What's the Point of Twitter?

Good question.

Well, if it's used well it can be a really good marketing tool.  I'm far from an expert on the subject, but here's my top 5 tips anyway!

1. Be a person
People buy from people.  It's important to come across as a real person and not just an automated selling machine.  Use your own language, be informal and most importantly be yourself.  You should mirror your real life personality online.  It's less of a shock if people actually meet you!

2. Don't be an egg
 This is an extension of Number 1.  Get yourself a profile picture.  I always wonder why people don't have an avatar.  Are they shy, embarrassed or just lazy??  Get one!  I prefer photos but as a minimum at least get your logo up there.

3. Follow the right people
Firstly there's a chance they might follow you back.  But more importantly you can pick up tips and tricks from the people who do it well.  Follow your competition and people in the same business in different parts of the country as well.  You'll get a good feel for the latest trends in your industry and get some ideas for new products and offers.

4. Interact
Don't just sell!  Comment on other people's tweets.  Reply to messages.  And always say thank you when someone follows you.  And you can be a bit interesting with what you tweet as well.  OK, no-one cares what you had for breakfast, but other stuff might be interesting.  Have you won a new contract, had a good afternoon at a local attraction or at the beach?

5. Time it right
If you have an important message to get out make sure people will read it!  Around 9am and 5pm are peak times, but for a more accurate measure you can use sites like 14Blocks to see when your followers are on line.  If it's not convenient to tweet at those times you can always use sites like HootSuite and BufferApp.

Hope that's useful to some of you.  I'm no expert but these tips work for me...  And if you fancy following, I'm @ChrisLynnPhoto

Twitter Girls Charity Calendar

At last... I can finally talk about it!  After a strict embargo here it is!

Ages ago I saw a retweeted request on Twitter from @ByGinaEvents looking for models, venues, lingerie and photographers for a charity calendar in aid of PC David Rathband's Blue Lamp Foundation and Help for Heroes.  I thought why not?  I always like doing my bit for a good cause and it might be a good publicity opportunity for me as well...  So I got in touch with Gina (and her partner in crime, Jo) offering my services and pointing them at the Boudoir page on my website.  I assumed there would be loads of offers so forgot about it for a while.  Until I got an email through giving me a date and a location!

So on a beautiful if cold 2nd March I trundled off to Langley Priory armed with my camera, a few lights and a coat.

I arrived and was introduced to the models.  Vicky, Laura, Kerri, Candice and Helen were all lovely.  And terrified!!!  Let's just say there wasn't a lot of conversation...

Gina arrived and the girls disappeared upstairs to get changed and have their hair and make-up done.  That's no place for a 6'1" bald bloke with a beard so I went and scouted out a few locations around the venue for shots.  Unfortunately for the girls a few of them were outside!

Once Laura was done I took her off for a few photos on her own.  Might as well make the most of the moment!  Nervous isn't the word, but she was brilliant!  By the end I think she quite enjoyed herself...  Candice was next, then Kerri.  Who were both also incredible!  I think a few photos beforehand was a really good idea.  They seemed to relax into it and were ready for the group shots when everyone else was finished getting ready.  Especially Kerri "America's-Next-Top-Model" Miller!!

Next were the group shots.  We started on the stairs and moved into the Drawing Room.  Which, now I've read it back, sounds like something Barbara Cartland might have written!

Moving on...  The girls were all fab and settled into it really quickly.  I think they might even have enjoyed it.  Just a little bit...  Kerri had to shoot off so we cracked on and got as much done with all 5 as quickly as we could.  Then 5 became 4 and we moved outside.  I was NOT popular at that suggestion.  But, completely professional, out we went and stripped off in 6 degrees.  Not me of course.  I had a coat!

Laura dashed off as well so 4 became 3 and we moved inside to the fireplace.  That brought a few contented smiles.  But didn't last long once we went outside again!  I think it would be fair to say the spray from the fountain was cold!  A few shots by the lake followed by some on the bridge and we were done!

Vicky and Helen used the last few minutes to have some individual shots of themselves before we all packed up and went home.

A few hours of editing later and I'm very happy with the results.  I really did have the easy job in all of this though.  This has got to be the most fun I've had on a shoot for ages.  Gina has worked incredibly hard to organise the shoots all over the country.  Not to mention the amount of driving she's been doing!  The venue is beautiful and the hair, make-up and outfits were fab.  Vicky, Laura, Kerri, Candice and Helen were all incredible.  Fun, professional and hard working.  And let's not forget stunning!  All in all a brilliant day, a brilliant project and 2 brilliant causes.

I can't wait to see the results!