My Question is I make time because I

don't have I don't want to spend the

money on traditional forms of marketing I'm given

the option we both need to grow our

business now There's the easy expensive way or

there's the harder more time-consuming way But

at the end if they both yield the

same result I'm going to choose this one

a thousand times over because it doesn't cost

me money It costs me time and I

enjoy it and I think I'm good at

it And I want to tell people how

easy it is when you just put your

heart into it because if you're just like

I just Want one app that I could

do one update and go everywhere.

It's like you're missing the point of social

media people follow different Avenues different mediums for

different reasons so make sure that you're respecting

their time as a result now So now

that we have a better sense of my

approach I'm gonna give you a global idea

about how I use social media and the

consistency in which I do So I use

Facebook and I update my status three or

four times a day.

I update Twitter three or four times a

day I update Instagram once a day and

I periscope once a week When it comes

to YouTube, it's a lot more strategic and

it because it's direct reflective of my brand

I wanted to make sure that it looks

right.

I YouTube once a month now video is

a lot more strategic It takes more time

for me to do it, but I think

the benefits are there But I don't do

it with as much frequency via YouTube because

of how much time it takes.

I want there to be a purpose On

that note.

I want to kind of just clarify a

few things when it comes to updates in

Our office like our office is like me

and JD at the house in our bedroom

and our space in our space We have

a vernacular that we use to ensure that

we're staying tethered to the thing that we

want to be tethered to So oftentimes people

say well why aren't people engaging on my

Facebook page and then they click over to

the Facebook page and it's being updated once

every four or five Days, and the only

updates are shot an engagement session in Ballard

I'm here an engagement session selfie.

Go check out the wedding day blog post

at a wedding day Click here to see

more photos.

It's like would you ever tune into a

radio station and be like buy our socks

buy our socks?

Buy our socks So blessed to be buying

our socks, of course not We wouldn't but

that's what social media is and get we

as business people like why isn't anybody interacting?

Well, why don't you put content on the

radio station?

People sometimes ask and this was another question

that somebody had asked and I want to

make sure that I'm bringing out their names

is Dwayne Stephanie Dwayne, how do you get

people to follow you on Instagram or Facebook?

People will like the post and people may

even comment, but they won't follow you.

That makes me Take a step back and

think if they're not following you You're probably

not putting out the content that's worth their

time.

And is that tough and does that mean

to say yes But it's also the truth

So can you take a step back and

think what does my feed say about me?

Then what do I want my feed to

say about me?

And then how what are the changes that

you need to get there on that note?

I want to open this Q&A this

forum to you You are my core You

will get the most time if you feel

like if I'm not getting questions from you

guys I have wonderful list of amazing questions

that people I printed out from Facebook.

So we're gonna start with the mic here

We'll take the mic back there and then

we'll pass the mic here.

Awesome.

Thanks so much you guys.

I appreciate this I've been following you for

like five years on Facebook and only so

we're like old friends.

I feel that way and You're very sharing

about certain things personal things about you and

I'm wondering if you use that same approach

on other platforms Yes, yes, so First let's

take a step back is that people will

say well that's good for you And I'm

not saying that you say this but I'm

just gonna address something that I think is

ancillary people say oh that's good for you

that you feel comfortable sharing personal things and

let me take a step back and say

the things that I share make up 0

.001 percent of my life so people Assume

that I'm a lot more comfortable with sharing

things But I use what I call the

man on the airplane rule What I share

on social media would be exactly what I

would share to somebody I just met on

the airplane and maybe some people are not

comfortable sharing that their mom is a cancer

survivor And I am comfortable with that Maybe

people aren't comfortable sharing an inspirational quote that

their dad had might have made in regards

to the relationship with God I am but

what is okay for me might not be

okay for you, and that's okay But to

shy away entirely from personalizing it is doing

yourself a disservice Because I bring up this

story often I probably brought up on creative

live like four years ago because it was

such a pivotal thing for me to see

one thing I was blogging and people would

say oh We're meeting you by way of

your blog and it's been great And thank

you so much, and I and I didn't

get it until because I just thought well

I'm just writing you know I'm just sharing

what it is that I do and then

late one night I stumbled across somebody's blog

and his blog post was really short And

he just took a picture of a bag

of Reese's Pieces And he just kind of

created like a limerick on like his love

for Reese's Pieces And it was silly and

it was trite and I like Reese's Pieces

I Liked him more Because he wrote something

small it was witty and he likes this

in candy that I like Did he share

anything personal about his life?

Outside of the fact of his candy preferences

No But it was personalized and that was

when I started seeing the profound effect by

putting things out online Having said that there

neat you need to draw a line in

the sand and you need to understand that

the more of yourself that You put out

there the higher percentage you will push somebody

away And I believe that I want to

do one of two things with social media

I want to attract a person or I

want to repel a person Ideally the people

I am repelling stop paying attention to me

that has not always been the case But

the people who I attract becomes ardent supporters

because they know pictures of my dog Ah,

they celebrate when my mom is healthy they

are happy when I Celebrate anniversary.

