Part of Photography Entrepreneurship 101: you wanna make a blog, but you have no ideas. This is advice I’d give you:
How to start a photo blog
To start, pay money for your photo blog. You’ll have more freedom down the road.
I recommend bluehost.com, and then installing WordPress. In terms of theme, I personally recommend the “Genesis” theme, and I currently using the “Monochrome” child theme on this site.
Yes, pay money for your photography blog. It is such a small investment, compared to your camera, lenses, and laptop.
The benefit of owning your own photography blog:
- Having the chance to rank high in Google.
- Flexibility to customize your photography blog to your heart’s content.
- Ability to add videos, text, images, in whatever order you want.
- Ownership of your photos, material, and content.
- Ability to export all your information easily.
- Best way to “brand” yourself, to build your reputation.
For me, I started this photography blog in 2010. From 2010-2017 I’ve written 2,700+ blog posts. I’ve become #1 on Google for street photography. This has helped me very much, make a living from my passion and also helping other aspiring street photographers with useful information how to shoot street photography, with free articles, books, and YouTube videos.
Don’t be a slave to social media platforms like Facebook and Instagram. If you’re locked to their platform, you have very little control of your photos. Don’t be stuck in the social media ghetto.
If you’re really broke, just make a free photography blog on WordPress.com, and then you can pay money later to customize it and own your own domain (www.firstnamelastname.com).
Simple photo blog post ideas:
Okay, so you own your own photo blog. What is the next step?
Just start blogging and publishing a lot.
Some ideas:
- Choose your favorite 10 photos, and publish it as a blog post as your portfolio.
- Upload your 1 favorite photograph by another photographer, and analyze the photo. Analyze the composition and why you think it is a good photo.
- Share your top 3 photography tips, advice you wish you knew if you started all over again.
Don’t make this complicated. Just try to get your blog post 80% “good enough”, then hit publish.
The more you publish, the more courageous you will get with your art and blogging.
And when in doubt, hit publish.
Quantity over quality.
Don’t take blogging too seriously. You can always go back and edit it later.
When you start, focus on quantity, not quality.
In photography, your first 1,000,000 photos are your worst. In blogging, your first 365 blog posts are your worst.
Even for me, I’ve been blogging since I was 15 years old, with Xanga as my original blogging platform. As I write these words, I’m 29. I have a solid 14 years under my belt, and this is just advice I wish I gave myself.
Why blog?
For me, I blog for myself. A selfish thing. I blog to publish my ideas, like a public mood board.
I treat this blog like a learning portal. I share what I learn for myself, in hoping it will help a few others.
What do you blog about?
Blog about what you would want to read.
For example, in 2011 I wanted to learn how to shoot street photography. I started to blog about street photography, to share what I learned, hoping it might help others.
Recently, I’m blogging more about photography entrepreneurship and how to make money in photography blogging, workshops, marketing, branding, etc. It is just information I wish I had access to when I was 18 years old.
So just blog about what you’re interested in. Follow your own curiosity.
Blog about what pisses you off
Maddox was my first blogging role model. He blogged about what pissed him off, with good humor.
What pisses you off? Blog about that.
Be the change which you wish to see in the world
I remember seeing a blog post on PetaPixel on how a photographer made a few hundred bucks selling stock photos. I thought that was a bit lame, so I blogged on how I made (real) money: $200,000 USD a year from photography. It was information that I thought was far more useful.
So sometimes, just blog opposite of what you think is lame. Be the blog post you wish to have read yourself.
What is stuff on photography you wish you could read? Blog about that.
Go opposite
I hate blogs. They are filled with advertisements and stupid pop ups. Therefore, I go opposite. I don’t do that shit.
This is the silver rule: don’t do unto others as you don’t want others to do unto you.
I love minimalist websites and blogs. Therefore, I make that kind of design for this blog.
I hate blogs that don’t have useful and practical information. Therefore, I try to make useful information.
Useful information
Information can be junk food. You want your information to be nutritious.
Therefore, make blog posts that are actually useful. Make your blog posts meaty, that nourish the bodies and minds of your viewers.
When I wrote the LEARN FROM THE MASTERS OF PHOTOGRAPHY series, I made them as in-depth and useful as possible. Partly to inform myself, and also inform others. I was frustrated with shitty information on famous photographers. So I made the information I wish I had access to.
