In the meantime, let me share with you 3 ways to have your finger on the pulse of the Photography industry.

1. Hashtags
Using hashtags (#) in Twitter allows you to organize and share information with other Twitter users. You can visit hashtags.org to find a list of popular hashtags, or search for ones you might be interested in following. Hashtags also come in handy when you are attending a Photography conference. For example, hashtags were used at the WPPI Convention to inform photographers about various meet-ups and outings: #WPPI

Other hashtags that you might be interested in are: #photography, #Canon, and #Nikon. You can subscribe to a hashtag’s RSS Feed to have all Tweets automatically sent to your RSS Feed Reader.

2. Google Reader
Speaking of RSS Feed Readers, you can integrate Google Reader into Twitter. There are a number of reasons on why you would want to do this. One reason is to be able to share blog entries that you find interesting to your Twitter followers. By sharing blog entries that contain Photography tips or news, you are helping your Twitter followers keep current on the latest trends in Photography. Hopefully they have also read this blog post, and are doing the same. Another reason is to ensure that you do not go on a “Twitter Drought”. We are all very busy people and sometimes it can be hard to post to Twitter on a regular basis. By importing specific blog entries from your Google Reader into Twitter, you should automatically have some interesting items to share with your Twitter followers.

Integrating your Google Reader with Twitter is pretty simple – Thanks to our good friend: Twitterfeed. (Can you tell I’m a fan of Twitterfeed yet?)

5-Step Process for integrating Google Reader with Twitterfeed:
Step 1: Log into your Google Reader Account.
Step 2: Under “Your stuff”, open your “Shared items” page that located in the left navigation section.
Step 3: You will see a paragraph that says: “Your shared items are available publicly at this web page. You can choose people to share with in Sharing settings.” Click on the “at this web page” link. This will take you to your Google Reader Shared Items page.
Step 4: Copy the RSS Feed link of your Google Reader Shared Items page.
Step 5: Log into Twitterfeed and add your Google Reader Shared Items RSS Feed to your account.

After you have that set-up, if you come across a blog entry that you would like to share on Twitter, simply click the “Share” link that is at the bottom of every entry in Google Reader.

3. Tweet Stats
Birds of a feather flock together… Have you ever heard that phrase before? It dates back to 1545 when William Turner published a version of the phrase in his satire: The Rescue of Romish Fox. Okay… okay… I’ll get on with it.

Let me introduce you to TweetStats. TweetStats provides data based upon how an individual uses Twitter. You can find out the peak hours of when a particular individual uses Twitter, what days of the week they tend to use Twitter the most, what tools they are using to publish to Twitter, and more.

We are interested in the information TweetStats provides in the lower left-hand column: Replies to: (@’s). This will show the Top Ten people an individual @’s. So if you type in a “leading photographer’s” username into TweetStat, you will find out the Top Ten people that the leading photographer is talking with the most. You can then start following these “Top Ten” people to gain access to a “leading photographer’s” network and learn more about the photography techniques, tips, and information that they share.

Whew… I’ve had a blast putting together this Introduction to Twitter for Photographers series, and I hope you have been enjoying it! If I have accomplished my goal, you now have a better understanding of Twitter and how it can be used to help you and your photography business. Thank you very much for your support and stay tuned to Darkroom Branding for more Marketing Strategies for Photographers!

1. Flickr + Twitterfeed
In Part II of this series I introduced you to a service called Twitterfeed. A refresher: Twitterfeed allows you to automatically import a RSS Feed into your Twitter account. The nice thing about Twitterfeed is that you can have multiple RSS Feeds feeding into your Twitter account. This means that you could create a separate Set on Flickr that is dedicated to your Portfolio work. You can then import that Set’s RSS Feed into your Twitter account via Twitterfeed. By only importing the Set’s RSS Feed, you ensure that your entire Flickr Photostream will not be published to Twitter. Although you could easily do that if you wanted…

2. Twitpic
Twitpic is another way for you to share photos on Twitter. When you upload a photo to Twitpic, you can add information and tags to the photo. Twitpic also allows users to comment on your photo directly from the Twitpic website. When someone comments on your photo, you will automatically be notified via a Twitter message. Each Twitpic page also has a Views counter, so you can check to see what photos are getting the most traffic. I envision Photographers using Twitpic to share “behind the scenes” footage or “sneak peeks” of upcoming Photo Shoots that you will be posting on your website or blog.

