To Blog or Not to Blog..

[veeee]

<p>This is my third year of getting serious about wedding photography, well you can say first cause before this I never advetised, and this Feb I did 2 wedding shows, and currently have 5 weddings booked (not allot compared to those who have blogs and are constantly updating with new photo shoots, these are the fold who do 30 weddings a year).<br>

The five weddings I have are kinda spread out...like some of the engagement shoots in April, some of the ceremonies and weddings in May some in Sept and Oct.<br>

A few things I want to ask is:</p>

 

<ol>

<li>If I do start the blog and update with shoots, I'd have some time between them were I don't have a shoot wouldn't that seem off putting compared to those shooting every day/week and updating. I'm in the South Asian-primary Indian Market. All the brides at the Indian wedding shows are scoping each site so they know who's really busy is not (if I did the bog).</li>

<li>I'm using Photobiz for my website I have a decent portfolio, but compared to those with a Blog I think I'm missing out on the spontaneous excitement, I can give my clients by putting up their most recent shots, and them in turn flipping it to their friends and family who can be potential clients.</li>

<li>Is blogging essential now a days in our field?</li>

<li>I do create a gallery for them which I leave on for a few months for them to flip to family and friends, would that suffice?</li>

<li>I find the photography bloggers out there are constantly in touch by facebook groups and their blog site, would I be missing out alot if I don't jump in the blog thing?</li>

<li>How much of an importance do you think brides put on a photographer who has a blog vs one who doesn't? </li>

<li>I'm really not a facebook person I do have a Facebook account for my business, but hardly update it that much, should I be scoundering my resources/time/effort on facebook and blogging? I woud say I'm a friendly person but not all that chatty and that's why facebook doesn't really attract me....I don't contantly like updateing my status...eg. I'm sleepy, going here there, doing this that...</li>

<li>At the end to be successful is bloggin absolutly neccessary to attract this face book nation now?</li>

</ol>

[william-porter]

<p>I very much doubt that brides care who blogs. I don't think I've ever gotten a gig because of my blogging. </p>

<p>To blog BADLY—which is what 99% of bloggers do—takes some effort. To blog well takes a lot of effort, and I would add, a fair amount of skill as well. And to blog effectively, that is, to blog in a way that helps to promote your business, takes very dedication and discipline, because you have to post regularly or its hardly worth doing at all.</p>

<p>You can get a free blog from many different services. Then you can give it a try. But if you do this, be sure to do a couple other things, to make your trial meaningful. First, give yourself a schedule and stick to it. For example, decide that you're going to post something twice a week, and then make sure you do. The second thing you must do is get some close personal friends or clients you are on good terms with to review your site (privately) and let you know how you're doing. You have to try to find people who will actually tell you the truth.</p>

<p>Finally, you have to figure out what you want to say in your blog. Do you have anything to say about photography? Do you want to talk about technique, like Neil van Niekirk at Planet Neil? Are you more of a critic, like Mike Johnston at The Online Photographer? Do you just want to toss up short comments every time you take a photo, like many photographers do?</p>

<p>My basic comment would be, if you don't feel the uncontrollable urge to do this, then don't. Concentrate on doing something else well. But others may (certainly will) disagree.</p>

[ianivey]

 

 

<p>You say you're "not a Facebook person," which I take to mean you don't much care about what you get out of Facebook on a personal level. I get that. But how you use tools, such as Facebook, a blog, a web site, or printed promotional materials, is a business decision you'll make based on your goals for expanding your business. It is less a matter of personality than of using the right tools for the right purposes, and if you lack the skill to use them, of learning how to use them well.</p>

<blockquote>

<p>5. I find the photography bloggers out there are constantly in touch by facebook groups and their blog site, would I be missing out alot if I don't jump in the blog thing?</p>

</blockquote>

<p>Your question demonstrates that you understand the potential value of Facebook and blogs. So, you already know the answer is <em>yes.</em> I sense that you are aware that you face two challenges: 1) you don't think you enjoy this form of marketing, and 2) you don't quite know how to make it work for you. </p>