They wish my husband.

Happy birthday These are personal elements but they're

not so revealing and to create that personal

connection with people who express love on the

internet is this Fundamental shift in how we

interact as humans because we as entrepreneurs especially

solo entrepreneur entrepreneurs.

We're lonely or We work alone and some

of us are lonely those are two different

things but for the people who work alone

for the people who are lonely to reach

out across and take three Seconds and put

a little emoji and say thumbs up great

photo or hey, good job.

Happy anniversary Happy birthday that changes things and

it's a personal connection by way of marketing.

So don't shy away from it But also

be comfortable with it Did that work?

Okay, cool.

There was oh, yes.

We're gonna go back there question to you

and question three So wondering how Pinterest fits

in the marketing mix for you And if

you feel there's value in spending time working

within the platform or not so much.

Oh Goodness, I'm sure there's gonna be some

social media specialist.

He's like that girl is so wrong Okay,

so I started off by saying that I

choose platforms that Show strength in what I

do.

I am NOT good at pinning.

I Personally feel and here's I know that

I am the point zero zero five percent

of people who don't like to pin I

Just it's just not my thing.

I don't like to create boards.

I find that I find to me That's

a waste of time now people could say

Oh, well Twitter's the epic waste of time

and I'd be like you're right, but I

choose to waste my time there now part

of the reason why I'm not why I've

made a Cognizant decision is that when it

comes to Pinterest we as photographers are content

creators I would feel at a disadvantage if

I wanted to grow in marketing And I

wasn't doing it if I wasn't creating content,

but I know that my pictures are getting

pinned I see them I get I get

leads from Pinterest But I don't necessarily think

it would be a strength to say Here's

all the photos that I shot at this

one venue like that would take me so

much time to actually do that I wouldn't

enjoy it.

So I'd probably abdicate that and if I

abdicate an arm of social media, that's not

personalized I run the risk of it just

looking inauthentic and a waste of time and

money.

I know Pinterest works I know it's valuable.

But since my pictures are still in it

I feel like I'm an ancillary participant to

that form of social media without me leading

that particular ship personal decision Thank you.

That's a good question.

Thank you.

Hi.

I have two questions.

One's a simple one One's a long one

the simple question.

Do you use a Facebook persons page or

use a business page because I find there's

a lot of limitations on like adding friends

and tagging people when you're A business page.

Yes, and then the second question is unrelated,

but you're kind of an amazing writer I

don't know if you guys have read her

blog, but you have very beautiful words Do

you do you have a book or a

suggestion for people who like aren't as great

about writing to like learn how to write?

More eloquently like you do.

Oh Thank you.

And thank you first things first When I

got onto Facebook, I started with a personal

page and I would friend my friends and

then I would friends clients And then something

shifted in my career and I started going

out and meeting a lot more photographers and

they're like, oh, hey We met at this

event and I started accepting everybody's friend request

because I was like, oh I spoke at

that event I'm not sure if we met

in person But I'll just we'll just we'll

be friends for a connection in the industry

and I think if I could do it

over again I would not have done it

that way because there needed to be a

clear distinction of what it was, but it's

Done and over Facebook has a personal friends

limit that goes up to 5,000 people

I got there and I was like, why

can't I have any more friends?

And it was at that time that I

decided to create a Facebook business page Now

some people were like you should merge the

two and I thought about that until I

realized that I couldn't tag My clients from

my Facebook page unless I was friends with

him on my personal page So that's why

I still keep my personal page.

I don't update it with as much frequency

I really pour all my attention to the

business page because and this is where some

people disagree.

It's a personal decision I have decided to

use social media entirely for business purposes.

I Don't post pictures of me dancing on

a table in Cabo San Lucas, you know,

like that is not not that I do

I mean That's not what that page is

about.

My personal page is still business.

My business page is business but updated with

frequency So it's very strategic in regards to

what I do in regards to books that

I have found helpful Well first and foremost

reading anything is The best form of writing

education that you can do if you're reading

comic books the back of cereal boxes magazines

It doesn't matter as long as you're just

not on a mobile device Watching TV.

You're not feeding your brain and Lamont wrote

a wonderful book called bird by bird on

Writing by Stephen King is a wonderful a

wonderful gets more autobiographical in nature, but he

talks about what he does in his creative

process and another one called still writing by

Her name just left me but it if

you go to Instagram and you hashtag J

-star reads you will find the book still

writing and I think I think her name

is Ellis.

I'm not sure but She wrote an amazing

book about her writing process But I just

substituted writing with photography because she talks about

how sometimes you get so tired and you

get so burnt out But the act of

actually still doing it is the thing you

need to replenish It's not completely walking away

from it because you end up beating yourself

up about that and I was just like

yes Yes, so those three books would be

great starts, but then read anything read a

magazine.

