
Hands up who wants more bookings?
What a ridiculous question, right?
Everyone wants more bookings.
Not necessarily MORE bookings but very definitely more bookings OR more bookings at the right price working with the right clients.
And you know what you need to do to get this! Or at least, you think you do.
You need to get people landing on your site. Actually, you know, SEEING your work.
Right? Right!
So you’re working your ass off on your SEO, on blogging your latest sessions so you always have fresh work for people to look at, you’re busy like a bee optimising your keywords, using long tail and short tail and any-other-tail keywords inbetween and OH MY GOSH SOMEBODY PLEASE KNOCK ME OVER THE HEAD because that would be infinitely more fun than trying to figure out something that doesn’t freaking matter anyway.
Seriously.
When is this obsession going to END?
Because you think that doing things ‘the right way’ is what brings you clients?
I tried a little experiment today.
I wanted to find one of my favourite film photographers online.
So I did a search for her.
I wanted to see if one of the world’s top photographers really gave a flying flip about SEO.
I thought she would be most likely to come up on the first page of Google search for her local area (south carolina).
No.
Not there.
not on page 2.
Not on page 3 either.
I didn’t go beyond that, because I couldn’t be bothered. (Your clients most likely won’t either).
Hmm.
So I tried again, searching for her by genre this time (fine art photographer). Nope. No results on the first 3 pages.
Then I tried fine art film wedding photographer followed by her area.
Then I tried female wedding photographer.
Then I tried about 7 other different searches including other combinations of the above.
SHE DIDN’T APPEAR IN ONE SINGLE SEARCH RESULT.
NOT ONE!!!!
First page of NOWHERE.
You see, this is weird because
For an absolute age
I was on the first page for my own photography business. I was TOP of page one too! (Nothing beats me. Not even Google. I’m a bit determined like that).
Getting on to page one isn’t difficult. Getting to the top is slightly harder, but not really if you blog consistently and USEFULLY and your posts get shared and read.
That’s not too hard to do, is it?
But this is the thing
Getting to the top of page one and even just getting on to page one
DIDN’T BRING ME CLIENTS.
It got me a ton of people landing on my site, and the main page they LEFT my site from was my pricing page.
(Find this out for yourself and your own site by using Google Analytics if you aren’t already).
What did this mean?
People leaving my site at my pricing page?
It meant that the MAJORITY of people who landed on my site simply didn’t want to pay what I was charging.
They had a smaller budget.
And I certainly did not have the time or inclination trying to persuade those clients who were not my dream target clients otherwise.
(I had people lining up for my services that WERE prepared to pay what I charge. And only ONE of them had found me via Google. ONE).
So I know – you want to know what this means for YOU- and it’s coming.
But first let’s just summarise that-
One of the world’s most incredible and highly-sought after photographers, whose work graces magazine covers left right and centre, who shoots everything from celebrities to the campaigns of high profile designers
Clearly doesn’t care about SEO.
And from my personal experience
being on top of page one of Google
Bought me lots of views but lots of people leaving my site at my pricing page
i.e – MY TARGET CLIENT AREN’T USING GOOGLE TO FIND ME
Quite clearly and obviously means the following
a)- it’s easy as pie to get to page one of google search for your area if you know what you’re doing (read the above)
but
b)- IT DOESN’T FREAKING MATTER!!!
UNLESS
*you want to compete with other photographers
*you want to aim for a low-end client (there is NOTHING wrong with this if this is the end you want to aim at, it just wasn’t for me because I’d rather shoot less and earn more and have a ton of time to do other things like be with my family, than shoot all the time at low end. I’ve done both low-end and high-end, and neither client base is problem free).
*you are happy to potentially be price shopped / compete on price
*you are more likely to be valued based on what you charge, rather than as an artist and creative. So your work is valued as a product, rather than a client buying you and valuing you as, I don’t know, say- a talented human being?
*you’re certain your clients aren’t going to find you any other way.
So if you tick any of those boxes- do spend the majority of your time that you allocate to growing your business dedicated to improving your SEO.
But if NONE of those resonate
There is a better way for you.
One not quite so mind-numbing or frustrating (Lord knows how long I spent banging my head against a brick wall in frustration that I WAS NOT ON PAGE ONE AND WHY ON EARTH NOT AND DEAR GODDDDDD COULD SOMEONE PLEEEEEEEASE HELP ME BEFORE I GO MAD BECAUSE IF I DON’T GET TO PAGE ONE MY BUSINESS WILL JUST DIE
Back to that photographer up there.
My heroine (one of many).
Has fifty two THOUSAND followers on Pinterest
One Hundred and Nineteen THOUSAND followers on Instagram
Fifteen thousand followers on facebook
and MORE than just social media
Do you know what this world-class photographer was doing back in 2012?
Writing articles for the Huffington Post.
Let me repeat that.
