Shutter Sisters

blog talk

By

Photographer Melissa Jill’s work speaks for itself. But that’s not all that speaks. Melissa has recently shared her expertise teaching a photo workshop in Ireland and has been a featured speaker for Pictage on the topic of blogging and how beneficial it can be for photographers. We were lucky enough to get Melissa to share some of her insights with us here. Enjoy.

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My experience with my blog has been slow growth. I started over two years ago and I think my mom was my sole reader for awhile :). Thanks mom! Today I have around 500 people a day stop by which absolutely blows my mind!

My blog has been a HUGE source of growth for my business. It does take time and thought but I’ve found the benefits blogging brings make the investment SO worth it. These are just a few of the many benefits of blogging:

-FREE marketing. Who likes free? Blogging is all about marketing yourself and building your brand. And the great thing is that people don’t even realize that’s what you’re doing!

-Non-interruption-based advertising. No one likes internet pop-up ads or commercials—they interrupt us when we are trying to do something else. But when people read our blogs they are actually CHOOSING to be there.

-Blogs create a sense of friendship. The reader gets to peak into your life on a daily basis. Hopefully they find something they can relate to and they form a connection with you.

-Blogs create and retain customer evangelists. Your clients more than likely will follow your blog long after their session is over. You will remain at the forefront of their minds and they will be excited to tell others about you.

-Networking. Blogs provide a forum for praising the people and things that you love. When you link to over vendors/photographers it’s like giving them a big hug. You’re sure to get one back!

As you can see, the benefits of blogging are plentiful. If you’re working on growing your photography business, there’s really not much else that you can spend 30 minutes a day on that will reap the same amazing results.

I often get questions from other photographers about ways to get more people reading their blog. My encouragement to all you start-up bloggers out there is basically “blog it and they will come.” The internet is a crazy thing that makes the world amazingly small.

A few more practical things you can do:

-Comment on other people’s blogs and make sure to fill in the info when it asks for your web address. I often get curious about my commentors and check them out. I’ve developed some cool online, long-distance relationships this way—one with the fabulous Maile of Shutter Sisters!

-Link to other people’s blogs when you find something cool or enjoy them. Oftentimes you’ll find that others will do the same for you!

-Collect email addresses from guests (if you shoot a wedding) or family members (if you do a portrait shoot) who want to view all the photos online. Send them an email after the wedding with a link to your blog post.

-Send out newsletters on a consistent basis to your friends, clients, and other photographers. In your newsletter, highlight what’s been going on and link back to your blog.

These are a few things you can try but for me, it’s been more important to focus on doing a good job of blogging–being consistent, sharing my personality, and making it interesting–in order to keep first-time readers coming back. I think that’s the real challenge of blogging. Anyone have any other thoughts to add?

Stop by Melissa’s blog to see how she puts her advice into action. She can also be found at the lovely Photogirls website.

Comments

  2. Melissa Jill’s blog and photography are touching and highly inspiring 🙂 Thank you for sharing her work with us, it’s amazing. 🙂

  5. Gosh, I wish I had a photography business to promote with my blog. It seems instead that I just promote me! Doesn’t that sound kind of terrible??

    Loved Melissa’s blog and her beautiful photography. No wonder so many people visit.

  6. I have been blogging since 2005, and all of Melissa’s advice is spot on! The only thing I would add is to stay away from "blog drama"! It’s just not worth it!

  9. Melissa, your photography is wonderful! Great advice on blogging. I don’t blog to expose/market a business, but I do blog daily and share my photography. My blog is kind of a humorous look at the simple moments in my life. A lot of your advice applies to a personal blog too. Good ideas.

  10. …yes I love Melissa’s blog. And one of the things I love about her is isn’t just into herself. She actually Does post on our little meager blogs =)~
    Yes that made a Huge impression on me. She took the time.

    I love her work and look forward to Always keeping her bookmarked on my PC =)

  12. Thank you Melissa! Now I have a new blog to check out, it’s beautiful!

    I needed some of this advice. I do have a blog associated with my business, but I think I need to make it more of a priority to post more often. And another thing that I really need to do is make it more personal. I tend to only post about sessions or business related stuff. But I think it’s the personal stuff that brings people back. But I also have a personal blog that I have had for a couple of years. So sometimes it’s tough to have enough content for both blogs without overlapping. But I don’t think I’m ready to give up the original blog. I’m always amazed at Maile’s ability to combine the personal and business on her blog.

  13. Very good information. I have had my blog for over nine months and I still have very few return readers, although I am just an amateur photographer. The only way I can seem to get readers is to participate in weekly blog events. All I really am looking for is constructive criticism so I can become a better photographer. I think I will take your advise and comment more on other people’s blogs. I tend to be shy and not comment, but it makes sense that if I want comments I should make comments.

  14. I’ve been a long time follower of Melissa’s and love her work! I just wanted to say that my blog is the only reason I have a new business! Just from posting photos of my kids I started getting emails asking how much I would charge for other people, etc. It’s blossomed and although I’m still new in the photography world, I have to give most of the credit to my blog and my amazing blog readers! And like Melissa said, once the shoot is over your client continues to read your blog everyday and so I’ve had people book multiple times a year b/c without my advertising they see what I’m offering! It’s great!

  15. I have been a Melissa Jill stocker…I mean follower…since she shot my wedding last fall. And let me just say….her blog, it works! Now I am entering into the business myself and love to catch up on several blogs. I must say for those of you starting out Squarespace has an AWESOME product to get started with. Thanks again Melissa for your advice! Katina

  16. Melissa- I have had a ton of fun blogging so far. It is truly a blessing to know you and to have had the experience to take the Zero-60 workshop from you! Keep smilin’ :).

  17. Welcome Melissa! I have been a Melissa Jill blog follower for a while now. I found her through Maile’s blog (which I found through Shutter Sister). I love Melissa’s work and her blog if fun an insprirational! She’s on my list of people I would like to meet one day.

    Thanks for visiting here!

  18. I have to agree, although I’m not getting 500 hits a day, I do get 25-50 a day, and it’s working it’s way up. If nothing else, it’s scratched that "itch" to journal for me, and I like that I can share my life with my family and friends without being stuck on the phone or in an email while I should be doing other things.

    I’m going to add shutter sisters to my blogs I visit list right now!

    Lana