Adding a blog to your photography site can be one of the most powerful marketing tools at your disposal. It can bring in clients, and help you to grow your audience. Your clients can get to know you through your blog, and feel comfortable with you before you ever meet. A blog can also help your search engine rank and as clients search for topics on Google or Yahoo they just might land on your website and book you! Click here to read more on why having a blog is important for your growing business. But there is one thing that you need to solve before you can start pulling in readers: what should you blog about?
Here are 5 blog topics you can use to grab the attention of your clients. When blogging, be sure to always remain positive, and include a call to action at the beginning or end of each post. Asking them to sign up to your newsletter or to book a shoot with your studio are effective CTA (call to action) options.
- Advice For Photoshoots
Unlike you, most people will only attend a handful of shoots in their lives. They may not be aware of what they need to bring with them, or how they should dress. Poses and facial expressions might be a complete mystery to them. After the shoot, how do they get their images on social media? How do they go about getting prints made and where is the best place to get quality prints? All of this can make them feel nervous about booking, and leave them unprepared on the day of.
You can pass over some of your expertise as a professional photographer. This will have two great results. First of all, you’re passing on your knowledge to your clients, which will relax them and allow them to trust you. Secondly, they will be more prepared when they come to your studio, which means that things will run more smoothly for you. This makes for a great start to your professional relationship. You can even reuse the article later on to send as a welcome email to new bookers. This creates value which could last for years – or even longer, with a few key updates now and then. It also keeps everyone on the same page – but remember to reinforce the most important points, as not everyone will read the full email.
- Explain How You Work
Showing what goes on behind the scenes of your shoots can also help to relax potential clients. It proves that you know what you are doing, and can be explored in a lot of different ways. For example, take them through the before and after of a Photoshopped image. You could also show them a wider shot of your studio and equipment, listing what you use and why.
You don’t have to give away all of your secrets. Most of your clients won’t care or understand which particular Photoshop actions you may have used. They just want to see the magical transformation of the image and of your ability to make them shine. The same goes for being super technical about equipment or techniques. Remember that your audience may have never picked up a DSLR before. Don’t overwhelm them with terms that they don’t understand. If you can encourage them to imagine themselves in the studio or having their own retouched images displayed on their walls, you just may convert readers into booked clients almost instantly.
- Explain the Benefits of Your Services
Explaining the benefits of your services and why they should hire you can be one of those blog topics which is a little more about the hard sell. If you do it carefully, you can strike a balance so that it does not come across as too much.
The structure of your blog post can be very simple. First, tell your client about a problem they have (for example, they may have nothing to hang on their wall). Next, introduce your solution and explain how it will help (getting prints made and having beautiful personal art to hang). Finally, underline how this will feel for them (taking pride in their images and showing off to visitors). Asking them to book with you at the end of your post, instead of right away in the beginning avoids hard sell tactics which may put them off. Make sure that you talk in general terms where possible.
- Tell a Recent Shoot Story
Something that you will commonly see on a photography blog are posts about recent clients. This is especially relevant for wedding photographers, who might post about a client every now and then to inspire brides with a full range of images from the day.
People like to read stories, and this feels like a much less pushy form of marketing. Plus, friends and family are more likely to read and share these in depth blog posts. That means more exposure for your page, and more potential clients. It also engages your readers, and gives them a glimpse into your world. Focus on the positives here as much as possible. Tell the beautiful story of a talented and bubbly senior who celebrated with a fun photoshoot. Describe how you explored a woodland glade to find the perfect light, and make people laugh by telling them about how you tripped over a tree root and almost dropped everything. Give them character and a compelling reason to keep reading.
- Give them Something Useful
Clients don’t just want to read your photography blog because of your interesting posts and pretty pictures. They want something they can use. This kind of blog post is all about adding value so that more visitors will come and stick around for the rest.
You could give something away for free – perhaps a cute photo that celebrates the season and which is sized for Facebook. You could run a giveaway where they just have to subscribe to your email list to enter and your clients will have a chance to win something. You can even give them free advice and tips. If you want to offer something to existing clients, how about a free template for their images? Facebook Timeline Covers are great for getting your name out there. Your work and business (be sure to add your website/logo) can be on display for months and even years to everyone that visits their page!
Can you think of an example post to fit these topic categories? Do you have one on your blog that is doing particularly well? Let’s hear it in the comments!
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