Take your Photography Blog to the Next Level with these 21 Ideas

What are the two biggest sources of client inquiries for established photographers? Referrals from past clients and website leads. However, in talking to photographers all the time we hear the struggles of coming up with good photography blog ideas. And while posting recent sessions is a good start, often times their blog can be soo much more. I’ve put together a bunch of blog topic ideas for photographers to help you get inspired. Feel free to bookmark this page so you can refer back to it if you ever need a burst of inspiration in the future.  

21 fresh ideas for your photography blog:

  1. Share why you became a photographer in the first place. Why? Because telling your story will connect your humanity to another person out there reading it. 2. Share your favorite vendors or partners. Why? Because it helps your potential clients (something that’s key to effective blogging) and you can then ask those vendors to share your post to their social followers, too. 3. Advise your clients on how to best prepare for a shoot. Why? Because they want to know this information, and it will make them more confident about hiring you. 4. Share a behind-the-scenes look at one of your shoots. Why? Because what you do at your shoot is surely unique and people want to know what it’s like to work with you as a photographer. 5. Document how you pick the best images. Why? It helps your prospective clients understand how you think, your process and your expertise. 6. Share what you bring to a shoot. Why? Because people like to know what the person they may hire has that will benefit them (if they do decide to hire you). 7. Share your favorite client shoot of the past season. Why? Because it will connect more potential clients that are similar. If they see that you really enjoyed a shoot like the one they may be thinking about, it will be all-the-more-encouraging to them. 8. Advice on something your ideal client is probably worried about at the moment. Why? Because it shows you understand your clients and their worries and frustrations.   9. Share a personal passion project. Why? When it’s a personal project, there is no client beside ourselves. You can showcase your talents (without client restrictions or preferences) and show a little window into your creative personality, as well. 10. Share some personal images or stories. Whether it’s vacation images or kid’s events, it helps to build trust with your potential clients. People like to know more about the people they’re going to work with before they decide to actually commit. Revealing personal information builds trust with the types of clients that will appreciate you for who you are. 11. Ideas for great shoot locations or poses you want to try. Why? It shows that your creative juices are flowing and that you are always looking to try something new. 12. Tell a behind-the-scenes story. Why? People relate to stories. So whether an outdoor shoot ended with a tornado warning or you rescued a food shoot from a dropped plate of food…. connect an image with something that actually happened. 13. Show what a client did with the images after the shoot. Why? Because at the end of the day you probably make most of your money via the end product. Get your future clients’ wheels turning by showing what you helped a client create. 14. Share stories of teamwork. Why? Whether it be a second shooter or a partner who is more behind-the-scenes to your business, it allows people to see a window into what you love and why (see a theme growing here?). 15. What you do on days you’re not shooting. Why? If you’re working on editing or prepping for a shoot, it helps potential clients see all the care and time you put into making sure their session is super magical for them. 16. A before and after. Why? People want to see that you’re going to make them look great. If you can show potential clients your styling skills, they’ll start getting envious and feeling like they need you to make them (or their things) look great. 17. What you do during a shoot to make your clients comfortable. Why? Let’s face it. Not everyone likes being stuck in a new studio or out on a remote location, and they worry about how the experience will feel. Tell them what you do to make them more natural (and hopefully have a little fun, too!). 18. A story about photography that will mean something to your potential client. Why? Because it will elevate the value they see in you. So if you’re a pet photographer, perhaps it’s about an old woman’s collection of photographs of past pets. Or if you’re a food photographer, maybe it’s an image from a restaurant’s first cookbook that represents where that chef has been and all he has accomplished. 19. The things that inspire you. Why? Because people want to be around people that are smart, thoughtful and inspired. They want to know that their photographer is going to approach their photography shoot with enthusiasm, inspiration and new ideas. 20. Do a recap or session summary. Recently did some mini-sessions or a marathon? Use your blog to recap the event and share the best stories and images from it.  21. Look at your blog post with the highest views and write a sequel. Why? Well, while traffic per post isn’t the end-all-be-all of blogging, by looking at your stats and uncovering your most popular post, you may be staring at a nugget of gold. Try out a sequel on that post to give your blog readers more information on that same idea, whatever it might be.   The most important thing to remember about blogging (or any kind of marketing) is that it takes regularity, patience, and perseverance. Don’t post once or twice and give up if the client inquiries don’t come funneling in. Instead, keep at it and check out your website performance monthly. Try different formats of blogging (such as video or audio). Remember to ask others to share your posts, too, because sometimes spreading your reach can make the biggest impact on a blog’s overall effectiveness. Have you tried some of the items above or know perhaps a few I missed? Drop a note in the comments and let me know.