Thank you.

Yeah, welcome Yes, I know you've touched a

lot on Getting input people coming to you.

Is there any strategy you apply towards?

Who you choose to follow and who you're

reaching out to as far as how it

works in your plans?

All right Because I felt like with social

media with Facebook that I wasn't as strategic

as I should have been and I just

let my personal Page just go everywhere.

And now when I go to my feed,

it's filled with people I don't even know

and so I just don't have like the

heart to be like unfriend unfriend unfriend, right?

You know, so I'm just like so Facebook

feeds are very limiting to me And so

when it came when it comes to other

forms of social media like Twitter or Instagram

it's really personal driven like I really just

follow like people like that are my friends

in real life and I know that that

could be you know Kind of like like

I'm trying to stiff arm other professionals in

the field and it's not that it's just

with this I want to protect I want

to protect Instagram because the people that I

want to see my feet or my friends

and I don't follow Like a lot of

other like I follow like Mindy Kaling Okay

Amen, because she is like an all-american

Indian girl who's a good writer and she's

self-deprecating but she feels good in her

own skin and her updates are just really

fun And light-hearted I thought I follow

like I've mostly I I follow like fashion

Like not fashion models I follow the girls

who would like just take selfies and like

their outfits because I don't know how to

dress and I and so I look at

that and like okay, that's what she did.

Okay, so I was actually educational purposes so

the the scope in which that works or

sometimes I follow one of my favorite feeds

is Marnie the dog If you guys don't

follow Marnie on Instagram, your life is not

complete.

I tried convincing JD and he's like, it's

a weird-looking dog It's a weird-looking

dog who walks funny and has her face

in a little tortilla and says I'm a

burrito Like it's really like for me those

forms of social media are just stuff That's

going to make me laugh and keep it

really light Because I think that if I

put in a lot of social media that

I'm following a lot of other photographers It's

easy to use it as a form of

measurement.

Like I'm at the beach or I'm walking

my dog I'm feeling good.

And then I'm like, oh well that person's

in Ireland shooting a wedding Oh, well, look

at how great her kid looks.

Look at those crafts that she makes her

kid You know, I follow some of these

other moms on Instagram and I'm not even

a mom and I feel intimidated I was

like, oh my gosh.

So for me when I follow my personal

stuff, it's really just a form of Entertainment

keeping it light and a really close-knit

of people There seems to be a lot

of conversation out there about watermarking or no

watermarking and I see that yours is lovely

and subtle But I think I noticed you

don't use it on Instagram Unless I didn't

see it.

It's kind of hard But then the other

question quickly is do you use a pre

-scheduling platform?

So there's options to pre-schedule those things.

There's two.

Watermark or no?

Uh-huh.

And do you pre-schedule all of these

things?

No, because you asked whether or not I

use a watermark on Instagram.

Okay There were three.

I defer to the pro Okay, so I'm

so sorry.

I'm slow.

What was the first one?

Watermark or no?

Thank you.

Watermark.

Okay watermarking Yes, I watermark All photos that

go online from me.

Now, I understand that my clients will put

out their images And that's okay, and I

understand that the creative team will put out

images without watermarking But I request on both

ends that I am mentioned as the source

and the originator.

I do not hold my clients responsible I

asked for it, but whether or not they

do it, that's fine.

They invested in me They are owners of

their images.

You rock that.

I hope you mentioned me If not, I'm

not gonna push it for vendors for creative

teams I request it and then I do

get irked if they do not mention but

so far mostly those Those people say image

by and that's very powerful.

So watermarking I Absolutely do the internet is

like the Wild West right now And so

I have seen a photo of my own

on BuzzFeed that where my name was cropped

out of it and I'm just kind of

like It's what it is.

It's what it is these days But I

want to do everything I can to kind

of protect to protect that and one thing

especially in Pinterest It's like repin repin repinned

and the original source changes all the time

if my name is on it We know

the originator of the original source In regards

to Instagram, I was kind of playing with

it I was kind of playing with whether

or not what I've noticed is that a

lot of times when people are sharing on

Instagram They will do like an Instagram reshare,

you know, and so then you're still listed

as it People can like screen like screen

grab and take it out I just felt

because of the square format of Instagram and

even when I tried putting borders on it

My name either just was completely obscured or

lost or it degraded the like looking at

the photo in the square format Aesthetically and

if you go back into my feed, you

will see that I was a watermarking and

then I was like, you know what?

I'm just gonna make the creative decision to

let this one go for the sake of

respecting the platform lastly Do you pre-schedule?

Oh, yes.

There you go there.

No, I don't I don't now There have

been times where I go on vacation and

the thing what I'm a constant worker I

actually think I derive joy from working.

It drives my husband bananas like you want

to see me happy Give me a pile

of stuff to file.

Okay?

