I have found Facebook to be an excellent resource for networking with other industry professionals such as makeup artists, models, clothing stylists and other photographers.

As far as seeing any business from it... almost none at all. I did get a referral form another photographer the other day for a $300 business head shot that he was unable to do because of a schedule conflict.

A full time commercial photographer that I have great respect for and who has, but barely uses his FB account put it to me this way: "The people that I need to see my work are busy business people, they are not on Facebook".

I think think that FB is biggest legal first class of lobotomy.

Surely Twitter is even worse?

I'm an old stick-in-the-mud having a 'discussion/argument' with a friend of mine regarding the merits of my having a FB account (which I don't have)! His argument for an account is that everyone has one, you can't be in business without one and that must bring in new business. I earn my living primarily from commissioned photography for industrial clients in the food sector + a little pocket money from stock. I am dubious on a time-invested vs new client billing basis of the merits of the social media whilst my friend reckons that it must be good for business.

I'm no high-flyer, big deal photographer. Nor do I have an outstanding style/technique to my work......so it's not like I'm going to be noticed among the millions of other photographers with an account. My friend insists that with an account, the world will know that I exist and be able to find me. I argue that the world will not even notice and that I'll be just one of the billions of FB account holders, so why should I expend my time on maintaining an account when I could be more profitably spend it on other methods of acquisition.
My question is, do you directly get work from new clients from their looking at your Facebook account or is FB just a part of your more direct approach to acquiring new business via the more traditional methods (personal contact, phone, direct mail, word-of-mouth recommendation etc)?

I already have a site with a fairly complete selection of the work that I do. Do I need a Facebook account as well? TIA for any comments/advice.

I think someone just entered my brain and posted this...

I was wondering the exact same thing. I constantly have to explain myself why I'm NOT on FB.

From the little I've seen of FB (not to mention the IPO development LOL LOL LOL) I cannot comprehend how this would be beneficial for business (a photography business).

Every professional photographer has his/her own web site, with their own personal touch to it. It mostly can be easily found on Google by the name of the photographer, why FB?

I can also not understand where people get the time to hang on FB for hours just to look at other peoples kids, houses, pets and other $hit that has no impact on their own personal life whatsoever.

Why don't people spend their time with their family or significant others in person?

OMG I must be too old... Times are a changing  

I was wondering the exact same thing. I constantly have to explain myself why I'm NOT on FB.

I don't. I have exactly three 'friends' on FB, all of whom I communicate in more traditional ways.
I seem not to know anyone else who is on FB other than a few people who are members to keep in touch with their globetrotting kids, certainly not that I need to FB with - I can see them or phone them.
I don't get it either. A normal website is so much better in so many ways, and what's wrong with email?
I guess I'll find out if I ever get time to do Lynda.com's "Facebook - Essential Training" course. I watched the first chapter and was no more convinced of its point.
There's a cartoon in a recent Private Eye showing a bloke at a job interview and the boss is saying, "You're not on Facebook - what are you hiding?"

...
Facebook :  as a business, I first have a personal account there, and then a business "page".  As the whole facebook "world" does not interest me at all, it took me half a year to understand how to "behave" there, and how to connect.  Today, I post links to my blogposts there, talk about every new photo session, and they result in just a few likes.  Not worth the trouble then?  May-be, but I give my customers a dvd with highres photos + websize photos, and the websize photos bear my watermark "Anyka".  My customers post these watermarked photos all over facebook.  People who "like" these photos link through to my facebook page, and finally arrive on my website.  So yes, facebook is "viral" and has its merits for a business, though I think it has more effect on private customers than on companies buying food images.

So how does your business site on FB work out? Since your photos go "viral" you should be swamped with work through FB inquiries..., or is it more along the lines of the OP that you, I and others are just one of millions of photographers on FB posting our awesome shots not really turning the exposure into business?