This TOP LEVEL LUXURY HIGH END NO DOUBT MILLIONAIRE PHOTOGRAPHER
WAS WRITING ARTICLES FOR THE FREAKING HUFF POST!!!!!
So here is what this photographer (Elizabeth Messina, in case you’re asking) knows that you don’t.
That there are far more powerful ways to share your work, your creativity, your inspiration, your entire heart and purpose- with the world
If you don’t want to be price-shopped
If you don’t want to compete
If you want to aim at a market that isn’t low budget / low-end
There are now far more powerful options available to you than SEO to reach your target clients, and get your work seen.
Elizabeth Messina has a huge social media following, has written I think 4 books at the last count, and has written for the Huffington Post. She has also done a ton of collaborations with high- end and big name industry professionals.
And this is where most of us think in reverse.
We think- we truly BELIEVE- that we must be a big-name photographer before launching mentoring sessions, books, writing articles, or even writing our very own BLOG POSTS!! that we must have a trillion followers before we are truly worth listening to.
How screwy is that?
Because we somehow change what we are passionate about, good at, or love, ONCE WE HAVE ACQUIRED A TON OF FOLLOWERS???
Seriously.
Some of us will love fiddling about with SEO.
And that’s fine.
But it is NOT a magical wand for suddenly gaining new clients – (and if you think it is, you’re stuck in 1999. Which I won’t bore you talking about how since then there have been a ton of google updates named after various zoo animals that will basically prevent you from reaching that ever- elusive page one unless you spend time day in day out perfecting your SEO anyway, and even then you’ll struggle)
If you want a magical wand?
You need to take note of what somebody else in the industry has done before you. Because in business, if you want to do something well, it’s SO easy now! You simply take what has already worked gloriously well for someone else and THEN YOU FIGURE OUT HOW TO DO IT BETTER.
So you know why Elizabeth Messina sprang into stardom, other than the fact she creates beautiful work?
Don’t tell me you think it’s because she has a unique vision, because yes she does, NOW, but that vision will have been refined and developed over time, and it’s not actually that which has brought her fame and recognition at all, hence why she was still writing articles for the Huffington Post in 2012.
If photography success was all based on our unique style and vision well then we wouldn’t need to do very much at all would we? And we would all be mega-successful, because we ALL have our own unique vision and perspective (or are working on it).
5 things that can launch you and your success into the stratosphere?
1. Launch something. Books, courses, workshops, a blog, a newsletter, something that communicates to your target clients – I have knowledge in this area and am worth listening to – something that gets people talking about you.
2. Build your audience via your newsletter. I can’t talk anymore about this for a while. I’m newslettered-out. If you’ve missed my emails or my youtube video or have questions about this, either join #shininglights where you can watch my massively long video on the subject which will teach you how to grow your list and what to do with your newsletter, or watch my youtube video here to start with. The reason this works is because you’re actually USING those people that land on your site and CAPTURING them, to be able to continue COMMUNICATING with them, and when they’re constantly reminded of your presence and fabulousness then who do you think they will be MOST LIKELY to book and recommend? Someone they have grown to know and trust or some random on Google?
3. Use somebody else’s audience. Why bother building your own via the super-slow process of SEO and very slowly moving up the page ranks to try to gain the odd visitor for your site, when there are WAY more effective uses for your time that can result in THOUSANDS of people seeing your site? There are a billion and one ways to do this from writing for somebody elses’s blog or site as a guest poster, speaking, even running a facebook ad. If your client ISN’T searching on Google then go and figure out where they ARE most likely to be, and GIVE something to them that brings them to your site!
4. Make friends. Colleagues in the industry are vital for support, encouragement, booking, and referrals. They are also likely to share your work and your latest blog posts / social updates.
5. Use social media. Though this is also arguably dying as all areas are flooded, and people are so bored of seeing promotional statuses and updates, done in the right way – to build relationships, to help encourage, inspire, and educate others- social media can be a valuable way to drive traffic to your site.
One more.
6. Create something that makes people give a damn. I tear my hair out at the same boring blog posts I’m reading lately. It’s why the tone of the FPA has completely changed since this started out. I got so bloody bored of even my own stuff!! Who cares about 5 of the top XYZ or my latest shoot?
BORING.
BORING
BORING
Stop being so bloody polite and inoffensive. Stop worrying about who you might offend or upset. Stop censoring yourself. Start sharing your message. Whatever that looks like. Just write every single day about whatever is on your mind and heart and your IDEAL clients will most likely be so aligned to your viewpoint and worldview they will most likely SHARE it anyway and if they don’t well hey, all PR is good PR, right?
What matters is that you’re creating content that is USEFUL and ENGAGING and here is the kicker
When people LOVE what you write –
they will read and read and read
which means that lovely little magical signals are sent to Google which say ‘this person’s site is WORTHY OF ATTENTION and THIS PERSON IS CREDIBLE IN THEIR FIELD’
which means-
TA-DAAAAA!!!!
You rise up in the ranks of Google search.