3. Promote Other Photographer’s Portfolio
I know… I know… This sounds ass-backwards… But hear me out. This is the “Do unto others, as you would have them do unto you” portion of this series on Twitter.

Lets walk through a mock example: John Heil in Vancouver posts a tweet about Danielle Fuller saying “Check-out the portfolio of @BeyondTheLens: http://tinyurl.com/c6zfa5. She’s an amazing Photographer in Connecticut”. Everyone that is following John Heil will see this tweet – As well as anyone that searches “Photographer” and “Connecticut” in Twitter Search. Either way, more people are exposed to Danielle’s portfolio…

Here’s where you need to break-out your abacus: Someone that is following John (i.e. Mr. X) also finds Danielle’s portfolio amazing. Mr. X then Retweets John’s post. This retweet will not only share Danielle’s information, but also John’s Twitter username to even more people.

So a simple random act of kindness from John may lead to new clients, or at the least – the potential for new Twitter followers for Danielle.

Next up is Part 5 of this Introduction to Twitter for Photographers series. In Part 5, I will share with you how to use Twitter to Keep up with current trends in the Photography industry.

Until then, feel free to follow me on Twitter: @darkroomRYAN and visit the previous posts in this series:
Introduction to Twitter for Photographers, Part I
Introduction to Twitter for Photographers, Part II
Introduction to Twitter for Photographers, Part III

In this post, we will cover 3 ways Photographers can use Twitter to help them with research, and even find new clients!

1. PollDaddy
PollDaddy, is a free online tool that allows you to create surveys and polls for your Twitter followers. This can be helpful for you to determine future blog post topics, what photography conventions to attend, etc… When you create a survey or poll with PollDaddy, they will provide you with a Direct URL to the poll. To help distribute this poll to your Twitter followers, copy that Direct URL and then visit TinyURL to create a short version of the URL.

TinyURL is not only great to use when conducting these type of surveys and polls, but is great to use in any situation when you would like to share a link that has a long URL.

2. Ask Questions
Sometimes instead of creating a formal survey or poll, it is easier to simply ask a question. For example, if you are in the market for a new camera, you might create a tweet that says “How many of you shoot with a Nikon D300?”. Twitter users can then reply to your tweet and a conversation can get started on the Nikon D300. This conversation may help you make a logical decision to purchase the camera or not.

3. Research
Ok, I have to let you in on a little secret… I saved the best for last. I realize that some people may have gotten bored with the beginning of this post and quit reading, but if you are reading this now – What I am about to share with you will blow your mind… Hahaha.

There is an Advanced Twitter Search option, and there are numerous ways that you can use this Search option to help you and your business. If you clicked on the link above, you’ll notice that there is an “All of these words” form field in the “Words” box, and “Near this place” and “Within this distance” form fields in the “Places” box. Depending on how you fill these out, you could potentially uncover new client opportunities.

For example, lets say I am a photographer in Las Vegas… I just typed in “photographer” in the “All of these words” form field, and typed “Las Vegas” and “25 miles” in the “Near this Place” and “Within this distance” form fields. I just scanned the first page of the results, and there were two people that tweeted how they needed a photographer… It would then make sense for me to write a tweet to them introducing myself.

The best part of this is that you can save the RSS Feed of the Search. So anytime in the future when someone “within 25 miles of Las Vegas” mentions “photographer” in a tweet, you will automatically be notified.

Here are some other searches that you might want to create and save: “Wedding Photographer”, “Wedding Photography”, “Just Got Engaged”, “Fiancee”, “Fiance”, “Photo Shoot”, and “Photography Shoot”.

Granted, I am not saying to use this as your only means of prospecting for new clients – But it doesn’t hurt to have potential leads sent right to your RSS Feed Reader.

Alright, congrats on making it though the post! Hopefully you found it helpful. In the next part of Introduction to Twitter for Photographers, we will be discussing how to use Twitter to Showcase Your Portfolio.

Until next time, feel free to share this blog post with your friends and add me on Twitter: @darkroomRYAN

There are three main ideas that I want to to share in this blog post that will help you extend your Brand using Twitter.

1. Consistency

Twitter allows you to have a Profile picture. You should take this opportunity to use an image of yourself or your logo for your Profile picture. Twitter is all about relationships and having conversations, so I encourage using an image of yourself instead of a logo. It makes your tweets and your Twitter account seem a little more personal. However, there are successful Photographers that use their logo instead, i.e. Jessica Claire.

