Today's guest post is by Craig Robinson. He works as Editor for a Facebook Ad manager tool called Qwaya. Besides writing about topcis like this one, Craig covers other trends within Social Media for Qwaya and he has studied Social Context and Media-Communication Science.

Facebook is a great marketing channel for small businesses. If you put some effort into creating and tweaking your campaigns, you may outperform bigger competitors who won’t spend as much time on a single niche. But it takes a lot of testing and result analysis to succeed. You can’t just put up an ad and wait for it to convert.

Before we go any further, let’s quickly look at the advertising options available on Facebook.

Social or Antisocial Ads

You could say that Facebook ads range from classic, banner-like online ads to social recommendations.

The first category consists of the ads you see to the right of your news feed. When you click them you’re usually directed to a company’s webpage where you’re supposed to sign up or make a purchase.

Remember, though, that you can still be quite creative when you make these ads even though there are rather strict rules regarding text length and image size etc. Here’s a short list with great tips on how to change things up.

Just keep in mind that you need to have material in the ad that is followed up when the person clicks through to wherever the ad is pointing. Forget “smiling ladies” and generic “persons standing around having fun together.” Use pictures and texts that really represent what you are about instead.

On the other hand of the spectrum we have sponsored stories, which is a mix between an ad and a recommendation from a friend to a friend. This could be that someone comments on your fan page and the comment is converted into an ad shown to his friends. It could also be a check-in at your studio, an RSVP to an exhibition or that someone likes or tags an image you’ve posted.

Basically anything can be turned into an ad/recommendation, and for people working in creative industries, social Facebook ads are often the best option. You highlight when someone does something on your fan page and this action is then spread to this person’s friends. People see that you are “liked”.

Facebook Ads Optimization

Facebook is packed with people. Everybody is there. So your problem as an advertiser is not how to reach out to as many as possible but rather how to reach out to the right people – people who will like you, visit your website or fan page, and in the end become a customer.

Because of this you have to use demographic features when you’re creating your ads, such as age, interests, geographic locations etc.

My biggest advice for aspiring Facebook advertisers is to test everything – different type of ads and different targeting. This is the only way to really find out what which your best target groups are and what kind of ads they respond to.

One such group could be women in Seattle who like photography and are between ages 25-35. If you approach them with both traditional Facebook marketplace ads as well as sponsored stories you’ll soon find out what ad type matches your business goals and then you carry on using the best-performing ads.

You can of course organize the ads yourself through Facebook, but it’s a bit of a hassle. You will have to keep track on your own which ads are running, when they are running, how much impressions they get and so on. After a while this can cause some problems as you are probably spending money on stuff you don’t want.

When you’ve started to run several campaigns simultaneously you might benefit from using a tool to help you keep track of where you are in the advertising process, and perhaps even more important, which ads that actually made profit or met your business goal in terms of number of likes etc.

The only tool on the market today that provides a full self-serviced solution is Qwaya. The tool is completely browser based so that you can access it anywhere. Qwaya has direct access to Facebook’s API which means that it’s always updated with the latest segmentation features and demographic options.

Most Important Thing When Making Ads

When realizing that Facebook is full of people with different interests and demographics it’s easier to create ads with them in mind. One key thing to remember is to always A/B test ads for the same demographic group and follow up on the result.

Don’t just run ads and hope for the best. You might improve the results if you tweak them a bit. Use the statistics that you get from Facebook, perhaps Google Analytics or some other tracking source. In doing so you will be able to quickly move your advertising budget to ads that perform well and cancel ads that just cost you money.

Again, the key is to start advertising to different people in different ways and then let the results dictate the future.

These are just some short tips on Ads for Facebook. If you are interested in learning more you can check out this page for more Facebook marketing strategy tips.

Would you like to win a month-long access to Qwaya's Premium Plan (valued at $149)?

Here is what you need to do to win:

1) Comment below, telling us how you would use your Qwaya account
2) “LIKE” Tiffinbox on Facebook – https://www.facebook.com/tiffinboxmedia
3) Tweet “I just LIKED #Tiffinbox on Facebook – http://seshu.me/JSOBYk – for a chance to win a month of Qwaya for my photography business. Please RT!”

I'll randomly pick one person who has commented below, LIKED Tiffinbox on Facebook and posted the Tweet as it appears above. Winner will be notified via Facebook on June 15th.

Today's guest post is by Shuva Rahim of Accent Photographics. Shuva specializes in photographing couples and families in Eastern Iowa, splitting her time between Iowa City and Davenport. You can read her blog, friend her on Facebook or follow Shuva on Twitter.