And then
people share and share and share
and those social media wizards
also then send magical smoky signals to Google which says
THE EXACT SAME THING!!
‘THIS WEBSITE IS WORTHY OF ATTENTION’!!!!!!!
Which is why The FPA appears on page 2 of the search for ‘grow photography business’ and page three for ‘photography business marketing’ out of 58 million results and 97 million results, despite me putting ZERO effort into SEO!!
I barely EVER alt tag my images, I never input keywords consciously, I don’t really think about long tail or short tail keywords and I rarely ever use my built in site SEO checker!
So when are you going to GET IT???
You need to blog
You need to write
or speak
or do SOMETHING
SOMETHING NEW
Embrace the NEW ways of marketing
Of course, you don’t have to.
You can sit and moan about how everyone has a popup or optin nowadays (maybe because it WORKS?!?! like only a handful of people every had a BUSINESS CARD???
Or you can go back through this post, use the info in it, and start making a BLOODY DIFFERENCE IN YOUR BUSINESS!
Now!
Today!
What can you take action on TODAY, right now, when you leave this post?
Oh, and one other thing.
If you like this post-
Can you please Share it for me using the buttons below?
Because Google likes that 😉
I always enjoy your posts. I love how you write from the heart and speak what’s on your mind. You truly inspire me!!!! xo
Thank you so much Kim, that means a lot to me 🙂
That’s exactly what I’ve been wondering this whole time, when all I hear is “SEO that” and “optimize your website!” Love it, thanks!
You’re so welcome Emily! 🙂 Thank you so much for taking the time to leave a comment
Having ‘somehow’ got on p1 of Google for my main business & geographical area this year, I was gutted to find out that what you say is TRUE!
I was also disappointed Catherine! Very frustrating having spent so long worrying about it! But we live and learn and it’s hard sometimes to know what will work and what doesn’t work, which is partly why I founded the FPA, so people didn’t need to spend quite so long worrying about things that actually might not matter at all!
Hopefully you may have picked up some pointers here as to what might work better for you if you aren’t doing those things already.
Thanks for this. Going to write a list of venues I want to work with, and then email them.
Also going to write out blog post ideas and start actioning those too!
Thank You Charlie!! I’m like applauding you over here!
OMG, I could NOT have said it any better. This article is freaking BRILLIANT.
Everyone else is saying SEO and Content. But you flat out spell it out. “Say Something People Want To Heat.”
That’s all you have ever to do.
Google has a measuring stick, because Google is a robot. But that robot is simply trying to search the Internet and find things that are worth sharing and talking about. It wants to be human, but it’s not; yet.
If one writes things that people want to know, then Google will find you, embrace you, and love you (by telling others about you in the search pages).
Google just wants to share the love. Give Google something to love.
I’m in real trouble….I got nothing to say that people want to hear. Now not only do I have to be a great photographer, now I have to be a great blogger? Oy Vey! Yep, I”m in trouble!
I don’t think that’s true Kristi, I’m sure you have lots to say that people want to hear!
You don’t have to be a great blogger, but you do have to be great at marketing to be able to grow your business, which is the no! mistake photographers make – thinking that to just be great at photography is enough.
A successful business is apparently based on 20% of what it is that you actually sell (photography) and 80% on how you market it – and blogging is one of the cheapest, easiest, and most effective ways of marketing for a small business owner / photographer 🙂
Great post! I was at the top of Google for a couple of keywords too, and it didn’t get me any work either. Yet for some reason, I’ve always had the SEO bell ringing in my head. Maybe it’s time to truly let it go once and for all! Thanks!
You’re so welcome Chris! 🙂 Glad it has been useful – and thank you so much for taking the time to leave a comment. xo
Timely, i stumbled upon your article at the right time. I am not a photographer but canvas printer serving photographers and i have been trying to figure out ho to help my clients. Most of my photographer clients DIY their websites, which for me i see it as taking away what a photographer should be doing( running the business) rather than heckling with website. But i understand costs are a hinderence for most
To cut a long story short, i want to help them with their online presence, and you are right, you can be on page one and get vanity metrics, which is happening to my website and its a downer because i put hard work
I might be wrong, but i believe people searching online are looking for cheap products or services, thats why they ship out (bounce rate) is high on your Price Page. I usually say to my photography clients, forget about being photographer, don’t stress about SEO, Ask yourself, what are you helping your client with. What problem are you solving for your client? what do they care about and where are they? That is what should guide you to create blog ideas to serve prospective clients
As a photographer, i believe you are documenting family history
You are a family therapist, using visuals for families to re-live special moments.
You are an interior stylist/decorator using buy products (Canvas or framed Products)
Depending on your photography type, your blogging should be addressing what your prospective clients care about,
so true. we all thought that with google we at least had a level playing field. I know I use Google for everything, checking out doctors, hotels, reviews etc. You end up ranking on the first page for Google for your town, heck even the whole country only to find that Nah, your clients are above using Google. Baffles me.