Regardless of what type of image you decide to use as your Profile picture, it needs to be consistent with your image, and brand. This same Profile picture should be the one you use on all other social network websites. By doing this, you are developing a sense of consistency throughout your web presence and it ties all of your accounts together.

2. Twitter Bio

Twitter also allows you to create a short (160 character) bio for your Twitter account. It is extremely important for you to think about what you are going to say in this area. Many times people scan this short bio before deciding if they are going to follow a specific Twitter user or not. Remember in Part I of this series how we used tools to find interesting Twitter users? Some of those tools use the Twitter Bio space to determine which Twitter users show up in a search. Using keywords such as: “Wedding Photographer”, “Fine Art Photography”, “Los Angeles Photographer”, etc… will help ensure that your account shows up in relevant searches.

Going back to our previous example of Jessica Claire, her Twitter Bio states: “fun, fresh, fabulous photographer living the good life in the OC”. I want you to note three things about this bio. It 1) Uses words that describe her brand, 2) States her profession, and 3) States her location. All signs point to this being a great use of the 160 character area for her Twitter Bio.

Besides keywords, the Twitter Bio area is a great place to share your USP. In my case it simply states: “I Help Photographers Gain New Clients”.

3. Sharing Your Portfolio Updates and Blog Posts

There is a great service called Twitterfeed that allows you to automatically import your blog’s RSS Feed into Twitter. By setting up a Twitterfeed account, whenever you post a new Wedding or Engagement Photo Shoot on your blog, a tweet will automatically be created in your Twitter account with a link pointing back to your blog post. This is a great opportunity for you to share your work with more people, and a way to drive traffic to your blog. We will be discussing some more creative uses of Twitterfeed in Part IV and Part V of this series.

Your homework for now is to think about what type of Profile picture you will use for your Twitter account, create a keyword-rich Twitter Bio that states your USP, and sign-up for a Twitterfeed account. In Part III of this series, I will share how to use Twitter to Conduct Research and Surveys.

As always, if you have any questions – Please feel free to contact me. I am here to help you.

PS Please follow me on Twitter: @darkroomRYAN

Twitter (www.twitter.com) is soooooooo much more than simply answering that question. So I thought I would help out my photography friends and take you through a crash-course on how to get the most out of Twitter.

This series will cover the following five reasons why Photographers should use Twitter:

I. Network with other Photographers and those in the Photography industry
II. Extend your Photography Brand
III. Research and Surveys (Yes, this relates to Photographers!)
IV. Showcase your portfolio to potential clients
V. Keep up with current trends in the Photography industry

I. Network with other Photographers and those in the Photography industry

So you joined Twitter and have no idea on how to find your photography friends, or interesting people to follow – for example: Ryan Swigert (cough, cough). No worries! Here are three ways to find photographers and other friends on Twitter:

1. Twitter > Find People

Simply log into Twitter. Then in the upper right corner, you will see “Find People”. Once you click on “Find People”, you will see the following four options:
1. Find on Twitter: This allows you to type in a person’s name to see if they are already on Twitter. You can also type in industry and job titles, such as “photography”, and “photographer” in the form field.
2. Find on other networks: This allows you to see if any of your contacts from Gmail, Yahoo, AOL, Hotmail, or MSN are already on Twitter.
3. Invite by email: This allows you to invite friends via email address to join Twitter.
4. Suggested users: This options shows you some popular Twitter accounts, i.e. JetBlue Airways, Al Gore, and Tony Robbins. Granted, these are not related to photography, but you might find these accounts interesting to follow.

2. Twitter Directories

Here are a couple of Twitter directories that you can use to search for fellow Photographers:
Twellow
Just Tweet It
Note: You may also find it beneficial to add yourself to these directories so that other Photographers can find you.

3. Mr. Tweet

I could have put Mr. Tweet in the Twitter Directories section, but I think it warrants its own category. Mr. Tweet is a website and service that finds Twitter users for you. They customize the list they provide based on your interests and the people that you are already following.

I know this is a ton to take in all at once, but I’m always here to help you. If you have any questions or feel overwhelmed, simply contact me and we’ll get through it together! There is so much more that I will be sharing with you in regards to how Twitter can help you and your Photography business. In the meantime, start finding people to follow on Twitter using the above methods.

The next part in this series will cover how to use Twitter to Extend Your Photography Brand.

PS Please follow me on Twitter: @darkroomRYAN