When we go on vacation his only request

is we're off like you're off we're off

and in that time I will use Hootsuite

to update Twitter and I'm only really being

strategic about oh I blogged today via Twitter

now Facebook has a wonderful pre-scheduling program

that I used to use Hootsuite for Twitter

and Facebook but Facebook works for so much

better for the pre-scheduling now and When

I go on vacation, that is what I

use but other times like real-time like

updates No, I'm not gonna plan like such

a great day.

Like I don't know what if I always

think to myself What if I got into

a car crash and then an hour later

such a great day, you know, it's like

an authentic So, um, I know is that

weird am I totally dark I'm a dark

I'm dark on the inside No, I just

worry and I think about what that could

potentially turn into.

Okay.

Thank you so much.

Awesome We're gonna pass back there.

Yes, you kind of just touched on this,

but I wanted to clarify a little bit

Do you give any instruction or encouragement to

your brides on posting their images crediting you

or following you on social media?

I think it was like four questions.

I don't ask them I don't ask them

to follow me on social media, but they

are Most of them are following me on

here's the thing Twitter is not for brides

I am on Twitter for other wedding professionals

and venues venues seem to think that like

Twitter's like the jam And so I do

that to you know, elevate like if I

shoot a wedding, I'm usually tweeting at the

venue, but I'm not Using it to connect

with brides like I don't think that brides

are on Twitter the way that they Maybe

were for me My brides are on Facebook

and Instagram and they are following me on

those but I do not ask for it

when it comes to Asking for credit.

I include it in part of the post

wedding email I sell this template in the

store as well because it's a difficult kind

of like wording to navigate Like how do

you ask for photo credit, you know, but

if you want it you have to ask

for it So yes, I do but I

do not hold them accountable to it.

And there was another question Was there?

Okay, I'm just do you do you give

them any instruction, okay, yes So I love

the idea that you were talking about When

it comes to really repelling or attracting a

client and I feel like my personality is

like that like people either really Resonates with

them or not so much But as soon

as I go to write something I like

freak out and I think oh my gosh

I'm gonna offend somebody or it doesn't really

make sense It's not as funny.

And when you see it written, it's just

like it's there on Facebook forever So do

you have any advice for someone like me?

Maybe other people?

Yeah, okay, so okay, Oh Social media this

beast that it is Okay coming to creative

live Talking about social media always makes me

a little bit nervous Because it's been a

pretty rough two years in regards to the

social media land for those of you who

aren't Familiar with what happened Social media just

was not a really good place for me

as a result.

I have Unknowingly knowingly peeled back on very

personal aspects of my life.

The blog has become very informational and very

functional.

I Used to just write a lot more

about the things that I was doing Until

I realized that the things that I was

doing was being used in a way to

make me feel Really really awful about myself

and about the decisions that I had made

and so what happens as a result is

that I stopped being me online and I

felt it and I wasn't developing the type

of conversations that I used to have So

much so that a couple days ago.

I had a conversation with the JD and

I had said, you know The pattern has

changed four years ago five years ago when

people would meet me they would say You're

just how we expected or they would say

You're you're nicer than what we expected or

You're just as we expected.

That was the verb.

That's the thing that people would say and

now when people meet me they say you're

even nicer than what we had expected and

That little qualifier even was so revealing to

me because it didn't happen once and didn't

happen twice It was happening happening with frequency

made me think that them saying you're even

nicer was showing that I wasn't being who

I am Online and so you have this

vision and idea of me so that when

you meet me, you're like, oh, okay You're

not just functional blogger.

You're not just a functional instagramer.

You're doing you're showing yourself and who you

are So a couple weeks ago I just

started thinking that I did not want to

be vulnerable anymore Because of how bad I

was hurt my own decisions to get that

hurt.

I put myself in that position I make

no qualms about the mistakes.

I made the apologies that I had to

issue I ruined so much of who I

was as a person as a result But

I had no other choice, but to move

on my choices were quit Stop doing what

I do or move on.

I chose to move on and As a

result, I can't live in a half-life

anymore I have to go back and say

I'm going to be blogging about the dates

that I go on Blogging about the vacations

I go on be blogging about where my

mom's health is About a lot of stuff

and if you don't like it, I don't

care Because if you are thinking about what

other people are going to say about you

You're giving them the power to hurt you

if you say I don't care about what

you say about me You retain all the

power and I say if you don't like

what I'm doing If you don't like who

I am stop looking.

I don't come to you.

You come to me How about I refund

you the cost that it took for you

to read my blog, oh, that's right.

It was free You're gonna complain about that

Don't live in the shadow of their of

what other people are gonna think about you

You will be perpetually unhappy and I could

tell you for the past two years That

is what I've had to learn on my

own and it has been hard, but I'm

stronger as a result dang Okay, we'll go

to that question I think my biggest issue

with social media is that I feel like

it can be very redundant and I'm just

wondering for each Avenue.

Do you have like a little bit different?

