Hey, guys, welcome back to another episode of the Business Journey podcast, I'm Rebecca. And today's episode is going to be really, really exciting. I have a guest with us today. This is Kristina Dowler's. She is my copywriter, actually. She writes all our blogs and several of our emails and things like that.
So most likely, you've received a blog or an email or read a blog written by her, and she's just incredible. She's an extension of me, honestly, and she's just been such a valuable team member and I've like told the world about Kristina. I feel like I send her people all the time. She had to like close her doors at one point, like Rebecca, like, stop sending people I can't take on anymore, which was so fun, but I'm really excited to bring her on today.
We are chatting all about blogging for family photographers, and this is a topic that I know she is just an expert in, and I really wanted to bring her on and be able to, like, dig in her brain a little bit so that you guys can just see all the amazing things that Kristina is behind the scenes and why her role is so valuable. So. Hello, Kristina. Welcome. We're really glad to have you.
Kristina: Yeah, I am so excited for to be here. Thank you for having me. I can't wait to get into all this. I think it's going to be a lot of fun.
Rebecca: Yes. So Kristina has been part of my team. I think we're approaching a year like we. I feel like I brought you on towards the fall of last year. And yeah, it was before like we had all our crazy team hires. She was one of the OG's and it was super awesome. I remember a friend of mine telling me, Oh my gosh, my VA is amazing, and she was just raving about you, of course, because you are amazing. And I said, I need to talk to this girl like I already had a VA at the time, but you were just doing some other things that were in your zone of genius. I'm like, OK, I feel like I need this girl on my team. And so I remember, like, literally texting you while we were like at our little retreat thing and I was like, I need to meet this girl, I need you on my team. So I've been it's just been so awesome having you apart and having your hand in all the things.
Kristina: Yeah. No, I love being part of it, I think I think we are going on a year. It's been really fun to find my role in your team. I think it's really cool to see how many people you're supporting and they get to help support you. So I just love being a part of it.
Rebecca: Oh, so awesome. So can you tell everybody a little bit about you what you do? Tell us about your family where you are? Everything.
Kristina: Yeah, absolutely. So I am. I'm located in Virginia. That doesn't really matter though. I can work with anybody. I actually work with clients all across the US and internationally now. So that's really cool that the client list is expanded that much. But I've been doing this now for almost six years and I have been full time, three and a half now. I have to think about how old my son because that's what when I went full time. But it was after he was born, but I was a photographer first, so that was really cool to be able to kind of expand what I was doing and know that my clients who are photographers, they knew that I got it. They knew that I understood all of the technical pieces, but also just the client experience. So I started really getting into the stuff about six years ago. VA being virtual assistant, and now I'm really proud of me down into what I'm focusing on now, which is content writing and content creation. So things like what I do with you, blog writing, things that are great and things of that nature. So it's really cool to kind of go on this journey and start to realize like, that's what I'm becoming known for and really leading into that. That's been an interesting success, though, but I'm a mom, so I work at home with my son. He's three and a half, so this is all for him. So I could be home so I could be there with him. And he's actually about to start preschool. A few mornings a week is going to be a big change again. He's in daycare before all the COVID things. But anyway, so I get it all like, I get the balance, I get how it feels to do what you're doing and need a little extra support. So yeah, so it's been really fun to focus in on all the blog stuff lately, and I am loving all the chances I'm getting to talk about and teach people about it. So thank you again for having me for this topic. I it's going to be really, really fun. Yeah, dive into how family photographer blog because I think that's something I read into a lot as they don't know. They don't think they can. I think it's just for a wedding photographers or branding photographers , but there's so much power to it, no matter who you are. So I I just dive into that here.
