To Blog or Not to Blog

That is the question! - (and I didn't even like Shakespeare in high school.) Here is some food for thought. Most everybody with a wedding/portrait business has a website. There are a million solutions for the prefab sites and many are quite good and full of "Flash" and Dazzle. Basically, your site represents your on-line business card - and that's a very good thing. Some photogs even have a blog that goes along with their website, but it's most likely the last tab in the menu roundup - almost an after thought like... "I need it but it's not that important to my site - It just is representing "I'm hip/cool/on the cutting edge" and I blog."

Hitting a studio's website is like metaphorically walking through the front door of your on-line studio and waiting to be greeted by a staff member. Nothing happens - yes, I can poke around the "studio" myself but no one ever comes out to greet me. Here is a great example of a Apertura's beautiful blog right here.

What happens if we put the blog first - this assumes that our blog is fresh, upbeat and current - no semi-annual postings here. Here is what I mean - it's a different way of thinking about the potential client's on-line experience. Let the main page load, show the slide show, flash intro, whatever, but the next mouse click takes the potential client to your blog page. It's current, fresh, welcoming - we have the potential to start building that client/studio relationship right away.

Remember, a blog should be a piece of us open to the public so they come to know and understand us and our business. In this digital age where everyone is going a mile-a-minute. A blog gives us a chance to say an honest - almost "present moment hello" to our Internet caller. A blog is dynamic, a website is static. Obviously, the regular gallery links are listed in the blog, so after our friendly hello, the client can be invited to peruse our work.

Maybe I'm "full of baloney" on this, but I honestly don't think so. I am currently following my own advise at my own studio as my website is terribly outdated. I'll keep you posted. In the mean time, here is a great link over at WedPix.com about studio blogs. It explains why studio blogs are an important marketing tool for your studio - even more than you may know.