I like to read articles on blogs in list format. Therefore, I prefer that format for this blog.
I like practical assignments and tips. So I write in that format.
A way to succeed as a blogger: write useful and practical information.
Nothing is original.
You might think:
I want to blog about street photography, but ERIC KIM has blogged about everything on street photography to death. What is a little person like me to do?
Ignore ERIC KIM and everyone else. YOU HAVEN’T BLOGGED ABOUT IT YET.
Your opinion and perspective is important. No matter what, your blog post will be different and you.
So ignore what others have already done. You haven’t done it yet. And you have a unique flavor to add.
Imagine: if Steve Jobs said:
Bill Gates already made Windows! There is no point for me and Steve Wozniak to make a new operating system.
Or if Steve Jobs said:
There is already a Windows smartphone! Why should Apple make an iPhone?
Lesson: make what you want to see in the world, and make it better– according to your personal vision.
Start small.
Apple started in Steve Job’s suburban family garage with Steve Wozniak. Now Apple is worth billions.
We all have to start small.
When I started blogging on photography, I didn’t know anything. Even now, I’m still curious, and leaning. It is my insatiable hunger for knowledge, truth, and beauty which drives me.
As a practical recommendation: start blogging on a very specific genre or subject on photography.
For example, focus on just film photography. Or just medium format photography. Or fashion film photography. Or minimalist architecture photography. Or street fashion photography, shot on film. Make it very specific.
Start small and specific, and as time goes on, make it bigger and more general.
For example, I focused purely on street photography from 2010-2016. Now I’m starting to venture wider. Photography business, marketing, blogging, etc. And as time goes on, I’m gonna just write purely on just “photography”. My aspiration is to become #1 on Google for “photography” in 5 years.
Start publishing now.
“The perfect is the enemy of the good.” – Voltaire
Never seek to make a perfect blog post. Churn them out, crank them out, and publish a lot.
You will never be perfect. You can aim for good.
Good blog posts are doable. Perfect blog posts will never be done.
Even us, as humans we will never be perfect. Let’s settle for good, better, or less bad everyday.
Hustle hard friend, you got this.
BE STRONG,
ERIC
[Photography Entrepreneurship 101](Photography Entrepreneurship 101)
Learn how to make a living from your passion:
How to Make Money with Photography
- Can Photography Make You Rich?
- How I Earn $200,000+ a Year From Photography
- How to earn $10,000 a month as a photographer
- Why you must be an expensive photographer
Photography Marketing 101
- Why You Should Promote Your Own Name
- How to Build a Following
- How to Stand Out as a Photographer.
- HOW TO GO VIRAL AS A PHOTOGRAPHER.
- How to Master Marketing
- How to Sell Yourself
How to Hustle.
- Entrepreneurial Advice to My 18 Year Old Self
- How to Become Insanely Productive.
- 5 Lessons From Hesiod on Hustling
Entrepreneurial Principles
- It is Better to Beg For Forgiveness Than Ask For Permission
- The Free Way to Become Rich
- JUST DO IT.
- 7 Steps: How to Make a Living From Your Passion
- How to Do What You Love for a Living
- How to Create an MVP (Minimum Viable Product)
- How to Fail Big
- How to Invest in Yourself
- How to Be Bold in Photography and Life
- Mission: Cover Your Rent and Food
- 1,000 True Fans
- The “10x Principle”: The Only Difference Between “Success” and “Failure”
- Make More Value Not Money
- We Live in a Photo Utopia
How to be a Full-time Photographer
- How to Make a Living From Photography
- The 3 Principles of Making Money With Photography
- Advice for Aspiring Full-Time Photographers
- Don’t Go Into Debt For Your Photography
- How to Brand Yourself as a Photographer
- Trust: The Most Important Thing You Need to Succeed as a Photographer
Photography Blogging
- How to become rich from photography blogging
- How to Make a Living with Blogging
- 50 Blogging Tips For Beginners
- How to Start Your Own Photography Blog
- A Photographer’s Guide to SEO, Blogging, and Social Media
How to Teach Photography
- How to Become a Photography Teacher
- How to Teach a Street Photography Class
- Why I Teach Street Photography Workshops
Social Media
- Why I Deleted My Instagram
- The Social Media Blackbook for Photographers
- Why Do You Need More Likes or Followers?
- Instagram is Going to Be the Next Facebook
- Don’t Trust “Free” Photography Social Networks