Rebecca: For sure. Yeah. And I love how you said, like, you've really found your like an area of expertise and your I say niche. I'm not a niche person, but either way, a niche, niche because I remember when I brought you on, we had you doing, you know, array of different things, lots of lots of different tasks, as you do with a virtual assistant. You know, I feel like you fill in a lot of different roles, but I feel like I found really early on that you just nailed my brand voice and you were so good at creating something from nothing like I would give you two to three sentences about a client and you would create this beautiful masterpiece of a blog that was as if, like, you were there. You knew my clients and it was so incredible. And so I was like, Oh, forget everything else. Kristina's is only doing this because it was like, You're definitely your zone of genius that I'm like, OK, that's it. She's doing only copy because she is the most amazing person at copy. Not to say you weren't amazing at other things, but I would say that's definitely your zone of genius where you know I can write a blog. It's sure I feel like many people can write blogs, but to do it as quickly and as well-done as you do, that's something else. And so, yeah, that was definitely a big win on our end. So let's jump into the world of blogging for family photographers. Let's start out. What would you say are the benefits of blogging for family photographers? Because, like you said, a lot of people have this misconception that family photographers just like, don't have anything to blog about or like, what's the point? Because, you know, with weddings, obviously it's a wedding or, you know, branding or, you know, all these different, you know, genres. It's not the right word genre of photography branches. Maybe, you know, people know what I'm saying, but you know, we have this misconception that it's like, Well, I'm the family photographer. What am I supposed to say ? And so like, what would you say are some benefits for family photographers to be blogging? Kristina: Yeah. So I mean, no matter who you are, blogging is important because it makes Google happy. And when Google is happy, I mean, people referring you to people and you're going to be found a lot more easily, you're going to move up that that first page, I gather, is going to be number one on the first page of Google. So blogging, that's a big benefit. No matter who you are, right? You're you're feeding information to Google, you're showing that you're active between the website's active, that you're working, that you have something to provide. So that's the first one, you know, independent of anything else, getting Google to be happy with you as a reason you should be blogging if you're not already. Beyond that, it's something you can share with your clients. Like, we're always struggling, I think as business owners to come up with stuff to share online on our social media. And so if you write a blog once a week or even twice a month, that's a whole piece of content you don't have to think about. So that's nice. I you look on that content calendar and have a reason to show up what you're doing. And really, it's just it's another part of your client experience being able to share from that one session was like or a tip or what to wear things like that from one session is really powerful, so I think it's going to boil when you want to make Google happy, but you want to show your clients that, hey, like I am active, I know what I'm doing, I know how to kind of counteract any objections you might have. And I'm here to show you, like so many other families that love their experience, people so you will too. Whatever content you're writing, those are kind of the two big benefits. I think when it comes to blogging, especially for family photographers.
Rebecca: Yeah, I agree with that. I feel like as photographers, our blog is sort of like an extended portfolio that it's a place that clients can go and see validation like, OK, this person has worked with real people, real humans. They're not related to them, right? And get to read through their stories and see those extra images that aren't necessarily on a portfolio, something closer to a full gallery. Not to say we blog our full gallery, but that you know it's more than just one or two images that are in our inner portfolio page and whatnot, and that has been such a huge benefit for potential clients to go and just be validated that like, OK, this person knows that they're talking about, they know what they're doing and that kind of experience to say, like how cool to say, like my family was featured on such and such blogs. That's awesome.
Kristina: Yeah. And it tells the whole story like, we're storytellers, no matter what kind of photography you do, you're telling a story. And I think, like you said, you're not seeing the full gallery on a blog right. You're going to pick and choose the best images or the most meaningful images, but you're allowing your potential clients to see that whole story like, Oh, look, they are going to get that photo of me and my daughter. Oh, look, they're capturing the details during a cake smash that, you know, I might forget a year from now. So I think it's it's really it's another marketing tool and it's free. Like, already have a website, you're probably not updating regular. Let's be real, but you have a regular active blog like that is something you can want your clients do that you can. You can show them what you're doing consistently. And I think that this is really important and what kind of photography you do.
Rebecca: Definitely. And I know we're going to get into SEO a little bit later that search engine optimization basically making Google happy. But I wanted to. I think it's worth mentioning that when I first brought you on, that was the very first thing I noticed was that, of course, you were taking things off my plate that I, you know, wasn't writing blog posts and optimizing and whatnot because I never optimized my blog before. Like, I think most people don't. It's just things that you don't get instant gratification from. So you're like, Oh, that can wait, and it just never happens. But when I brought you on, we immediately started optimizing those blogs and anything that you wrote was optimized to be found on Google. And I'm telling you within like probably a month, I started getting inquiries from Google and consistently. And so now, you know, we've been doing this for a year. I get people all the time finding me on Google, in Nashville, in Dallas and Arizona, wherever that we have blog posts for that. And it's because it is done intentionally like that's not by accident. And Kristina was like clapping and cheering. You can't see the video.
Kristina: I love hearing that. Yes. And I think that's the thing. You know, we'll talk about this when we start talking about what to blog, but I'm a firm believer in doing things with intention, like if you're going to blog, whether it's twice a month, four times a month, whatever it is for you and your business. Be intentional. I know optimization sucks. Like, let's be real. Like, nobody loves that. I mean, I do like that, but it's like a little bit. But it's important. Like, you have to be intentional with this. And like I said, we'll kind of get into this more. But I think if it's done right, blogging is going to be really well and you don't have to do that much extra work for it when it comes down to it, right? Like you can become part of your process or within your team process. But when it's done well, it's going to serve you well. The point is to help you ranking Google, do all the things that we all say we want to do and we want to have happen for us in our business. But again, I think that that intention is really the key part of this and optimization is part of that. The good part about us is going to work for you. So I know it's boring, but it does make a difference.
Rebecca: I love that you said nobody likes to do that. Well, I do because and that's why Kristine is on my team because I don't love doing it and she does. So why not hire somebody that loves to do it so that I can spend my energy doing things I love to do
Kristina: Exactly.
Rebecca: I know this isn't about team building, but I feel like it just infuses itself in so many of my conversations anyways. So you mentioned a couple times about, you know, blogging once a week or every other week. Would you say that there's like a magic number of how often a photographer should be blogging? What what would you suggest? I know you worked with several photographers like what's the sweet spot of blogging?
Kristina: So people always want a magic number, and I have to say there isn't one. I always tell my clients and potential clients, I talk to them because they're like, Oh, I have all these things, or I don't know if I can call one of the topics. It's not so much about how often you blog as it is about being consistent. So if you're going to start out, start out slow, right, do twice a month every other week working it, a blog post out. And when you start picking up work, you realize, Oh, I can fill with other topics or whatever. Ramp it up for once a week, and I do it for posts a month. And as you start filling the calendar and having more content to blog or you realize, Oh, here's an educational poster, here's something I want to share about it and just be consistent. It's a lot better for you to build up slowly than for you to like, blog all the 20 sessions you have from last year and then not do anything for six months. Part of being intentional with your blogging, again is showing up consistently to that. Google recognizes you. Recognize that fresh content consistently on your site and goes, Oh, this is a real person doing real things and they're showing up and they're updating their site. So we want to we want to know why. And again, if you have something consistent, you can drive people to traffic wise. It's also going to make Google happy, right? If people are going to your website on top of it. You don't want to be here this year or more. So there's not a magic number. I think it's about sitting down and figure and figure out what your kind of content pillars are and what you're going to do within those. Think about the sessions you have that you have a blog sessions that are coming up, things like that. But just being consistent, I think is key. There's not really a magic number, I would say, to more than twice a week, especially for family photographers.
There's really no reason unless you're super like a high volume studio, which is find nothing wrong with that. But I would say for once a week or twice a month when you're first starting out and that'll that'll kind of therapy. Well, to get going.
Rebecca: Yeah. And one thing I love about blogs is that you don't have to blog brand new sessions all the time. Like, I know when you and I started working together, I had such a long list of blog of like photo sessions. I just never blogged and you were like, You know, you sent your little thing of, OK, you know, fill in what blogs and I was like, Oh, is it OK that I did six months of content because we had that we were so behind in session. I think we're still blogging sessions that are old that I just never like, blogged. So the fact that we can blog old content, I think, is helpful, especially if you're like stressing of like, what do I even blog? I don't have any sessions right now, like in those slower seasons and you're like, What am I supposed to write about and stay consistent? You can pull from those old blogs and I say blogs. You can pull from those old sessions and be blogging that because nobody knows it was old. Nobody has to know. You don't have to say exactly. It's the session from last year. Like, they don't have to know that, and I think that helps make you look busy. Also, you know, we talk about creating demand and make yourself look busy, even if you're not that. That's one of those things that you can do is go back to old sessions and be blogging about those because nobody knows that they're old. So there are benefits there.
Kristina: Yeah, I know for sure. And that's the thing that, you know, I have clients all time. They'll say that that's going to be there. I have 20 sessions from
last year. I never blogged or, you know, meant to. Or whatever. And I'm like, as long as the style still matches what you're currently doing, how you're currently editing and shooting your sessions and blog about why not, especially with the more you love or location that you want to do again or, you know, really great out there or something that you have a really good tip for anything you could take out of that. Like, that's fine. There's no expiration date on them unless, I guess, unless your style doesn't currently match that session. But yeah, I don't think there's anything wrong with that. I think it's a great way to fill in your content calendar and it's great blogs live forever. I know you get down that blog is going to be there, so it's not going to hurt you. And even if only five people your grandma read it like, it's better to have it out there for Google than not at all. So like, that's the thing, too, is that your best performing, you know, well-performing blog ? Like, That's OK, they don't all have to be, but just consistent work on the back end is going to make a difference. So the other thing people probably pressure like these have to be these really amazing super long like novel sites, but I think that's not the case. We'll talk about that was optimization to you. But I think just getting it out there, like just starting the process is the most important thing.