Styles of personality that go into each like

are you just a little bit more clever

and witty on Twitter?

So it is a really hard because it's

like you think like oh I want to

be funny and then you're at like a

hundred and sixty one characters and then when

you peel back those 21 characters all of

a sudden it's like It's not and so

then there have been times where I'm just

like no.

No, I think I can make this So

the the pattern for us for the way

that I approach it is I do one

what I call a push update a push

update is when I'm Asking somebody to leave

the native arena that they're in out somewhere

else I do one push update a day

because if you're always asking people to leave

the native space they get tired of you

Right.

So on Facebook, I make one request a

day, which is usually I just blogged at

this engagement session go here Then the other

two or three posts that day might be

a photo so photos do really well in

regards to getting organic traction by the the

Facebook algorithm I update a photo I may

or may not include the metadata if I'm

attracting photographers or I might just say something

along the lines of give me good Light

beautiful space and if the bride wants to

dress outdoors, I'm using with intentionality I'm telling

people I want to shoot outdoor weddings I

like natural light and if you're a bride

and you want to dress outside I'm your

photographer and I'm doing that without really saying

that Another one might be a personal update.

So I try to measure I try to

do three or four updates on Facebook and

Twitter one push one photo to personal Yes,

do you hashtag do I hashtag not as

much as I should now hashtags now Let's

just be real hashtags are phenomenal on Instagram

terrible on Facebook and Mediocre on Twitter, you

know because it'd be I think that people

I love you dad But my dad just

hashtags for stuff that like it's a searchability

thing dad Nobody's looking for where to find

the best burrito, LA, you know, like dad

no So and now there's gonna be a

hashtag and he's gonna I know my dad's

gonna text me be like look at this

hashtag Four people used it because of me.

Okay, my dad is So anyway, so in

regards to hashtagging, it's a great way to

to to gain traction.

I personally It's an aesthetic thing It's like

when I go and I see like hashtag

mom hashtag Mother's Day hashtag flowers hashtag tulips

have said I am so now it's like

like But if that works for you, then

that's okay there have been times where I

will hashtag wedding wedding photo and I will

hashtag the venue because hashtagging venues are really

powerful in Instagram as well as using the

geotagged location whenever I'm I don't I'm kind

of leery about Geotagging in real time because

I don't know I don't really like for

people to know where I am in real

time But post or after or if I'm

at a wedding and I'm working.

Yeah, that's fine.

I can let people know I'm just really

my brother.

He's a artist And he started like his

Instagram just doing random stuff and in one

week he put a photo up in it

and hit the hashtag he used was like

worldporn and He got a thousand followers within

one week just from that hashtag That was

unbelievable to me No, I wonder I wonder

like of all the posts that were in

like the hashtag wood porn They probably because

it was so so so finite They probably

were like Oh new post right So I

think that that works I think that that

hashtag could work the hashtags that are very

very very difficult the more obscure the hashtag

in Instagram It could be powerful if there's

a bunch of woodworkers who are looking for

something But when you put like wedding or

wedding photo, it's like you're buried in like

two minutes So it's it's kind of like

yes, they're effective But they're more effective in

that middle ground like stay away from those

hashtags that my dad uses But try to

stay away from those like really, you know,

really really really saturated ones finding something in

the middle I mean, I'm think I'm just

probably gonna use that story for the rest

of my life.

It's pretty darn amazing But yeah, it's kind

of like finding finding your rhythm the more

you do it But I mean stay away

from like the 50 like I see hashtags.

It's like paint neon 80s teenager wedding inspiration

and I'm like So, um, yeah, that's that's

my answer regards to hashtag there was it

yes Um, I work as part of a

business with me and my husband So if

I'm trying to find the voice that we

write on social media, I'm the one who

updates Almost all the time on social media

Do I what kind of voice do I

use like we or I and what's more

authentic and if I want to do some?

Personalized posts like what you do business name.

It's love to media.

That's okay I think that if you take

well and who's like kind of like the

lead who does like client meetings?

I'm mostly 90% It's kind of the

same relationship like I think you should just

own it and Every so often if you

do like a personal update you can say

we or use like your your partner's name

like that's fantastic But as far as everything

else don't hesitate to be like this is

your voice and even though it's you're not

your name Specifically that you become the voice

of that brand.

I think it's fantastic second question In terms

of like if you're on a at a

wedding and you're updating something on Instagram or

Twitter Do you do any post processing on

that photo that you take that day?

No, but I hashtag iPhone because people will

be like this is so terrible.

Look at her lighting and I'm like you

guys It's an iPhone so I will use

the hashtag iPhone just to let people know

so that it doesn't turn into something that

it's not supposed to but No, I'll just

I use like either Afterlight or VSCO to

treat iPhone photos and then I'll update without

without that pressure and when I do the

updates I want to clarify when I do

the updates guests are usually seated at dinner

and I step out so that I'm not

in the Corner, you know updating my status.

