Free Marketing: How to get Cred, Get Clients and Go Viral for Small Business Owners, Bloggers & Photographers

“Get your name out there.” You’ve probably heard that a million times, but where exactly do you start when your marketing budget is nonexistent and your inbox is flooded with “opportunities” from telemarketers and spammers claiming they can boost your profile?

Self-promotion is a struggle for most small business owners -- but it doesn’t have to be. There’s a way to cut your marketing budget to nearly nothing and get more clients, more blog traffic, and more industry cred. And before this starts to sound like a cheesy infomercial, we’ll cut to the chase: To market yourself effectively, without breaking the bank, you need to learn to write killer copy.

BrandsmashTV has assembled a team of the sharpest marketers in the industry, with some of the most-shared articles on weddings and photography (and wedding photography, of course). Together their articles have been shared more than 120,000 times on facebook and racked up over 1 million page views.  And they want to help your business do the same. Learn foolproof tips for solid SEO, how to get published on the top photography websites and magazines, and the secret to going viral.

On January 26, from 12pm - 6pm join us for:

Here’s what you can expect…

Speaker: Mike Allebach
Topic: Finding Your Niche & Getting Awesome Clients

Bio: Hailed by a Rock n Roll Bride as “the Original Tattooed Bride Photographer”.  Mike started a movement to make Tattooed Brides acceptable. Prior to wedding photography,

 he worked as a creative and marketing director for both for Profit and Non-Profit.  Mike's work has been featured in the Philadelphia Inquirer, Rebel ink Magazine, Boston Herald, Philly.com, Fstoppers, Peta Pixel, FroKnowsPhoto, Huffington Post, The Christopher Reeve Foundation, Times Herald, Lansdale Reporter, Souderton Independent and over 100 other blogs. 

What you'll walk away with:

• How to find your niche
• A NEW about page that books clients
• Secret client formula - only book clients you love working with
• The amazing Facebook ad secret that no one has talked about
• Action steps to take to make your marketing plan work for you
• A free marketing and PR plan
• How to keep relationships with bloggers
• 

"Over and over again, Mike Allebach demonstrates his skill set and understanding of the craft. He creates a solid reminder that it doesn't matter what your niche is - you still have to be able to tell the story." 

- Skip Cohen former President of WPPI, owner of Skip Cohen University

"Mike is like the omnipresent quantum leaper of online marketing. He is everywhere at once, always ahead of the game. Blink, and boom he's already moved, and you'll find him a step ahead of everyone else."
- Jason Spencer, http://www.tribe.ly

Speaker: Anne Almasy
Topic: The Awesomeness of Authenticity

Bio: Anne Almasy is a lifelong photographer, accent-free southerner, avid reader of inexcellent literature, and music lover (all kinds). She prefers whiskey over wine, cats over dogs, and flat shoes over heels — because you never know when you might need to run for your life.

A graduate of Hallmark Institute of Photography, Anne is a Wedding Photojournalist Association multiple-award winner, and her wedding images have been featured in various renown print publications including The Knot, Southern Weddings, Rock ’n’ Roll Bride, and Brides, as well as blogs Offbeat Bride and Style Me Pretty.  

With a thriving portrait and wedding photography business in Atlanta, Georgia, Anne was launched onto the national scene in 2013 when she blogged her open letter to a wedding publication, protesting their refusal to run her ad featuring a same-sex couple.  Her subsequent essay, “Resolution,” a call for couples to focus on what really matters on their wedding day, remains viral, with close to a million views.

Anne is a contributing blogger for Huffington Post, with a growing body of work promoting progressive family values and positive body image.  

She lives in Atlanta with her husband and one struggling bonsai."

Anne will be jibber-jabbering on about:

• The Little, Insignificant Habits That Will Save You When the Sh!T Hits the Fan
• Growing A Desperately Loyal Client Base
• Leveraging Your Weirdness To Turn a Profit

"Anne's talk on Authenticity was both thought provoking and practical. Business has given us plenty of reasons to be skeptical, and uncertain about what is genuine and what is not. We hear that to succeed we often have to put forth an image of ourselves that is not real. The way Anne frames the issue of authenticity demonstrates that it is not only rewarding on a personal level, but it is also good for business. The real-life examples she discussed were very useful in showing how Authenticity can be practiced successfully. She rocked!"
- Manuel Llaneras of Manuel Llaneras Photography

Speaker: Kara Wahlgren
Topic: Getting Published (What Magazines Look For)

BIO: Kara has 15 years of experience as a nationally published magazine writer and blogger. She’s worked on-staff as a deputy editor at Twist magazine and a staff writer at Penthouse magazine. Her freelance work has appeared in Men's Health, Women's Health, Glamour, Cosmopolitan, Marie Claire, J-14, and online at Yahoo, MSN, HGTV, Huffington Post, and more. She's been a guest blogger for MCP Actions, I Heart Faces, and AOL, and occasionally goes into stealth-mode as a ghostwriter for fellow photogs. She also takes a lot of pictures as the owner of Kiwi Photography, and drinks a lot of coffee as the mom of two toddlers.

SPEECHY STUFF: From brain-dumping on your own blog to getting published on a major website, you’ll learn how to:

•  Nail the right tone for your audience (and know when to STFU).
•  Put together the kind of pitch that editors can’t refuse.
•  Write compelling copy, even if you kinda suck at writing.
•  Go viral with your writing.

Speaker: Scott Wyden Kivowitz
Topic: Be Seen By Google

Bio: Scott Wyden Kivowitz is the Community & Blog Wrangler at Photocrati Media, photographer, blogger and educator.   Scott has over 10 years of experience photographing portraits, landscapes and businesses for commercial and personal purposes.  At Photocrati Scott provides blogging, virtual and face-to-face education around photography business, marketing and search engine optimization - all of which surround a photographer’s online presence.

Prior to Photocrati Scott brought developed the social media marketing campaign for the world’s largest camera warranty company and marketing campaign for a leading IT security firm.  With a background and education in photography and marketing, he uses his expertise and passion in his blogging and workshops.  Scott has been a guest blogger for popular websites like PocketWizard, Moz.com, MCP Actions, Social Media Today, Social Media Journal, Black Star Rising, The Photo Brigade and many others.

This class will discuss basic search engine optimization importance because no matter how often or how much search engines adjust their algorithms for modern search, the basics never change.

The following topics will be discussed:

• Choose the Right Keywords

• Optimize Your Website

• Building Links

• Optimize for “Local” Search

• Social Media & SEO

• Blogging

• Writing and designing for humans

• Social media marketing tips