Put yourself in a prospective client's mind. This person loves your photography and wants to know more. What impression do you present of yourself?

Good client communication is not about taking great photos, but about trust and follow-through. Even after the job is done your client should leave without lingering questions. So here are 9 tips – things I do and recommend – to help enhance your client relationships.

1. Introduction.

On first contact ask what this person wants photographed, the time frame in which he or she wants the session done by and then clearly explain your process. Even if the info is on your website, don't assume it's been looked at by the individual.

2. First Date.

Get to know your prospective client in person with a pre-session consultation. Pre-session meetings can help decide if you and the individual are the right fit for each other, further establishing the kind of client you want. If there is a good fit, the pre-session ideally should be used as a scheduling meeting and to talk specifics about the session. Best case is to meet with all the parties who will be photographed.

3. Ask Questions.

Keep the conversation focused on them, not you. Get to know who they are, the relationship among everyone who will be photographed and what makes them tick. Then talk about you.

4. Social Media.

It's easy for photographers to promote our work on Facebook, Twitter and blogs. So much so that we can take it for granted. Not everyone is equally active online. If you use Facebook to promote your business, make sure ahead of time that posting photos and tagging them is OK with your clients.

5. Expectations.

Give general information in advance on how long the session will likely take, how soon photos can be ready to view and when an order is expected to be completed. Repeat this information before and after a session. Be realistic, but always under-promise and over-deliver.

6. Highlights.

After the pre-consult, send a letter or email highlighting the main points of your client meeting. That way everyone is on the same page with expectations.

7. Show Thanks.

Send a thank-you note after a session. I use SendOutCards, which allows you to electronically deliver a card that the client will receive in the mail. Sending a card immediately after a session shows how much you appreciated photographing that client and CARE about them.

8. Extras.

Include one or a few additional prints, candy, a gift card or whatever you deem appropriate as something a little extra in the order as a token of appreciation.

9. Become friends.

If a client enjoyed their experience with you, he or she is likely to want to develop a relationship beyond that of a client and service provider. Whether that means being Facebook friends or getting together for coffee once a month will depend on the person. Regardless, if you have a good vibe with a client be real with that individual, and be willing to show who you are as a person.

What other tips would you add to this list? Let us know below in the comments section.

Andrew “Fundy” Funderburg, is no stranger to Tiffinbox. Read his previous contribution about his album designing program for wedding and portrait photographers. In full disclosure I have to tell you that he and I are collaborating on SociRoll, the social media marketing tool he discusses briefly in this guest blog post.

I’d like to start off by saying that I am at the top of the list of haters of social media tools being used to spam people. Do not use social media to spam your followers.

So, the question is, why would I invent a program for automating Social Media marketing. The answer is simply that I have more things to share with my friends and followers than I have time in the day to share.

Social Media is all about making connections with people. For me it is about making deep connections. I’m not the type of person always tweeting and posting a ton of personal information. Sure, I’ll hop on Facebook and Twitter during the weekend and talk about the movie I’m going to see or whether my kids won their basketball games. But, during the week, I post a few personal things–mostly information about photography and the business of photography.

We strive to collect and provide some of the best content in the wedding and portrait industry. Content that we create and share today is still valuable in one or two months. If we manually update everything on Facebook and Twitter, all of this old content is lost. We constantly have new followers and friends and these new people will be just as interested in our old content as our new content.

Since August of 2010, we’ve written 150+ blog posts. More than 100 of these blog posts are related to the business of wedding and portrait photography. There are articles on everything from how to price wedding albums to how to sell portrait packages and everything in between. I want to make sure that our followers see this info.

It would be physically impossible for me to make sure that each one of these blog posts is featured in a tweet once a day. I would lose track of what I shared yesterday, probably miss some things, duplicate some things, etc. The point here is that if I have SociRoll auto post one of my blog posts every day, or even twice a day, we won’t repeat sharing a blog post for 3 months. And then we take into account the fact that if something doesn’t show up in your Twitter in the last five minutes, we won’t see it. The chances of someone seeing repeated Tweets is very low.

Now, let’s take a professional photographer. Let’s say the average wedding photographer shoots 30 weddings and 40 portraits a year. That’s 70 blog posts a year. Then let’s say they have been in business for 3 years. That’s more than 200 blog posts. Sharing one of these (or even two of these) events on their Facebook fanpage every day will seriously add to their brand and their site traffic.