<p>I say you "don't think you enjoy it" because you seem never to have tried it. Sometimes something you think you'll hate doing becomes quite rewarding when you enjoy positive results. </p>

<p>And I think you don't quite know how to make it work for you because you describe Facebook as a place where people post things like "I'm sleepy, going here, doing that...." Which, for some (mostly boring, annoying people), it is. But not for you. As a business owner, you know that the primary purpose of any marketing activity is to communicate your value proposition to potential clients. To help them see how they would benefit from using your services. </p>

<p>Posting "I'm sleepy" and other drivel not only fails to communicate any value proposition, it strongly implies that the poster has <strong>no </strong>value to offer, is a boring person, and is too lazy even to come up with something more creative than "I'm going to the store now!!!!! Dang!!! My exclamation mark is stuck!!!!"</p>

<p>You also face another challenge you might not have considered. If you read over your original post, you'll see a dozen spelling and grammatical errors, several of which make your post very difficult to understand. Perhaps English is not your first language, but will you post in English? Hindi? If you're posting in English, you should take care not to create the impression that you are poorly educated or, worse, sloppy. (Well, you should do this in <em>any </em>language, but perhaps English is a weak point for you -- I don't know.) I would take what William said a step further: poor blogging is not just hardly worth doing, it is far worse than no blogging.</p>

<p>The question behind your question is something like, "Aww, do I <strong>have </strong>to do that stuff?" In other words, you're not asking whether Facebook and blogging are "necessary" from a merely technical view. These are modes of self-promotion that appear to be quite successful from what I've read of others' experiences in these forums. Are they "necessary?" If WW finds this thread, I think he will tell you instead to print some business cards with a blank backside, carry 50, get a nice pen, and jab people in the neck with it if they don't take your card. Or maybe I've distorted his customary advice. Anyway, no, they're not "necessary," but some form of effective self-promotion is, and these are useful tools.</p>

<p>You mention that you've been "getting serious about wedding photography for three years." To me, this means you really don't enjoy the <em>business </em>of this business. Consider whether you really want to have a business, or just to take pictures. If you don't want to do what it takes to have a business, which includes a lot of hard work promoting yourself and bringing in clients, and communicating with them regularly in a way that is valuable to them, then just offer to shoot at weddings of friends and family and quit burdening yourself with a false vision of a successful business. Because that <em>is </em>a burden if you are never going to follow through -- it just creates a psychology of failure.</p>

<p>I would argue that there's no such thing as "getting serious about wedding photography" for three years.</p>

<p>If you <em>are </em>serious, then do the things necessary to make a business succeed. And--hear this in a gentle voice, not a mean one--stop asking for permission from yourself and others not to do those things.</p>

 

 

[veeee]

<p>Hi Ian & William, wow that was allot thanks!...</p>

<p> I guess yep I'm looking for permission but at the same time I want to know how effective this is, as I said I don't want scuander my resources/time on ineffective marketing, plus with only 5 bookings currently therefore not updating as much as my fellow photographers ( remember the indian bridal show has only a handfull of good photographers which the brides make rounds to by foot and fingers) I would seem less busy, therefore maybe less attractive. The Blogs would expose this and I know that this shouldn't matter if your work is at calibre but some brides want what everyone other bride wants or can't have regardless of quality, I've seen this many times. It's as opening up your year calendar at your booth and say I've got no bookings in Aug.</p>

[picturesque]

<p>I only post my opinion, which runs completely counter to most, and yes, I haven't tried it either. However, I know I would hate blogging because I don't like blogs--I don't like reading them (even my closest friends' blogs) unless I am getting really useful information in a highly condensed format, such as from a strobist blog. So my thinking is--if I hate them, would not that dislike show up in any efforts on my part? It would definitely be a forced effort.</p>

