The first word that comes out of many photographers mouths when they are asked about blogging is ‘UGH!’. That is then followed up with ‘I hate BLOGGING!’.
When asked why they hate blogging, the most common answer is ‘I don’t know what to say!’.
Recently, I was speaking to a group of photographers at the Missouri Professional Photographers Association’s fall convention about social media. During the blogging section, a gentleman raised his hand and said, “I don’t get blogging. It becomes a place for me to post a few images from a recent session and say a few nice words about my client. There has to be something more.”
My response to him was “Other than photography, what is your passion?”. He looked at me with a blank stare. So I rephrased my question, “I know all of you in this room are passionate about photography, but what else are you passionate about?”.
He looked at me and said, “Food.”.
I said, “You are a foodie! Great! When you make a gourmet meal, why don’t you photograph the ingredients, the process, and the finished product? Create a blog post about your food obsession. Include the recipe so others can then make the dish too. Combine your two passions!”.
Another woman raised her hand and said she is passionate about gardening. I said why not blog about your gardening? Start with a blog post about the seeds you just ordered! Take your readers through the entire gardening process, from seed to blooming plant.
Photography is only one very minute aspect of who we are. All of us have other things we are passionate about. For me, I love fashion, my children, music, giving back to my community as well as photography. I can combine my love of photography with my other passions and blog about it.
Our clients, friends, and followers want to know more about us besides our photography. They want to know our experiences, our passions, and events that are going on in our lives.
My challenge to you is to take your blog, that is sitting there idle, and use it to let the world know who you are, what makes you tick, and your passions!
What passion will you couple with your love of photography and blog about?