​Social media play a big part of your marketing strategy. So you might already know that having regular posts on your Facebook business page is not as effective any more. Facebook wants you to pay to be seeing by your customers. Like it or not, Facebook is still cheaper than the traditional marketing tools. It doesn't mean you should stop using traditional marketing! You want to have social media as a part of your marketing. You need to advertise if you want to keep up with your competitors and being successful.
 
You don’t have to hire a social media professional, just follow these simple steps and see your results. Good luck! 

​​Location: Pocatello, Chubbuck, ID (+20miles)
Age: 24-55 
Gender: All
Detailed Targeting: Behavior/Interests:

• Likely to move
• First time home buyer
• Buying a house            
• Real Estate
• Zillow
• Buying and selling real estate, … 

I hope you find this article helpful! I will be more than happy to answer any comments or your specific questions. Have a good luck with your Facebook/Instagram advertising! 

​​I appreciate your patience with my English :-) 

There are many things you have to watch while taking real estate photographs. The easiest way is to hire a professional because even if you try your best, you just can't get the same results because of lack of professional equipment, experience and a good eye. However, there are still some things you can fix yourself so I hope this article helps :-) 

Notice: I didn't take any of these pictures. All of the pictures above are downloaded from Zillow.com, Pocatello ID area (no author stated). 

I had my youngest model in my studio today. It was a photo session with just 9 month old Eva. I usually take pictures of older babies and kids so this one was a new challenge for me. I loved it! I almost forgot how little and cute the babies are! 

I already had all I need for the photo session. The most important was the bean bag that I made myself. I had a couple of blankets ready. I used two light set up – AB800 and AB400.
 
I used my Canon 6D camera with 50mm 1.4 lens. The most of the time I shoot TV125, F(4-5.6). The lights were not full powered. I always check with my Instagram and adjust how it goes.
 
I used the white paper to adjust my white balance. 

I use Pinterest to prepare for all my session. I always spend too much time on it :-) Even when it usually turns differently it is good to be prepared and have some ideas about posing. During the session I improvise and when I am running out of ideas I look at my Pinterest. 

The biggest challenge is the time. I didn’t even realize all my ideas and two hours were gone!

Yee,I thought it might be quick. Baby is asleep, I do a couple poses with the baby and with the family together and here we go. Oh no, no, no. It took us a half of the time to soothe the baby to sleep. I didn’t use all the blankets as I wanted because I was afraid that baby will wake up again. It was difficult to pose her as I wanted without interrupting her sleep. Even when I had to improvise a lot, it turned out really well! I didn’t get plenty good pictures but I certainly have some great ones!
 
I ended up taking pictures just of the baby and spent the last 15 minutes taking pictures of mom with the baby and one picture of the whole family.  

The other big part is editing. I use Photoshop for all my edits. I don’t want to spend too much time with it so I use some basic editing in Camera raw (temperature, exposure, blacks, contrast). Then I run ready Actions and finish with contrast and sharpening. 

​I don’t like using too many props because I love simplicity and baby’s face tells the most :-). The only thing I would change is to have more time.
 
It was an amazing experience and I had really wonderful time! 

​It all started when we bought our first house in Pocatello, Idaho in May 2014. The house had a large backyard but the previous owners didn’t take care of it and it looked really terrible. We are DIY people most of the time but this seemed to be too much. My husband felt overwhelmed with my renovation ideas and wanted me to hire a landscape company.
 
In my home, the Czech Republic, I always went on internet, found a couple companies there and emailed them what I needed to do. Then I just picked the best offer based on references and price. Fast and easy. 

So as usual I went on Google. When I began my research I got really disappointed. I couldn’t find any local landscape company’s webpage or Facebook page to see their services, contact and realized projects. There were a couple landscape businesses but only with a phone number. I even caught myself chasing a car to see the company’s phone number on it. Then I just gave up. I wasn’t going to call all of them and spend tons of time to get all information. I talked to my friend who recommend me one company. The guy came, asked me many questions, then left and never showed up again with the quote. 

​There was not much time till the end of the summer and I wanted the backyard to be done! Once when my husband was driving through Pocatello streets, he luckily found a parked excavator with a phone number on it! The operator was an amazing guy. He worked on our backyard almost a whole day and we didn’t pay much at all! After he did what I wanted, we were able to do the rest ourselves with a help of our great friends.  

​What is the conclusion? The landscape businesses in Pocatello lost the opportunity to work for us because we were not able to find them, their services or their work on internet! The excavator operator did a great and not expensive job. However we were lucky that we found him. He would get more job if he is on internet. Even having a simple webpage, Facebook page or Google+ with his work would help.  I would leave him a positive review with 5* for sure!