Rebecca: Yeah. And they really do live forever, especially if you use something like Pinterest and you pin your blog posts. I still have people that come to me from Pinterest because they saw a session that was like three years old and because it's it's just on Pinterest forever, and it's on my blog forever. And so because they're seeing those things, then they're reaching out. And like you're saying, as long as it's like still matches your style or it matches like what you're wanting to shoot like I, I shoot very few weddings, and when I do, I do not blog them because I don't want Google to be like putting me out there to wedding clients. I don't want to shoot weddings, so blog what you want to shoot. But if it's old, that's fine because the shelf life is so much higher, or longer for a blog post because you can pin it and all the things way longer than an Instagram post or a Facebook post, or whatever that lasts for two days max, you know?
Kristina: Yeah, yeah, exactly. Exactly. It's one of those, and blogging is a long game. Pinterest, Youtube they're a long game and the effects for your business are going to be more long lasting. People are still going to certify that content, find that content six months now, a year from now, and that's why it's so important to just get it out there and have it optimized so that it can be about six eight months from now and still bring new benefits to your business. Yeah, I think I think it's really I think it's really about starting and then you'll start to see the results over time.
Rebecca: Yeah, that's great advice. So what sort of things can photographers be blogging about? I think the obvious is photo sessions that we've said, but is there are there other things that family photographers can blog about like help fill that content calendar? Maybe they don't have a session this month. What else can they blog about?
Kristina: Yeah, so for photographers. I generally think of kind of three content pillars is what I refer to them as a content bucket server floats your boat. So definitely sessions are one thing, right? So your family session, if you had minis, if you have doing a recap of your minis, whatever it is, it's definitely buy with that. And when when you sit down to make a content schedule and I think if you go crazy here, but I think it's something you should do when you start to blog build a content calendar, whether it's on Google or a Trello board for them, you can do this on it. You can even do it on paper for all. I mean, I'm going to I'm an notebook person, so whatever, but have a plan, like have a calendar and kind of have an idea what you want to talk about for those four posts or the posts or the two posts, you're going to do whatever it is because that's overwhelming so that we sit down like, what do they want to blog about it, have a plan for the month. So start with your session, put those on the calendar first. If you have a session on Saturday, let's say, you know, in two weeks, you'll have images ready. Put it on the blog right in two to three weeks. Put on a calendar. The next content bucket, I think is important is client education and people hear education and they run for the hills, But like I don't want people don't really know what I mean. I mean, that content is going to help your clients and their experience. So think about the questions you get asked a lot. Is there a question, you know, like, what should I wear? Where are we going to go? What are you going to do if my kids are screaming? You know, whatever it is that you're asking for? My blog post one, it's going to save you time because you don't have read the same over and over and over again, right? You can say here's a blog post that I'll prepare you or hear something about what's where. You can see my inspiration here, but it's going to give it even more professional feel for your clients that you've already addressed their problem somewhere on your site. So it just makes you look even more professional. So that's one. One option there. I always tell clients when they're writing blogs in general, says you're writing about a family session, try to pull a tip out of it. Even if you repeat that three months on their blog, you know, maybe, maybe the family like a great outfit to take a chance, like talk about picking out the three or even really a couple of sentences, you can throw that in there. But you know, again, you can make bigger posts about those things. The seasonal process for family photographers, what you wear for the summer, what you the fall, what you were for the spring. That's a great place to be. You have affiliate links. Drop them in there or else you can make Amazon affiliate links,
Rebecca: Which is free. It's free to join Amazon affiliates. I think maybe it's minimal. I don't know.
Kristina: Yeah, but it's you know, that's another that's another thing you can write about your studio, what's going on. So maybe you'd feel like you're you're adding albums. So talk about that. Don't know what they look like, see some pictures. Or maybe you've got a new set or you're doing a renovation or you know, anything about that, like what's going on behind the scenes that can kind of explain to your your clientele what's happening in your world. So things like that are kind of the number two and personal is kind of the third pillar. So I think you have to go out there your whole life story. But then I you a couple of posts here to just kind of put something about yourself. Maybe it's your goals for the visit or just look back like when I was a photographer at the end of every year, I would do a look back personally and professionally. So I would say, if you think my family has done and then I would also share another post that was like, Oh, well, this year I shot Five Weddings or, you know, I I started working part time at this, you know, whatever you could kind of share a recap in that sense where you personally maybe why you got into photography, your story, some of your event. And now I have clients that'll do that. They'll feel like their first session and where they are now and then talk about what they have done or investment they've made things a lot more content out there than you think. Definitely start with your sessions. Go there and then start thinking about what can you provide for your clients is going to enhance their experience. So what can you teach them? How can you help them before they even have to ask that question? And then kind of personal things that really back to in your business, right? I mean, you know, if you want to share your favorite chocolate chip cookie recipe, go for it. But try to keep in mind while you're blogging and figure blogging for even a little snippet if you are personally can make a big difference. So those are kind of the three buckets I encourage photographers to think about while they're there trying to come up with content.
Rebecca: So yeah, those are great ideas. I have implemented a few those for my business, so every year I do like a year and recap where I just talk about like, it's the lessons learned. If you go to my blog and search lessons learned, you'll find them for the past several years. And it's so funny because in everyone I'm like, Oh, so much has happened. My family's in transition and I feel like we've literally like been in transition for so many years because we had babies and then we were pregnant and we were moving, and then we had babies again, and then we were moving again, and then we were moving again, like. It's just it's been so crazy, but it's really cool. I do those mostly for myself. I'm like, if honestly, if people don't read it, it's OK because I want to be able to look back and see, like, where did our business go? What lessons do I learn in this year? You know, what personally did I learn? And it's just been really cool to have a place for that to live and for me to go back that if nobody else reads them, I'm OK with that. If I'm literally the only human that ever goes back and reads them, that's fine. But that's it for me, and I like having a place where I can go find it easily. We also like for client education and stuff like having this list of FAQs, is so helpful because I can't tell you how many times clients ask a question, and it's so nice to be able to just send a blog post. Hey, I wrote a blog about that instead of having to type out your answer 50 million times so crazy. But another type of session or type of blog that I thought about as you were talking, was even doing like location spotlights, you know, doing a blog about, you know, whatever location our clients love Adriatica in Texas. And so we would do, you know, a blog about Adriatica, which we haven't done we could. But highlighting and pulling photos from different sections, the Adriatica and talking about why we like it and this and that that way, when people are searching Adriatica Village, your thing comes up for photo sessions. And so I'm doing like location spotlights or even like types of sessions like or like Best Smash Cakes of 2021 or whatever. And like compiling all of you are like reusing your past content. You don't have to shoot anything new, you're just repackaging it and saying, Here's all this smash cake sessions. Here's also the maternity sessions. Here's all whatever or, like you know, best locations in DFW, best locations in Nashville. And just like putting together lists and, you know, linking your photos and stuff because clients are searching for that stuff all the time. And so that is just like different creative ways. Hopefully, this is like getting people's wheels turning here, but those are different creative ways to repackage what you're already doing. So you have more content without having to work hard for it, like you already have the photos, and so you can just add those in.
Kristina: Exactly. And I think those lists are great and they're going to be good, you know, quick, especially locations. Those are good ones. I love that and it's a link to that. You can go back to really. You can go back and add to a blog later. So if you like, you know, Adriatic it like if you end up with a beautiful fashion there six months after, you probably go back and update it. No big deal like it's not there, right? As they find that they have that new session added. So I think anything like that, anything is going to help your clients make a decision or feel more comfortable with their decision or see more confident about their session. Coming up, I think is great about FAQs I think you you can break them all out like you're six, and that's if you could write like one blog. I think it's when you think about it, like if you're writing for blog post a month, for 12 months, you know, you're not really writing that much content. So I think kind of freeing in a way to realize like what I put in my sessions are only going to be like probably 20, 15, maybe even 10, depending how and you have other pieces of content. Okay, so if I put one educational post a month it, we only have to go with a few more to fill out the year. Things like hot, like recap, those bestsellers, anything like that, like you were going to love that. I have one client she does every single December and January. We're doing best of, you know, best of her newborns, super cakes, cake smashes, whatever it is, this is a really and she I know she like when she added to pull a few photos into a folder that comes in December, they're already ready to go.
Rebecca: Smart.
Kristina: Really nice. Yeah, it's super easy, right? Just kind of think ahead for yourself. But I think having that content schedule is really, really easy because you're going to start to realize that it's not as overwhelming as it seems, you know, it's not as over. And the other thing is, so many photographers think that they have to have it like 48 hours on a blog, and it's usually more in the wedding world like they want to have it up, you know, a few days after the wedding that carries over like their family business or their newborns, whatever else they're blogging and reality like this is your business. So if it's your week to get it on the blog, nobody's going to care greatly. You're still going to be better. You're still going be able to share it online. It's still going to help somebody. They're still going to find you. So I think giving yourself a great deal of be realistic about your turnaround times when you start putting your sessions on the blog schedule. But you know, just remembering like you can, you can build about how everyone's so good and can be really, really important. Yeah, when it comes to blogging.
Rebecca: I resonate with that a lot because when I was working full time as a youth pastor, like I just didn't have all the time in the world. So doing even a one week turnaround for a blog like I was lucky if I got photos back in a week, let alone whole blog post that's optimized for Google, like it just wasn't happening. And like, that's OK. And I knew, like in my season, that that's that's not how our business is going to run and we set the rules. So that was fine. And so knowing like even now, most of the time, we're not blogging right after a session just because we have such a backlog still. And you know, when mini session season and we have our podcast that we're putting out and all these other pieces of content. That we still put out what, two photo sessions a month, just because we want our stuff to stay fresh for our clients and stay fresh on Google. But most of those are not like current. Occasionally, they're current. Like, if we haven't tied to behind the lens or something that we had just shot it, that's one thing. But we know that our business just isn't one of those that does like the 48 hour blog post. It's just not part of our workflow, and that's OK because we set our goals. Exactly. If you're listening here and take some notes because this is where we're going to have some, like really actionable, hopefully you've been taking notes up to this point. We've given lots of actionable steps, but we'll get into the nitty gritty of SEO. That search engine optimization is like, it's scary. I'm just going to be straight up like SEO if you don't know what you're doing. It's a scary world, and I remember being so overwhelmed thinking like, I don't know what Google wants. I don't know where anything wants. I, how am I supposed to do this ? So Kristina, can you give us some really like practical key things that we should include in our blogs to optimize for SEO to make Google like us?
Kristina: Yeah, sure. So SEO does sound really scary, but the bottom line is just think of it about as if it things that Google can search. That's what you're going for. That's essentially what it means. So the very basic definition is, is something Google search. So when I started blogging for clients and the first things I want to make sure I understand is where are they located ? Where are these sessions taking place and who are they trying to reach? Because, you know, like you're you're in Nashville, right? So we want to make sure that the sessions that are Nashville are optimized for those locations. I don't want to put family photographer because then somebody in Kansas will find you. And I mean, I'd be super helpful, right? But if we can narrow it down to Nashville family photographer or Nashville or the location like the park or the specific neighborhood or whatever in the museum or whatever it is, wherever you are, that's that's what we want to kind of get down to. That bottom isn't like a pyramid. I think about, like big term appears like natural family photographer and doing like hand like you can see me, but I do like the base of the pyramid, right ? You could have a narrowing it in so that you can get to something really specific. And it's it's a game, right? You don't want to be so specific that no one's ever going to search for it, right? You want to be broad enough and enough that someone's going to find views that you don't want to just be like lost in a sea of Tennessee family photographer. You want to kind of get to find that sleepbot. So all that I'll have to say to be to understand what your clients are probably searching for, right? So they're probably looking for a city they're probably looking for to see that they're in there looking for the kind of photography you do. They may be looking at a specific location like, I know when I book, I found a photographer and I'm thinking about what am I going to do to find out who this person? Where are we going to go? And I probably can look for inspiration to like that location. And then before you know it, I started finding photographers who shot that location like, Okay, that makes sense. I my take out this person's website or whatever. But anyway, you want to backpedal through your own website, like think about what your ideal client is going to be searching for. And I kind of hate that term, but think about what they're going to be looking for. Right? So again, probably natural family photographer or natural family photos and just kind of think about the iterations for your particular city and business so you don't have to put natural family photographs on every single blog. And in fact, you don't want to because then you're going to start competing with itself and like a whole mess. But to find a different, a different iterations, right? So family photos and family portraits, the city add the state. Anybody, Google is going to Google for that and to kind of start searching what other terms come up. When I put it, it's like, you see with people over a video and you start getting all the suggestions and or you see the same thing for your blog, look at the location, look at the see whatever it is, they're typing to see what else comes up and you see that in your blog. So kind of pick one term that you're going to use her blog. So we'll just say we're doing one for natural family photographer. Okay, you want to use that term in your blog, not over you. That you usually put it in twice is usually a good bet, depending on how long your copy that you want included. Naturally, don't just stick it in there in awkward places. Include it on his will say, as a natural family photographer, what my place is is blah blah blah, be replaced and things like that to kind of infuse it in the copy. Naturally, a few times that's going to help put it in the title of your blog is a misconception. to you want to put it on the title of your blog? What's going to come up on your website? There's actually a secondary title at Google Guess, and like, I'm going to appear on Google on this, on a list like when you search so you want to put it in, it's more important to put it on one Google search, but we put it in the title of your blog, so you know, it's still searchable content. We include there included reading your photos, always make sure you read your photos because again, that's something Google can search. They're going to be looking at the title of your photos. So put it there, you know, put the location out of of records, whatever it is in.
Rebecca: The actual file, like the file name, actual filing.
