Question abt Myspace as marketing tool

[Trish]

Was just wondering if anyone really gets any business opportunities from having a Myspace web page?

I finally put one up, with a limited amt of photos, mostly of friends and my boyfriend's band along w/ a few misc shots. My intent is to get people to my real website if they happen to come across the myspace page. I have a friend that does very well with booking bands and a sound company on there, but unsure if it's a good outlet for photo advertising.

Plus, it's a pain to maintain, especially when I work on 3 or 4 other sites weekly not counting my own. I'm not sure if I want to go around randomly adding people who may never even visit the page, as slow as that site runs that could be extremely time consuming as well. On the other hand, I'm not that great of a salesperson by any means and don't want to pass up on a good marketing tool just because I may not be using it to its full potential.

Apologies if this has been asked and answered before, I did do a forum search and didn't find this specific question posted.

Thanks in advance to anyone who may care to offer their input on this one!

Trish

[Redmouse]

MySpace is all about bands. If that's your client base, that would be a very good place to start. It's also the easiest way to communicate directly with the bands and management companies.

This is probably one of the better examples. 3rd Eye Photography.

[Trish]

Thanks for the info, sounds like it should be worth keeping the page up.
This is what I've done with it with so far. I just don't like their banner ads (although I know they have to do that).

Almost went to the In Flames show, friends said it was great. You got some great shots.

Thanks again, Trish

[Clayton Wallace]

I considered that possibility recently to increase web traffic. I've decided against it due largely to all the negative press Myspace has been getting lately. For me the answer was no as that association may actually degrade the professional image I'm striving to build/maintain.

[laawaaris]

What types of subjects and photography is it?

If you are doing bands (as Redmouse said), but also model photo shoots and possibly car/auto photoshoots - myspace is a good idea.

Basically I would say you should ask yourself the style of shooting you are doing would be something eligible for use in a young-adult medium, such as MTV, 17 Magazine, VH1, etc. Not that this is a bad thing, but based on the pages I have visited and the "vibe" I have seen and heard, this seems to be a big sweet-spot for myspace itself.

[Michelle Allmon]

The best way for people to find you on MySpace is to log in alot. People search by last login. Even if you don't go on it everyday, just log in everyday. So you stay at the top of the list. If you use Firefox you can make it one of your home tabs and just close it out.

People hate getting friend's requests from random people.

There are also some photography groups on there you can join.

[Trish]

Thanks to everyone for the info.

Michelle, I wasn't aware of the "last logon" search, I do go there to check the email etc. and yes I'm a Firefox user. I'll also check into the groups as well.
laawaaris, my subjects are mostly bands, followed by just regular portraits, not particularly interested in shooting models. Not sure that I would fit the "young adult" medium necessarily, probably more the VH1 Classic or Headbangers Ball but am always open to new challenges. Clayton, I certainly do understand what you're saying - there has been a ton of bad press lately for myspace and I certainly wouldn't want it as a primary website.

Trish

[eswist]

IMHO, MySpace as an outlet for your business is very unprofessional. I personally wouldn't be caught dead on the site.

However, you can still market to it. I make "Myspace Sized" photos available to clients that fit that market for a nominal fee, the photo includes a watermark with my business name. Its a way to promote yet not give an unprofessional appearance.

[Trish]

Thank you, that is an excellent idea to make myspace sized pics. I personally don't like myspace too much - I thinks is sluggish, badly designed and geared towards kids. But so many bands joined up and some of my friends are on there I thought I'd give it a tryout. My intention was to use it as a sort of "online billboard" just for ads no personal info by any means on there - more as just a referral to my real website. There's no way I would ever put a child portrait up there. Most of the shots I loaded up there are already on myspace being used by the subject on their myspace site so I don't worry too much about one of my shots getting away from me.

[Redmouse]

It's true MySpace is targetting a specific age group. Yes, it has received a lot of bad press. So is the internet in general. But MySpace is out there and it's free. It is probably one of the best free advertising venue you can get. You can even be selective of who you're targetting. Bands, models, comedians, music management groups, car enthusiast, marathon runners, brides, and anything else they got. Yes I did mention brides. Because I've been contacted a couple times for wedding quotes. And I dont even advertise weddings. The movie and music industry has jumped all over it as well. Why can't photographers? I don't understand this "pride" thing about not being caught on MySpace. The site is what you make it to be.

http://www.myspace.com/hollysteenphotography
http://www.myspace.com/thisphotographerismadnuts
http://www.myspace.com/julieharrisphotography
http://www.myspace.com/short2000
http://www.myspace.com/sandeepawan
http://www.myspace.com/lithiumpicnic
http://www.myspace.com/weddingphotographer
http://www.myspace.com/ourlaboroflove
http://www.myspace.com/soriaweddings
http://www.myspace.com/houstonphotog <-- This one is a weirdo...becareful
http://www.myspace.com/tricoastphoto

[Trish]

Thanks for posting the links, those are all very cool and well done. Good point in that it is free - so is houstonbands.net, but at least w/ myspace you can give much more info. Like anything else, I would imagine that it's what you make of it.

T.

[laawaaris]

What does Eric/eswist mean by "MySpace Sized" pics? Pics that will look good on the web (72 dpi, small resolution)? I think it must mean something else that I don't know ...

[eswist]

Originally Posted by laawaaris

What does Eric/eswist mean by "MySpace Sized" pics? Pics that will look good on the web (72 dpi, small resolution)? I think it must mean something else that I don't know ...

Exaclty - just 72dpi photos with a small watermark across the top of the photo w/my business name.

I market them as "MySpace Sized" for digital downloads, price them low (the watermark is free advertising), and people in that target market just eat them up. Especially if I post photos from an event, fashion show etc. Everyone loves to have a photo to put on their MySpace page, a lot of people don't know or don't want to deal with resizing the photos, cropping etc.

This way they just pay, get the download, and upload right to MySpace.

[eswist]

Example