Taking photos has never been more popular. However, we are not using high specification cameras to produce beautiful, technically correct photographs. Instead, we are taking them on our smartphones. We spend our days taking selfies to amuse ourselves and post on social media. Why take one selfie of you staring out to the ocean when you can take seven. We do this because our phones are always accessible, it’s fun, and, most importantly, it’s free. The majority of modern-day photos are taken this way. Most of the new generation would consider buying a camera because they already have one on their phones.
So before starting your photography blog, you will have to consider all these things. You can take advantage of your experience and knowledge in a different way to appeal to the new generation of photographers. Transferring your photography knowledge from a 2000 dollar Nikon to a 400 dollar Samsung might be the perfect niche for your blog. You can use your knowledge to engage a new smartphone-obsessed market.
Start with your website
Your website will be your photo gallery. Start with downloading all your best photos into a portfolio on your site. Divide them into different subjects like food, people, and landscapes.. Your landing page will be significant as you can display a variety of your photos with a different subject matter to grab your audience’s attention. Introduce yourself on the landing page and tell your audience about the mission of your blog and what you want to get out of it.
Photos take a lot of memory, so make sure you get the right web host for your site. We can recommend BlueHost. Their customer service will help you get started and provide you with the web hosting that suits your blog best.
Ensure the landing page has a wow factor. Pick out your favorite photos and highlight them here. If your landing page doesn’t send out the right message, your potential customer will quickly leave your site.
Create a name
You will have to create a name for your blog that will direct your target market to your website.This may seem like an easy task, but it is actually quite complex. Your name should be relevant to do what you do. Joe’s Photography tells people you are a photographer, but Joe’s food photography tells them what photography you specialize in. Business Name Generator will provide you with a selection of names that will suit your business. They do this by using AI algorithms. The names they offer you will optimize your visibility on the internet when people search for someone in your field.
Think outside the box
You can transfer your knowledge of photography on high specification cameras to everyday smartphones. Even the cheapest smartphones have a camera and editing functions to go along with it. Writing blogs about maximizing the camera functions of your smartphone will attract an audience. This is the way to make photography more appealing to the modern audience. When you have shown them how to use their phone cameras properly, you can try to interest them in the finesses of top-level photography.
Increase your website traffic
You can increase your website traffic by posting regular unique content blogs. This will not be a problem because your blog will concentrate on walking your audience through the camera features on individual smartphones. You will have a big selection of models to choose from, so you won’t run out of blog content at the start-up stage. But,at the same time, you will have to keep your blogs original and engaging both for your audience and Google ratings.
Diversify
When you have written several blogs about smartphone features, you can start blogging about the art of photography and all the different subjects that it entails. You can talk about a certain camera’s capabilities and what kind of photography they are best suited for. This will create a new market for your blog, and serious photographers will begin to take an interest
Critique photos
You can ask your audience to send in their favorite images for you to critique online. This will be of enormous interest to your audience and increase engagement on your site. It will guarantee audience loyalty as they regularly log in to your website to read your latest thoughts on a photo. It will also be great fun and encourage interaction between you and your audience. You can encourage them to give their opinions on the photos, and you can answer them with your thoughts. Having something like this on your website will increase the interest your audience has for photography.
Market your blog
The first step to marketing your blog is to use all the relevant social media platforms. It would be best if you started marketing your blog when it is up and running and has all the features you want to have on it. You don’t have to spend too much money on marketing at this stage. The followers you get from your initial marketing campaign will indicate the type of people interested in your blog.
Your Facebook page is an excellent way to direct traffic to your website. Your posts can be teasers for your website blogs. “How to optimize your iPhone camera” is a perfect example of this. Don’t elaborate on the heading and post a photo of the phone underneath with the link to your website under that. Followers who are interested in the subject of the blog will check out your website.
Paying for Facebook booster ads will help you get more followers on your page and subsequently increase the traffic to your website. These booster ads don’t cost a lot of money and have about a ten percent conversion rate.
Instagram is the best platform to show off your photos. Post new and varied ones regularly and link to your website.
LinkedIn is the platform to use when looking for corporate work. Give a brief description of yourself, your background, and any companies you have worked with. Link directly to your photo portfolio on your website. Linkedin is Facebook for professionals and is held in high regard. Creating a good profile here is essential for the corporate side of your blog.
Backlinks
Post blogs from other photographers and link to their websites. This arrangement should be reciprocal, and they should do the same for you on their sites. By doing this, you introduce new content to your site and benefit from the backlinks from the other photographer’s blogs. Google likes backlinks, and as a result, more traffic will be directed to your site. The content in the guest blogs will also help to increase your traffic.