Later, I realized that not only landscape business are not online. There are more great small business in Pocatello I didn’t know about just because I didn’t see them. They all are instantly losing the opportunity to get more business because there might be more people like me J. The online presence (webpage, social media) would definitely help them with their brand awareness and sales. Is it expensive? No! Basic webpage is not expensive or it is free without personalized domain. Social Media are totally free! Is it time consuming? Yes, it is but it is worth it! 

​I thought, maybe small businesses in Pocatello have enough work to do and don’t need more customers. Then I met my neighbor who owns a small business. I told her what I do and she got excited because she wanted to start with social media and have more clients! It didn’t take long and now I see how she is getting new clients from Facebook! I am happy for her but also for all people who found her because she does her business really well!
 
So please, small businesses in Pocatello, get ONline! 

Never ever say never. It is like my favorite commercial :-). I will never shoot with a flash. Then I bought an external flash. I will never use other than natural light. Then I set up my own home photo studio. Do I ever regret? NO! 

​At the very beginning you need to decide what you want to shoot in your home photo studio! It will help you to plan and buy your equipment. If you want to shoot everything it might get pretty expensive!
 
My photo studio is located in our small basement room. So I knew that I am going to shoot primarily newborns and kids, then small families and single portraits. 

I didn’t have any option. My studio is in a small basement room. However, if I can choose, I’ll get much bigger room with some natural light as well.
 
I painted my studio neutral grey color. I brought a grey photo card to our local paint store and they mixed the color to match the card. I don’t think it is the true neutral color but it looks and works great! I used a black design on one wall and it looks cool :-).
 
I covered the windows with grey/whist stripped curtains from IKEA, I also bought a small yellow couch, glass office table and small wood shelf and table, also IKEA :-).

The floor is covered by vinyl plank (It is cheap - $0.45/sqf and, easy to lay down and looks great). 
 
I am still planning to paint the main door and closet door with chalk board paint.  

If you do photography then you probably know that more expensive equipment = better quality. I didn’t want to spend too much money but I wanted to get a professional look. It wasn’t the cheapest decision but it also didn’t hurt my budget. It is like to buy a good lens :-).
 
I bought a professional strobe lights and softbox for the main light. The rest is just a personal decision. I bought the rest mostly on Amazon or BH photo (seamless paper). 

I shoot with my full frame Canon EOS 6D with Canon 50mm f1.4 lens the most of the time. I use Canon 135mm f2 lens for head shots.
 
I always use ISO100 to get nice clear pictures. The aperture is about F5.6 and I can still go higher because my strobe light are not full powered. Time is about TV 125. 
 
I don’t do anything difficult with lights set up yet. My main light is on the left side (45 degrees) and fill light on the right side (45 degrees) or in front of the subject above the camera. For newborn portraits, I use the feathering lightening (lights next baby – on side).  

I love my photo studio! I already took so many amazing photos of my little son and some great pics for my friends and customers. The light already paid off :-). 
 
I still have a big room to learn and wish to use the studio for more creative portraits. With my educational progress I am already thinking to buy more equipment… I even thing about getting a bigger room if I decide to use it more for more business. 

​​Recently somebody asked me if a profile picture should be a part of resume. I couldn’t find the right answer! Looking for a job is not easy. Resume makes the first impression and first step to the interview.
 
At first, I said no. You want to find a job based on your skills, knowledge and experience and not because of your look! Then I thought about it again. You are who you are. The profile picture is not just about your look but it shows your personality.
 
You want to know who you are talking to. When employers read your resume they can make a better connection with a person who they can actually see, even on the picture. The same applies to LinkedIn because employers use it as an online resume to find suitable candidates.
 
LinkedIn is a network of professionals, people who are looking for a job or people who just want to stay in touch. Having a profile picture to connect with other professionals in there is essential.
 
There are many articles that say how your profile picture should look like. In my opinion there are not specific rules. Your picture should look professional, show your character and personality and correspond to a job that you’re doing or looking for. I am not against pictures of people surfing on the beach if they are looking for an instructor job. If you want to distinguish yourself from others so then why not!
 
However I am a perfectionist so there are some basics that a profile picture should have. The image should be sharp and clearly visible, properly cropped and show your face. There should not be more people on the picture
 
I found out that a half of my LinkedIn connections don’t have an appropriate profile picture or don’t have any picture at all! It makes me wonder why…  

I wanted to start with a blog more than a year ago. When I finished my MBA degree at Idaho State University in 2014, I had so many ideas to share with others!  However as a professional and perfectionist I knew I need a perfect language to write. So I've been waiting and waiting and waiting. Now I realized that I would probably wait forever. My English can get better but will never be perfect. I will always do mistakes and will not always use the right words to express what I want to say. So there are only two options: Never write or deal with it! 

It took me a while but I decided for option two :-) I want to share my ideas and see if people like them and can forgive my imperfect English. I can always stop but there is no stop without beginning. So I am going to step forward and give it a try :-). 

I am going to share my experience, ideas and opinions in marketing, social media and photography. I always appreciate your feedback!