We’ve decided to cease our blog and devote our time to communicating with photographers via Facebook.  Why?  Because, like Twitter, Facebook is fast, two-way communications that engages our audience.  We can discuss topics that are important to photographers and they can ask us questions.  Those who tend to just observe are now chiming in and adding valuable comments.  Sometimes we start the agenda, and at other times our 165 photographers (and counting after just 2 weeks) start the ball rolling.

Facebook, and our dual link with Twitter, are providing much better formats for busy photographers who are now connected by iPhone and Blackberry as much if not more than by computer.  Responses are thoughtful and focused.  We hold several discussions daily on topics important to improving your photography and business.  The information is timely and provocative.

To join, you first need to join Facebook. Then search for the Pro Studio Supply group.  Everyone is welcome. The group is a mix of advanced and amateur photographers specializing in every type of photography.

Now is the time to book spring and summer weddings.

If you haven’t done so, get your portfolio in order.  Launch that Web site with your best work.  Gather up testimonials from satisfied customers.  Enlist their help.  Former brides are the best source of referrals for new brides.

Of course you need to advertise and promote your services.  So take advantage of this offer from Pro Studio Supply — a free customizable ad promoting your wedding photography services.

It is sophisticated and elegant.  All you have to do is put your pictures in and adjust the text.  That’s it.

Give it to your contacts, like your former bridal clients.  Print the ad in church bulletins and your community newspaper.  Send it to your customers in your statements and to your email contacts as an email newsletter.  Use it on your Web site to introduce visitors to your wedding portfolio, which should be on display.  Post your photography on a Facebook page.  Many photographers keep a journal of current assignments, with client permission.

In short, use all your resources to show people your work and tell your story.  A small investment of time can pay off big dividends.

A big thank you to all our readers who have made In Focus: Managing and Marketing Your Photography Business an Alltop Photography News Favorite.

Many businesses are feeling the squeeze of the bad economy.  But one supplier of professional photographic equipment is going out of its way to help photographers bring more customers into their studios.

Pro Studio Supply, a provider of professional photographic equipment and supplies for over 40 years, is offering free advertising templates that photographers can customize to promote their photography services.  Prepared by marketing professionals, photographers can easily insert their images and alter the text as needed.  Photographers can request the template from the Pro Studio website at http://www.prostudiousa.com.

The first template, titled In Family is Strength, promotes family portraiture sales.  According to Mark Stall, president of Pro Studio Supply, now is the perfect time to launch a family portrait campaign.

“Family and faith are what enable us to get through tough times,” he says.  “For the cost of a dinner out, a photographer can capture the grandparents, parents and kids together and create a memory of what really matters.  With Mother’s Day and Father’s Day around the corner, and spring, the time of rejuvenation, coming up, it’s the perfect time to sell family portraits.”

More professionally designed templates will be coming in the months ahead.  Pro Studio also offers marketing guidance on its blog In Focus: Marketing and Managing Your Photography Business at http://photobiz-infocus.