I struggle to write. No, it's true. Given the choice between writing a paragraph and finding an image to photograph in a bare 200 square foot room, I'll choose the latter any day. That's just the way my brain works.
I visit many blogs each week. If they are any indication, I suspect other photographers are very much like I am; choosing to publish images more readily than text.
But it doesn't have to be that way.
When Jenika McDavitt of PsychologyforPhotographers.com posted an invitation to join her for four weeks to learn to write persuasively, I jumped at the chance to learn from her. Perhaps you feel you could use a bit of a lift too.
Why am I recommending this course? Let me be wholly transparent with you and say that I gain nothing more than good karmic brownie points. No money has been exchanged and in fact, when I signed up for , I paid the full price.
Like Tiffinbox, Jenika runs a “Top 10” photography blog that I have come to respect. Her course “From Portfolio To Profit Engine: How To Build An Absolutely Irresistible Photography Website” is something I have recommended (as an affiliate partner) in the past because the systems and strategies she teaches has borne results for scores of photographers. Read more about it here.
So, why is it essential for photographers to learn how to write? Isn't it sufficient to take amazing images and post them to our blogs or websites and have our “art” do all the talking? Good question.
Sorry to break your bubble, though. Your images have to rock. No doubt about that. But something amazing happens when you marry your images with powerfully engaging text. When images and complimentary text are both presented, the value of that work goes up. Still not convinced? When was the last time you picked up a National Geographic magazine that was nothing but images in it? Yeah, probably never.
Want another example? It's probably not very obvious, but Spencer Lum, Zack Arias, Joe McNally, and David Hobby are great photographers. Guess what else they have in common? Yep, fantastic images AND blogs with very descriptive and in-depth posts.
The other, perhaps more obvious, reason you should learn to write is because you may want to rank higher in all the search engines. They weigh text much more heavily than images when making their decisions on where you stand compared to your competition. Want to beat your competition: write.
Ok, back to Jenika's course on writing persuasively. It starts on July 8th and wraps up on August 2nd. Registration, though, closes on July 4th. She and I recently riffed on the subject of photographers and writing in this video below:
Here's what's included:
– 4 weeks of writing instruction, delivered via PDF once a week
– 2 Skype Writer’s Dates with Jenika
– 2 Short Writing Assignments (e.g. website pages or blog posts) edited by Jenika
– Private Facebook group for after-hours help
– Surprise gifts & in-group contests
All that with a total value of $836. You can, however, sign up for this course for only $399. But knowing how quickly those 8 seats were taken (yes, she will only work with 14 of us), I wouldn't wait any longer if you feel a course on writing persuasively will elevate your profile online and help you beat out the competition (who will invariably continue doing what she/he always did before, which is to simply photograph and post those images up on their sites).
Hopefully, I've managed to persuade you [grin], but it's totally your call!
