EP 24: Blogging as a Local Expert

00:00:59 [Melissa]
So my biggest thing was, okay, how do I jump the line?
00:01:01 [Melissa]
I don’t wanna be the fourth or fifth person who gets picked.
00:01:04 [Melissa]
I wanna be right up there at the front especially because the further you get down that line the less money people have

00:01:18 [Alison]
Hey, I’m Allison, military spouse and family photographer.

00:01:21 [Melissa]
And I’m Melissa, also a military spouse, lifestyle photographer, and SEO expert for photographers.
00:01:26 [Melissa]
Between the two of us, we have a combined twenty seven years in photography, and have lived through nine business relocations.

00:01:32 [Alison]
We’ve coached each other through all these challenges privately on Marco Polo, and now we’re bringing our polos public.
00:01:37 [Alison]
On this podcast, we’ll give you actionable steps to help you keep it moving.
00:01:44 [Alison]
Alright.
00:01:44 [Alison]
Today, we are talking about blogging as a local expert.
00:01:47 [Alison]
Expert.

00:01:48 [Alison]
This is for SEO purposes.
00:01:49 [Alison]
This is not, you know, networking or anything like that.
00:01:52 [Alison]
But before we get into all that, we want to make sure that you are leaving reviews and giving us some feedback.
00:01:56 [Alison]
Hit us up in the show notes for DMs on Instagram and our handles.
00:02:00 [Alison]
Both Melissa and I are happy to hear what you have to say.

00:02:03 [Alison]
If you have questions or want to hear something us talk about something particular, like, let us know because we have no idea if this is working for you or not.
00:02:10 [Alison]
Like we said, this episode is not about networking.
00:02:13 [Alison]
We have previous episodes.
00:02:15 [Alison]
So if you’re looking about establishing yourself on your Instagram network or in networking opportunities whether other professionals in your new area, we do have episodes for those.
00:02:22 [Alison]
So go back and check those out.

00:02:23 [Alison]
This particular episode is all about blogging as a local in order to climb in those Google rankings, for SEO.
00:02:30 [Alison]
So, Melissa.

00:02:31 [Melissa]
Alright, y’all.
00:02:32 [Melissa]
So I started off back in the day as a wedding photographer like most people did.
00:02:37 [Melissa]
And I learned really quickly what the hierarchy was for brides who were ready to hire vendors.
00:02:43 [Melissa]
So it was usually like dress and then venue because sometimes your dress would set the tone for the venue.
00:02:49 [Melissa]
Or some people would pick venue and then they would realize, well, I need a certain dress for this.

00:02:53 [Melissa]
But anyway, basically, I realized as a photographer, I was down the list.
00:02:56 [Melissa]
I was not top of the heap in the pecking order.
00:02:58 [Melissa]
So my biggest thing was, okay.
00:03:00 [Melissa]
How do I jump the line?
00:03:01 [Melissa]
I don’t wanna be the fourth or fifth person who gets picked.

00:03:04 [Melissa]
I wanna be right up there at the front, especially because the further you get down that line, the people have.
00:03:09 [Melissa]
And so I certainly didn’t wanna be the last person booked.

00:03:12 [Speaker 2]
Hey.
00:03:13 [Speaker 2]
Yes.
00:03:13 [Speaker 2]
I’m talking to you.
00:03:15 [Speaker 2]
How are you feeling about this move?
00:03:16 [Speaker 2]
It’s a lot to process, but I’ve got something for you.

00:03:19 [Speaker 2]
I want you to grab my pre move checklist

00:03:21 [Alison]
to make things a little easier.

00:03:23 [Speaker 2]
Even if you’re not sure where you’re going yet, it’s not too early

00:03:25 [Alison]
to start.
00:03:26 [Alison]
But you could be losing time on that SEO juice if

00:03:29 [Speaker 2]
you dilly dally.
00:03:29 [Speaker 2]
So head over to alison bell dot co.
00:03:32 [Speaker 2]
That’s alisonwith1l,bell.co to get your pre move checklist.
00:03:37 [Speaker 2]
You got this.

00:03:38 [Melissa]
I started thinking about how do I get in front of clients before thinking about being a you know, they’re even thinking about photographer.
00:03:43 [Melissa]
At the time, I realized, you know, they’re looking for dresses, they’re looking for venues, and then caterers.
00:03:48 [Melissa]
And usually those kind of ran together.
00:03:49 [Melissa]
So I really figured out how to become a local expert on the venues in my area.
00:03:54 [Melissa]
And so I would end up with clients.

