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Lesson Info

Content Marketing

Now I'm gonna get into my baby and one of my passions for this whole thing. And the way that I've been able to convert customers and I'm not just talking about the photographers that I teach, I'm talking about specifically clients. And I'm going to show you how this can apply for you. So, content, yeah, content marketing. The idea is that you're creating valuable content and then sharing it with people. And you do so freely, and what that does is it's giving you authority to them and it's helping convert people that, helping people that saw you originally just as a random person, all of a sudden they're connected to you. And then eventually they're going to become a customer. So the idea is, create valuable content, and share it. Ideally in the end you'll have those people be a customer. Now, what I'm looking at when I'm thinking about this is there's several different types of content marketing. So we talked about blogging and you're like, (groan) oh god, blogging, okay. It doesn't, i...

t's not just blogging. Let me just give you a couple ideas of what content marketing can be. And the idea is, you're producing good stuff so it markets itself because I've got something useful. I'm doing the cosplay example thing, so I've got my article on posing with a gun for cosplay and someone thinks it's interesting so it markets itself because people are gonna share it. And then this other site features it and links back to me so it's sending me more traffic. So the content is, just pretend that the content has nothing to do with the SEO part. Alone, it's getting people to talk about me and share me and build up my reputation, build up my authority and make me relevant to that community and make me part of that community. That's what you should be thinking. Oh, yeah, and it's the content that helps your SEO, because that's where you do all of the SEO stuff. So content marketing, to me, is super important. So let's talk about blogging. All right, so blogging is ... It's the most sure fast way of using content marketing and I'm gonna show you specific ideas of what to do for each type of photography. Next thing would be the guest blog posts. My example for when I lived in central, when I lived in Syracuse, New York, I wrote that blog post on wedding tips, or posing tips for brides, how to look your best on your wedding day. I wrote that content for a Central New York bridal blog. They have my whole target audience. My target audience goes, ah, this person's an expert, this person knows how to make me look good. They follow the link over to my site. It drives me traffic, it also shows me as an authority. Oh, it helps move back links, oh, it's SEO. See how it's like, it's all of these things built into one. So guest blog posts. Video is, particularly live video, has a lot of traction now these days. Do you have anything that you want to say about the live video thing? I just know that it gets my most engagement. Yeah, on Facebook, you know, Facebook is prioritizing video and live video especially. They want you to use their platform so even though that's a form of marketing, it's on Facebook, but live video is pretty up there so if you have a way that you can utilize it, that's something you should go after. Graphics or infographics. So what I mean by this is if there's a point you can make or something interesting or of value that can be done graphically, you could also do that, like an illustration. I'm gonna show you what I mean by this because it seems weird as a photographer to say that. And then things that are like quick downloads, like this is content like checklists of what to bring to your photo shoot. Things like that, these are all pieces of content you can share. But you can also do that content that I was saying that was adjacent content, like even sharing content that's not just, here's my photography. It's anything that is useful, relevant, helpful to your target audience. Which is why you do your customer profile and then figure out, well, what would they like to read about that I have something to say about? And we're gonna talk about the quick downloads and the checklists and whatever that, you know. We're supposed to do that, right now. Here we go. So we've got, and a perfect example. This is an infographic on Pinterest that we're going to review her site later on and her presence. So she did this about what to wear, tips to wear for your family, what to wear to your family sessions. Colors for the time of year, what not to wear, types of makeup, it's also talking about, she had something over here about color patterns. Taking a look at this, what were the numbers? So this got shared on Pinterest over 100,000 times and it went viral so you might think, all right, what's the use of this, you know? But we actually talked to her and said, "Did you get any business from this?" And she goes, "Oh, yeah, I got a ton of business from this." "People drove down from far away, other states," "to come down because they saw this on Pinterest," "they're like, wow, that's really cool, that's interesting," "they taught me something, and wanted to work with me." So that kind of proves the power of utilizing these different networks and different types of content. I mean, you know this as a photographer, like, I know how to make people look good. Why don't I put this in some form of information and it's just recycling the content. If you don't wanna blog about it, that's, this is just a JPEG that was made in Photoshop and then it was pinned. Just so you know, she didn't have any type of large following. It's not like she had a hundred thousand pins and has a huge, she doesn't. It was viral content. It was things that people found useful and relevant in her target audience and so they shared it and they pinned it. And so it gave her a ton of traffic. So what it did is, it took people from Pinterest and then if you have rich pins, it sends them back to your website where you can capture their email, for example. So what I'm thinking of is when I'm creating content, if I do a blog post or I do a guide or I do a checklist or I do something, I might mention it on social media and then say hey, if you want to check out the, or whatever, a blog post, hey, if you want to check out this shoot, check out my blog, so I send them to the blog and then when I'm there, I've got useful