So, do we set it and forget it? No. We let SociRoll do the heavy lifting for us, and we work hard to respond to people, retweet our friends, add personal touches, etc. But we know that our content that we’ve worked extremely hard to create is being shared among our friends and followers. Here's how to get started with SociRoll.

John Pyle Photography specializes in High School Senior Photography and is a three time national senior portrait artist (spa) winning studio. He and his wife, Sallye Anne, own and operate John Pyle Photography in Columbus, Georgia and enjoy their soon to be 2 year old daughter, Julie Anne. Follow John on Twitter.

When I first began specializing in seniors (about 4 years ago) weddings were the buzz in the photography world.  People were laughing because I was on “that Facebook site.” Others thought all you needed was “passion”, a 5D camera and a 1.2 lens to become a wedding photographer. Now it seems that everyone with a camera wants to photograph high school seniors. The marketplace and Facebook have become saturated with photographers tilting the lens to create images for high school grads. So how do you separate yourself from fan pages, logos, and self proclaimed “artists” in  a growing and crowded senior market?

My point is you don’t have to sink in a massive pool of mediocrity if you are doing what it takes to stand out.

Competition

Before full time photography I was in pharmaceutical sales. I sold one of the most popular drugs in the market with only one competitor for 6 years. When a new competitive drug launched, everyone was panicked that our market share and business would crumble. But the opposite occurred. Despite the drug being slightly cheaper than the one our company sold OUR sales grew! Why? Because there was more noise being made about the market, the drug, and the disease state it treated. Sometimes competitors can actually grow your business. Especially if your work and sessions clearly stand out. 

Yesterday a client told me she was surprised at how many “photographers” are on Facebook when she began looking to book a session. She also said that it was actually very clear who did quality work because so much of the “noise” coming across Facebook from other “photographers” was not ”good at all”. 

My point is you don’t have to sink in a massive pool of mediocrity if you are doing what it takes to stand out. This may start by educating your clients on what quality is and by valuing what you do. If you don’t value your own work then people aren’t going to randomly decide to value it for you. Worry about your customers while competitors worry about you. 

Know Your Customers

When photographing high school seniors you better target everything to seniors right? WRONG. Seniors are a unique population to photograph because you are essentially targeting several clients in one; seniors, parents, family, siblings, peers, classmates … etc. Meet with the seniors and their families prior to shoot to clearly define the goals, likes, and dislikes before a session. You want customers to be thrilled with your images, excited about the session and be proud enough to show off the images. Sit down and analyze your customers to include defining who you want your ideal customers to be.

I talk with a lot of wedding photographers who are frustrated that they aren’t attracting brides who value their work, invest in their business, send referrals, and praise them to friends on Facebook. Some are advertising 75% off of everything, giving away free books, free CDs, free engagement sessions, etc. That’s fine if you don’t need income. But if you do need income you can’t be afraid of the word “profit”. It is still a business and being blessed enough to create images and work in your “passion” is still not enough to pay for gas or buy groceries.

Knowing your customers means knowing business also. A great lesson to be learned is if you sell on price, what happens when you aren’t the cheapest anymore? And if all your customers choose you based on price then that may be the only thing they value about you. Perfect your craft and learn how to run a business.   

Social Media

When utilizing Facebook and a blog/website make sure you show what you want to shoot. If you are constantly posting images of flowers, babies, concerts, airplanes, the beach, brides, and parks while claiming to specialize in senior photography don’t be surprised if your senior business doesn’t grow. You can’t sell what you don’t show. 

Customers (current and future) don’t need to see 463 images from a session. Limit what you show and choose what you show very carefully. This includes personal pictures and information as well. Personal pages are as much business pages for people and political statements, bad jokes, angry comments, and insults turn everyone off. Remember teenagers, seniors, parents, and grandparents are on your Facebook now. It’s also a good idea to monitor the images you post online for inappropriate comments. Every picture we post we are tagged in for this very reason.  

Network

Seek out other businesses outside of photography including those that target your market. Find out what they are doing right, and what works and doesn’t work for them. 

Invest in yourself and your business. Joining professional organizations, online forums, attending quality workshops, and experiment with new styles of shooting and lighting.

These will all improve your business and your creativity. The days of secret locations, mystery editing techniques, and hiding in darkrooms are over. You cannot be complacent in the senior market.  

Finally seniors are a very rewarding population to photograph. They keep you young and force you to stay current. But you must enjoy interacting with people and creating experiences on your sessions if you want to grow this segment of your business. Seniors only graduate once. You can’t even say that about people getting married anymore.  

