Outsourcing Blogging – A Conversation with Skylar Rain

I’m continuing my series on outsourcing, and today I’m talking with Skylar of Skylar Rain Photography. I know it’s kind of a debate out there on whether blogging is dead or not. Do people even still read blogs? Personally, I still love to read blogs and I have found blogging to be a kind of underutilized tool, even in my own business, because it’s a form of content that’s out there forever. It’s long form content, it’s searchable, you can repurpose it, etc. So, I’m really excited to chat with Skylar about outsourcing blogging. Check out the bullet points of our convo below, or watch our instagram live here.

For anyone who may not know who you are or what you do, tell us about you!

• I’m Skylar, I’m a wedding photographer who blogs for other wedding photographers. I blog wedding galleries, engagement sessions, educational articles, and I also manage pinterest accounts.

I think the biggest thing I love about blogging is that it’s perfect for repurposing. You can use it for Pinterest, Facebook, Instagram, etc. and you can keep reusing it even years later. For photographers who are like me and leave blogging to the side and think it may be something that’s good to outsource, what does the process look like?

• The first thing we do is an onboarding questionnaire so I can get to know their business and find out if there are certain areas they want to continue serving. I like to find out their ‘brand voice’, how they speak to their clients, and then there’s a whole other section on what we call ‘brand access’. So that is access to their galleries and their blogs.
• After onboarding, we do a monthly blog content questionnaire with all the info you’ll want on your blog – couples names, locations, vendor details, the couples story, etc.
• Once you send that to me, your part is done and I take over the blogging process. I’ll pick photos, resize them, take care of the writing for the blog post, and do a lot of research on key words so I can best optimize your post.
• From there, I will format it so it is ready to go, and then let you know!

I love that idea, because not only does it take so much off of the business owners plate, but you’re optimizing it in a way that a photographer may not know how to do on their own. We can blog, but it may not be used to it’s full potential.

Okay, I want to discuss cost. Why would I pay someone when I can do it myself? How can I see this fitting in to my business?

• The low end would be $100-$200 per blog post, and it can get up to $200-$500 per blog depending on who you are working with. You want to make sure that whoever you are working with is providing you with a value packed blog.

Let’s say I book a wedding from a blog post. Even if I had paid $500, if I ended up making $2,500 from the wedding then that’s a huge return on my investment! I’m going to end up making more money and getting more bookings by hiring someone like you.

• Right! Your blogs can bring you traffic months and even years from now. If it get’s people to discover and even book you, then it’s a great investment for your business. But, it also depends on the content of your blogs. You want to make sure they are giving value to people so they can really get a sense of who you are and what your work looks like.

We still get traffic on some of our blog posts from years ago because of the location or the venue. Researching what people are looking for and searching for is huge because you can really curate your post to what people are actually going to google.

• That’s what I think about for every blog post – what are people typing into google?. For titles, it’s actually better to think about key words rather than a cute title or caption.

I’m curious to hear your thoughts on someone who is afraid to give up control. Will you be able to do it the way I do it?

• The biggest thing I say to people is the great thing about blogs is that they can be edited. We can always adjust things and I always ask my clients to send me feedback or any changes they want.

I think that would give a control freak a lot of comfort, just knowing that it can be changed if needed.

What would you say is the top benefit in working with an outsourcer vs. just trying to DIY it?

• Where do you want to invest your time and energy? And, you have to make sure you are blogging with purpose.
• With outsourcing, you are going to be working with someone who specializes in blogging and SEO so that you know your blogs are going to be optimized for search
• They are going to take the time to do all of those small things that will really make a difference in the visibility of your blog.

I’m always trying to ask myself if the task I’m doing is really moving the needle, or am I just doing it because I feel like I need to or because that’s what you’re “supposed to do”. In reality, I could use that time to do something else that will actually move the needle if I were to outsource.

If someone does want to take the next step towards outsourcing, what do they do?

• The first step is to ask your photographer friends in person or in facebook groups that you know and trust if they have anyone they could recommend.
• If you are interested in working with me, you can follow me on instagram – @skylarrainphoto. I have links in my bio for my pricing guide, a link to book a call, or you can just DM me and ask some questions there.
• The last tip I have is that you don’t have to blog every single wedding you do. I would focus on those big portfolio pieces, the weddings you really loved that you would like to do more weddings like or more weddings at those venues.