00:03:56 [Melissa]
I remember there was a girl.
00:03:56 [Melissa]
She was planning her wedding from overseas.
00:03:58 [Melissa]
And she told me she said, every venue I looked at, your website came up on page one of Google from having a wedding at that venue.
00:04:05 [Melissa]
And she was like, so, obviously, you know what you’re doing.
00:04:07 [Melissa]
And I was like, yes.

00:04:09 [Alison]
Wow.
00:04:09 [Alison]
That would

00:04:10 [Speaker 2]
be a local expert.

00:04:11 [Melissa]
Yeah.
00:04:11 [Melissa]
And so, like, she saw me over and over again.
00:04:13 [Melissa]
So it helped establish trust in her because she keeps seeing me talk about things.
00:04:17 [Melissa]
And now she’s looking at venues, but now she’s also looking at me because I’m right there and I’m in her face versus Mhmm.
00:04:23 [Melissa]
If I was waiting until, you know, she finally gets around to photographers, now I’m gonna see a photographers.

00:04:28 [Melissa]
So then when I was like, alright, I’m done working Saturdays, like most wedding photographers feel at some point.

00:04:33 [Speaker 2]
Mhmm.

00:04:34 [Alison]
You know,

00:04:34 [Melissa]
I wanna stay home with the kids and everything.
00:04:35 [Melissa]
I was like, alright, I’m gonna switch over to portraits.
00:04:38 [Melissa]
And so I started thinking about this, and Alice and I were talking about this the other week, just in conversation that I think commenting on each other’s posts of, like, trying to come up with ideas of, like, how do I jump the line per se when it comes to, like, people who are pregnant and stuff like that.
00:04:52 [Melissa]
And I lucked out because I was actually pregnant when I was making that transition.
00:04:57 [Melissa]
And so anytime It’s better knowledge.

00:04:59 [Melissa]
There you go.
00:04:59 [Melissa]
I was like my own ideal client.
00:05:01 [Melissa]
So whenever, you know, it was like self, what are you what are you googling today?
00:05:04 [Melissa]
And then I would be like, oh, maybe I’m looking for a prenatal massage.
00:05:07 [Melissa]
Honestly, for me, it was nursery inspiration.

00:05:09 [Melissa]
That was the very first thing.
00:05:10 [Melissa]
Before anyone knew I was pregnant, I already had, you know, Pinterest boards for being a boy nursery because I’d done gender neutral already and I was like, Nope, darn it.
00:05:18 [Melissa]
I’m finding out this time.
00:05:20 [Melissa]
So I started looking for those things and then I just started thinking about anything while I was pregnant.
00:05:25 [Melissa]
And these were all like early on in my pregnancy.

00:05:27 [Melissa]
So if somebody’s looking for nursery inspiration, they’re not looking for a photographer yet.
00:05:31 [Melissa]
Like they’re not so that’s this is me jumping the line because now I will blog about nursery inspiration.
00:05:37 [Melissa]
And so I really started you know, thinking about it that way.
00:05:40 [Melissa]
I had to reframe that that idea for weddings.
00:05:42 [Melissa]
How I jump the line in weddings?

00:05:44 [Melissa]
How do I jump the line when it comes to maternity and newborn clients?
00:05:48 [Melissa]
How do I get to them before they buy the $2,000 stroller and don’t have money left over

00:05:52 [Alison]
for Right?
00:05:53 [Alison]
Oh my gosh.
00:05:54 [Alison]
Strollers these days.
00:05:55 [Alison]
It’s so crazy how that changes.
00:05:56 [Alison]
So I think about this as like problem solving before they need you, which is exactly what you are doing.

00:06:02 [Alison]
You are solving, providing information, creating value for a potential client before they thought about having a photographer.
00:06:09 [Alison]
And so the same strategy exists when you’re moving to a new location.
00:06:12 [Alison]
I knew nothing about Hawaii before I got here.
00:06:15 [Alison]
I had to learn it myself.
00:06:16 [Alison]
I was frantic like, am I gonna go eat even for my scouting trip?

