Today, I want to turn our attention onto the world of social media marketing, and on Twitter in particular. Social media is huge these days, as we all know (unless you've spent the last decade under a rock), and social should obviously be a big part of any photographer's marketing plan. But are you getting the best out of it? For photographers, most of the information and talk out there seems to be focused on how to use Facebook, which I suppose is understandable given it's the largest and most active social network out there. But what about Twitter? How useful are these 140-character marketing tweets, and should you put Twitter to use for your photography business? Recommended Links: TweetDis - a GREAT plugin for creating Tweetables

Becoming a better professional photographer also about expanding your business horizons to see what's going on outside the photography industry. Adopting new concepts from business and marketing thought-leaders who are not photographers can actually breathe new life into the way you see your own photography business. So I would like to take a few minutes to breathe a little fresh air into the industry for you with 10 of the best books I've found to inspire new thinking and motivate you into renewed action. Youtility by Jay Baer The Impact Equation by Chris Brogan and Julien Smith Email Persuasion by Ian Brodie Start With Why by Simon Sinek The E-Myth Revisited by Michael E. Gerber Predictably Irrational by Dan Ariely The Freaks Shall Inherit The Earth by Chris Brogan Fascinate by Sally Hogshead   Buyer Legends by Jeffrey Eisenberg and Bryan Eisenberg

Lead-magnets might sound like some weird machine you'd find in a superhero action movie, but their real power is to give your marketing the kick in the pants it needs to get people in front of your camera.   Not all too sure about what they are, who they're meant to attract, what they're made of, or how to get them out there? If so, stick around because we're going to be putting some answers to those questions today. To find out a lot more about how you can create an effective and irresistible lead-magnet for your clients even if you don't think you can write, I invite you to join me for an online workshop where I'll show you exactly how you can. The live event is on Thursday September 17th 2015 at 2pm US Eastern time, and will last around 60-90 minutes, including Q&A. The workshop is like all of my other training classes, which means it will be 100% information with absolutely no sales pitch for any other products or classes - guaranteed. Spaces on the live class are limited, and early registration is open, so you can find all the details and save your seat by visiting http://www.zenologue.com/leadmagnet/

This episode is part 1 of 2 about using effective lead-magnets to market your photography business to the right people. You're also invited to join me for a live workshop on how to create an irresistible lead-magnet for your clients, and you can find all the details at: >> http://www.zenologue.com/leadmagnet/

Today's episode focuses on the top 5 things to avoid in your marketing, especially if you look around to see what all the other photographers are doing and then copying them. The problem with that is, most photographers are actually struggling, so you don't know if you're copying something that works or not! Instead, I've got some ideas for you to think about to keep you on the right track.

Who are you actually marketing your photography to? Is it the right people - the ones who need and love what you can do for them through the magic of your camera? Or, are you accidentally aiming your marketing materials at the person you see in the bathroom mirror first thing in a morning? You might think you know the answer, because it seems so obvious. I mean, who would deliberately market their own photography to themselves? Doing so doesn't sound like a smart business move, does it? Well, as it turns out, we've all done it. Here's how to stop doing that, and target your marketing to the right people instead...

There's a saying that it's not the best photographer who wins all the business, it's the best marketer... Annoying, but certainly true. The danger for most photographers today is failling into obscurity or becoming seen as mediocre in their field. Worse still, the photographers who are less than good at their craft, but excel at marketing, are seen as "famously average". To combat this, I talk about ways to go from "no one knows I exist" to "famously amazing" in your local community.

Tired of writing the same old blog posts every time? Want to know how to write the real stories of your photography, but not sure where to start? In this episode we look at the 5 basic elements of any successful story and how to apply those to your photography blog posts.

Lead-generation is critical to the success of any photography business but what is it, why is it important, and what kind of qualities in a website help contribute to the success of a lead-generation system?

A couple of episodes ago, I talked about the idea of failure being necessary for eventual success. Today's topic is about what we can do if and when we face almost certain absolute failure - a horrific situation no business owner wants to experience. Is it possible to save your photography business even if you have little or no money? I believe it is...

Photographers are in the people business, and success depends on building relationships with prospects and clients. In this episode, I talk about 3 ways email marketing can help you avoid the feeling of having to restart your business every day, and build menaingful relationships with your prospects and existing clients. Resource: Try iContact free for 30 days: http://www.zenologue.com/icontact/

Without failure there can be no definition of success, but (more than that) failure is a necessary part of the journey to achieving success in your photography business. The folks who really do succeed are the ones who are prepared to try and fail more than those who eventually decide to throw in the towel and give up.

Welcome to episode 75 of the Photography Marketing Masters podcast, brought to you by Zenologue Prime Focus - the place where serious professional photographers simplify their marketing to win in today's complex business landscape. Today's focus is on blogs, and the top 5 reasons why so many photographers seem to get stuck with this aspect of their marketing. This has been a big topic of conversation lately in my coaching calls and, while most photographers understand the need for a blog, there are some definite roadblocks getting in the way. In fact, some of the photographers I've talked to told me they got so stuck they gave up entirely on their blogs, and tried to focus on other forms of marketing instead. For example, they hoped to see more success with Facebook, but it's still not working out for them in the form of new business. Which leads to a great deal of frustration about getting their photography noticed by the right people. And, of course, without the attention of targeted prospects, the chances of generating new leads for the business are slim. Here are 5 reasons that might be holding you back from blogging effectively...

