Photographer Blogs?

I've got a quick question for you guys. It's been said that Photographer Blogging is a great marketing technique and a really good way to keep contact with loyal customers.I've never tried it and I'm kinda on the fence about it now. Anything that increases business traffic sounds like a win to me, but in the end how much traffic are we talking about? I'd love to hear opinions on this, and even better, if you have a blog how's your experience with it been. Also what are some good sites to set-up a blog at: I hear Wordpress is the goto source for photographers. And since were on the subject what are other successful marketing tips.

Thanks!
-James E.

Tags: Blogs, Business, Marketing, Photo, Techniques, Wordpress

0 members like this

▶ Reply to This

Replies to This Discussion

Permalink Reply by Ryan on August 17, 2010 at 9:00pm

You can start and try blogging here James ;-)

▶ Reply

Permalink Reply by James Elliott on August 18, 2010 at 3:02pm

That doesn't sound like a bad idea.

▶ Reply

Permalink Reply by Katie Vanderhaeghe on August 20, 2010 at 10:11am

I have been considering starting a photography blog, one that covers my day to day experiences and new things that I'm trying. But I'm still not entirely sold. I already have a sort of photo blog, for my 365 day project, but I consider that blog to be solely an art project, and I do not want to add any other things to the site.. but should I have two blogs? Or does the first one not really count as a blog? My 365 day project gets anywhere between 30-130 hits a day, which is pretty good in my opinion (considering I am just starting out), so I could see how having a blog might be beneficial. It allows possible clients to see some more "behind the scenes" type of stuff, and allows me to post "teaser" images to larger sets that I'm working on. I'm just worried about spreading myself out too thin, I already have a website, and the art blog, should I really have a regular blog too? Obviously I don't know.
Oh and my blog is hosted on wordpress and I must say that it is fantastic. It allows me to customize the layout and the extra features, it is easy to upload images and it tracks visits to the page (as well a bunch of other things like searches and if people click links on my site). You can look at mine here:
http://sweatereyes.wordpress.com/

▶ Reply

Permalink Reply by Gail Schechter on August 21, 2010 at 9:01pm

Hey James-
I have a blog on wordpress...it is very easy to use, and it is free!
For me it's just a place to rant about things, I really don't use it as a selling tool. It does have a stats widget that allows you you see the daily traffic....maybe that can help you.
Have a look!
You can add slide shows and other media as well.
Gail
http://www.grs614.wordpress.com

▶ Reply

Permalink Reply by James Elliott on August 21, 2010 at 9:30pm

Thanks for sharing the sites guys. They were really cool. Do either of you have experience with Blogger though? It seems like the more manageable and sophisticated site to me.

▶ Reply

Permalink Reply by Kristin Caballero on August 22, 2010 at 4:55pm

I use blogger. I have no idea what my traffic to it is, but it is a place for me to have fun and let me tell stories of some of my images. I only have 49 followers, and I doubt all of them read it. I do know it is the one place my father goes to and uses to spread the word about me. If it brings in more traffic, great, if not that is okay. It is my outlet and thats what matters most to me. I also have my website (which I need to work on the SEO for) and my shop on Etsy.

Here is mine: http://jrzygirlphotography.blogspot.com

▶ Reply

Permalink Reply by Larry Stone on August 22, 2010 at 7:41pm

I average about 160 hits a day with about 10 unique visitors a day. The goal I think with a blog is to keep your name fresh in the heads of the public, keep it up to date and I think you will see a dramatic turn around in your client base. It has really worked for me…

http://12northphotography.wordpress.com/

▶ Reply

Permalink Reply by Amber Kaitlin on September 12, 2010 at 7:24am

http://amber-kaitlin.blogspot.com/ !! Tha's my blog site... It's awesome. :D

▶ Reply

Permalink Reply by Peter Dyrholm on September 12, 2010 at 6:56pm

For this one I think the challenge is to keep it going and continue to keep adding stuff all the time. If you are really good at least 1 blog post a day and it has to hit your target. So if your goal is to get photography customers you have to display how good you are and the wonderful experience (yes marketing). In my opinion customers wouldn't want to read how good you are at photoshop but... all a matter of opinion ;-)
I like the idea of getting a free blog on this site. However for a target audience of photography clients I wouldn't want them to read my questions about how to approach a shoot. Mostly because when selling to a client you don't want it to look like you don't know what to do (yes more marketing).
I too have a blog but well not really sure that's the example to follow since I have not updated it for a looong time and kind of not hitting the photography client market but more the photography curious. Anyway it's here: http://udsigt.blogspot.com/

Great replies so far. I know I will have some catching up to do reading the other blogs :-)