Monetize your blog
When your website has reached a certain volume, you will be in a position to monetize your blog and turn it into a profit-making business. All your hard work will start paying off now. However, before you jump straight into it, there are several factors you should take care of first.
Register your business
Before monetizing your blog, you will have to register your blog as a business. There are a couple of choices available to you, but a sole proprietorship will suffice in this case. An LLC (Limited Liability Company) protects you from trade credits in the event of bankruptcy. However, this should not apply to your blog, as any creditors you have should be small.
Business plan
Now that you have started a business, you should set your financial goals and list all the start-up costs that you will incur by doing so. Even if you do not borrow money, writing a business plan will give your business direction and define your marketing and financial projections for the coming year. If you are not familiar with a business plan, you can find out everything you want to know here.
Payment platform
Set up a secure payment platform on your website. Make it easier for your customers to pay for services or products on your site. Stripe is the system you would recommend as they process micropayments, take a reasonable commission on transactions, and are user-friendly.
Sell online
When your payment system is set up, you can sell your photos online. You can do this in two ways. Digitally and physically. When you sell them digitally, you send them a file of the photo. It is as simple as that. You can prevent people from downloading your images by stamping your company name somewhere on the photo. This stamp will be removed when the customer buys the print. When you sell a physical photo, the customer can choose the size they want, and you send it to them.
Selling your photos online can be lucrative. You can sell them as many times as you want and it won’t cost you any extra money. You do not have to replenish stock when you have sold a photo.
Affiliate marketing
Affiliate marketing is when you link to a product related to your blog. It is a good way to advertise as the linked company will be associated in some way with your photography blog and be of interest to your audience if they decide to click on the link. Affiliate marketing pays you every time one of your followers clicks on the advertiser’s link. How much you get paid depends on the industry advertising on your site. Still, a standard click typically pays fifteen to thirty cents. This does not seem like a lot, but it can add up. It is also a very reliable source of income. As long as you maintain your website traffic levels, you will make money from affiliate marketing.
Recommend and review products
Another way to earn money from your blog is by doing product reviews or recommendations. This can be pretty lucrative, and your audience can gain from it by getting a discount on the product when they use your promo code. It might be tempting to accept every offer to do this, but you mustn’t recommend anything that you don’t believe in, or that doesn’t live up to its billing. If you recommend a dud product to your audience, it will ruin your credibility and affect your business.
Ensure you test the product first before endorsing it on your site. Recommending good products benefits you, the client, and your audience. Product recommendations will be popular with your audience and increase their loyalty to your website.
Corporate jobs
Your website, in combination with LinkedIn, will make it easier to get corporate jobs. The prospective client can look through your portfolio and decide if you would be suitable for a particular assignment. Your website should have a segment dedicated to such jobs, and equities should be dealt with by email. Don’t include any set prices on your site, as you will assess each inquiry individually.
Top #3 Photography Bloggers
#1 Drizzle and Tip
Created by Sam Linsell, this photography blog focuses on a specific niche – food photography. Drizzle and Dip include tons of mouth-watering recipes, as well as travel articles, complemented by wonderful photos. It will make your stomach growl, for sure.
#2 Geotraveler’s Niche
As the name itself suggests, this blog is about travel photography created by Lola Akinmade. It features many helpful tips coupled with stunning pictures from all over the world, of which the latest are from her trips to Latvia and Nepal.
#3 Photography Life
This blog is quite different from the previous ones since it focuses more on general tips including lighting, composition, and other elements. Apart from such useful articles, Photography Life also features general news content and opinion on photographing certain locations.
Conclusion
You can have a successful photography blog if you combine your traditional knowledge with modern-day ideas. Explaining how to maximize the camera features on smartphones does just that, and you will find that there is a significant demand for it. When your website starts to grow, you can begin adding traditional articles about the art of photography. You can feature the two subjects on the same website, and your smartphone audience might become interested in photography fundamentals. Engage your audience by critiquing their photographs online, pointing out the good and “could be improved” aspects of them. When this part of your blog becomes popular, you will gain audience loyalty and probably increase traffic through word of mouth.
When you have built up enough traffic, you will attract advertisers. You will now be able to monetize your blog through product recommendations, affiliate marketing, and selling your photos online.
This whole process does not have to cost a lot of money. By building up your blog through unique content and customer engagement, you will have built a platform from which you can eventually make a living.
Author
Matija Kolaric
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