Blogging, you know you need to do it. It’s great for improving your search ranking with creative keywords related to your business but it’s hard, and there’s no instant gratification in doing it. Results can take months or even years to be seen, and if you’re anything like us at Focal you hate sitting down to write a long, drawn out post about a topic that you’re not that interested in. That’s why we’re going to outline some tips and tricks that will help you write compelling blog posts that work for your business.
Most photographers don’t write blog posts because, let’s admit it, you hate writing. We don’t blame you! It’s hard to sit down and come up with creative traditional blog posts like “top 5 poses for newborn photography” and “25 wedding moments that will make your heart stop.” That’s why we’ve come up with some creative solutions that make photo blogging easy, purposeful and engaging.
Yes, they are your client’s image, but you’re the one with the camera telling the story and sharing a perspective that is entirely your own.
Even though it’s someone else’s wedding, milestone, or family event, you’re sharing it from your perspective. You were there to witness all the ups and downs and only you can share your own perspective and reveal your thoughts and feelings to the reader. Don’t be afraid to connect emotionally to your work and describe why certain images mean so much to you. Remember, every photo speaks a thousand words - so you should have plenty of content to work with. No seriously, so much goes behind every image and potential clients would love to be able to relate to your story.
Potential clients don’t really care about what camera you used, or which ISO settings captured the best shot. Your clients are not professionals - that’s why they’re looking for a photographer in the first place -so all that lingo and professional jargon just goes over their heads. You may think that it demonstrates that you know what you’re doing but at the end of the day it’s your photos, not your in-depth knowledge of f-stops and shutter speeds, that’s going to sell you to your clients.
What clients really want to see is that you’re a human being just like them! Photography is much more than just capturing an image, it's the relationship between a photographer and their subject. That’s what makes for the best images. Clients want to know that they’re going to feel comfortable with you on their wedding day. If you’re married yourself, write a post about how nervous you were on your big day and how important it was to not have to stress about the wedding photographer, or about how funny and relaxed the last photographer at your family gathering made you feel.
If there’s one thing I remember from my English 12 class (thank you Ms. Wicken) it’s SHOW don’t TELL. As good as it is to write about how easy-going you are in your ‘About Me’ bio it’s much more effective to demonstrate this through human stories that potential clients can relate too!
So much goes into a wedding day - location, venue, florists, caterers, dress designers, wedding planners, so many people whose work is ultimately captured in your photography! It’s important to remember that photography is just one part of the wedding day and potential clients are also looking for other wedding services in your area, so use this to your advantage! Tag and hyperlink everyone that’s involved, who knows maybe a bride will stumble upon your website while searching for local florists in their area because you featured their work in one of your blog posts. Or a Groom may end up scrolling through your portfolio because you made a blog post titled “Top 10 best wedding meals I’ve eaten.”
Remember, there are only so many wedding locations, venues, and services in your area so hyperlinking these in your blog posts will help you appear in search queries that match your target audience.
Did a client leave a review? Maybe they thanked you in an email or text message but it didn’t appear on your Google My Business? This is a great opportunity to provide more social proof as to why your services are the perfect fit for potential clients and get those creative juices flowing!
Enough said. Don’t overthink it - your blog post doesn’t have to be perfect. It’s not going to drastically change the world’s social fabric or explode the internet. What it is going to do is give potential clients more information about your business, what it’s like to work with you, expand your website, and, over time, generate more traffic to your site!