Although JD thinks to find it very funny

I turn my back and I'm outside in

the corner.

He'll be oh, excuse me Can I was

gonna my oh god and it's always him

and I always fall for it and I'm

just like that's so annoying I'm trying to

be professional here.

There is another question right here, and then

we'll go back So there's been a new

word in the industry called momtographer and I

don't mean to offend anybody but it boils

my blood I'm a full-time photographer.

This is my whole job.

And yes, I have children So I want

to be personal and share pictures of my

kids online But at the same time, I

don't want to be confused with you know,

a person who you know It's just doing

this as a hobby.

So do you have any suggestions on that

whole?

You know like I find a lot of

male photographers like throw that out like oh,

well, she's a momtographer Do you have any

suggestions about yes.

I'm a full-time photographer.

This is what I do This is my

profession and battling those waters I'm gonna be

very careful as I tread these waters because

I am NOT a mom So the thing

that I say could be purely speculative because

when the time comes for us, you know

To have a family.

I might totally flip the script and be

like every day ten photos.

I Have thought about it very strategically As

I think that I would treat our child

Very similar to how I incorporate and they

are not the same Okay, I know this

a child is nothing like a dog nothing,

but my approach Would be the same.

I am a photographer and because I use

social media as a business thing.

I Probably blog once every two weeks about

my child an update on social media once

every two weeks I if I felt so

inclined to share how great-looking my kid

was I would have a separate private Instagram

Not related to my business because you do

run the risk of putting out and another

thing is that if you have clients and

they're waiting for their images and you're like

with Parker at the park today and They're

like, well must be nice.

I'm still waiting for my photos I don't

want that pressure.

I really really don't so social media keeps

you very accountable in the best and worst

ways We'll go back to Christy so I'm

another one who's followed you for years and

As far as your blog goes you're regular

and active and always blogging and I know

in one of Sue Bryce's previous courses she

talked about sort of a formula of Old

new Borrowed blue as you know a formula

of posts to do whether on Facebook or

on your blog So do you have maybe

a formula that you follow like that and

maybe one for blog posts or?

kind of like you talked about on Twitter,

you know you do personal, you know to

personal and a Push post or things like

that So you're asking if I have like

a formula in regards to blogging I Know

I think it would make it so much

easier but I will say that I at

least take time the previous Friday to think

about what I'm blogging for the next week

because there's Nothing more daunting to be sitting

and be like I need a blog.

What am I gonna blog?

I need a blog what my blog about

give yourself the time and space so on

Friday like midday around to Kind of take

a sit back and I think okay.

What am I going to be blogging about

next week?

I plan out the blogs I preset the

things that I would need for those blogs

so that the following week when the blogs

go live at least I have a Direction

of where I'm going, but as far as

like an equation no because I'm blogging you

know Well the trajectory of the blog into

this year will be one to two personal

posts one business related post to photographers when

I say business it's photographers to photographers and

then Shoot like a recent shoot that I've

been on or a feature or something of

that capacity So I need to make sure

that I want I am a lifestyle photographer

So I want to showcase lifestyle of who

I am think in two different ways And

we haven't announced it publicly yet, but we

bought a new home, and we're very excited

And I've decided to say I am okay.

I'm going to own my space there will

be people very upset the fact that we

Bought a home in Newport Beach.

They will I will get heat for it,

and you know what I'm going to say

it's okay because we have worked long in

hard and We are going to fix up

the house, and we're going to build a

bedroom.

I'm going to talk about that I'm going

to redo our kitchen, and I'm not going

to apologize for it.

Why it's a lifestyle That is what I'm

selling so that is going to be the

trajectory of what that kind of fifth post

will be that week We'll see we have

a mic.

Oh Tara.

I Wanted to talk about some tactics for

Instagram, and so I know that recently you

did a giveaway where you linked with other

people Yes, I want to know like how

successful was that for you, and then also

have you seen any other or?

You know enacted.

I guess any other tactics For Instagram, but

particularly with that giveaway like did you get

any inquiries from that or how many new

followers?

Did you get great?

How did you start that that's great so

for those of you who are not familiar?

I teamed up with 11 other female online

Entrepreneurs we all came from different walks of

life which for me was the most valuable

component because it is tempting to have an

Instagram connection with other photographers, but I wouldn't

be dipping into new markets and so for

me.

It was a market It was a strategic

marketing decision so we had launched the Giveaway

as 12 of us are giving away a

thousand dollars to one lucky winner to Nordstrom

Now all of us had different size audiences

but close enough close enough so that it

was going to be mutually beneficial and I

ended up picking and this is my worry

the worry was that people would follow and

then Unfollow and we wanted to see what

those retention rates were so if I'm spending

money So I viewed that as a marketing

expense.