<p>I also think the venue for blogs, like websites, is fast becoming oversaturated (not just saturated) in the minds of prospects. Facebook advertising will become saturated (if not already) and oversaturated soon, no doubt. Used to be that blogging was a way to differentiate. Now, not so much. If these don't definitely impact your bookings, why do them, and badly (in my case).</p>

<p>On the other hand, you could try them, doing your best to adjust your attitude and give it your best, and see if it does impact your bookings. Then you'll know.</p>

[missy_kay]

<p>I blog all the time and no one ever comments or probably even reads it. And it takes me forever to blog a wedding too. I guess I'll keep trying it for this season but may not do it in the future.</p>

[ianivey]

<p>Missy, would you tell us why you blog? Why did you start blogging? </p>

<p>I can imagine a blog that successfully drives business yet accumulates no comments. For example, I would not comment on photos of another couple while shopping for a photographer, but I would expect to learn about how various photographers relate to their clients from their blogs. And I would be more likely to contact and to hire a photographer who demonstrated in his or her blog an understanding of each couple's story and an individual connection with each client.</p>

<p>Do you have any viewership stats, Missy? You obviously know when someone has commented. You say no one "probably" even reads it, so I would be interested to know whether you have people at least viewing the blog, and whether you are able to track how many of those people end up booking you?</p>

[mitch_w1]

<p>I find blogs are great for showing prospective clients some of your work. You just forward them a link to a specific entry and they get some narrative of the day and photos to view from a particular wedding. I typically post around 20 photos from each wedding that covers getting ready to ceremony to reception, so they get a feel for my work over the course of the day. It's been a great marketing tool for me.</p>

[bill_clark___minnetonka_mi]

<p>I'm teaching a class, with another photographer friend on social networking in a few weeks. We are going to help our students set this up with a blog that also sends information to the various social network sites. Our class is full. I believe it's important to those of us who are earning money from photography to live.<br>

Fun!<br>

Check this video out:</p>

<p>

<p> </p>

[missy_kay]

<p>Ian, I do have stats and it says I get 40-70 per day on analytics but the bounce rate is high and there are no comments. It's probably just my mom visiting it 40 times a day lol ;)</p>

[veeee]

<p>Wouldn't blogs become a " Kiss of Death" if your not shooting somethng for 1 month between your next shoot? Kinda like putting out your calendar for everyone to see? sure if your busy like shooting every other day, it's awesome but some one like me just getting momentum I'd be shooting my self lol !<br>

Alot of brides want someone who's in high demand no matter what there work is like.</p>

[ianivey]

<p>Well, I guess it's good to know someone loves you and appreciates looking at your work. Even if it <em>is </em>your mom. :D</p>

[ianivey]

<p>Veej, what on earth is keeping you from taking pictures of other people between wedding bookings? I'm going to take a wild guess and say you have at least two friends, and probably both of them would be willing to model for you in a free portrait session in which you exchange nice, high-res portraits for a model release, and blog about how much fun you both had.</p>

<p>Know anyone with a baby? Know any families with kids, or couples who might like to have a portrait or some candids done by a pro? Go shoot something and blog about it. Just post 4 or 5 shots and a paragraph or two about the people you shot.</p>

<p>Yes, a blog with 6 or 8 new posts <em>a year </em>would be unimpressive. So fill it with other things. Added bonuses: you'll probably improve your photography along the way, and you might even garner some extra portrait business by accident.</p>

[veeee]

<p>Ya I never thought of it that way...that could work...</p>

[rt_jones]

<p>Many blogs I see are badly outdated... some haven't been updated in months. Either that or the weddings are few and far between. :) And the comments like, "I enjoyed shooting Jenny & Dave. What a fun couple!" get kind of old and sound patronizing (which they need to be I guess). </p>

<p>I think blogs are worthless and one's time spent on the care and feeding of these things could be better spent doing something else.</p>

[ianivey]

<p>All this being said, I'm still not saying blogging or Facebook are <em>necessary. </em>I'm just saying they appear to be valuable now, and at least the social media stuff like Facebook appears to me to be growing in importance.</p>