00:06:20 [Alison]
We’ve talked about that in a previous episode too.
00:06:21 [Alison]
Where was I gonna do these model calls?
00:06:23 [Alison]
Where was I gonna, like, can I?
00:06:25 [Alison]
Am I legal?
00:06:26 [Alison]
Where am I gonna eat with my husband?

00:06:27 [Alison]
Where am I gonna go on a date?
00:06:28 [Alison]
Like, what are the fun things to do?
00:06:30 [Alison]
Because he was working all day.
00:06:31 [Alison]
Like, what am I gonna go do?
00:06:32 [Alison]
You’ve got to research it for yourself first.

00:06:35 [Melissa]
I can tell you too.
00:06:36 [Melissa]
Like, when I was looking for Miami, by doing the research for, like, date night posts in Miami, I realized that their shooting season was opposite my shooting season in Virginia.

00:06:46 [Alison]
It’s so crazy.
00:06:46 [Alison]
Yeah.
00:06:47 [Alison]
I’m telling you, every location is different, guys.

00:06:49 [Melissa]
Hey, photographers.
00:06:49 [Melissa]
Melissa Arlena here.
00:06:51 [Melissa]
Does SEO feel super overwhelming to you?
00:06:54 [Melissa]
I get it.
00:06:54 [Melissa]
But guess what?

00:06:55 [Melissa]
SEO doesn’t have to be complicated.
00:06:57 [Melissa]
I’ve spent fifteen years in photography and ten years in IT before that cracking the SEO code so that you don’t have to.
00:07:04 [Melissa]
Whether you’re eager to learn or you just want somebody to take care of it for you, I’ve got your back.
00:07:10 [Melissa]
With my SEO coaching and done for you services, you’ll get noticed online, attract more of your ideal clients, and keep doing what you love most, photography.
00:07:18 [Melissa]
Ready to boost your website’s visibility without the headache?

00:07:21 [Melissa]
Is it pictureperfectrankings.com, and let’s make SEO simple and effective for you.
00:07:26 [Melissa]
Let’s get your calendar booked.
00:07:27 [Melissa]
I wouldn’t have had any idea except I’m like, why are the outdoor movie schedule in Miami Miami from, like, November to May?
00:07:34 [Melissa]
And here in Virginia, we would be like, May to November.
00:07:36 [Melissa]
And I realized because it is like, you know, Hell’s Kitchen.

00:07:39 [Alison]
Yeah.
00:07:40 [Alison]
It’s too hot.
00:07:41 [Alison]
From May

00:07:41 [Melissa]
to November down there.

00:07:42 [Alison]
When you think about this, if you’re a pet photographer, you wanna think about what are your people thinking about and need for their animals before they come to you.

00:07:50 [Melissa]
Yeah.
00:07:50 [Melissa]
Agree.

00:07:50 [Alison]
Or they’re not even Yeah.
00:07:52 [Alison]
Trainer.
00:07:52 [Alison]
Food.
00:07:53 [Alison]
Where’s the pet store?
00:07:54 [Alison]
How do I get this stuff I need on island?

00:07:55 [Alison]
Like, all of that stuff.
00:07:56 [Alison]
You need to think in your client’s shoes to solve their problems.
00:08:01 [Alison]
Because even as a pet photographer, they may not even care about pet photography.
00:08:05 [Alison]
But if you’re coming up constantly when they’re looking for trainers or boarders or kennels or playdates or whatever services they may need for their animal and you keep coming up.
00:08:16 [Alison]
You’re planting the seed of, like, oh, maybe we should do this.

00:08:19 [Alison]
Maybe we should do this.

00:08:20 [Melissa]
And you Local expert.
00:08:21 [Melissa]
I mean, that’s Local expert.
00:08:23 [Melissa]
Yeah.
00:08:23 [Melissa]
You’re gonna self to Google and to the client that you are local, you know, the local places.
00:08:28 [Melissa]
And so now, you know, like, okay, they figured out from you, like, the groomer to go to.

00:08:31 [Melissa]
They may come back to you to be like, well, does she know a trainer too?
00:08:34 [Melissa]
Like, you know, they may start It is.
00:08:35 [Melissa]
Like, oh, you are the expert.

00:08:37 [Alison]
And then they’re on your wait list.
00:08:38 [Alison]
And then they wait for you to then they’re like, you’re in their inbox.
00:08:41 [Alison]
It’s golden.
00:08:41 [Alison]
It’s a whole thing.
00:08:42 [Alison]
When it came for me with Hawaii, I had to learn it all myself, but it also happened to Virginia Beach.

00:08:47 [Alison]
I needed to learn where were the best ice cream shops to take my kids when we arrived?
00:08:51 [Alison]
Where were the best beaches to take them?
00:08:53 [Alison]
Which ones had the longest drive or the easiest parking or were safest for, like, being less a little less hands on.
00:08:59 [Alison]
All of that stuff like the best date night restaurants, where could I take my kids to go eat?
00:09:03 [Alison]
I’ve said it before on this podcast.

00:09:05 [Alison]
Actually, I found out I’m now the number one position for so many keywords that have to do with kid friendly restaurants and where to eat in Virginia Beach because of one blog post I wrote, maybe going on three years ago now.
00:09:18 [Alison]
I targeted one keyword, and I’m coming up with tons and tons of search results for it because I figured it out for myself, and I wrote a very useful short and to the point, hit all the require SEO requirements blog post that answered and solved the problem.
00:09:31 [Alison]
And it’s still, like, it’s I still have it even though I’m not in Virginia Beach because it is serving me so many clicks and so much traffic.
00:09:37 [Alison]
So the same thing, where should I take my kids to snorkel?
00:09:40 [Alison]
Where is it safe?

00:09:41 [Alison]
Because there’s unsafe beaches here.
00:09:42 [Alison]
Like, that’s what a lot of people don’t realize.
00:09:45 [Alison]
Where can I go eat for date night?
00:09:46 [Alison]
Where can I take my kids if I wanna do something a little upscale?
00:09:49 [Alison]
Happy hours.

00:09:50 [Alison]
Where should I eat lunch?
00:09:51 [Alison]
You know, like, all these things.
00:09:53 [Alison]
How to go about Pearl Harbor.
00:09:54 [Alison]
Like, it’s a big to do, but you still gotta figure it out.
00:09:57 [Alison]
And so since I had already figured that stuff out for myself, I wrote blog posts to serve my clients.

00:10:03 [Alison]
And so now when you search where to snorkel in Oahu for beginners, I’m in the top five or three and I’m getting people on my wait list because I’m sending them more and more travel content to make it easier on them.
00:10:15 [Alison]
I’ve done the research.
00:10:16 [Alison]
I know what’s easy.
00:10:17 [Alison]
And I get people on the phone.
00:10:18 [Alison]
I’ve actually done a lot of discovery calls where it lasted way longer than it needed to Because I was just like word vomit of like, okay, go here, but don’t do this.

00:10:25 [Alison]
Check this out.
00:10:26 [Alison]
Save your money here.
00:10:27 [Alison]
And that’s it.
00:10:27 [Alison]
And blogging, all that stuff.
00:10:29 [Alison]
That is being a local expert.

00:10:30 [Melissa]
Yeah.
00:10:31 [Melissa]
That’s the biggest thing is like, once you are established there and you know that stuff, share that information.
00:10:36 [Melissa]
I’ve said before, like, I wanna be the person that if someone’s pregnant, they come to me because they’re, like, well, the people.
00:10:41 [Melissa]
She knows the best doulas.
00:10:42 [Melissa]
She knows the best pediatricians.

00:10:43 [Melissa]
She knows the best place to get prenatal massage.
00:10:45 [Melissa]
If you’re, like, a branding photographer, you can also look at, like, where are the best coworking place is?
00:10:49 [Melissa]
What are the places that have the best place for you

00:10:51 [Alison]
to just Studio rentals.

00:10:52 [Melissa]
Yeah.
00:10:53 [Melissa]
Studio rentals.
00:10:54 [Melissa]
Things like that.
00:10:55 [Melissa]
Where are the best places for, like, meetings or things?
00:10:57 [Melissa]
Keep in mind that framework of, like, wedding photographers.

00:10:59 [Melissa]
It’s easy for them because they’re interviewing florists and planners and all of that kind of stuff in venues.
00:11:04 [Melissa]
And just take that thought and go, okay.
00:11:06 [Melissa]
Well, how is that similar to, like, my clients and what they’re looking for?
00:11:09 [Melissa]
And I think we’ve covered, like, pretty much a good amount.
00:11:12 [Melissa]
Food refers, I would say where to buy the best lingerie, things like that, where to shop locally, where to shop online for stuff, how to pick yeah.

