I Have A Blog But No Photography Clients – Now What?

by Virtual Photography

As a small business owner, you try everything to get the clients in. And if you’ve been around a while now, that probably means you’ve started using social media. So you blog, you tweet, you like, and you share. You spend more time doing that every day, and yet nothing is helping. How much more can you do?

It might not be what you’re doing. It might be what you are sharing. Just because you write doesn’t mean its considered valuable by your viewers. If it’s not new, funny, functional, or in some way makes us say “wow”, it won’t be shared,  retweeted or viewed. You can’t create traditional 1.0 digital content in a 2.0 conversational world.

We are no longer passive consumers that sit around watching commercials and making decisions based on what a company tells us. We are well informed, and make decisions only after we do a significant amount of research.

Think about your last purchase. Did you jump in quickly, or did you do your research. Did you buy blindly, or did you rely on a friend for more information. Buying is much easier when you share the same beliefs as someone else, and you know others are buying what you are. Even though we like to be independent, we really want to be independent while gaining acceptance from our friends. It’s much easier to be happy about a new item when others value it too.

Because society is changing, so is the way we market to this society. We don’t watch television – we TiVo it to avoid the commercials. We may see ads a hundred times a day on everything from billboards to buses, yet when was the last time one influenced you?

We get our information online because that’s where we spend our time. And we don’t go searching for ads, we search for informative information that helps us make our decisions. We don’t just rely on friends we hand out with on Friday nights. We also rely on friends that we’ve never met, even if they are half way across the world.

Which means the content we put online is more important than ever. You can’t promote yourself, you have to inform people. Try putting up a pure sales pitch without providing anything that provides quality content and you are sure to fail.

So what makes us laugh and smile, and want to follow you? What should you blog, tweet and write about on all of your social sites?

Be Interesting

What can you write that people will want to share with others? You don’t necessarily have to teach them something, why not entertain them? Understand your style before you start writing, and carry it through from social site to social site.

Be Useful

Do you provide value to your readers? Are they learning something? It doesn’t have to be long thoughts, simple tips are often of more value, and easier to send on to the rest of your list.

Inspire

Do you write about what inspires you? If not, how do you hope to inspire others? As a photographer, there are so many ways to inspire. Not only should you be posting photos from every shoot you do, but post the details too. People love stories, and with words and photos, you can tell so many things.

Build Your Personality

Being online in many ways is like building your own television show, and becoming an actor. What personality do you want to display to the world? Don’t be afraid to show your emotions, and talk about things that matter to you. The more you share, the more you’ll resonate with people just like you – and attract perfect clients that you’ll love to work with.

Solve A Problem

What are the most common questions people have when they talk with you? What are the most common concerns of the industry? How can you answer these within the social media tools you use?

Build Trust

What makes you trust someone? It usually starts with a connection. I went to a site once and found a testimonial from someone I knew – instant trust in the product. But it doesn’t have to be a testimonial, or about someone you know. What’s more important is how connected you are, how you use the technology, and whether you are there and reliable. It sets the stage for your business.

Unadvertise

If every post you make says, “buy this…”, you’ll lose in the social media world. Social is never about selling, it is always about providing quality content your reader can use. People know how to search, and will find you when they are ready to buy. Build the relationship first and they will come.