I‘ve mentioned before that although I’m an early-adapter on a lot of social media platforms, I’ve never really warmed up to Facebook. I signed up for an account when it was first opened up, but aside from an early addiction to Scrabble when I was pregnant with Lucas in 2007, I never really found a lot of reason to spend time on Facebook. I’d even set up a page for the blog back in 2009 or so, back in the rush when everyone was setting up fan pages for everything, but I never hit the publish button as I really couldn’t see the point of having the same content in two places, especially when I was already pushing my blog content through my personal FB account.
Even at work where I manage our Facebook, Flickr, Twitter and YouTube accounts, Facebook was always my problem child, the one I knew we had to deal with but just couldn’t warm up to. Until now, that is. Cuz apparently I need yet another place to spent time on the Internet.
Oh dear. I’ve discovered Facebook.
It started when our school council decided to try setting up a Facebook page to communicate with parents. (At first I was cool to this idea, thinking a FB page for an elementary school seemed somehow wrong, but it’s the school council’s page for communicating with parents, not the school’s page. And I found some really excellent examples out there, and almost no reasons why we shouldn’t go ahead.) I’d set us up a blog earlier this year, and we’re using Constant Contact for e-mail news distributing newsletters, but Facebook is such an easy way to deliver quick and concise messages to a wide audience.
As I was setting up the FB page for the school, an idea was percolating in my obsessive-compulsive brain. A Facebook page for a blog seems a little too meta for me, but a Facebook page for a photography business — now that makes more sense! And let me tell you, it was waaaaaay easier to set up a FB page than it was to set up my portfolio website.
Ta da!
One of my mantras in the presentations and courses I’ve given on social media is that you should match your social media tool to your goals and your audience. Facebook works really well for my intended purpose of sharing my obsessive quest for more! more! more! information about all things related to photography.
I see it as a place not just for potential and current photography clients, but as a hub to share quick photo tips, articles I find on the Internet, and other things that may be of interest to other photographers or just people who are interested in taking better pictures. I’ll still post longer articles here, but Facebook is perfect for quick shares and conversations about links and other treasures found online.
I put the page together over the course of a rainy weekend, and was instantly gratified to see a few “likes” piling up even before I’d told anyone I set up the page. (And let me tell you, for an approval-seeking ENFP, there is NOTHING more delicious than having overt confirmation that someone “likes” your project. You like me? You like me!)
I hope you will both like and “like” my Mothership Photography Facebook page, especially if you’re interested in taking, sharing or discussing how to take better pictures. I’ll try to keep the duplication of content to a minimum, and I’m even considering some Facebook-only promotions.
Do you have any experience (pro or con) in setting up a Facebook page? Any tips to share or pitfalls to avoid? Suggestions for me to keep my online empire from imploding? What say ye, bloggy peeps?
Congrats Dani. Looks great.
Love the fan site at Facebook.
I set up a Facebook page in November to represent myself as a musician (https://www.facebook.com/pages/Fawn-Fritzen-Music/157377220972451).
I decided not to promote it too much because the idea of it is to keep people up to date on upcoming performances and the status of my recording project. I don’t want random people to “Like” me but people who really want to know what I’m up to. (Although that’s an intellectual decision… as a fellow approval seeker, I can’t help whooping every time I see the Like number go up.)
One caveat I will give you is not to follow my example. I currently have 145 Likes and in the course of my page’s birth, I’ve had 3 unlikes. Those three unlikes have received a disproportionate amount of mental time on my part. It’s hard not to wonder why, and hard not to try to memorize the list of people who have Liked the page so that you can figure out who unliked you.
Oh toots, that was me! Not that you couldn’t figure it out from my fan page link!
One thing to keep in mind with facebook is that whatever software they use to detect spammers is very, very (!) touchy. My first Frugal Fun Ottawa page was completely wiped off the face of earth, apparently because I tried to post two links one right after the other and facebook thought I was spamming people. I can’t even say for sure that that’s what happened, because no one has ever answered my numerous emails or appeals for help. Once it’s gone, it’s gone for good 🙁