As an Adobe Community Professional, A.J. has been an enthusiastic representative in the creative community for several years. It's not surprising he's been ranked the #1 Adobe Instructor WORLDWIDE more than once. Students enjoy his straightforward teaching style, and the ability to communicate ideas in the simplest of terms. An active NAPP Evangelist, A.J. posts Adobe tutorial videos each week on YouTube. Follow A.J. on Twitter, post your questions to his Facebook page, and catch the latest insights on his blog.

Catchy huh? Yeah, I'm not once to mince words although, I generally like to spin a tale or two. It's my pleasure to join you today, and I appreciate the invitation Seshu extended to me quite some time ago. He is a gracious & patient host, and I hope my thoughts leave you wanting… Wanting more like Charlie Sheen's 2nd performance in Chicago, not wanting to leave like the angry mob that caught him in Detroit. Where was I?

Oh yes, harnessing your talent, your desire, that passion which many of us find in photography. It's rather difficult to focus on that passion when you're bogged down with the day-to-day running your photography business isn't it? There's the marketing, the office paperwork, the website, dealing with clients, to Facebook or Twitter, the list goes on, and yet many of today's photographers seemingly do it all. Maybe you're just starting out, and you haven't thought about your business plan or the logistics of making money from photography. Perhaps you're a seasoned pro, and you're wondering how you'll stay on top of all the changing technology, and the wolves scratching at your door. It's a wonder you get to take any pictures at all. That's okay, I'm here to tell you:

To discover your talents you have to recognize & acknowledge when you suck.

It's a common philosophy I share with my students, and many interpret it as a direct statement about their passion. Like Simon Cowell, I'm somehow there to obliterate their dreams. Let me clarify the statement with some editorial tweaks:

To maximize your talents you have to recognize & acknowledge where you suck.

I know plenty of folks who at some point were caught in company downsizing, and ended up being one of the lucky ones who had more job responsibility for the same or less pay. Oddly enough, I see the same types of folks launch their businesses with DIY zeal only to suffer from burnout or stagnant growth after a year. Yes, you have grand ambitions, some talents, maybe a kickass plan or two, but you're just one person. What you need are minions … I mean a support group … umm … network –- You need to develop your network. Just like that lone crusader Batman had a sidekick, and spent some time with other superheroes in the Justice League of America. (Wait … what do you mean a comic book reference kills my credibility?) Focus–a network.

Leverage your strengths, outsource your weaknesses.

When I talk to photographers about networking events many of them mention social mixers based around getting clients or connecting with peers. Generating leads is a must, and mentoring other photographers or finding a mentor is a wonderful thing. However, those connections do not address the immediate issues of office management, marketing or managing your website. I highly recommend finding those people at the networking events they attend. Where do you start? Your local Chamber of Commerce is a good place. Another good place is Meetup.com. Any hobby, popular fad or obscure interest can be found listed at Meetup.com. The best part is meetup groups are specifically designed to get people together live and in-person. Now I know what you're thinking, “That's a good way to generate client leads!” Point to you dear reader, that's a takeaway bonus for hangin' out with me this long.

But let's stay focused. I don't want you networking without purpose. What you should be doing is building your network. Your team of professionals. The people that you can call to handle the portions of your business that are really best suited to be handled by someone other than you. If you suck at website design, then by all means hire someone to do your website. And if you're great at website design, why in the world are you spending your time as a photographer? My point is by building your network, you can focus your energy at the really important tasks. My good friend Glyn Dewis is a fine example. He had a hand in building his first website, and it wasn't bad. It got the job done. See for yourself. However, Glyn's passion for photography literally oozes into everything else he does, so a good website wasn't good enough. Now he probably could have spent the man-hours himself building & retooling his website, but he found someone better suited to the task. Scott Kublin is another fine example. You don't know Scott? He enjoys HDR photography. He's friends with another HDR guy–Trey Ratcliff. *heart pounding from sheer awesomeness* You can read the backstory on Scott's About Me page, but the summary is Scott wanted to learn HDR and Trey needed some top-notch SEO for his website.

Leverage your strengths, outsource your weaknesses.

Thank you for taking a moment to read this post. As a fellow-overachiever-one-man-band-DIY-caffeine-infused-control-freak, I know it's tough sharing some of the parental responsibility for your growing business. However, it's the best way to ensure your business does grow. I want to thank my partner in creative shenanigans, J Schuh for illustrating my thoughts in the opening cartoon. Feel free to buy a t-shirt if we've tickled your funny bone. Oh, and where are my manners?

Here's a quickie Photoshop tutorial for you: