Photography blogging

[lgy1970]

Hi guys
I'm a 40 year young big kid and have just fallen in love with photohraphy and everything about it, from taking the photos to post editing (I use Photoshop CS4) and recently creating my own web site/blog. I have one on line but as a newbie I struggle to get rich content as I have little to offer in experience and knowledge. I have a few ads on it along with some affiliate links etc. with a few hits with google ads as well.
Is there anywhere where I can get some content to help stat my site/blog off?
I'm not sure its the ethical thing to do but I've gotta start somewhere, so to improve my traffic.

I'm so new to this it's not funny, but I'm here to learn so any help would be really cool.
I'm contiually changing my site layout and content trying to get it as user friendly as possible,
any way thanks for your help.
foreveryoungphotography.com.au — My Photography Blog

the site is all my own work and 12 months ago I didnt have a clue what HTML was!!!!

p.s what's a trackback?? doh!!

[BigFuzzy]

As for content... something that many do who don't have anything to write about that's actually theirs is to re-post other articles from wesbsites they follow.

One thing to do is find things that you find interesting, repost them (linking to the original site of course) and adding your own comments to it. For example, you find a post about a tutorial or one with "tips".. you re-post it (crediting the original author) while commenting on it or simply saying it's so relevant that you felt it needed to be passed on.

Nothing wrong with reposting articles written by others as long as you credit them. This helps them by driving traffic to their site (hopefully) and helps you by having content.

As to where to find it... find popular site/blogs and scour through their content, even older stuff.

Content is the key... lots and lots of it.

[lgy1970]

Thanks for the info, I was hoping that it would be okay to "re-post" as its the easiest way to get content on my pages. I just have to learn how to do it now.
Great web site by the way.

[kuvahmagh]

Originally Posted by BigFuzzy

As for content... something that many do who don't have anything to write about that's actually theirs is to re-post other articles from wesbsites they follow.

One thing to do is find things that you find interesting, repost them (linking to the original site of course) and adding your own comments to it. For example, you find a post about a tutorial or one with "tips".. you re-post it (crediting the original author) while commenting on it or simply saying it's so relevant that you felt it needed to be passed on.

Nothing wrong with reposting articles written by others as long as you credit them. This helps them by driving traffic to their site (hopefully) and helps you by having content.

As to where to find it... find popular site/blogs and scour through their content, even older stuff.

Content is the key... lots and lots of it.

I think your wrong about this, just because you give credit it is still copyright infringement if you repost someone elses work, that merely prevents plagiarism.

Its the same if I take a bunch of your images, post them on my site, even if I link back to your site or the original location I am still violating your copyright.

Agreed. I get 50-100 hits a day on my blog because of ONE post. If someone were to re-post that article, I'd be pissed. If you want to link to it and add more insight, that's fine. But reposting is just wrong.

And here's the reason why: From that blog post, I got over $500 of equipment shipped to my house for FREE because I mentioned a manufacturer in the blog. I also got a nice deal with a major photography magazine because of that article (coming out next month...won't mention the magazine yet). I also sold 3 20x30 prints of a photo listed in that article ($100 profit each). So in that one blog post, I've earned over $1300, not including any ad sales. By taking that article and posting it as your own, even with credit, you're pulling traffic away from my site, which is costing me money.

The best way I've found to drive traffic to your site is to take photos that make people say "Wow, how did he do that?" and post them here or on Flickr with a link back to your blog. A good Flickr Explore (or front page explore) photo can yield several hundred clicks. A good photo in the "Assignments" section will give you just as much.

Remember, it takes time to build a following. Consistantly show good photos and how you took them, and they will come.

[lgy1970]

Good point guys.

I'll just have to build up my site slowly and see what happens, patience is a virtue I suppose.
As I said before I'm extremly new to all this, I didnt even think I'd get a response to this!

I would also be pissed off if I was making money from an article on my site then some one just came along and ripped it off,
I have an Flickr account with no photos on it, so thats my next mission to get out into the the big wide world of social networking. facebook, twitter etc, a bit daunting but I'll give it my best

But I'm guessing I may be able to purchase content from some where does any one know.

[moscowmartin]

You can get content from article submission sites, some you have to pay for and others are free. The problem with going down this rout is that search engines will not rate it as well as it would with new content. There are sites where you can hire people to write your content but what you get for your money can vary from one writher to the next. Much better to write your own content, over time you will get quicker and better.

[Sobriquet]

The best way would be to choose something to learn every couple of days. Take your followers on a journey with you through this fabulously rich topic of photography. If you want submissions from people who might like to promote something you could try a site like sourcebottle SourceBottle helps small business, SMEs and PR professionals get media publicity and raise profile; finds sources for journalists, bloggers and writers. where people can submit articles in return for a link to their site.

I don't think it is ethical to take peoples posts without their permission however suggesting that people go to a certain site to check out a really cool post is a different matter. For example, I found this great resource for ......at http://digital-photography-school.co...tography/www..... would be fine as you are actually directing people to their site.

Make a facebook page that directs people to your blog, advertising with facebook is actually pretty effective and you can choose your demographic much better than google adds (I have recently done both and got much better results from facebook). Michelle Armour Photographer is my very new beginning blog, I have a website as well Michelle Armour Photography and a facebook page Login | Facebook as you can see by how long the url's are your website will be the best.

Don't forget to learn and take good photos!

DPS has changed the url's trust me the FB one is LOOOONG

[BigFuzzy]

Originally Posted by Photoboothguy

Agreed. I get 50-100 hits a day on my blog because of ONE post. If someone were to re-post that article, I'd be pissed. If you want to link to it and add more insight, that's fine. But reposting is just wrong.

And here's the reason why: From that blog post, I got over $500 of equipment shipped to my house for FREE because I mentioned a manufacturer in the blog. I also got a nice deal with a major photography magazine because of that article (coming out next month...won't mention the magazine yet). I also sold 3 20x30 prints of a photo listed in that article ($100 profit each). So in that one blog post, I've earned over $1300, not including any ad sales. By taking that article and posting it as your own, even with credit, you're pulling traffic away from my site, which is costing me money.

The best way I've found to drive traffic to your site is to take photos that make people say "Wow, how did he do that?" and post them here or on Flickr with a link back to your blog. A good Flickr Explore (or front page explore) photo can yield several hundred clicks. A good photo in the "Assignments" section will give you just as much.

Remember, it takes time to build a following. Consistantly show good photos and how you took them, and they will come.

I guess I didn't make myself clear.. what I meant, for example, is this:

Someone writes an interesting article on, let's say, a technique for good street photography. You think, "wow, that's cool, but I have some things to add/subtract/comment on that post.
You then create your own post starting with "I read a great article on blahblahblah, LINK HERE. Though i agree with much of the article and think he makes good points with A, B, and C, I think he should have thought about X,Y,Z. I also would consider H, I, J etc etc.."
I never meant to simply cut and paste someone else's content into your own post... simply to use some interesting content as your own spring board.. Never take anything that's not yours as your own.

There, I hope I made myself clearer? I should have taken more time to write my initial post instead of on a train with my iphone.

[Sobriquet]

That makes a lot of sense now BigFuzzy....