content and that useful content is keeping them engaged and clicking and Google's going, oh, yep, yep, people are engaged, they're liking this, so it's boosting up my SEO. Oh, and it's got all these keywords, we know what she's about, so it's just, like, the content is what does all of these things, all these goals we were talking about. So, let's talk about content ideas because this is where photographers are always like, this is painful, what do you do? One of the things you want to keep in mind is it's about being relevant. And one thing that's really useful is keeping it local. If you are a portrait photographer, boudoir photographer, or a baby photographer in a certain area, if you can somehow bring it around back to local, because then, if it's being passed around and shared, it's being passed around and shared to people in your area who are going to hire you. Oh, yeah, and if the keyword of your area is associated with it when people search your area, it's going to have the people that you're trying to attract whereas just newborn photographer in general, someone's not gonna probably fly across the country in a totally different area. Thankfully Google knows where you are and it makes those searches more relevant. But let's take a look at this. So these are 10 staple blog posts that every single photographer can do or can modify in some way, and most of it doesn't require a lot of work. Now, all the things I'm going to cover right now are actually in that guide that is included with the purchase of the class, so just, if you're trying to write it down, it's included with it. So the 10 staple blog posts. Do a short interview with your customer, with your client, after a shoot, so you don't have to write. You ask them what their favorite photo was. Favorite moment from the photo shoot. How about if you were an engagement photographer, ask them how they fell in love. Like, you don't have to do anything. Just ask them to write some things and in it, they're naturally going to talk about it. I personally when I have done this, I prompt them to mention the photo shoot because then it gets more of my keywords in there. You know, and I'll make sure that I include that. So testimonials and short interviews. Also maybe you pose them, how final images are displayed. So how are your products in the end displayed? Are they in a nursery, are they large prints? Not only is this something you can show to showcase like, this is the style of my photography and these are the types of clients which someone looks and says oh yeah, I relate to that style, like it's, again, you're part of their tribe, you're part of their group. But it gives you a chance to talk about your products and it gives you a chance to rank for those products. Like if it was album or prints or whatever it may be. Before-after photos, if the way that you retouch something adds a little bit of extra flare to it? It's relevant to show before and after and just, I just don't show like I got rid of these zits. I'm talking more like, other things, like toning or creative effects. A good example is also if you're doing a style makeover. You know, and it's a boudoir shoot and you see the before and after photos. Right, which kind of leads into the next one that I have there, the story behind the photograph. Pick any photograph you've shot, ideally relevant to your audience, and just, how was it made? I'm not talking technical, like, what was the idea that sparked you, what inspired you, where was it shot? Where it was shot is a keyword that people could search if it's relevant to your area. Okay, frequently asked questions, that's a really good one. If people are asking you questions all the time not only does it help them, but also, they're probably searching it in Google. So it's another thing, so I've got frequently ... When I first started my blog, every month, I would do a blog post about the frequently asked questions that I would get. I'm gonna skip to behind the scenes. People like that because they can engage with you and they want to see your personality. People don't just hire a photographer. Like you can't compare a group of photographers and decide necessarily which one's the best. Like, it's based on style, a lot of people, they can just say, like, okay, these are all okay photos. I'm gonna pick the photographer I think I'll get along with the best. The one that belongs to my tribe. The one that is in my community. So if you can show your personality and so there's someone in the audience who has a video and she's the geek photographer. She likes geeky things, and she has a video. And so talking about her love of all things geeky and how she captures that in photography, so if you've got behind the scenes, you've got videos like this and talking about your passion, someone goes, oh yeah, you're my people. I'll hire you because I'll be comfortable with you. People make those buying decisions. Personal or business accomplishments are definitely things you're accomplishing. People, they want to see that, they want to relate. And you'll actually notice, if you guys have posted accomplishments on social media, it gets a lot of engagement, right? People feel compelled to support you and in turn be supported. So that's also a way to get engagement. And then I recommend your photo experience from start to finish. Because that photo experience from start to finish, it uses your keywords, it tells a story, but it's important for someone to know what they're stepping into. A lot of people don't get their photos taken every day so they really wanna see this. So these are 10 things that you can do. Most of these things don't require that many words. Your interviews, your testimonials, how the photo displays, just be descriptive. No, more words are better, but it's not like you need to write thousands of words to be effective. I also recommend you be personal because of what I just said. You should have personal blog posts on there at some point of why you became a photographer. It also explains the style, like the vision that you have but it also, keywords and all of that. Life lessons, like if you are a parent, and you also shoot family photos, can you pass on a life lesson that you've learned as a parent, because it's going to be relevant to your target audience and it humanizes you and it makes people relate to you. So, what can you say from a life lesson that would relate to your target