Last night I had one of those great conversations with my sister. When we get on the phone together we can talk for hours (probably because we don’t talk often enough, huh sis?)…
The subject last night was one of my favorites recently… Social Media.
When I was in Vegas I had the opportunity to meet Perry Belcher & Ryan Deiss – 2 good dudes who know A LOT about using Social Media to build a business.
Since that trip I have spent an inordinate amount of time building out the “Cam Forbes” brand online using those very tools.
So last night we got into the discussion and I threw out something I learned from Perry about the Social Media Party Princple. When you show up to the Social Media party, you don’t immediately go into your “pitch” unless you want to sound like an a-hole.
Think about when you show up to a friends house for a party. You may bring your spouse or significant other and you’ll start working the room, meeting people, introduce yourself and make nice-nice. Right?
You don’t immediately whip out some Amway products!
…and if they’re not interested in that flip open a Tupperware catalog!
…and if they’re still turned off try to sell them life insurance!
do ya? That’s the quickest way to NOT make friends!
Instead you conform to the usual norms and let the conversations take a natural course… Usually the women end up in the living room or kitchen (not because that’s where they belong, just because that’s what happens! puleeze.), and the guys will be out in the back yard or on the deck talkin’.
Unless there’s football on, then it’s a different story.
Inevitably, if you’re a guy, the conversation will turn to “So, what do you do?”
THEN you have a chance to make your pitch.
I borrowed the analogy of a lawyer… top partners in a law firm get to that level because they understand how the game is played. Schmooze now, get new clients later (when they need it… not you). That’s why they have the fancy yacht club or country club memberships.
At least that’s what I think.
Which led to a follow up email from my sis which went something like this:The difference between lawyers networking and just everyday schmucks comes down to perceived value. Almost everyone knows the “value” of having a good lawyer if they need one. Therefore, the lawyer — though the butt of many jokes — has an immediate perceived value. What he needs to ’sell’ in his pitch is that he can relate to the client, has experience with the matters that the client faces and has a higher than average potential for success. The client is prepared to take a chance — he’s in trouble and needs a lawyer.
The gal who takes photographs does not. I have to prove it. I have to prove that I can maybe, someday, possibly take photographs that are kinda like what they picture in their mind. The PR expert has a higher hurdle because the cost of entry is a high retainer for 3 to 6 months before there is provable evidence of the value of repeated media placements. It’s one thing for a photographer to ask people to spend $350. Quite another to expect someone to lay down $3,500 a month.
She has a good point, but I tend to disagree.
You see, everyone rubs elbows with the lawyer because they might need him/her some day. The perceived value is as an insurance policy… “You never know when you’s gonna need a LAW-yer.”
The gal who takes photographs does have to work harder (and for less pay) but with Social Media it’s like shooting fish in a barrel!
She already has tons of knowledge on the subject of photography that she can easily share with the eager beginner… or perhaps the wet-behind-the-ears newbie who just scored their first point & shoot digicam yet doesn’t know the simple, deadly-effective “half-press”.
Heck you could write a 20 page eBook on the subject and give it away on a blog, through facebook, or on twitter. But where to start?
Q: When you go to twitter.com what is the very first thing you see?
A: BIG DAMN SEARCH BOX.
What if you found a few keywords/keyphrases you could plug in there – or keep up as a column in your ‘deck?
Things like “(my digital camera sucks)” – the parenthesis will search all tweets that contain that phrase. Just pulling random ideas…
Then you can jump into the conversation and suggest perhaps they learn about the 1/2 press – might make their life easier?
Don’t tell them you’re a pro/semi pro photographer – leave it to them to read you bio, find your blog (you DO blog about photography, right? hint hint) or your Flickr account or your SmugMug gallery – whatever… then the next time they need a pro who are they going to turn to but the nice chick who helped them out in their time of need and frustration!
Just as an example, here are just a few tweets I found:
azzamckazza Uploading America photos to the Facebook. 2 things clear. A) my camera sucks digital balls B) I ate a lot of food
AliceBi Watching the pics on my cell phone…damn…the digital camera sucks :\
ladyshalyn I’m seriously sick of my digital camera. Sony just sucks! I want a new one!
get the idea?
or maybe you could search on (Phoenix Photographer), (Phoenix Pet Portraits), or… whatever.
Going back to my party analogy. When you’re working the room do you try to enter into a conversation about particle physics by telling them about taking pictures? Heck no!
Instead you wait until you find someone discussing F stops, Aperture Priority, Lens selection, etc… and work your way into it. When and if the opportunity presents itself, you share some info about your hobby/business. You play by the rules of etiquette, you earn new business.
You always try to provide RESULTS IN ADVANCE. It’s a karma thing, and it pays dividends down the road. The more you give out to the universe the more it’s going to give back to you. but don’t make it about yourself – always about them…
Now if you’ll excuse me, I have a party to go to…
Of course, I’d love to hear YOUR feedback!