<p>I maintain my (still gentle) challenge that you seem to be planning to continue "getting serious" over the next several years and at this rate may develop this photography thing into a business sometime around 2028. </p>

<p>If you're happy with 5 engagements this year, then what you're doing now is working fine. If you're not happy with 5, then you've got to change what you're doing now, which I suspect is why you posted here.</p>

<p>Blogging and Facebook aren't the only means of self-promotion you have avoided trying. These tools might work for you, but you've got to face the underlying issue first: do you want to run a business? Or do you just want to take pictures?</p>

<p>There's nothing wrong with either answer. But because you've told yourself for three years that you are "getting serious" about this as a business, you might be struggling with the idea of letting go of the "business" idea and replacing that vision it with a <em>hobby </em>model. Lots of people shoot occasional weddings because they love shooting, but don't want to run a full-on business. If that's you, great! Acknowledge the fact that self-promotion irritates you and leave the "business" behind.</p>

<p>If not -- if you want to make it a business, if you can let go of the <em>I don't do Facebook </em>part of your self-image and instead start to <em>make business decisions</em> about which tools you believe you can learn to use effectively -- then write down a business plan, including phases of experimentation with various marketing tools, and get to it.</p>

<p>And post here often about successes and failures so that others may learn from your experiences.</p>

[thomas_hardy1]

<p>I love Blogs which show good photography, have witty writing, and that is up to date. I even bookmark them to read almost daily. Apparently more people are going to blogs as it makes the reader feel close to the blogger especially if the blogger allows and then responds to the comments made by readers.</p>

<p>I <strong>HATE </strong>blogs that have no entries for days - weeks.</p>

[juanita_ramirez]

<p>I absolutely believe that my target market (USA brides in the 18-28 range) nearly all look at the photographer's blog to see if 1)they are busy and 2)what their second tier work looks like. They know that you can get one money shot from each event that goes on your main website. They love seeing that you can get 20 or more money shots from any given shoot. I recognize that not everyone loves blogs, but for those brides in my target market, blogs are a big deal.</p>

<p>I put in valuable information and use keywords in my post titles to try to drive search engine traffic to my blog. I get a good number of searches for "Southern California Wedding Photographer" through Google and Google Images and people find their way to my blog that way. I do informative posts about how to look beautiful before your shoot, and that helps to drive traffic.</p>

<p>My blog brings in eyes that would otherwise not see my work. It was slow at the start and there weren't a lot who looked at my blog when I first started out. I have a lot of people who visit my blog very regularly now. It just takes time and patience. Sometimes you'll be posting when it seems futile, but building up a impressive blog over a few years shows that you've been doing it for a while and shows that you're serious. </p>

<p>Like a lot of people suggested, go on free shoots to fill in the empty spaces. If you're doing it right, you shouldn't have to do this for more than a year or two. It's good practice, and it shows that you're busy and working hard to create great photos all the time.</p>

<p>You can do whatever you want. Clearly many can survive in the wedding photo industry without a blog. I am thriving because of mine.</p>

[fotografz]

<p>I'm in the process of re-vamping my on-line marketing efforts. Completely new website, links to social sites ... and a blog.</p>

<p>Search engines love blogs, especially if you have a flash website which they do not love. The key here is to blog key search terms over and over ... like <em><strong>what you do and where you are</strong></em> ... and be consistent and creative in content to attract frequent visits ... rather than Twitter type mundanities. </p>

<p>IMO, you can choose to be a wedding blog, or a photo blog. One can add value to a prospective Bride but I would think it hard to maintain valuable content week after week in a relatively narrow band of the Bride's vendor needs ... unless you are also a wedding planner : -) A photo Blog could establish photographic credentials and knowledge for a potential bride to consider, while communicating a sense of your personality and the potential positive chemistry.</p>

