Photoblogging – Could it Be Your Cup of Tea?

I’d like to introduce you to the concept of what has been popularly termed “photoblogging.”

Many of you understand the basics of this type of blogging … others may not have been exposed to the concept and practice.

It is important because photoblogging has been proven to be a credible source of income for those understanding how to do it, why it can be popular among paying customers, and where to market such a blog.

First of all, let me state that I am a blogger but not a photoblogger.  But I have a few suggestions that I think will help if you decide to try to monetize photoblogging. I have some close acquaintances who photoblog and I have looked into the practice for the strategies that I might adopt as one who blogs and as one who loves to use great images in my various Internet pursuits.

Some bloggers make good money because they garner a very trusted and loyal following of fans and they monetize their business by selling products very specific to their niche.  I don’t think the fact that the blog would be a photoblog would change anything about that system.

The best photoblogs I’ve seen include written content as well as photos – never just the photos themselves.  I think Google would like the fact that the photos were accompanied by text more so than just the images by themselves.  Remember, Google has publicly stated that they are very concerned about the user experience they provide for the public that searches using their engine.  Google wants it search results to be accurate, relevant, and unique for what the searcher is trying to find.  Photos alone, though fun to review, don’t necessarily provide the information that most people are looking for unless they are accompanied by meaningful, relevant text.

Some of the most popular photoblogs online are associated with news services.  I am inclined to believe that “fresh” photos are important. People seem to be most interested in seeing the news over simply reading about it.  Hence, if I were doing a photoblog, I would focus on “late breaking” and original type content over using stock photos or the like.  Yes, finding good “late breaking” images can be troublesome for a small business owner unless he pays for a newswire photo license (which can be very costly).

I think photoblogs have grown in popularity because so many people have camera phones, a way to grab an image at any time (rather than carrying a bulky camera around on your person.) Mobile devices other than phones, as well, can take photos and are often carried around and ready on the spot if an exciting picture presents itself.  The quality of some smart phone pictures can be very good and so this tool (the smart phone) is perfectly suited to giving you the images you need for your photoblog if you can shoot the pictures you need locally.  Of course, that will depend upon the niche your choose for your blog.

I have no doubt that one of the reasons photoblogging has grown quickly is the fact that it is so easy, quick, and “cool” to share photos online these days. What would Facebook, Instagram and Pinterest be if there were no photos to share? Granted, putting up a photo on Facebook is not really photoblogging, but those same people who do so are sometimes photobloggers as well. Maybe we should call the people who share on Facebook “lite” photobloggers as they will usually add some type of caption or commentary along with their uploaded photos.

Finally, I would say, one of the keys to making a photoblog popular would be to set up a social networking share capability onsite that was very easy to do. People love to share a great photo, as we spoke of above, so you should emphasize how easy it is to share your images, content, and web site with friends. Make it push button simple and easy.

You could monetize your photoblog in any number of ways. What would be most effective is going to depend upon your niche. Generally, I am in favor of creating and selling my own products so that I have control over the quality, distribution, pricing, updating, and adding other products later that are complementary.  But selling your own products is not the only to make money with photoblogging.

There are certainly a lot of affiliate products, training courses, ebooks, and even advertising space that could be offered by a popular photoblogger who has a passionate niche following and a keen eye and understanding of what his readers (viewers) want from the niche.

Selling ad space on your site could work if you get tons of traffic, otherwise that’s not a great way to monetize. Advertisers want eyeballs … viewers … and if you don’t get a lot of traffic to your site most advertisers will look elsewhere for their promoting.  Doing Adsense (or similar click-through advertising) is only going to give you a small amount of revenue and it will take visitors off your site … not the best thing for you.

Some will take up photoblogging as an investment in the future – something that could be sold for a nice cash-out sum. Can you imagine a very popular and heavily “trafficked” photoblog about, oh let’s say, mountain biking being sold for big bucks to a mountain bike manufacturer or a biker clothing maker? In every niche, I can see the potential for the heavy hitter commercial vendors to purchase photoblogs that are popular and get lots of online visitors. Those viewers are prime targeted prospects for retailers that do niche marketing.

Anyway, I hope something here has been useful and I wish you the best of success if you go with this idea.

To your online business success!

Steve Browne

www.stevebrownedirect.com