audience? Your favorite things to photograph. It lets them see your vision, but it also gets them thinking like, well, yeah, you know what, I would like them to photograph me XYZ. Like, I see what they're compelled by, I am too. Personal projects and charity projects. It's giving an insight into the things that you value, the causes that you support, the other side besides just your commercial stuff. The sell-sell-sell, like, who are you and what touches you? All right, now, this is the slide that everybody can vary, and then I'm gonna show you what I mean by this. So every single photographer can vary this in some way to be relevant to what they do. I still recommend, think of it like whatever type of photography you do you've defined your ideal customer, what can you produce, what can you write, what guide, can you do video, can you do checklists, can you do? It can take so many different forms. What can you produce that they would find helpful, useful, relevant, like, that's what they need. So the cosplay person, it could be making a cosplay outfit, or it could also be they have a post about safely using cosplay contacts. That has nothing to do with photography, but that's useful to them. Then it could also be what to bring to a shoot, so you've got to think, what does that target audience want? It doesn't have to be just photography-related. It can be related to what those people like. So for example, 10 things every photographer could do, what to bring to a portrait session, because people are always like ... What do I need? You always get that question, so it feels like, they feel more prepared. Number two would be photo styling tips and tricks, everyone always asks what do I wear? And that's why, you saw how viral that what to wear for different seasons for a family portrait went because people have no idea. So that's, they find useful. Favorite local photo shoot spots. One of the reasons I like this is because it lets you showcase your talents and your abilities in those places so it gives you reason to show those photos and you can mention those locations which helps you with search engine and people might be searching those locations. So it's bringing it local, it's getting people inspired, it's showcasing your work. Next would also be favorite photo shoot props, so things that people can do to make their photos more interesting they can bring with them. And it also relates back to the type of photography you do because you can talk about things for a baby, things for a high school senior, right, so you're bringing it back into your specialty. I really also like favorite local vendors or related businesses because if you're a wedding photographer and I talk about the florist I like best for picture-perfect photos and like, this is the florist that does the most exquisite floral arrangements, that's, a bride is going to find that interesting, is going to find that useful, is going to find that compelling, but also, chances are, that that florist is going to say, 'Oh, this is so great!' And then on all of their social media channels say, 'Look at this wonderful blog post' 'that this photographer just wrote about me.' And it sends all of their traffic back to me. And then if they had any authority on their site, it sends their authority to me. So I like to feature, and I mean, this could be ... This could be features on a local business that you work with or someone you partner with. You have to kind of think about the type of photography you do. It could be a local boutique for the lingerie if you are a boudoir photographer. A children's boutique, gotta kind of think outside of the box a little bit. Employee features or highlights. This is just a good way to take a peek behind the scenes of your business and granted, let's say that you're the only person for your business, I mean, you could actually make a joke out of that, and be like, me the retoucher, and discuss what you do as a retoucher, me the business person, and it shows really how you're invested in your business and you are that all-in-one person. Or, actually feature people that you work with. Holiday related posts, those are great because every year, it's evergreen and you can put kind of a timestamp on like you should be thinking about photography right now because of this holiday. Next would be decorating with images. If your customers are purchasing prints or purchasing images, what should they do with them? Or what can they do with them? Or inspiration of how they might use them in a unique way. Now, this is one of those things that seems to go counterintuitive to what I said about not marketing to photographers. Number nine is tips for improving your own photography or shots. But you need to make it very applicable to your target audience, so my example was, the bride, posing tips for the wedding day. It's for her, it's a tip for her shots to look better, not for other photographers to learn to pose brides. High school seniors, it might be three tips for upping your selfie game, and one might be talking about angles. Another would be talking about the light. Or, it would be a mom looking to see good light in your home to take pictures of your children. So just saying, oh, window light and where to angle them. But it's things that's applicable to them, not other photographers, but they'll say, 'Oh, this is great, that's really cool,' and then next time they need a more formal portrait, they're still thinking about you for photography. And then number 10 would be when to shoot, like when are appropriate times to photograph a newborn, like what time in the progression, or when's a good time of year to shoot on the beach? When is the light best at certain times of day? But also when you educate your clients not only do they see you as an authority, and they find it useful, but it also saves you if you're telling them when the good times are so they're not asking for bad times to shoot, whether it's times of day or times of year. So these, all of these, regardless of what type of photography you do, there's some way you can make these work. It could even be like, if you're a fitness photographer, you're like, well, how the heck can I make a holiday-related post? I mean, you could show creative, fitness-themed holiday photos that people send out for holiday cards. It's not as constrictive as you think it is. So take a look at these and you'll start getting some inspiration.