<p>My intention will be to "photo blog" ... some of which will be wedding oriented. The wedding content can be skewed with clever and creative insights, instructive comments, wit and some charm to hold the attention of non-wedding visitors. However, photography is a much bigger part of my life than just shooting weddings. I travel to interesting places, I love animals which are frequent subjects, make portraits, have a love of historic places, frequently shoot at our various farmer's markets, do food photography, and a lot of challenging commercial studio photography ... and I privately teach photography on the side</p>

<p>If photography is not a big part of your life, I would think it difficult to blog about it. </p>

<p>I intend to frequently reference my blog on my social sites which go out to hundreds of friends and associates ... and in turn to their network. The value of which is the same as advertising frequency numbers ... top of mind awareness. People don't refer you, unless they remember you.</p>

<p>The objective of Social and Professional sites like Facebook and Linkedin is <strong><em>networking</em></strong> marketing ... frequency of impressions counts just like in advertising. </p>

<p>One potential advantage lies in what is called "Merchandising The Advertising" ... a place to reference when wooing a new prospect. I do this with my Wedding Wire/Martha Stewart Wedding Store Front to provide new prospects with previous client ratings and comments. When I was awarded "Bride's Choice Award 2010" I put that on my Facebook page and shared it with everyone I know ... and thanked all my clients and those who worked with me for making 2009 a great year.</p>

<p>I believe Nadine is right, all this will is, or will become, saturated. However, that is the same challenge I faced in my advertising career for 30+ years. It is a matter of cutting through the clutter with meaningful content and creative presentation.</p>

<p>Of course if the return on investment in time turns out to be poor ... there is always the delete button ... LOL! </p>

<p> </p>

[steve_murray1]

<p>I went ahead and pulled the trigger with blogging for my business, but mainly as a way to establish credentials beyond what I can reasonably put on my website. It's one thing to say that you have the technical and artistic experience needed, and yet another to demonstrate it by actually elaborating on the points for those who are interested in seeing proof. Showing potential clients that other photographers can learn something from you not only proves involvement, it also proves that you are competent while they are still in the research and decision phases. A blog or social media doesn't have to be limited to just another place to stash your work. Some blogging sites even allow messages on Facebook to be generated on your feed with your blog posting. Letting all of your sources work together in this way builds up momentum and exposure far more efficiently than just legwork, which is vitally important, but limited in its reach.</p>

 

[steve_hovland]

<p>Use something like Smugmug where your galleries don't expire.<br>

Blogging is very time-consuming. Some big-name photogs do not keep their's up. I doubt that it pays off as much as some people want you to believe.</p>

[juanita_ramirez]

<p>Steve's right that some big-names photographers don't keep their blogs up. It is a lot of work, and if you don't have great photos to post on a regular basis, it might not be worth the investment.</p>

<p>As far as Steve's "doubt that it pays off as much as some people want you to believe," I will say that it works for me. Now, I'm not a nationally recognized photographer, but I've gone from being a relative unknown in my market two years ago to someone whose brand is now fairly widely recognized among brides in my market. I don't "want you to believe" anything, I'm just saying it works for me. Honestly, I'd prefer you didn't blog--at least insofar as you are a competitor at some level. Is my blog the <em>only</em> thing that has made me successful? Absolutely not. do I believe that I've increased bookings pretty significantly because I keep a current, clean-looking, well-designed blog? Absolutely.</p>

<p>I also avoid Smugmug and other similar sites because your images don't show up on search engine searches. I recommend hosting your own.</p>

[jim_douglas1]

<p>If done properly, blogs are the one thing that can start driving tons of qualified traffic to your website.</p>

[robin_fox]

<p>I enjoy reading others blogs but I'm not one to actually blog. Instead of blogging I have a section of recent weddings. It shows weddings more in depth and gives them a good feel for my style. But then I don't have to write and comment. Just my 2 cents:)</p>

[kate callahan]

<p>I have to agree with Jim. My blog has been a big part of my marketing. It takes work to keep up with posting on a regular basis ... but I enjoy doing it and it has really helped to spread the word. In fact one recent bride that booked me found me because she googled the venue where she'll be getting married and one of my blog posts popped up from a wedding I shot at that venue a little while back. </p>