It was itemized as marketing strictly fully so

I We bought into it, and we all

know and another thing these aren't strangers We

have I have met the majority of the

girls in which I had participated in real

life at a different point in time And

they're all amazing so there's fashion bloggers home

decor artists watercolors, okay water colorist a painter

what okay and So we all got in

and we joined The pickup for me initially

was around 13,000 followers The retention for

me ended up being closer to 9.5,

and so I started tracking But I will

say that the retention rate for other instagramers

was not as high as mine No other

people had higher than mine, so I'm not

saying like my posts are so amazing No,

there are other people who are a lot

more successful at it So you run that

risk is that if you're not following up

with the type of content that the that

those people are following to you It might

not be worth it so when I divided

out the money that it cost for me

to Participate and then the amount of people

that I got as a result it ended

up being amazing But then because I was

tracking it I had to bring it back

down and it settled about After a month

after a month if they were staying with

me for a month at that time And

I'm posting every day chances are they're gonna

stay with me for a while So that

was the number that I took and then

I divided it out per person for every

new follower I gained they cost me this

much money, which is fantastic so you get

I'm totally being geeky right I see it

in your face I don't care.

I love it.

I'm like numbers numbers numbers, but it was

so successful that I'm doing I'm doing the

Instagram share again now By and large about

80% of us are the same So

do I think I'm gonna have a pickup

as many as 13 or 14 again?

No because the crossover is there so this

investment I know is not gonna pay off

as much as the first one, but I'm

doing it because I still like this girls

I still think that overall we're driven towards

something bigger And I love being connected in

the creative community for so long people would

be like Jasmine star isn't an artist Oh,

she's not doing art She's doing fluff blah

blah blah blah and it used to make

me cower and cower and cower and now

I feel like it's a shell I've been

doing this 10 years, and I've been living

in like this shell of being like you

know what you're right I maybe I'm not

an artist.

I'm not an artistic photographer, and now I'm

just like I Don't care.

I am a creative I Am a creative

when it comes to a photographer.

I'm a creative social media user.

I'm a creative business person I own that

and now I can rest in the fact

that I'm good at that and I want

to hang out with other Creatives other people

who are doing and seeing things differently make

me stronger So I will participate in that

event because I think that we're stronger together

than we are apart So it was valuable

reach out to other people you have nothing

to lose We're gonna pass the mic back

there So with having social media and all

that you run the risk of people saying

negative things and negative comments on there Which

I know you've dealt with Do you leave

those comments up on your Facebook or do

you delete them and you send them a

message like how do you?

Professionally handle like if another photographer gets on

there and says something really disgusting about your

picture Because he is always like that he's

the buffer okay, because I am very emotional

Like you don't come into my house pee

on the carpet and then walk out.

Are you kidding me?

You're gonna come to my Facebook page, and

you're gonna talk trash about me.

Were you raised in a barn?

Like this is a social trail people see

you doing that like you are making the

worst business decisions You don't like me put

it on your own page, and when you

do link to me Because people are gonna

make up their own mind about what they

think look at me.

I'm getting Puerto Rican.

Oh, I need bring it down Okay, the

answer is do I delete yes, and yes,

and I just don't delete I delete and

ban So I delete and ban because Facebook

is my Cuba and I am Castro.

I get to make the rules That is

what it is when people talk trash to

me on Twitter I block you you're in

a black hole.

I Don't want I'm not gonna deal with

that negative for years I have dealt with

that negativity and finally I have developed a

spine to say you don't own me And

I owe nothing to you.

I have made mistakes I stand by the

apologies, and I must move forward, but you

talking about my clients on my page Big

mistake Yes So what if I've had the

situation happen where I posted like a sneak

peek for a bride And then the mom

from like another wedding that I had just

shot like the night before gets on there

And I was all where the heck are

my photos blah blah blah and goes off.

How would you handle that type of negative?

Just you hide it so that her her

feed can see it But your people on

your so you wouldn't delete it cuz then

she's gonna be like she's so rude You

just hide it, and you run the risk

of being like okay her friends and her

network will potentially see it But then I

have to caution you if you're going to

be doing sneak peeks you have to create

a level playing field and especially in a

very public sector if you posted a sneak

peek from one wedding and Did not post

a sneak peek from another you run that

risk of somebody calling you out publicly and

you have to sit in that Yeah, great

move it here.

I Have a couple questions here because we're

coming up to the end Why don't you

pick your most favorite best questions that we

can make sure that?

so my Biggest question would be um right

now.

I'm having a really hard time with engaging

my followers I know I don't maybe post

the best content and I understand that but

when I do get followers because I posted

something good and Valuable I feel like I

should be utilizing that and run with it

and keep it going because that's how Facebook

works now with the algorithm my trouble is

Some of those viewers might be following because

of a certain bride and because of her

wedding and because they're her friends how do

I tap into that network and truly utilize

it and Another thing I was thinking was

Would you think that trendy things are a

great way to utilize that because it's in

the now it's hit and other People who

maybe have nothing to do with that wedding

can still relate because you brought in a

trendy vibe Something like let's say the dress

was huge and in photography It's big because

we understand white balance We understand lighting and

that can all affect that kind of thing

and maybe if I could incorporate that trend

in with that Powerful wedding photo I can

still bring in other followers or something.

