St. Louis Photographer » A Journal by Holly McCaig

Look, I don’t claim to be an expert on social media. In fact, it’s a pet peeve of mine when I see that someone has self-titled themselves as an expert on the subject in their one-line bios of whatever social media program their are using. Like, is there some sort of level you have to achieve and a social media god comes down to knight you or something?

Anyhoo – I do believe that social media is a beneficial tool. In this era, we’re afforded the opportunity to stay in touch so much better with those we love and care about. And, well, let’s face it…everyone (and by everyone, I mean companies) are doing it too. I’ve reconnected with so many old friends and I love that. Plus, I can keep tabs on how life as a city EMT is working out for my little brother too.

Maybe you hate for your email box to get bombarded so much with junk. With social media, you can choose to skip a one line tweet or group your Fan Pages on Facebook into one – and read when you’re ready. It can be more beneficial to stay up to date on your favorite companies without waking up to 100 emails every morning of junk.

I try to not send out a newsletter more than once a month. And, honestly, it’s often times the best way to reach people that haven’t jumped on the Twitter bandwagon – or whatever else they have chosen to socialize online. So, subscribing to my monthly newsletter may be more your thing! Go for it.

But, if that’s not enough, staying connected through social media, with me, can keep you up to date on a more consistent basis. You can subscribe to my blog and see when something new is posted, like the latest session sneak peeks for a client! You can use something like Google Reader (which I LOVE by the way) or subscribe to the feed so it’s delivered to your inbox every time. Just paste the blog URL into your Google Reader to subscribe to that.

Following me on Twitter gets you a little more than you bargain for sometimes. You can read my inner peeves and kudos as well as know in detail, a little more about what’s happening with me personally. I’ve got it set that whatever I post to the Facebook Fan Page, it also automatically tweets it on Twitter too. You can choose one over the other, or both.

For me, a newsletter, a blog, Twitter and Facebook Fan Pages are my way of staying connected with my friends, family – and my amazing clients. I want to make sure that I can reach you in the form you choose. Gone are the days that we have to send you a bazillion emails. It’s your choice!

So, stay in touch somehow, and don’t miss out again on any new offers, specials, or samples of my work again!

Okay, so did that headline grab ya? I thought this cute photo of some of the kids from Allison and Dave’s wedding in Ohio were so fun! We shot a few of them playing and running. They make a good marketing campaign for:

RUN! HURRY! Time to start booking those holiday shoots! Remember, we have such a small window of opportunity to get your fall photos done before the holidays. In St. Louis, the leaves only stay beautiful for so long. So, if you book your spot for a holiday session, I will give you a free 5 x 7 with your order! Just use the contact form on the website to reach me. Several dates in October and November are already booked so don’t wait!

That’s what I’m trying to do. Doing some different things around the house and office to try and make life better in the long run. Making changes is hard. Not easy. But, well worth it in the end, I know.

Having April come over helps. It’s like she kicks my butt and let’s me sound off to her or runs with things I ask her about – notice I don’t have to ask her to do it, just ask her about them. My office is staying clean. My CDs/DVDs are in one spot and easier to find things now. She labeled them for me. Yeah, that’s how bad it was.

I have three big projects to work on in the coming weeks and am really working to try and stay focused on them. It’s not easy. I work better in spurts. But, it will get done. Of course, they are all photography related projects. It’s my main focus for 2009. But, believe it or not, I haven’t taken a picture in over a week. Not good. Need to play this weekend I think in order to stay sane.

I have a stash of Christmas gifts that need to get mailed out this week. I can’t believe I let them get this late. I knew I wouldn’t get cards done, but seriously…gifts too? What a slacker. I’ve put it on my calendar for this year already so it doesn’t get past me again.

One of the projects we’re working on is with Pink Ink Studios – it’s now pretty much branding focus time for photographers, so you’re going to start seeing more marketing products in the store over there. Things for branding and making business run better. We’re coming up with some great new blog topics and other surprises too. In the meantime, I’m focusing on at least one new product for Pink Ink each week. Plus, I have a bunch of stuff retiring in the retirement category (ending Jan 31). Here’s the latest from me:

And, I decided to make a cute little logo that you can purchase from the splash page design above:

Thanks to Audra Little for those adorable pictures. You can soon find an entire marketing package I’ve been working on for Audra in the store – soon!

Hope you all have a great weekend!