Kristina: Yep. So I always tell my clients if they're going to go to blog stomp often like resize their images anyway, just you can put a new file name in blog stomp to just put it there or go in and rename your images right. You don't want to put like the whatever like, have it rename something useful, even if this is your business name, like at the very least. But anything like that is delivered to Google and then the other place you want to include it in. Sparingly, all text people here are all texting again. They just want nothing to do with it all text. It's something you add to every photo on your blog, so that is essentially telling Google with the pictures, Google, the computer, it doesn't have eyeballs, so it cannot see what your your photos are. So all it text is a chance to briefly describe whatever the images and on a handful of them are usually for at least half you want to include those keywords. So usually with a location, it's pretty easy for just like every other hit. It's like you can just include that like family photos under a brick brick bridge right at or whatever it is, their bridge was not going away. But all text the other place you want to, including your blog, and that's where people start to like. I don't want to optimize. I don't include boring, right? I always see the same for every TV show. Listen to it. Go through your blog. Have the All Blacks nearly done before you know it ? But like the only photography blogs, they're usually not like 100 images, so it goes a lot faster than, say, a wedding blog. But the real places you want to include those the key phrases. So I know it sounds like a lot of mumbo jumbo that doesn't, but it's much more straightforward than you think. It's not. It's not scary like that. I have to guess what to put, you know, just focus on the locations. Where are you at? Where do you want to shoot? Where are you located? Who are you trying to reach one of the surrounding areas like you across Nashville and also Franklin? Or, you know, whatever the areas are to the clients might come from? Include your see. Include what you do. Are you in a studio or are you on location like all of the other things that people are going to search for? So it just depends on your business and where you want to be and where the session was. But that's that's the basis of it, you know, just included actually in your blogs and there's tools to help you make sure you're optimizing, depending on the platform you're you're blogging on. If you blog with WordPress, I highly recommend you download sounds yoast, it's like toast but with a Y. It's great for making sure that your your blog is outside for that key phrase that we were just talking about. Square space doesn't really have anything like that, but if you use the same principles and just kind of unfortunately, I'm all your way through it, it's still possible that you can still do the same thing. You still have a little green light that gives you. So I think that's the best way. Like download yoast. You did understand how little notes it tells you what to do or what you need to that you kind of start paying attention to that if you're not already, and that's going to help you kind of make the most out of the blog post that you're sharing.
Rebecca: Yeah, that was such valuable information like, I don't know if people like you're going to need to rewind and like, go listen to that again. Take really good notes because everything Kristina just said, that's like the key to getting found on Google. And it sounds overwhelming. I know, but it doesn't have to be just break it down piece by piece and just start because even doing a little bit is better than nothing. It's better than where you're at right now, if you're like not even optimizing your blogs at all. And I did want to mention that I have a blogging toolkit available for you guys. If you go to my shop and we'll link to in the show notes, it's Rebeccaricephoto.com/blogging-toolkit and you can find it in my shop. And that toolkit, like walks you through a lot of what we've already talked about here, and it puts it in a place that you can refer back to you. And it's, you know, it's not confusing. I break it down for you to like, literally have a toolkit in your back pocket to be able to use for blogging. And with that tool kit, there's an option to add on a blogging and SEO masterclass. And in that masterclass, I literally like share my screen and show you everything that Kristina's outlining so that you know where to go and what to do and what to click. And I show you how we optimize a blog post and how we, you know, we do like a blog with me. Like, I wanted to make it as easy as possible because I know that blogging can be really overwhelming. And so that blogging toolkit and the blogging and SEO masterclass, be sure to add that piece on because it's just so helpful. And I think I have a blog with me. You can also add on like a video to be able to see exactly what I do and what this process looks like. You guys, it's so helpful. Once you start implementing this stuff and getting those workflows down, you're going to love the results of actually being found on Google because spoiler alert, like you don't just get found on Google. That's not like how Google works. If you're not putting in the work, you're not going to get found, period, because there are hundreds of thousands of millions of posts and websites and stuff that when somebody types in Nashville family photographer, if you're not putting in the work on the back end, you're not going to be seen. And so the goal here is to be seen. And if it just takes, you know, that extra 30 minutes per blog post to make sure we optimize it like it's so worth it, because that really adds up. It's kind of like contributing to a bank account with Google that as you keep putting in a few cents and a few cents, it really adds up into something substantial so that eventually you will be seen on Google. Clients are going to find you. You will get bookings. It's a long game, that's for sure. I'm not going to try to say like, you're going to have overnight success. Like, that's not blogging. Blogging is a long game, but it's one of those that is so valuable because it's free. It's. A free marketing you're not having to pay to be found on Google, people do that, but you wouldn't have to pay. You can just be found by spending a little bit of extra time for every blog post and optimizing. And so I know for me, it's so worth it. And if you're like way overwhelmed, you're like, I don't even want to touch it. Maybe it means you need to hire somebody like Kristina to come on and take care of that part of stuff so that you don't have to. Can you do it on your own? Absolutely. But if if it's super overwhelming or you literally don't have the time, hire somebody else to do it because it pays for itself, it's so worth it. So Kristina, can you tell everybody where to find you and are you taking on clients? I know it's like, you're like, doors are closed. OK, I can add a few more. OK. Doors are closed. The all. She is a hot commodity, you guys. So if I'm serious, if you want to work with her, like get on her waitlist. If she's not, I'm like speaking before she can even tell us, but tell us where they can find you. Because Kristina is like gold. She's she's just she's pure gold. So let us know all the things.