Do you know my question?

Okay, so let me let me let me

try to answer it the best I can

because there's two very separate things Let me

see if we can bring them together.

Mm-hmm Um We have to understand that

social media is not like this Thing it's

not nebulous.

There are actually people so when you see

something you get a follower like it's as

if somebody had walked into Your home, right?

So if your thought of me walking into

your home is oh, she's here in my

house.

What can I do?

Do you want to water the grass?

Do you want to go for a swim?

Let's go for a ride You want to

get in my car like when somebody were

to come into your house?

The first thing is you want to do

as a stranger is create trust How do

we create trust by way of conversation by

way of vulnerability?

You don't want to immediately say you come

into my house.

How can I leverage you people feel that

and they walk away?

So when I talk about creating trust, it's

revealing Behind-the-scenes photos of us here.

It is taking a picture of the food

that you're eating at dinner It's talking about

something embarrassing that might have happened on on

your way here elsewhere Letting people know and

having conversations without any expectation is the way

that you keep people So I understand that

I get bridesmaids friends to like my post

or to like my page and to follow

my Instagram But they will stop following if

all I am posting are just pictures of

brides brides brides brides Because they aren't planning

there.

Most of them aren't planning their wedding at

the time.

So it's not applicable I think that a

lot of the people that retain they want

they like the idea of Lifestyle they like

the idea that JD and I were in

Amsterdam a few weeks ago And I took

people viewers along with me for what that

adventure look like I posted a picture of

my dog when he gets a haircut and

he's wearing a little red bandana Most people

might think it's crazy.

They might not like it.

That's okay.

I am NOT doing it photographers.

I'm doing it for potential clients the second

part of your question was the dress the

dress I Will participate in big conversations like

the dress or the llama escape Because I

do think that it is very valuable to

stay current But it's a one-time thing

for me Like I don't I know I

don't be like try to like revisit like

hashtag the dress when I change the white

balance as I'm shooting A wedding dress is

this blue or you know, is this black

and gold?

You know what?

I'm saying?

Like what I don't I don't participate in

that in that way.

Okay, cool Any other questions?

We'll kind of wrap this up.

We're gonna leave it here.

That's great I'm just curious like I know

that you were part of like I think

was called Opie like back in the day

the forum It's not up and running anymore

so then there's other things like Facebook like

shoot and share and stuff like that so

how much like do you think it's beneficial

to engage in those and if so, like

like how much time and and I mean

I always end up feeling like sometimes I

see people in there and they're they're constantly

commenting and then it's like I don't want

to The Thought of like looking like desperate

like I'm like, oh I need clients or

anything like that So I was just wondering

like how much time it seems like good

to like spend on those things and is

it actually?

Valuable yeah for my time when I could

be doing other things with my time.

That's the that's the golden question I mean

that really is a balance So OSP was

an online a free online forum.

And so this is pre Facebook groups I

think Facebook groups are so Incredibly valuable.

I don't know if I find the value

in paying to be a part of a

Facebook group But that is an entirely personal

decision I believe that the newer you are

the more you can gain by being a

part of a group paid or unpaid But

you have to be very careful because it

all social media also masks productivity You think

I'm working I'm really learning I'm really learning

in this group and you know half the

posts are education a third of the posts

are educational a third of the posts are

complaining and you have we all like the

drama we do Like oh, she just got

the worst client Sometimes people post text messages

from an unhappy client or they will post

things like an email Can you believe this

shot list and I'm like you guys this

is it might be a private group But

there's a thing called screen grab it gets

around do not talk trash about clients on

line furthermore Spending as much time as you

do.

You must go in with intention.

So I use social media.

I know it sounds ridiculous It does I

use social media as an emaciated carrot.

You keep it in front of me on

my workday I can't I do not allow

myself to get on social media until I

have finished X Y & Z and then

I say I can surf and be guiltless

surfing for 10 to 15 minutes I close

it I get back in what I'm doing

and then I have to just turn it

off I do not have I don't have

push updates to my phone on any source

of social media.

I have no notifications I keep my Twitter

off like I have tweet deck which is

just like you don't have to be on

Twitter So I keep that closed It is

work and I think that the temptation of

those groups is to think that you're offering

help to other people and you think that

You're learning but in all actuality you're taking

a lot of time.

So indulge but have very strict parameters in

that regard Awesome.

Thank you guys.

So that's going to conclude our social media

Q&A.

You guys asked some really good ones You

guys see me get a little teary-eyed

there.

I was like keep it together.

No, not here Thank you guys so much.

Thank you guys for being open Thank you

guys for allowing me to be open and

I look forward to see how you guys

change the trajectory of your guys social Media.

Thank you