00:11:20 [Melissa]
How to pick the right lingerie for your your portrait session and really hitting some of those local places.
00:11:25 [Melissa]
Hair and makeup could be a good one for that too.
00:11:27 [Melissa]
Because I know a lot of boudoir, they have their own wardrobe and everything.
00:11:30 [Melissa]
But thinking about, like, a spa, a place where she can go and get her hair and nails done before she comes to a service with you.

00:11:36 [Alison]
Even super niche for family stuff or any other genre like gluten free treats, bakeries, gluten free, what have you, like specialty diet.
00:11:43 [Alison]
They may not get a ton of volume, but if you can be a trusted resource and people can rely on that, it’s gonna go a long way.
00:11:49 [Alison]
So you wanna make sure you’re not only solving the problem, but solving it well and doing it in a way and always blogging in a way that it is serving Google’s end goal, which is providing valuable search results to the searcher.

00:12:02 [Melissa]
Yes.
00:12:02 [Melissa]
And it establishes you to Google as being local.
00:12:05 [Melissa]
And especially when you are moving and you’ve established to Google that you’re in one place and now you’re not in that place anymore, you’ve gotta, like, work twice as hard almost to tell Google, like, I’m no long I’m over here.
00:12:16 [Melissa]
You know?
00:12:17 [Melissa]
This is where you’re at now.

00:12:18 [Alison]
And this is a crazy part.
00:12:19 [Alison]
I just yesterday got another another.
00:12:21 [Alison]
So, like, a third inquiry for Charleston in, like, the last month, maybe three or four weeks.
00:12:27 [Alison]
And I really think, and maybe you can confirm or deny this, but I really think because I’m getting so much authority and such high positioning on blog posts from Virginia to Hawaii that this stinky little blog post I wrote four years ago now in Somerville is getting a lot more weight because Google is seeing my entire website increase, get higher and more clicks, more views, more lingering.

00:12:48 [Speaker 4]
Yep.

00:12:48 [Alison]
And I think it’s just old, old content is getting served more, and now I’m getting more inquiries.
00:12:53 [Alison]
And I just have to keep telling people, I’m sorry.
00:12:54 [Alison]
I’m not coming back anytime soon.
00:12:56 [Alison]
Yeah.

00:12:56 [Melissa]
It’s a rising tide lifts all ships.

00:12:58 [Alison]
So good.
00:12:59 [Alison]
So good.
00:12:59 [Alison]
So if you have any questions about where to blog, what to do once you’ve bought done a blog post, Melissa has a freebie.
00:13:05 [Alison]
You need to get on her email list.
00:13:06 [Alison]
You need to go download that because once you blog it hitting publish, you are not done.

00:13:09 [Alison]
Just done.
00:13:10 [Alison]
Like, you’re at like the apex right now.
00:13:12 [Alison]
It’s it’s downhill from there, but you still gotta get there.
00:13:14 [Alison]
Where you share it, sharing it all over the place is really important.
00:13:17 [Alison]
And then if you haven’t already moving or have moved, you need to get my checklist for what to do.

00:13:21 [Alison]
There is a ton of stuff.
00:13:22 [Alison]
It’s like working in two different locations for a long time.
00:13:25 [Alison]
It can be frantic.
00:13:25 [Alison]
It can be like tiresome.
00:13:27 [Alison]
But get my checklist.

00:13:28 [Alison]
Make it easy on yourself.
00:13:29 [Alison]
I’m giving away all my secrets on that thing.
00:13:31 [Alison]
So so yeah.
00:13:32 [Alison]
Until next time.
00:13:33 [Alison]
Bye bye.

00:13:40 [Melissa]
Thank Thank you so much for listening.
00:13:42 [Melissa]
If you’re enjoying the show, would you do two things for us?
00:13:45 [Melissa]
First, leave a review.
00:13:46 [Melissa]
Just stars would be awesome.
00:13:48 [Melissa]
And two, forward this episode of bestie, no spouse, or anyone facing moving their business.

00:13:53 [Melissa]
We’d love it if you shared this with even just one person.
00:13:56 [Melissa]
If you have questions, you can reach out to Allison on Instagram at Allison Bell Photog, or you can find me, Melissa, in my Facebook group, Picture Perfect Rankings.
00:14:06 [Melissa]
Check the show notes for links, and we’re so excited to

00:14:14 [Speaker 2]
have you

00:14:22 [Alison]
guys here.