At times I find myself Twitter’s round the clock cheerleader. I love this place!

Part of why I love it is that it educates me, introduces me to great friends, and makes me better.  That and it has totally exploded my small business, fleur de leigh photography. So this blog is for the sceptics, the naysayers who think that small business can’t benefit from places like Twitter and Facebook.  Here’s a true story.

Late one evening fully sate with Pinot Noir and bad hair that was driving me crazy, I decided to wield the scissors. I know. I know… Having seen the wreckage the next morning, I tweeted:

Being the savvy marketer that she is, Cindy who manages the Twitter account for Michael’s Salon & Spa (@MichaelsSalon), a beautiful local salon who follows me retweeted mine tweet and ALSO sent me a DM saying. “We’d be happy to fix those bangs for you. Give us a call and we’ll fit you in quickly.” Which I immediately did.  Kinley (shown above) fixed my bangs…free of charge!   Now several months later, I am a faithful client. I switched salons because she reached out deliberately with an act of kindness that CONNECTED with me.  Now Michael’s earns the $150+ month business for my hair care. (being blond isn’t cheap) Thank you Cindy, (@CynthiaDeVelvis) you ROCK!

This is just one way the Big Bang Theory grew business through social media. Here are 3 ways to springboard your local social media connections deliberately.

1. Pointed search: Utilize Twitter search for your local people. (ie; enter words like Dayton, Centerville, hair) and follow people who appeal to you or your brand. Then use tools like Listorious to access lists people have made related to your search terms.

2. Reach out: Having followers you don’t communicate with is akin to window shopping. You get nothing of value in your bag.  Say hello to people. Take time every day commenting/engaging/befriending people (or potential clients) you follow. You’ll find that these people will return your follow, engage with you, and potential become advocates for you.  Beware of the hard sell. Build relationships earnestly that’s what makes friends that sometimes become clients for you.

3.  Be a community evangelist: Share the successes, inspiration, stories of your community (people you follow) through RTs.  Attend or coordinate Tweet ups (where you can come face to face with your tweeple!) Tweetvite is a great way to find or initiate your own tweetup.  Embrace those in your community who are advocates of social media universes like Twitter.

Dig in and try it. While I can’t guarantee your business will prosper for it, I can predict that you’ll probably make a friend or two. Which isn’t all bad

You know the adage: A picture’s worth a thousand words.  With e-commerce, your clients have a nanosecond to size up your company from the visuals you provide either on your website or in here-to-stay swell of social media. What words are your clients hearing from your company’s images.

Relevant, intelligent, edgy, relaxed, refined, reputable, fresh, powerful, cool, unified, contemporary…

Brand as a word has evolved from the days of Gloria Vanderbilt to a corporate necessity defining the way companies position themselves in the marketplace.  Today, leaders in industry are choosing to invest in commercial brand photography to succinctly represent their unique brand with images that tell their story instantly and honestly.  With powerful commercial photography comes a clear message for your website, business collateral and social media presence.

Doing commercial photojournalism gives me the wonderful opportunity to make impactful impressions for my clients. In the corporate realm, I get to be an interpreter and storyteller with my camera. I interpret companies brand and take images that represent them for their business marketing needs.  I read people.  And people make the company.  That’s why innovative companies like Talent Revolution and Nextvoice247 hired me to hop up their marketing with relevant images.

Brand Cohesion in the words of Chicago visionary Gilbert Melott, founder of Nextvoice247.

fleurdeleigh: photographs are words captured from VoiceBox | Nextvoice247 on Vimeo.

Being a photographer gives me the pleasure of getting to know the people I work with, genuinely.  Commercial photography is getting a whole lot cooler. Working with the cool folks at Nextvoice247 & Talent Revolution rocked and was a great reminded why I LOVE my job.

Click [here] for more images from the Nextvoice247’s photo shoot.

Leigh Caraccioli

@fleurdeleigh

When I received the call from my childhood best friend, my emotional levee broke.  She called for reassurance knowing that I’d undergone a needle biopsy of my own.  “Think positively. They are probably just ruling out Cancer.”  With cracky voice, she agreed and assured me she would call back tomorrow with the results.  No call. I knew.

This is the part where I wish I could claim valor, strength, courage. I wish I could tell the story of a friend who zoomed down to Cinci right after finding out my best friend had breast cancer.  Tell you all that I was there at her double masectomy and after with support. Instead, I failed her and me.

Breast cancer looms large in my psyche stalking like the grim reaper patiently waiting.  Unlike Heather, I got good news a clean bill of health from my doctor after biopsy analysis.  So I am safe for now.  Having a maternal grandmother (my namesake) fight and lose to cancer before I got to meet her will leave a mark.  This is me trying to justify why I cowered when Heather got her news.

Now she is doing very well and I am coming to terms with my not being a good friend then in the face of my own fears.  In her honor and my grandmother’s, I have started Project Pink Photos.  Just me right now. Hopefully others in 2010.  What I can do for people, like Heather, is take family photographs at no charge.  This year I have selected a handful of individuals affected with breast cancer and offered them my photography service.  This way I am doing something for them and doing something to overcome my own inner fear.

More from Heather’s family gallery here.

Later this year, I will compile a gallery of these special images and share with you all inviting you to do the same in your neck of the woods if you choose.  You will hear more from me about Project Pink Photo in the spring of 2010. Till then, I hope you all stay healthy and wrestle your own fears back to size.

Leigh