anner Posted November 14, 2006 Share Posted November 14, 2006 I've seen a lot of questions about the business side of Wedding Photography lately, and many of those questions have been about getting business, attracting customers, improving search rankings, and driving word of mouth buzz. A blog is a great way to accomplish many of these things, so I thought I would share some ideas with the hope that others will feel free to add to this list and to share their thoughts as well! Why blog? - To improve your search engine ratings (if you blog contains searchable text) - To keep your customers (and competition) updated on your latest news and work - To give your customers a way to personally connect to you and/or your business - To convey your philosophy/personality/style - To announce new products or specials - To make your clients feel famous and to show your appreciation to them (aka being a lovecat) What to blog? - Favorite images from your latest event or shoot complete with location info and any additional vendor info. Key phrases like "chicago, il" "engagement photos" "four seasons hotel" will get attract search engine rankings - website links will help as well. - Stories about the couple or the wedding - Your latest awards and recognition - Create a weekly or monthly feature, such as random favorite things, theme image or technique, favorite quote, fun stuff online, personal news, favorite recipe. It doesn't have to be photography related, in fact it may be even better if it isn't since it will give your clients another way to connect to you that may more closely relate to their lives. - New products or products that you're considering - Questions or contests for your readers - Sales and promotion information, deadlines for holiday ordering, holiday gift reminders and ideas - Personal news, happenings, and travels - Random thoughts - Ideas of things you'd like to try with future clients (plant the seed early! Trash the dress, sky diving, etc.) Think about the blogs you're addicted to and why you're addicted to them. Often times addicting blogs have a few things in common... - It's not always about business - They blog frequently and you feel like you've missed out if you haven't checked the blog in a few days, or they have a special feature that you look forward to weekly - They make you feel good or inspire you - They have a definite sense of personality - a single voice that comes through to personally connect with you instead of a stale company voice (this is the difference between a real blog and just a site for your company's latest news) - They keep the content fresh and change things up from time to time Here are a few of the blogs that I'm addicted to (maybe you are too?) http://bludomain.typepad.com/blus_daily_blog/ Even though this is a company blog, they do an awesome job of connecting to their readers and keeping them interested weekly! I think they actually do all of the blog ideas mentioned on the "what to blog" list above... favorite things, contests, new products, latest news, etc... they've got it all. http://www.xanga.com/garyfong1 I'm still trying to figure out why I'm addicted to Gary Fong's blog? It must be the totally embarassing videos he posts, but he also has a lot of valuable marketing and business information inbetween all of his crazy adventures. http://www.simplephotolife.com/blog/ Does anyone not watch Simple Photo Minute weekly?? Even if the topic doesn't sound interesting, I feel like I'm missing out if I don't see the latest Simple Photo Minute each week! I've found myself in a few conversations where someone has said, "did you see that spm when..." http://www.lacourphoto.net/ LaCour does an awesome job of sharing a personal voice even though it's a company blog - they accomplish it by "signing" each blog with the writer's signature. They also have beautiful work and just a really awesome philosphy on life. http://opensourcephoto.blogspot.com/ DJ has a great reading list and he likes to think aloud in his posts, which also challenges his readers to think about their businesses as well. So.... what are your favorite blogs? What keeps you addicted? How can you apply that to your business? Did you find this post to be helpful? ;-) (Disclaimer: my blog is not as great as it coule be, but knowing what I need to do is half the battle. ;-) Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
kari douma Posted November 14, 2006 Share Posted November 14, 2006 Great post Anne, Thanks. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
michelle a. Posted November 14, 2006 Share Posted November 14, 2006 Thanks Anne! Some new links to check out! I discovered pretty quickly that clients DO check out your blog.... it's a great way to connect with them. Almost every shoot I do gets a mention there, with a few pics added in..... I love making my clients feel special. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
anner Posted November 14, 2006 Author Share Posted November 14, 2006 Sometimes I feel like no one is reading the blog if they don't post comments, but in truth, there's often nothing to invite them to leave comments unless they are major lovecats and just like to publicly ooooh and ahhh over everything we do. So if comments are what you seek, ask questions. ;-) The best way to guage your web traffic is to use a statistic cookie counter. I use http:// www.statcounter.com to keep track of my blog traffic and where it comes from, which tells me that I do have visitors, and quite a few of them, even if they never leave a comment. It also helps if your blog has an RSS or ATOM feed as well as a place for people who don't understand these feedburners to subscribe with just their email address. If I read someone's blog, I often leave a message, simply because that's what I wish people would do when they read my blog. So, if someone leaves a comment for me and provides a link to their blog... I'll often check out their blog and leave a message for them as well! Since external links pointing to your website are another thing that boosts search engine ratings, it's in your best interest to post comments on other search engine friendly blogs with a link back to your website or blog. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