Welcome to episode 74 of the Photography Marketing Masters podcast, brought to you by Zenologue Prime Focus - the place where serious professional photographers simplify their marketing to win in today's complex business landscape. Thank you so much for being here and sharing some of your valuable time with me. Today, I want to explore the commonly-held idea that a picture is worth a thousand words, together with the widespread notion that professional photography can somehow sell itself. As photographers, it's so easy (and tempting) to imagine potential customers falling in love with your work at first sight. It's a romantic idea, born from our belief in the power of the photographic image to capture, convey, or elicit emotion to the extent that our photographs will easily move someone enough for them to hire us or buy our work. But is that power real, or imagined? Judging from the vast number of photography websites I see where words resemble an endangered species, it appears most photographers do buy into the idea to a large extent. Personally, I believe the answer lies somewhere in the dark murky zone between real and imagined. It's not the Twilight Zone, but it's close.   Grab a flashlight, and let's go see if we can find it.

Today, I’m going to talk about some things a lot of folks might not agree with, but that really need to be said, about the state of search engine optimization today and how it relates to the professional photographer. Specifically, I’m very concerned about why so many of you are wasting so much of your valuable time – time you can never get back – chasing after higher search engine rankings with SEO techniques that are questionable at best...

In this episode, I look at the imminent changes Google is making to the mobile search algorithm and how to survive those changes. If your website is not mobile-responsive or at least mobile-friendly, you run the risk of it being penalized in the search results for users searching on their mobile devices. Google defines mobile-friendly as: It avoids software that's not commonly supported on mobile devices, such as Flash... The website uses text that is easily readable without having to zoom... It automatically sizes the content to fit the screen, so users don't have to scroll horizontally or zoom... Hyperlinks are placed far enough apart so that the correct one can be easily tapped... There are some tools you can use to check your site, and I recommend taking advantage of those to find out where you stand. The difficulty of making your website mobile-friendly depends very much on your current website template or platform, but the best way to fix this for good is to migrate to a mobile-responsive theme based on the WordPress software, such as Photocrati or the Genesis framework from StudioPress.   There's clearly a lot more to this, of course, and I'm hosting a one-time workshop on how to survive Google's changes on Thursday April 23rd. The live workshop will be recorded, but you'll need to register in advance to get access to that. To find out more, go to http://www.zenologue.com/blog/workshop/ and I look forward to seeing you there.

In episode 70 of the Photography Marketing Masters podcast, I talk with Sam Madden, one of the co-founders of the #1-rated app for small businesses - PocketSuite.

Today is the start of something a little different, an experiment of sorts. Since this podcast launched in September 2014, and become more popular, I've started to see a lot more questions from photographers asking for advice in their business. That's great, by the way, and do keep them coming, but while I answer as many as I can, I also feel that a lot of the answers could help a lot more of you. So, I thought I would start doing the occasional shorter episode like this one, where I spend just a few minutes answering a question from readers or listeners like yourself. To get things started, here's a great question I got just today from Michelle. She says: "I started picking up a camera in January when a friend gave me her old Canon Rebel 350.  Since then, I've been taking classes locally to understand the exposure triangle and have been out there practicing.  For a couple of months now, I've been listening to your podcasts and enjoy the content and experienced photographers you bring on as guests. I'm 51 years old and own an insurance agency and considering taking more advanced classes in photography with the idea that food photography may be a great niche for me as part of a 5-year plan. Can you tell me if there is any "real money" in photography, other than weddings? Is there any money in Food Photography and, if so, what aspects of that niche are most profitable?   I hate the idea of putting money first, but when considering changing things around in your life, it has to be a priority." Here's a quick summary of my answer: It's never too late to make a career change! Technical photography education is obviously important... But don't forget the business & marketing education! The idea of "real money" is a bit vague but let's put some specifics on that... Don't fear discussing the money side of a business - it cannot survive without it! Weddings isn't the only money maker in photography... Business is what you make of it... You have to decide what you're passionate about and then go and get the business... Invest time interning and studying with photographers whose work you admire and respect... Practice - A LOT! Shoot everything you can, whenever you can... Learn to be your most brutal editor - cull the work you present until you can't cull it any more... From there present only your best work then stretch yourself even further... If you're comfortable with what you're doing take another step out of that zone... When it comes to pricing, know what it costs you to do business and then price for profit... Yes, it's hard, and getting harder, but persistence is key... Sometimes we feel a bit like the only way to win is to be the last man standing... With food photography there are lots of avenues to explore, but I would focus on what you love rather than the potential profit, at least to begin with...

In episode 69 of the Photography Marketing Masters podcast, I talk with Josh Rossi about his experience in the world of commercial advertising photography, including a marketing experiment with a fully branded bus, which he calls the mobile office. Discover: How Josh got into professional photography... The top qualities of a successful commercial advertising photographer... Dealing with the irregular income that comes with the territory of being a commercial photographer... How to stand out from the competition... Josh talks about his "mobile office" and vehicle wraps... Why a vehicle wrap might not be as effective on a car, instead of a larger vehicle... Thoughts about targeting in your marketing in the offline space... The top mistakes photographers make who are new to commercial advertising photography... Interacting with big corporate clients in the advertising world... And a lot more...