How I Blog the Majority of my Client Sessions

If you haven’t read the first blog posts in this two part series, I highly recommend going back to read Why I Blog the Majority of my Client Sessions first! A why powers a how more than anything else!

 But if you’ve already read the why, I’d love to share a little bit behind the process of how I keep up with blogging 50+ client sessions per year, as well as 20+ weddings!

If just reading that last sentence makes you sweat, I totally get it. Blogging used to feel super overwhelming to me until I made it a part of my workflow for each of my sessions/weddings. Now, it just feels like a part of the process that I can’t skip! Below are a few things that help me keep up with the process of blogging. I hope they help you, too!

 1.     Have a solid workflow that makes blogging a priority.

When I send my clients their final gallery of images, they almost always receive a link to a blog post as well – and that blog post link comes first in that email, before the gallery link! Why? I want my clients to see my favorite images from each part of their session first – leaving them with a positive impression from the start! I use a customizable template email when sending my clients their links, so it actually creates more work for me when I don’t blog, because I have to change my template email! When I know I really should be doing something in my business, I try to set up a process that makes it harder for me to opt-out (or, for example, not blog), so I have to do it!

2.     Make it easy on yourself, for Pete’s sake!

You will be much less likely to blog if it feels like a giant chore! Believe it or not, I actually feel excited when I finish a session and jump into creating the blog post, because I know I’ll be able to showcase the very best images from my client’s session to them first! But I digress: one of the best tips I could possibly give is to make the process easier on yourself by looking for ways to make your blogging process simpler and more streamlined. I love using Squarespace as my blog host, because it’s super user friendly and easy to use. I can easily upload my photos, tag my content to make it SEO friendly, and post my content without too much effort! I also love using BlogStomp, which allows me to quickly size images for my blog and make collages out of multiple images with the click of a button.

3.     Batch your blogging.

This is a big one I learned from a great educator and photographer named Jenna Kutcher! Batching your work basically means setting aside a large chunk of time to complete one task, or a repeating task (instead of going from one thing to the next, to another thing, and so on!). This past year (2018) was the first time I really buckled down on batching my blog content, and let me tell you, it made a world of difference!

This year, I worked on editing multiple sessions throughout the week, then created blog posts for all of my completed galleries at the very end of the week, usually on either Thursday or Friday. I felt like I was able to work on other content and tasks throughout the week without stressing about getting my blog posts done, because I knew that I would have time to really focus in on my blogging when the end of the week rolled around!

The best thing you could possibly do for yourself when it comes to blogging is to find a process that works for you. Your process might look different from another photographers, and your frequency of blogging might look different from someone else’s. But the key thing to remember: be consistent. Whatever you decide to do with your blogging, remember that consistency is key, and that you can always start small and build up! Don’t be discouraged by others around you who might be blogging more. We all had to start somewhere at some point. So just start!

I’m rooting for you!

Why I Blog the Majority of my Client Sessions

One of the biggest questions I get from other photographers is: how do you make the time to blog so many of your sessions and weddings?

Even though the question might be asked as a “how?” I’ve found the ability to remain consistent with my blogging in my “why.” Keeping my why(s) at the forefront of my attention when it comes to blogging has allowed me to continue to blog my sessions consistently for almost four straight years.

 If you’re looking for a how, I challenge you to first redefine your why behind blogging. Below are four of the top reasons why I continue to blog almost every senior, family and wedding!

1.     Blogging makes clients feel important and loved.

How do I know this? Because I have been the person on the receiving end of photos (and blog posts!). When our engagement photos, wedding photos, and anniversary photos were blogged – I felt SO excited and honored that my photographer thought they were worthy of being shared! I know that quite a few JHP clients feel the same way, because they’ve literally gone out of their way to tell me so!

2.     It’s an easy way to share the “highlights” with their friends and family!

Scrolling through a dozen (or a few dozen) images in a blog post is quicker and easier than looking through a gallery of a few hundred images. Not to mention, friends and family members could be potential customers who might need their photo taken someday! I like to view each of my blog posts as a mini portfolio that has the potential to reach the friends and family of whoever is in the blog post in a more personal way.

3.     It allows clients to see the best (or my favorite!) images first, (hopefully) making them more excited!

A blog post should include the best of the best, telling the story of a wedding day or a session. Seeing the very best of their gallery first heightens their excitement to see the rest of the gallery and sets a positive tone from the get-go!

4.     It helps with SEO and with getting people to your website!

I’m no expert on SEO, but what I do know is this: Google likes new content, and a blog post is a great way to add new content to my website! Sharing client sessions is a great way to build SEO for your local area and (hopefully!) get more clients who are looking for a similar service/product!

If you are looking to start blogging more, my encouragement to you would be to start small. Don’t feel like you have to start blogging all of your sessions at once with multiple blog posts per week. Start with one every week, and then increase your consistency as you start to find a rhythm that feels right for you. Remember: “The best way to eat an elephant is one bite at a time.”

I’m rooting for you!

7 Ways to Blog More Efficiently

If someone told you that they could give you a tool to market your business for FREE online, up your Google rankings, increase trust with your current and future customers, all while making your clients feel like a million bucks, would you believe them?!

This is EXACTLY what blogging can do! Blogging is one of my FAVORITE marketing tools I use in my business and has been essential in my business’s growth over the past few years! Though I most definitely have SO MUCH to learn in the technicalities of blogging, today I wanted to answer a frequently asked question that I receive from other business owners: how do I go about blogging consistently and efficiently?

