It’s no secret that blogging is great for any business, but it can be quite a difficult task for creative businesses. I’ve heard every excuse in the world about avoiding the blog, so lets tackle them and give you some boxing gloves to punch these excuses out of the ring and so you stop being a blogging villain. The world needs to hear more of you!
1) I am not a good writer. This is a known complaint within the photography industry, as our mastered art is photography, not writing. We drool over the work of amazing writers like Jasmine Star, Mary Marantz and Katelyn James, but the good news is that they are the exceptions, and anyone can write and have a successful blog! If I can do it, ANYONE can! I am the girl that people used to complain about because I had typos and run-on sentences. I am the girl who is bilingual and way too impatient to blog. Now I am a blog contributor to Brazilian Photo Magazine and Senior Style Guide, and I have been featured in Rangefinder Magazine and other publications. Having passion for the topic at hand is what pushes me to overcome the huge obstacles, and there are many resources out there for you to blog better. I love how NY wedding photographer Scott Kretschmann uses his clients replies to write posts for him. He sends them questionnaires asking questions about the shoots and then quotes them! This is brilliant! I do something similar for weddings, but will start to use this method for engagement and family photo sessions too. You can use freelance services like Odesk to find proofreaders, or perhaps find someone locally, to proofread your blog posts.
2) I don’t have the time. This is one big lie we tell ourselves. “But Feuza, I am drowned in album design, behind on 5 sessions, and I have a double wedding booked next weekend.” Maybe you are even busier than that, but—isn’t it funny—I can find you online at any time, whether late at night or early morning. Would you be willing to show your log-in times for how much time you spend on Facebook, Pinterest or Instagram stealing valuable work time from yourself?
I didn’t think so. I actually did a funny video about this in the past—you can watch it here! Let’s shift some of our time and create new intentions about our time management because time is money, and time is precious, and we absolutely must make the time to blog more! The great news is that to make blogging work for your business, it’s quality and not quantity. It’s also actually promoting more than it’s blogging. My own personal blogging goal is to blog twice a week. Why don’t you start with the goal of blogging once a week? I’m sure you can turn away from some of these social media platforms and save 30 minutes a week to blog. I also share my tools for blogging faster in the Blogging Tools resources HERE. The number-one tool for blogging faster is Blogstomp. (Future blog post showing you how to use Blogstomp to blog faster coming soon.)
3) I don’t know what to blog about when I’m not that busy. This can be confusing if you’re thinking of your blog solely as a place to feature your clients. Although, yes, your blog is the home base for featuring your work, it should ideally be home base for serving your ideal client and be the perfect RESOURCE for your ideal client. You will have to do a client profile, and in the Keyword Beginners Guide that I created, there’s an exercise for you to start that profile. What does your client care about? Set your mind in the direction to write for them.
Identify your client: Is it moms? If so, what do mom’s care about? What can you write that’s relevant to them and their kids? You can blog about events in town, places to go, craft ideas, and so much more. Are they teens? Are they planning for prom? For college?. Whoever they are, you need to be a resource for them. Show them that you understand what they care about, and they will make the connection to how you can help enhance their lives with your products.
F.A.Q.: I’m sure there are some questions that you constantly get about your services, which indicates that folks are searching for this answer online—so BLOG IT. Take some of your F.A.Q. questions and turn it into a blog post.
Ideas are everywhere: Have you blogged about the products that you offer? Have you done a “best of” post yet? Have you done a “behind the scenes” post? What about upcoming studio events? Promos? Mini sessions? Think about holidays and do a marketing calendar around those.
Get personal: Have you blogged anything personal recently? How about including your kids in your blog? Did you recently take a trip? What about your personal photo work? You don’t have to share everything about your life online, but clients like to see the person behind the company, so get personal.
Overall, blogging can be tedious, strenuous and just overwhelming. I know because I’ve had all of these excuses, and it’s been a big uphill battle for me, so that’s why I launched the Blogging Challenge. If you want accountability and blogging ideas, join the Fuse lounge HERE.
xoxo
Fuse