After the wedding day shoot is over, you have dynamic images you want to share with your couple, as well as on your blog. Before you send your images out to a wedding photo editing service, you may decide to post one single image on your blog or social media platforms. Giving a sneak peek of a photo from the wedding day will make your followers (and couple) eager to check back when you post additional images.
Sticking to a schedule for posting on your blog is necessary for you to create a loyal following of clients. If you do not have a blog calendar to help keep you organized, you may not be following a schedule conducive to your workflow. Creating blog posts last minute and deciding when to post them can cause stress and may take time away from other important tasks. Here are a few reasons why you need a blog calendar in your business and a few tips to help you create one.
Stay Ahead of your Workflow
When you are booking clients for your business, you typically do it well in advance of the wedding day. The strategy behind this is you have the opportunity to spend time with your couple and get to know them before their day. You also have a chance to be prepared for the wedding shoot, in addition to all of your other tasks.
Related: What are a few tasks you can take off your plate today?
Think about a blog calendar in the same way. If you create a calendar that lays out your blog posts for the upcoming month, you will know exactly what you have to work on in terms of blogging. Even though the posts may not be written yet, you still have an idea of your workload. When you create a blog calendar, you give yourself the chance to schedule blog posts as far in advance as necessary.
Stay Organized in your Workflow
As a busy wedding photographer, you have various tasks which have to be accomplished by a certain deadline. Blogging is important to your success, but cannot overshadow some of your larger responsibilities, such as fulfilling client orders or meeting and booking new clients. Creating a blog calendar can help you stay organized in your workflow and ensure you do not miss out on any of your tasks.
When your blog calendar is set up, you can then prioritize other parts of your workflow around that schedule. If you know you will release a blog post two times a week, make sure you have enough time to work on those posts to make an impact. You can then schedule in any other tasks that need to be done in that timeframe. An organized blog calendar helps you stay on track and accomplish your goals.
Produce Valuable Content for Clients
If you begin scheduling your blog posts on a calendar, it can help you know in advance what content you will be writing about. The earlier you can get started on writing for your blog posts, the more valuable content you can provide for your clients. With a blog calendar, you can visually see the content you are going to post ahead of time and you have the ability to share various types of content strategically. For example, you can create a personal blog series that you will post one day every single week. This type of scheduling provides you with a variety of content for your followers but also allows you to have a strategic system behind it.
Related: Are you using your content to attract engaged couples?
Even if you produce your best work when rushing, it may not necessarily be conducive to your overall workflow. Having a schedule to inform you of what content you will share can help you plan in advance what you will write. The more thought you put into your blog posts, the higher quality they will be. Your clients will be encouraged to read content that is valuable and relates to their current life situation. Whether you are releasing blog posts discussing how to plan for the wedding day or showcasing your past couple’s wedding day, you are speaking directly to your ideal client with your content. Giving yourself extra time by using a blog calendar can help you exercise your creative mind and produce quality content.
Develop a Consistent Blog Following
After you create a blog calendar, you commit to posting on your blog on a consistent basis. For you to get more traction, you also share your blog on social media. Once your following begins to see a pattern with your blogs, they will start to expect new content from you consistently. This means you will have a more loyal following on your blog and can help you reach more of your ideal clients.
Creating a blog calendar helps you develop a consistent blog following because you have a strategic schedule in place. For every wedding you shoot, you should be posting to the blog on the same days, at the same time, every week. If you start to post consistently, and then abruptly stop, your following will notice. This is why is it important to develop a consistent pattern to attract a following to your blog.
Create a Strategic Blog Calendar
So you can get started on your organized schedule, we are sharing a few helpful tips with you. First, it can be helpful to decide what blog posts you want to share at least one month in advance. By doing this, you are not rushing the process and can make solid decisions when it comes to creating your blog schedule. Once you decide on what posts you want to share with your audience for an entire month, it is time to schedule them into your calendar.
In our Secrets of Blogging for the Savvy Photographer Webinar with Jeff and Erin Youngren, they discussed their favorite project management tools to use for their blog calendar.
Choose a project management system
- Asana
One of the tools Jeff and Erin recommend is Asana to help them organize their posts. Within Asana, there is a calendar function you can use for your blog. With this feature, you have the ability to create individual tasks for every one of your upcoming blog posts. If you are solely in charge of writing and publishing the content on the blog, you will assign each blog task to yourself with a due date of when the blog will be released to your audience. If you have other photographers who post to your blog, you can assign subtasks to them so they know when to have the content ready to post to your following.
By using Asana and creating individual tasks in the calendar function, it helps Jeff and Erin stay ahead of schedule. Blog posts can be completed earlier, leaving them more time to take on additional projects. The more you can get done in advance, the less rushed you feel and the more productive you can be.
- Google Calendar
Another option you can use, outside of a project management program such as Asana, is Google Calendar. Within Google Calendar, you can create a separate calendar for your blog posts. When in Google Calendar, click on “My calendars” on the left-hand side. The drop-down arrow to the right allows you to create a new calendar. Name this calendar as your blog calendar so you know exactly what its purpose is.
Once you are in your blog calendar, change the view so you see the entire month to start scheduling. Simply click on the day you want to schedule a blog post, click “Edit event” and fill in the necessary information, such as what the blog is called and what time it will go out. You can even assign a color specifically for blog posts so you can keep track of what is going out throughout the month. If you need to change the date or time of a blog, you can easily do so by clicking into the specific calendar event and changing the date and time.
Blogging is crucial for your wedding photography business. The more you blog, the higher the chances are you will reach new clients. In addition to that, you will please your past and current clients with your content. Creating a blogging schedule can also help keep you organized and on top of your workflow. To learn additional ways to improve your business through blogging, download our How to Grow Your Wedding Photography Business Guide!
