Business and Blogging Tips for Photographers

In January, business seems to be on everyone’s mind.  And as a result, I had many business related questions in January. I will address some of the most popular ones.

How can I get more people to visit my website and blog?

The MCP Blog currently gets around 2,500-4,000 unique visitors per weekday and 10,000-15,000 page loads a day. I get asked in emails all the time, how do I drive traffic to my blog?  I have been blogging for many years, and consistency is the biggest key. Of course I could write a book with tips on what I have done through the years but here are some of the many ways that work for me. I hope many of these will help you too:

• Great content that is of interest to your target audience
• Consistent updates to blog and/or site (I post at least 5 days a week)
• Social networking – grow your presence on Facebook and Twitter
• Comment on other people’s blogs
• Link to helpful resources, blogs and articles
• Be genuine – write from the heart to truly help others
• Involve your audience with questions, polls, contests, interactive content
• Get personal, but not too personal – share stories or pictures so that your readers get to know you, but still be professional
• SEO – search engine optimization – if you want to come up higher in search engines, you need to optimize. I am tweaking my SEO with the direct help of Zach Prez and his e-book: Photographer’s SEO. If you need SEO help, you will want to check out his upcoming guest posts on the MCP Blog starting next week.

Who designed your website? Where can I get a website?  How much do sites and blogs cost?

With the launch of my re-designed site in December, many have asked how much a custom website cost and who designed mine. Websites and blogs range drastically in price.  Some HTML and Flash template style may cost few hundred dollars, while custom designed sites will likely cost a few thousand+.  What type you get will depend on your needs, funds, and wants. Ask yourself what you are willing to invest? Do you want to do the work yourself? Do you want to have someone else who knows coding and design do it for you? Who you want to work with?

Are you attending Imaging USA or WPPI this year? What conferences and trade shows will you be at so I can meet you?

As far as trade shows, MCP Actions does not participate in any at this time.  I have made a business decision to focus my efforts in social networking and online. Unfortunately, due to family obligations and scheduling conflicts, I have not been able to participate in many of these larger conferences.

I am considering attending Photoshop World in March 2010 in Orlando. This conference is sponsored by NAPP (National Association of Photoshop Professionals). If I decide to attend, I will tweet and post to Facebook, letting you know.  If you plan to attend, make sure to comment and let me know as well. I would love to meet you.

Thank you for all of your great questions this month.  I will answer more in February.