Family Photography Blogging // How to Make Blogging Fast and Easy
For many years, I spent the winter months depressed because I thought my photography business was dead. Bookings stopped and my income trickled to a stop and I felt utterly defeated.
The truth is, business was never dead (or even near death). It was just winter and winter is always slow (even when I was living in California!).
These days, after many, many years running this business and building a stable client base, my winter months are busier than they were way back then — but they’re still light, and my winter income is nothing like my summer or fall income. My attitude, however, has done a 180!
Instead of wishing for more sessions over the winter, I use this slower time to do a lot of work that needs to get done in my business but that I usually struggle to make time for. I’ve already covered several great ways to use winter in a previous newsletter (just hit reply if you missed it and want me to send it to you!). And today I’m sharing yet one more task that should be on your list before the weather warms too much: blogging!
Blogging is absolutely not my favorite activity, but it’s one that’s really important. It has a huge impact on whether or not you’re going to get found online (SEO!), it can help you connect with potential new clients, and it’s also a great way to showcase all kinds of work you do that doesn’t quite belong in your main portfolio.
Read on for the fastest and easiest way to get some blog posts scheduled!
A quick note: you can absolutely work to get more sessions over winter by focusing in on maternity and newborn sessions, brand work, and in-home work. It’s a topic for another day, but the point is that there is more than one good way to handle winter!
Family Photography Blogging // How to Make Blogging Fast and Easy
Before you dive in
Blogging is SO important for your SEO. If you want to learn more about this, check out this blog post. It will walk you through everything you need to get started with SEO-friendly blogging!
And also, if you’re not on Showit yet, it’s time… it’s the best website host for SEO! You can try it free for a month with code ‘hannah’. It really is the best!
How to blog fast
Here’s my process for putting together a blog post as quickly as possible:
- I choose my favorite images from my client galleries. It keeps me from being tempted to re-edit anything, and makes the selection process a yes/no answer… no ranking and no time wasting. I happen to use PicTime and love their blog feature for displaying my images, but even if I didn’t use that, I would still choose my favorites directly in my client galleries.
- Use ChatGPT for something it’s actually good for! I am not a fan of AI for much of anything. However… many of our blog posts as photographers really just need to have good enough content that incorporates our keywords. If you’re blogging to share a session, this is the time when I would actually recommend generating a blog post on ChatGPT, quickly reviewing it, and getting your post done. You can give Chat a word count to follow, keywords to include, and other guidelines. So handy!
- Block work and schedule: I get so much more done on the days that I am able to do block work. If you can pick one task and devote a longer chunk of time to it, you’ll save so much time compared to when you are switching between tasks. When you’re in the groove, you can absolutely get several blog posts done in an hour and have those scheduled out for the next few weeks!
- Don’t be afraid to repeat old content! I don’t recommend re-sharing a post word-for-word, but there is no reason you can’t use a favorite session you shared last year for another post this year. You can also split a longer session into two individual posts!
Family Photography Blogging // How to Make Blogging Fast and Easy
What to blog about
I firmly believe that blogging, as a photographer, is not something we need to overcomplicate. We want to boost our Google ranking, and give people who are browsing our website something on-brand to look through so they can further understand us/what we do. Here are the topics I recommend focusing on:
- Share your sessions. Not everything belongs in your portfolio, and your blog is a better way to showcase more range. As far as the text goes: I do not share personal information or use my clients’ names in their blog posts. I also don’t take time to create interesting stories or deeply thoughtful content. I use my session posts as my chance to hit on all my important keywords, and use ChatGPT to help me create some very easy filler content with those keywords. This is where the phrase ‘done is better than perfect’ really is the right way to go! Photos + keywords + easy filler paragraphs = good enough to help you on google.
- Recycle content from your booking information or session guide. For example, you can make a blog post out of your FAQs, explain what it’s like to work with you, share styling tips and places you shop, address client concerns/stresses, discuss how time of day affects images, when to schedule maternity/newborn photos, and so on. Break these into as many blog posts as you’d like! The ideas are already there and your work is halfway done — and this is anything but filler content. It’s so valuable!
- Share content specific to your town/city. This could be a list of places you love to shoot (if you’re comfortable sharing them publicly), activities you recommend for young families, small businesses you want to feature (think doulas, baby clothing stores, hair stylists, family friendly restaurants), and so on. People may not be actively looking for a photographer when they search for this content, but it’s never a bad time to get in front of a new face!
Annnnd that’s it! There’s actually so much to talk about when you start realizing that your own information and guides plus a few tips about your own city can take you really far! Even if you only have five sessions you currently want to blog, the last two categories can easily be used for another 10-20 posts that are genuinely helpful and valuable.
Family Photography Blogging // How to Make Blogging Fast and Easy
Important note: Remember that your blog post titles should reflect the phrases you’re expecting potential clients to be typing into Google. This isn’t the time for pretty, poetic phrases — it’s time to put yourself in your clients’ shoes. Great titles would be like the following:
Boise family photographer
Fall family photos in Boise Idaho
Boise maternity photo session
5 family friendly restaurants in Boise
The best spots for photo sessions in Boise
What to wear for summer family photos
How to do your makeup for family photos
These aren’t cute, that’s for sure! But they’re straightforward, keyword-rich, and Google will love them.
That’s it for now, friends! I have my own blogging to catch up on… best of luck to you as you dive into your own. Promise it will pay off!
Family Photography Blogging // How to Make Blogging Fast and Easy
I’m a family photographer and educator with a passion for real transformation. I believe in your talents and potential even more than you might believe in them. Really! I believe in you because I know that being a successful photographer isn’t about being born with the right skills, but about getting your hands on the right education.
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