If you’re a business owner or a solo professional who spends time on Facebook you’ll want to keep an eye out for opportunities to participate and get known. But the key is to do it in ways that are not overtly promotional.

An opportunity came my way this morning. I follow the local printed newspaper’s Facebook Page and saw this post minutes after it was published.

Facebook post screenshot

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

As you can see the post is about the outdoor sculpture garden at the local art association, features a photograph of one of the sculptures, and asks: “What’s your favorite?”

This kind of post is unusual for the paper’s Facebook Page. Their posts usually state “Latest new 10/21/16” with a link to an article which also rarely features an image.

As a photographer wanting more local exposure, (pun intended!) I recognized the opportunity.

I knew I had photos of the new sculpture garden mentioned in the post, so not only was it an opportunity for me, but it was already a post that would attract more attention than usual from the 7,780 followers of the page.

I rushed to find the photographs I’d taken a few weeks earlier, chose an image and did the final processing.

I posted the photo in the comment section, publishing “as” my Facebook business page. I also left a written comment about the sculpture…not about my photo.

This is the key. Don’t post a photo and then point out that YOU took the picture. It’s not necessary. Add your branding and copyright watermark to the photo and leave it at that. Keep it low-key.

example of a watermark on a photograph

 

 

 

 

Keep your comment focused on the subject of the original post. Your primary goal is to join the conversation by answering the question posed and to add value by posting a pleasing photo.

Here’s what I did, how and why:

example of using advanced techniques on Facebook

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

I’ve certainly been known to spend too much time on Facebook for personal posting and participation. I often think I should schedule or limit my time, but mostly I check it continuously throughout the day. Today I’m glad I did! 🙂

What opportunities have you taken advantage of recently on social media?