caseychappell Posted November 14, 2006 Share Posted November 14, 2006 I'm amazed by blogs these days. I don't know why I just have become addicted to them....too many of them to admit. They actually make it possible to get to know all these great photographers that I never would meet much less communicate with. It provides me with constant inspiration. My business partner just asked me what I did different with my last Engagement Shoot and that they were better than ever, and I had to admit that it was the inspiration I've been getting by blog surfing! My bookmark bar is LOADED! I have trouble keeping up with the friends I have now, I don't know why I'm adding a whole community of people that I want to stay on top of. :o) "It's for my business"! It's sooo much fun though. I do want to know how to do the signature thing. here are some of my favorites! http://www.mikecolon.net/blog/ http://homepage.mac.com/caddygrl77/blog/ http://homepage.mac.com/thebecker/iblog/B533212817/ http://sloanphotographers.wordpress.com/ http://blog.cuphotography.ca/ http://captivatingstudios.blogspot.com/ okay, and that's not all of them that I love! enjoy! Thanks for sharing Anne (whose blog I do have on my bookmark bar, love love your work! ) Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
anner Posted November 14, 2006 Author Share Posted November 14, 2006 My bookmark bar is full too!! One thing that I've started using to help me keep up with blogs when they post new content without checking them first, has been to use http:// www.bloglines.com which makes it really easy to type in the web address of the blog and it will automatically check to see if there's an RSS or ATOM feed available so that you can track all of your favorite blogs in one place. A fellow OSP photographer created a blogroll called http://ospsouth.com that instantly creates links to new posts from all of the photographers who expressed interest in attending the recent OSP get together that I mentioned last week. However, this only works if someone's blog has a feed or syndication option (and if yours doesn't have the option- it's time to get a different blog!) Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
kari douma Posted November 14, 2006 Share Posted November 14, 2006 What is RSS or ATOM? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
anner Posted November 14, 2006 Author Share Posted November 14, 2006 I think that's a better question for Wiki, Google, or About... http://weblogs.about.com/od/rssandcontentsyndication/ Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
amandalockphotography Posted November 14, 2006 Share Posted November 14, 2006 I am obsessed with blogs! http://www.boutwellstudio.com/blog/ http://www.jcsphoto.com/blog/index.html My absolute favorite... love love love this blog http://homepage.mac.com/thebecker/iblog/B533212817/C2084452993/index.html Way too many more to post... and Anne, I love reading your blog! :) Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
anner Posted November 14, 2006 Author Share Posted November 14, 2006 I have sooo many favorite photographer blogs, it's crrrrazy!!! I really don't have time to look at them all, but I can definitely say that even if it's subconscious, I know certain images stick in my mind and later come back to me as an "idea" when I'm shooting. On top of ones that have already been mentioned... here are few more of my favorite wedding photographer blogs... http://www.thewiebners.com/articles.cfm/ http://www.altf.com/blog/ http://s1blog.blogspot.com/ http://www.angelicaglass.com/blog.html http://www.kuperblog.com/ http://uberphotography.blogspot.com/ I really wish the following blogs had feeds!! But there is also something to be said for builing it into the front page of their websites... http://www.dqstudios.com/ http://www.easthillphoto.com/ Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
michelle a. Posted November 14, 2006 Share Posted November 14, 2006 Ohhhh.... I'm going through these links like a mad lady... bookmarking like crazy.... What have you done to me??!!! Hehehe.... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
aaron_lee___minneapolis__m Posted November 14, 2006 Share Posted November 14, 2006 It's amazing how in the age of complicated web technologies, the popular stuff on the web is personalized. (Well, actually, it makes perfect sense! LoL) Aaron Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
uber photography Posted December 21, 2006 Share Posted December 21, 2006 Anne....thanks for the mention. Our blogs works wonders for us, if you are a pro and you are not blogging, you are missing out. Chris http://www.uberphotography.blogspot.com Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
denarosko Posted June 15, 2007 Share Posted June 15, 2007 My blog has accomplished all you have said Anne. It's not hugely complex or spectacular, and I don't always post photography stuff. Mainly my initial purpose in creating it was to have a way to connect with family and friends--and to make new friends. I've added people to my blog roll, and reconnected with old friends, through this medium. After all, it's through connecting with people that we can communicate our message--whether it be hire us as your photographer, we just returned from vacation, or look at this crazy YouTube video. I've also posted my work, and you're right about posting comments as a way to generate foot traffic to your blog. It does work. And a statistic web analyzing tool works fabulous to see what hits you are getting on your site and where. My blog: R Abode at http://rabode.blogspot.com/ Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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