On Blogging as a marketing component

[rdlugosz]

Early this year, I started keeping a Photography Blog (http://blog.rrdphoto.com) that I update several times per week with new posts. My topics range from photography technique & equipment, to how-to tutorials with Photoshop & Lightroom, discussion of recent shoots, and event some items of local Cincinnati, OH interest (that somehow pertain to photography).

Well, today my RSS Readership officially crossed the 100 subscribers mark according to Feed Burner. While that number wobbles quite a bit day-to-day, it's certainly a milestone. I'm currently at ~150 posts and a few hundred unique visits a day outside of the RSS readers.

I started blogging in part because of a suggestion way back from Andy with regard to marketing strategies for photographers. I must say it's been a positive experience so far! I frequently get emails from folks on the net looking for help with their photography... Better yet - I've seen a marked increase in the calls and emails I get from people looking for a photographer!

Bottom line is that blogging can be an effective part of your marketing strategy, but you need to have the endurance to post regularly... There's nothing worse than a stale blog!

Anyone out there have a similar experience?

Oh - and before I forget, please check out my blog (http://blog.rrdphoto.com) & subscribe in your favorite reader! :D

[caroline]

Early this year, I started keeping a Photography Blog (http://blog.rrdphoto.com) that I update several times per week with new posts. My topics range from photography technique & equipment, to how-to tutorials with Photoshop & Lightroom, discussion of recent shoots, and event some items of local Cincinnati, OH interest (that somehow pertain to photography).

Well, today my RSS Readership officially crossed the 100 subscribers mark according to Feed Burner. While that number wobbles quite a bit day-to-day, it's certainly a milestone. I'm currently at ~150 posts and a few hundred unique visits a day outside of the RSS readers.

I started blogging in part because of a suggestion way back from Andy with regard to marketing strategies for photographers. I must say it's been a positive experience so far! I frequently get emails from folks on the net looking for help with their photography... Better yet - I've seen a marked increase in the calls and emails I get from people looking for a photographer!

Bottom line is that blogging can be an effective part of your marketing strategy, but you need to have the endurance to post regularly... There's nothing worse than a stale blog!

Anyone out there have a similar experience?

Oh - and before I forget, please check out my blog (http://blog.rrdphoto.com) & subscribe in your favorite reader! :D

Hi,
Thanks for posting about your experiences. I like your blog and its good to know of an approach that actully has worked and produced results. This is what I would ultimately hope to achieve but at the moment I'm just feeling my way, searching for an approach that I am comfortable with and able to be consistent - I haven't found it yet, but your blog is a good example for me to follow if you don't mind ?

Caroline

[dogwood]

Anyone out there have a similar experience?



Yes-- I have a couple of blogs. One is completely unkeyworded or linked so it doesn't show up in search engine searches. It's designed as a way for me to be honest about my photography experiences. It's more a public journal and has a fair number of readers but won't be found by perspective clients.

The other blog is public and keyworded heavily and linked heavily to my site. It's helped tremendously with search engines. Search engines love text and html so that blog really is just a shameless plug for my business. Works pretty well for that too!

[rdlugosz]

Hi,
Thanks for posting about your experiences. I like your blog and its good to know of an approach that actully has worked and produced results. This is what I would ultimately hope to achieve but at the moment I'm just feeling my way, searching for an approach that I am comfortable with and able to be consistent - I haven't found it yet, but your blog is a good example for me to follow if you don't mind ?

Caroline

Thanks Caroline. By all means, feel free to follow in my blog's footsteps - I certainly wasn't the first on the net either! :)

Drop me a line one day when you get it going so that I can check it out!

[urbanaries]

Ryan, I remember when you started your blog and I am so glad to see its serving you so well! You do a great job and have relevant content. I'm going to sign up as a bona fide subscriber now....:wink
(Oh, and btw, the random ninja link in your current post is HILARIOUS! I don't get it but I sure did laugh!)

Pete...went looking for your blogs and couldn't find either one linked from your www.petespringer.com (http://www.petespringer.com) website.....:scratch:ear

[canonguy]

I recently started a Blog on my site. It has not geneated huge results yet, but the search engine has only crawled it one. Things will change more with the bot comes back for a visit. Hope the change is for the better.

[rdlugosz]

thanks lynne! you've got some nice shots on your site & I'll be following your blog... Reminds me that I've got to set up my main page! I like the slideshow type of thing that you're doing; maybe i'll ddo something similar.

krik - just keep in mind that the key to visitors is content, content, content. If you write it, they will come!

[Web-Media]

So... this is my first news post since i have been on your very nice Forum. I'm an italian reader and I liked this forum entry the most though, the way you said it was just amazing!
Cheers.
Michele

[altyfc]

Getting 100 feedburner subscribers is a great achievement... well done.

I think the key to blogging is putting up interesting material (obviously) but also (and this is where a number of bloggers let themselves down) updating regularly. If you don't have something happening at least weekly (personally I update my travel blog usually several times a day), then you're just not as likely to get the repeat visitors.

[Moogle Pepper]

I really enjoyed your blog! I have always blogged, back since 2002, but never on photography. It was more akin to my research and what I wanted to pursue in graduate school. But recently I started a photo blog as well. [in sig]