Carl Willis Internet Marketing Consultant, Coach & Speaker

Certainly using the hashtags on a single account is the best recourse for efficiency; however, as you are finding it does create some confusion and does not seem as personalized.

If you are not wanting to set up a separate Twitter for each city, you could set up a Twitter account for event changes and a separate account for event messages. (e.g. follow our Twitter channel for important notices about your upcoming event).

For a number of years I placed social media on the back burner, choosing instead to focus on SEO.

As I've evolved in my marketing, I realize the absolute power of social media for not merely connecting with an audience, but also to compel that audience to take a desired action.

Having now helped a number of clients develop traditional brick and mortar businesses by simply using a targeted social media strategy, I no longer see it as an "additional piece."

I personally use Subscriber's Magnet by MaxBlogPress. This is a one-time fee plugin, but it allows multiple points of engagement (e.g. top of page, bottom of page, sidebar, popin, comment box, etc...) to increase overall optin rates for your site.

My site saw a 32% increase in subscribers after deploying this plugin.

In addition to the answers you've already received, I would suggest utilizing an Amazon affiliate account and pointing your audience to "great deals" on photography related equipment and resources.

This way you are staying consistent with the theme of your group and you are simply adding value by making the group aware of things they could benefit from.

Two things that immediately come to mind would be use of webinars, that allow for audience participation, covering a specific topic of interest to your audience for either a small attendance fee or as part of a premium subscription. I would lean more towards the premium subscription for the recurring income.

The second would be to make regular book and audio resource recommendations from Amazon, providing your Amazon affiliate link to pick up the resource.

Schedule a free webinar and offer a value sample. During that webinar continue to reference the benefits of your monthly program. Make a call to action at the end of the webinar, inviting your audience to continue the conversation.

Schedule a call to develop a more clearly defined plan.

Reverse engineer your outcome. Start with the end in mind and work backward.

If you love working with people, what does that look like?

Sales, coaching, teaching, therapy. Sit down and clearly define what type of work with people you find most fulfilling and start working backwards from that point to where you are today.

By understanding the bigger vision, you will be able to more effectively eliminate the pieces that don't fit and you will be able to identify the possible stepping stones much quicker.

Schedule a call to discuss this further.

In theory they could own the business as long as the profit of that business were used to further the non-profit work of the school.

The bigger question would be whether the school actually owns the business or whether you as a separate non-profit were operating within the facilities of the school.

This all depends upon where your business is located. You may have to pay local, state and Federal taxes. You may also be looking at sales and use taxes as well, depending upon location, product and service.

I have not heard of the $1,000 rule; however, the determination for the need of a business license will come more from the requirements of your local government.

Check with your local economic development office to determine what licensing would or would not be needed for the particular type of business you have in mind.

Another factor would be the type of legal structure you intend to operate under (e.g. Sole Proprietor, LLC, Corporation). The corporation and LLC would have to be registered, while the sole proprietor may not have to.

Schedule a call to discuss your options in greater detail.