If there’s one thing I’m passionate about, it’s about learning to do things for yourself. Maybe it’s because the things that I’ve wanted to learn over the years were things that no one I knew could teach me. Maybe it’s because I’m a combination of broke and cheap (that’s the student life!) and I would never pay for someone else to do something that I could learn to do myself. Whatever the reason is, I’m a big fan of online tutorials and courses, and sitting down and figuring stuff out.
Which is why I wanted to talk to you today about the top five reasons why I think that you should learn how to do blog photography and blog design for yourself. I know that at first, it can all seem really overwhelming. The temptation to spend what little blog budget we have on stock photos or a web designer can be huge. But, I urge you to consider the advantages and benefits of doing things the old fashioned way: by yo’self.
It’s actually really rewarding when you can learn these skills and start making your own awesome designs or photography. Plus, there are about a hundred other reasons why I encourage you to try it as well. But for now, let’s just go over my top five:
5 Reasons to learn blog photography & design
Develops your brand
Sometimes, when we’re trying to patch together the best free stock photos we can find, and generic designs we’re trying to stitch together in cavna, it can be really difficult to develop a cohesive brand.
One of the best parts of learning to create your own blog designs, as well as learning to do your own blog photography, is that you have full control over the look and feel of it all. You can really customize your photos and your designs to fit your brand exactly.
This can range from always including the same colours in every photo that match up with your brand, or have a signature item or background in your photos. In terms of design, this means using the same fonts everywhere, and maybe including the same graphic elements throughout your blog.
Overall, having your photos and designs be well branded and cohesive adds a lot to the professionalism of your blog. And the best way to do this, is to be creating them yourself.
Builds your authority
Naturally, when you create a cohesive and professional brand, your authority is going to grow with your readers. But branding isn’t everything when it comes to authority (though it is a big part, of course).
One major reason that your readers will start to trust you more as an expert in your niche is because they will see you developing your own photography and design and know that you’re taking this blogging thing seriously.
No matter what niche you’re in, if you have a customized, well branded, and hand-made blog people are going to trust you. They will see how much passion you have for your blog, that you’re willing to put lots of time and energy into making it the best it can be. This will build authority in any area of blogging.
Refreshes your creativity
As bloggers, we can often suffer from writers block or lack of motivation. When you’re doing the same things, day in and day out to try to grow your blog, it can become tiring. Sometimes you just feel like, “if I have to write ONE MORE tweet, I’m gonna freak out.”
But learning a new skill like photography or design can refresh your creativity. It gives you something new to try out, and to express yourself with.
If you take a break from all your writing and strategizing (though those are important too) to do some photography, you’ll probably feel more refreshed and ready to head back to writing afterward.
I know that I cannot make myself do the same thing all day long. If I’m working on my blog, I like to switch between writing posts, emails, making content upgrades, and photography. It’s still efficient to batch your work – but, if you’re not always doing the exact same kind of work, it can be a lot more fuelling for your creativity.
You can become an expert (and offer advice)
Learning and developing these skills is all about becoming an expert for yourself. When you learn blog photography and design, you don’t have to worry about hiring someone to do the work for you.
The best part is, after you’ve spent a lot of time teaching yourself and getting better at these skills, you can start being the expert that someone else needs.
Even if you never plan on becoming a semi-professional photographer, or a freelance designer, you never know how being an expert in an area like that can help you out.
It might be as simple as taking a professional head shot for a friend, or creating a poster for an event in your community. You never know how teaching yourself these useful skills will allow you to help someone else out.
It saves you a ton of money
Finally, but maybe even most importantly? Teaching yourself these skills is a huge money saver because it means that you won’t need to hire someone else to do the work for you. Photographers and designers can be expensive (which, they deserve to be- they work hard) but if you can’t afford that kind of service right now, the absolute best alternative is to teach yourself. And you can start learning now for free! You can obviously read the tips and tricks I share every week on this blog – or you can sign up for my FREE online workshop below.
So, we’ve obviously established that learning to do blog design and blog photography for yourself is an absolutely essential. But, I’ll admit, it can seem daunting at first. There is a lot to learn, and in some cases a lot of technical stuff to learn. It doesn’t have to that challenging though, if you’re persistent and you work through it, you can figure it out.
Written by Katie Steckly. To read the full article, click here. Fotility Photography & Videography is a San Diego published photographer that specializes in portrait, engagement, event, graduation, headshots, portfolio, product/promo shoots, real estate and restaurant photography. For more information and for bookings, please visit his website at www.jerryroxas.photpgraphy.