Kristina: Sure, yeah. So you can. If you want to go to the website, I'm a dot the i's outsourcing. So it's got the dottheisoutsourcing.com. And actually on my blog, I have tons of tips about blogging and I break down things like all text even further and lots of things like that. So definitely check that out. I actually also have a freebie if you wanted to has 10 tips to help you get started with blogging. So know, like, I still don't know where to start. Grab it. It's super straightforward, a that feels like walk through them, they'll write a blog post and they want to be too. Blogging is a long game, but it's one of things like as you started doing it more, you're going to feel more comfortable. So it is really scary now. I feel like an hour long now, but as you keep doing it, it will get faster. So don't give up on it after you're like, I hate it. And again, if you do or don't hire somebody but don't, don't give up on it because it seems hard, it will get easier. So it's unlikely that you could buy me a dottheisoutsourcing.com. And then if you wanna follow me on Instagram, I do share some stuff on there as well about blogging and things like that. So if I Kristina Dowler casino with a K r i s t i n a and a dowler is D as in dog o w l e r down there too, and I'm on Facebook and Dot the i's as well. As far as taking clients. It's always like this. I back and forth, you know, thing where the client lives. I believe another team member now and my sister in law, and she's a phenomenal writer too. So we do have some say so through the end of this year. They've got some clients that will probably be setting doors for a little bit because we've got some stuff in the works. A little hint. We're trying to build out a team, so we'll hopefully have more writers going into the future. For anybody who wants out of these things. I would say, if nothing else, if you're if you do want to work with us there with my sister in law or work with our team, then in an inquiry through the website, and we'll get back with you and do what we can do and we'll see how the calendar. So look, it is. It is busy and I'm so grateful, especially grateful to you and me, so many amazing people to work with, and I'm just grateful to all my clients. If you're listening now to know it's really cool to see Rebecca that was a while ago, but many my clients, they just connected in so many other ways to do things like this or conferences or whatever, and to see how many people actually have worked with or get to work with. So thank you to you, the bottom of my heart for that and then for having me today. But yeah, if you ever have any questions, feel free to send a note to the website or DM me on Instagram or whatever. Find me whatever. I'm happy to answer it again. Check out the blog. I bet a lot of stuff lately about how to upload schedules, and SEO tips. Lots of stuff there you can digest at your own pace. But yeah, I know we're about to took the amazing Q, so there's lots of good resources out there to get you started, but you just get started. Like, that's the thing. Like, just get started and you'll be amazed that a little bit of consistency. What is going to do for you. So, yeah, yeah, thank you so much.
Rebecca: Of course, that's so good. And you guys, we're going to link all this stuff in the show notes.
So if you're like frantically writing, like, we'll link it all. When I say we, Kristina is the one that does our show notes. No surprise now, you know, Kristina fits together all our show notes, so I'm sure she'll link her own stuff. Yeah, that'll be super fun. So you'll have all of those resources that she listed to be able to go, You guys, this is just Kristina is a wealth of knowledge and definitely take advantage of her blog and go, you know, read up on all the things, and I know it's going to be like a rabbit trail. You'll get your dive in a way and then you'll just go to another and another and you know, it'll be great. So, Kristina, this was so awesome. Thank you so much for taking the time to just like share your knowledge and pour into our audience. I know this was, you know, such valuable information, and I know people are going to take away so many great things from it.
Kristina: Yeah, I I can't wait to hear people think so. Thank you again for having me. It's been a lot of fun.
Rebecca: Of course. Awesome. Well, you guys, we're going to wrap up for today. Like I said, hopefully you took something from here. I'm sure you did. Like literally, this was one of the most like packed episodes with very practical things. So my encouragement to you is don't just let you know, don't just leave and let it sit. Right. All the notes that you're taking go and apply it, even if it's a little bit just to start because blogging is one of those things that it'll make a huge difference in the long run, which I'm sure you've discovered this point of the podcast. You made it this far, but anyway, we're going to go ahead and close out for today. We will see you again this time next week, and I can't wait to chat some more. Bye, guys.
Episode Transcript
