A comprehensive guide to help photographers effectively use social media to promote their work, build a following, increase website traffic, and sell more images

New York, NY, January 22, 2010 - PhotoShelter, the leader in photography websites, photo sales and archiving tools for photographers, today released the latest in their series of free downloadable research reports for photographers.PhotoShelter's Social Media for Photographers, a free 55-page e-book, provides essential internet marketing guidance for serious professionals and aspiring hobbyists looking to grow their photography business online. Available at http://www.photoshelter.com/mkt/research/social-media-for-photographers the guide is designed to share insights with photographers who want to get started or optimize their productive use of social media platforms like blogging, Facebook, Twitter and LinkedIn as part of their overall marketing strategy.

PhotoShelter's Social Media for Photographers includes tips on: the ground rules for social media, choosing where to participate, smart strategies to stand out, generating social sharing and quality links, suggestions for measuring progress, and a listing of tools to save time and make participation more effective. The guide is designed to benefit photographers new to social media as well as those who wish to generate more results from their current efforts. Photographers can immediately start using the guide's actionable strategies and benefit from a healthy dose of real life examples from photographers implementing successful social media strategies across the web. Social Media for Photographers is sponsored by Adorama Camera.

"Many photographers already have a website, photo blog, a Twitter account and a Facebook page, but we don't see many using these tools to effectively market and grow their photography business. By giving photographers the information they need to grow their social media presence, set goals, and measure their efforts, we are providing them with new strategies to promote their work and ultimately generate more revenue from their photography." said PhotoShelter CEO Allen Murabayashi. "When done right, social media enables photographers to build a following, engage in dialogue, and find new opportunities to showcase and share their work."

Beyond offering websites and tools to help photographers succeed online, PhotoShelter consistently deliversphotography business insights that help photographers use technology to compete in a quickly changing marketplace. PhotoShelter started releasing free research reports in 2009, and has developed a series of comprehensive resources that make PhotoShelter the go-to source for marketing a photography business online. To date, thousands of photographers have downloaded and benefited from PhotoShelter's previous free reports: Photography Websites: Photo Buyer Survey, the SEO Cookbook for Photographers, and Google Analytics for Photographers. All of PhotoShelter's free reports are available here: http://www.photoshelter.com/mkt/research/.

"With social media, photographers can increase their online presence and multiply the ways their work gets found online. There are instant benefits, as well as ancillary benefits like better SEO," said Murabayashi. "To create this guide, we gathered insights and guidance from some of the world's leading authorities on social media for business marketing and branding. We interviewed successful photographers worldwide to understand who's getting it right and how we can share the secrets of their success with the greater community of photographers."

This guide complements the suite of social media sharing tools that PhotoShelter has developed for photographers who use PhotoShelter websites to display and sell their photography onl
ine. Embeddable slideshows for posting images on blogs, seamless sharing on Twitter and Facebook (and hundreds of other social networks) and RSS feeds are all available with all levels of PhotoShelter membership. Photographers can register for a PhotoShelter account at:http://www.photoshelter.com/ PhotoShelter can be found on Twitter (http://www.twitter.com/photoshelter) and Facebook (http://bit.ly/PSfacebook).

No technical experience is required to implement the strategies discussed in Social Media for Photographers, and PhotoShelter membership is not necessary.

About PhotoShelter
PhotoShelter is the leader in portfolio websites, photo sales and archiving tools for photographers.

Over 50,000 photographers worldwide use PhotoShelter to power their success online, with customizable website templates, searchable photo galleries, e-commerce capabilities, and bulletproof image storage. Photographers can create a professional PhotoShelter website in under five minutes, or customize PhotoShelter to power their existing photography website. A true solution designed to make the business of photography easier to manage - PhotoShelter offers image security, global accessibility, and advanced marketing tools so photographers can make their images work harder for them. To join our community, visit www.PhotoShelter.com.

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