Maybe I did not explain well :  I hardly get any direct business through my facebook page, just a few likes.  But my customers post my photos on THEIR facebook accounts, and these photos are marked with "Anyka".  Friends and family of my customers see those photos, click on "like", ask where they can get such awesome photos too etc etc.  That's what I mean with viral.  I don't get any orders through facebook, but many facebookers arrive on my website because they saw my portraits on their friends' facebook pages.
I keep my list of friends very local, because my portrait customers are local.  If I do a pregnancy photo shoot, I add the customer to my friends, because she's a potential customer with her baby.
You'll understand that I never post stock photos there - I would not like it if my stock bestsellers went "viral".  But the portraits are paid for by my customers, so they can post them anywhere they want.

Excuse my ignorance, but if I understand correctly, you are posting images from your paid shoots on your FB wall or gallery or whatever they call it and add the client to your friends list?

So basically everyone who is your friend already knows about your business anyways (e.g. you are not inviting/soliciting people to check out your business).

In the end it's still word of mouth that might bring business to you or is it that one (you) hope(s) that friends of friends check out your FB profile?

Is there anyone here who is a PRO in terms of using Facebook? I know that it's not intended to be a business network like linkedin but if companies do create business with FB how does it work?

I have a FB account, but mostly for keeping in touch with family and friends. I don't want to spend hours sitting there looking at everything either, I spend way too much time in front of my computer doing work. I swear one of these days I will go to get up from the chair and it will be permanently affixed to my body!

I also have a "business" page, where I post some of the graphic, web, photography and painting projects I am working on. But everyone who is a friend on that page is a personal friend too. When I set the page up, I couldn't figure out how to have "friends" on the business page and keep them separate from my personal friends. It didn't make much sense to me, and I wasn't curious enough to go track down the whole concept and fix it.

That being said, I am bidding on a web design project right now because of someone I "friended" on FB. (Friend of a friend). So I view it as more of a networking thing, just the same as if my sister worked for a company who needed web design and called me. I don't plan on doing any heavy "social media marketing campaigns" because I just don't think it pays off in the end. I would rather drive people to my regular website.

I'm with clickclick and shady sue. And I must be getting old, too.

A little OT, but along the same lines...watched a little bit of the country's athletes entering the stadium for the Olympics last night. I couldn't believe the number of athletes walking with cell phones, cameras and tablets in their hands, recording their walk. I just think that I would want to be SO in the moment, enjoying the applause and the excitement and the comraderie, instead of busy worrying if I was getting the right shot in the viewfinder so that everyone else could enjoy the walk.  

Thanks for all your posts. Most informative. Anyka, you seem to have found the smart way to use FB for your business. Let your satisfied customers do the walking/talking for you. An electronic word-of-mouth. Facebook is as it's name suggests a book of faces. And when you're in the people portrait business, by clever coupling of different marketing tools, it can be made to work for you, obviously.
As I mentioned in the original post, I'm not in the people portrait business and I still find it difficult to imagine any great business benefit for me from being on FB. However, I also take other comments into consideration too, eg........view it as something between a newsletter & Rolodex..........chance to tender for work via a friend of a friend. Perhaps I'm less negative about it now than I was but I still can't see it as an 'efficient' method for me of acquiring new business.

Think of your marketing as multifaceted and facebook is just one part of a marketing mix. Include a great website with SEO. Write blog articles and get them published with link backs. Use facebook and linkedin for other connections. Try Youtube for info videos about your knowledge. Its all just marketing and FB is just another fishing line in the lake.

I see a business plus just from being "seen."  How often do you watch MAJOR TV commercials to see or hear, "or check our Facebook Page and/or Twitter Account?"

It works.  Like Anyka, I'm gradually learning proper media etiquette.  

I see a business plus just from being "seen."  How often do you watch MAJOR TV commercials to see or hear, "or check our Facebook Page and/or Twitter Account?"

Yeah, and how often is it a waste of time looking there.
Their website is almost always much more useful.

It's hard to beat the good old telephone when it comes to getting business. You do a bit of research, call someone who might need your work, and see what happens. Eventually someone does and if you don't screw it up, you can get a long term client. If you do a good job, you may get a referral as well. I find with long term clients, you don;t need anything except the time to take them for lunch now and then. A web page is good for newer clients and FB is a complete waste of time.