Having a blog is a double edge sword. If you have one and you’re not posting on it – it doesn’t look too great, like you don’t have any work to share (and clients love to work with people who other people love to work with!). But on the same note, blogs can be incredibly tough to keep up with when you’re trying to manage a million other facets of your business.

There are seven techniques I’ve implemented throughout the last couple of years to ensure that I am blogging as regularly and as efficiently as possible. If YOU want to blog more but aren’t sure how to get the most out of the time you allot to blogging – these seven tips are for you! First:

1.  Choose a blogging schedule that you can actually STICK to, and make it consistent.

I’m no SEO (search engine optimization) expert, but I know that Google loves consistency and rewards websites that post consistently! (Read more about how blogging consistently affects your Google ranking here!)

In addition to being great for SEO, being consistent with blogging builds trust with clients and lets them see that (1) you are busy, and (2) that you have consistent knowledge to share that will add value to their lives and to the service you are/could be providing them! Because clients want to know that you are knowledgeable and in demand, it’s important to find a blogging schedule that is consistent and that you can actually stick to. Both of these things take time – it might take some trial and error to figure out what the best blogging schedule is for you!

For example, last year, I decided I wanted to blog FOUR times a week. Before that, I was only blogging maybe once or twice a week, but I was determined that four would be the magic number that would work best for me. Well, low and behold, my four day a week blogging schedule failed after the second week because I just couldn’t keep up! Instead, I decided to cut it in half and commit to blogging twice a week. THAT I’ve been able to stick to for almost a year now! But your optimal blogging schedule might be different. Maybe blogging once a week is perfect for you, or maybe blogging once every other week is just right! Whatever the case, choose a schedule and decide that you’re going to stick to it!

2.  Answer frequently asked questions.

This is one of my favorite tips for people who are looking to blog more. First: know who your audience is, and second: answer their burning questions! No matter what industry you’re in, chances are you have some type of reader, customer, or client who has a question for you, and answering those questions makes you an expert in your field (or, in their eyes!) and someone that people can rely on for knowledge. For example, as a senior photographer, lots of people ask me what to wear for their photos. Here’s a post I wrote answering that question! As a wedding photographer, lots of people ask me about what I think about a “first look.” Here’s a post I wrote on that! And as someone who owns a photography business, LOTS of people ask me what type of gear they should buy, and what type of gear I own. You can check out those blog posts here and here!

Not sure what questions you should be answering? All you have to do is simply ASK! Ask the people who read your blog or who buy your product/service what they want to know, and I have a feeling they’ll tell you!

3.  Keep a list of ideas handy!

I used to think of a great idea for a blog post while I was shopping, driving, or having a conversation with a friend, only to sit down later to blog and completely forget what it was! I decided I needed to start writing down my ideas as I had them so that I could have a plethora to choose from when the time came!

My favorite tool for keeping track of my blog ideas is Wunderlist. Wunderlist is basically an app that allows you to make lists on your phone – super simple, but super effective!

4.  Batch work.

This has been one of the BIGGEST game changers over the past year! I used to write blog posts the day before I wanted to post them, or I would write a blog post and want to post it right away. But by batching the writing and scheduling of my blog posts I now actually get more done faster, because my brain is already in the “writing” mode, and isn’t switching from one task to another. I’m also able to write a couple of blog posts within a span of a few hours so that I’m (usually) ahead of the game and prepared to post content a few weeks (or months) in advance! Whenever I schedule time to work on blogging, I typically try to take the first four or last four hours of my work day to do so, so I can REALLY get in a groove and pump out some good content!

5.  Schedule your posts on social media.

So now that you’ve written your content, you need to make sure you’re promoting it so that people can benefit from it! Using a variety of platforms to promote your blog content is key to more views and interaction. I love to use Instagram, Facebook, and Pinterest to promote my blog posts, in particular.

Because I batch write and schedule my content, I love to use social media scheduling apps like Hootsuite (for Facebook) and Grum (for Instagram), where I’ll write a short (and hopefully engaging!) description, paired with a photo, to promote and lead people to the post.

6.  Re-share your content.

I used to be afraid of resharing my blog content because I was afraid of what people would think. Why is she sharing this again? Didn’t I just read something like this?! But after listening to a podcast/pep talk from the host of the Goal Digger Podcast by Jenna Kutcher, I realized that no one is paying that close attention. If I wrote a really amazing blog post a year ago – you better believe I’m going to share it again a year or even a few months later with a different spin! And because I’ve gained new followers (and because there’s no way that ALL of my followers saw that particular blog post the first time around), it’s not going to seem too repetitive!

7.  Use apps like BlogStomp to create blogs with images MUCH faster!

I don’t know where I would be without BlogStomp! BlogStomp lets you quickly “stomp” (or save) photos into a web-sized format, and even lets the user create different collages with their photos (i.e., two vertical photos right next to each other). If you are someone who includes lots of photos in your blog posts, I promise that this will save you a TON of time and make your blogging move so much faster!

This post is in NO way meant to be your end all, be all for creating a blog. There is so much more to creating a blog than simply working efficiently, and honestly, still so many things that I don't fully understand that have to do with using key words, back linking, Google analytics and more technical things. I highly recommend checking out some additional resources to make sure your blog is running as effectively and efficiently as possible!