The Significance of Getting Verified
Colby Brown
Lessons
Class Introduction
06:59 2Generating Revenue Through Social Media
19:04 3Selling Prints Online
14:40 4Image Licensing
10:41 5How does Sponsorship Work?
05:03 6The Significance of Getting Verified
06:15 7Strategies for Paying to Play
08:19 8Why use Facebook Pixels?
04:01Why Use Facebook Audiences?
04:03 10Creating Ads on Facebook
05:47 11Networking 101
11:36 12The Hidden Value of LinkedIn
08:40 13Marketing Campaigns & Brand Influencer Work
07:23 14Perfecting the Cold Email
14:00 15The Art of Pitching Clients
12:21 16Building Your Instagram Following
17:56 17Class Wrap Up
09:23Lesson Info
The Significance of Getting Verified
Getting verified on social media. This is a boon to your social brand, to your social value. It's mostly perceived value but perceived value is the same as real value, at least if you know how to sell it. So getting a checkmark next to your name on mostly social platforms can be beneficial because it can open up doors. Some places it means getting new features. Sometimes it means you can sell that idea to a company. All sorts of stuff. So benefits of getting verified. You get a pretty blue, gray, white checkmark next to your name. Who doesn't like checkmarks? it looks great. It's nice to have. It increases your perceived value. So when people look at it, it kind of increases that idea of, "Oh, this person is a celebrity, or they're known, or whatever it is. An increase in trust. Verified names, I mean, that's almost like the definition you're verified. They're verifying, these companies are verifying you are who you say you are. And not everyone has it so that can help you. Open up hid...
den features. There are times when I got verified through Facebook where my Facebook page had the ability as a page to do live video months, half a year, a year before everyone else. Usually, during those times, those features are very hot, so those companies are then pushing them. So when I did Facebook Live videos during that time, those things were being seen and pushed out there more so than they are now because now everyone can do it. A little bit of happiness. Who doesn't like to be verified? It's kind of a nice, you know, a quintessential checkmark on, you know, something that you've done. You feel vindicated. Instagram told me that they think I'm real. This is great. So getting verified on Facebook. Let's talk about a couple of them. How to do it. So first, you need to meet certain page requirements. So the page requirements are that your page needs to be set into a specific category. You have to have a category set. And then you have to have a photo, and a cover image. And you also have to have a phone number attached to, like, a verified phone number. You put a phone number in and they'll, like, text you, or call you, or something like that. So once you've met those requirements you can actually ask to be verified. Now generally you can't do it with a brand new account. They want you to have a certain number of followers. I don't think they list what it is, but if you grow in your following a little bit and you've got some engagement and you're present, then it's worth trying to get. So to verify, you're going to go into settings. Once you're in your page and under general, there's a general tab in your settings. This is again, inside your Facebook page. There's an option that says, "Page verification." Self-explanatory. Click on it. Once you click there, you click on the option to say, "Verify this page." And you say, "Get started." From there you're going to enter your phone number. Ask them to call you to verify. You enter a four-digit verification code that is given to you. Then you wait. So once that's submitted in, and assuming you've met the other requirements, they will go through the process, check you out, figure out if it's something that is worthwhile, and they'll get you potentially verified. Now when you go verify through this manner, do know that you do not get the blue checkmark. The blue checkmark means that you're a celebrity or public figure. I don't know why I have a blue checkmark, but I have one. When you go through this way you're going to get a gray checkmark. It's still a checkmark, so don't be disappointed, but just know it's not going to be the blue one. It's me and Angelina Jolie and a handful of other people have the blue ones. So getting verified on Twitter. Twitter's a great one. Actually, I just did Twitter this past year. Super simple. For me, it took a couple minutes. Actually, they were much quicker about getting back to you. So you need to meet the profile requirements, which essentially is a lot of the same stuff. Fill out your account information. Have a profile and a cover that, you know, represents you. Things like that. Make sure you have a bio. You have areas, you know, you have a website link. Things like that. Fill it out completely, like, have no spaces left blank. So let them know why you should be verified. So essentially what happens with Twitter is when you send it in you have to, like, send in, like, a paragraph. It's like a mini-essay of like, "Why should Twitter very you?" So for me, I was like, "I'm verified everywhere else. Let me in." But send it out. Let them know. Figure out, you know, what it is you think. And then provide URLs to support your reason. So you could sit there and say, "I'm a company. I'm doing this, and I love Twitter, and I'm really highly engaged. Here's my website. Here are my other accounts. This is the same name across the board." And then you send it in. And like I said, for them sometimes it could be a couple minutes. It could be a few days. But generally, they're faster than Facebook. Getting verified on Instagram. Everyone wants that, right? Yeah, there's no way to do it right now. Sorry. I don't want to get you guys all excited that I found some secret backdoor. As you can see, it's a sad face. I don't have a checkmark. So not verified yet. Essentially what you need to do is you need to find someone that has access to what's called a Partner Portal. These are generally people that are part of large ad campaigns or companies that work directly with Instagram. And have some sort of individual that works through what is called the Partner Portal System. In which case they can recommend that you as an individual goes through. It's hard to find these people. Maybe one day they'll open it up. One day I'll have a blue checkmark next to my blue connect button. I'm optimistic. But sadly there's nothing for you guys here for Instagram. I know we've got a lot of Instagrammers here. Everyone was excited. It was like, "Instagram." I saw faces smile and then right to sadness.
Ratings and Reviews
Linea Broadus
Colby's class was packed with great information for landscape photographers! From writing pitches to marketing with social media, he clearly explains how to achieve personal business goals. Thanks, Colby!
Beatriz Stollnitz
I was fortunate to be in the live audience for this course. If you (and I !!!) take the time to truly absorb the content presented and put it in practice, this course will pay for itself over and over and over. It is rare for someone at Colby's success level to be so open about the financial aspects of what they do, and the details of how they do it. Highly recommended!
Rodrigo Reyes
It was very interesting. I really recommend to other photographers who doesnt know so much how to make business using social media.