Quick navigation:

• Why should you write blog posts in the first place
• How to write blog posts that resonate with people
• What to write about when you’re starting a blog
• A step-by-step writing process for your blog posts

We live in a world where the importance of written communication increased dramatically. We heavily rely on technology and digital contact. From the way we keep in touch with the dear ones to how we approach the people we admire and increase our chances to create a digital presence — we often use tools where writing is king.

For the past 10+ years, I’ve been wearing the communication and storytelling hat daily and put my writing to the test while working in multiple roles: freelancer, volunteer, marketer, copywriter, community builder. Along the way, I had a hard time finding reliable solutions regarding improving my writing skills and making the most out of them on the Internet.

After all the ups and downs I experienced, I managed to narrow down a few things that can help you start your blog and get over the stress of writing your first blog post.

What follows is not a rigid framework, so feel free to take whatever fits you. However, I encourage you to at least test some of the ideas before assuming that they will not work. You might be surprised. 

Why should you write blog posts in the first place

Keeping our communication in writing is far more convenient and comfortable since we can do it from our home, office, or on the road, compared to the effort of meeting a person face-to-face.

Writing is so integrated into our daily lives that we no longer question why we prefer this way of communication instead of others.

Writing is such a self-conscious act because it forces us to think: What do we believe in, so deeply, that we’ll write it down and share it with others?

— Claire Lew (@clairejlew) July 26, 2018

Even though writing short messages can help us transmit instant information to others, writing in-depth, long-form content comes with big advantages.

1. Writing can help you gain more clarity

Putting everything on paper (both digital and offline) helps you draw a clearer picture of your thoughts.

When you can observe what you wrote, it’s easier to find the red thread. You can take notes, underline repetitive snippets, and notice flaws and inconsistencies in your ideas.

2. Writing improves communication skills 

Having a chance to fine-tune your ideas, put order and articulate your thoughts will translate into better written (and verbal) communication skills.

Publishing your writing will put pressure (the good kind) on having a start and an end to your stories, being compelling, and making sure those on the other end understand you. This skill will come in handy in all aspects of your personal and professional life.

3. Your blog posts can bring people together

Expressing your ideas can impact the world and even change it for the better. Your unique point of view can attract people who share the same core values and want to join your community. Nothing beats the feeling of sharing a common understanding with other individuals.

Blog writing can also help you impact other people’s lives through your bold and courageous ideas. Your different perspectives can mobilize people towards a meaningful goal. Your words can capture attention and transform a bunch of random people into followers, believers, maybe even collaborators.

As a blogger, you need to be open-minded in understanding a wide range of arguments because it will help you craft better articles. It does not mean that you should start pleasing people and create blog posts that serve all kinds of needs. On the contrary, you should stick to your beliefs and interests.

4. Writing can be liberating

Writing is an act of freedom through which you can showcase the real you without strings attached. In so many senses, we live the best time of our lives. The simple act of having the chance to create a digital voice and spread your ideas means a lot.

People used this form of communication for a long time and continuously adjusted it to the needs of the time, from sending a letter from the war to writing pre-defined SMS. The need to express ourselves through writing lies within us and only gets stronger.

Writing is not just for storytellers, poets, copywriters, etc. No. We all have the potential to write amazing stories that say something about who we are. The ultimate goal of good writing is to put a piece of ourselves out there and invite others to take a look.

Next, I’ll share the main ideas to keep in mind when writing your first blog posts.

How to write blog posts that resonate with people

There’s a thin line between what you need to know to become better with writing blog posts and all the information on the Internet.

My recommendation is always to be authentic, trust your skills and shape your particular way of writing.

people always ask me how to be a better writer. my answer is always the same: read, read, READ. reading teaches by example, shows you the curiosity of others and is proven to increase brain function/connectivity.

— paul jarvis (@pjrvs) June 18, 2018

Practice makes perfect, as the saying goes, and it’s definitely true. What’s often left unsaid is that starting is the first step and often the hardest challenge.

Once you kick off and develop a writing habit, you will craft your skills and become a better blogger from one day to another.

As in life, the best results come with time, hard work, and determination, so don’t try to find shortcuts.

From my experience as a digital communicator, professional copywriter, and active storyteller, I dare to suggest a few writing tips you should consider.

If you start integrating them into your daily writing routine, you will write better articles on your blog and website and gain confidence and joy in doing it.

1. Use your speaking voice in writing

Create an emotional connection with the reader and guide him as a good old pal through the story. Write the way you talk, and don’t be afraid to be genuine in crafting every message.

People often feel that they have to adopt a persona when posting online, but that’s not true. Copying others will only create a dissonance between who you really are and youfrom the Internet. People are smart and feel fakeness, and once they observe that you are not credible, they will never come back.

2. Write with responsibility 

Be true to yourself and share from your own experience. Own it. No matter if you’re in your 20s, be brave to write about how you feel, about your hobbies, your struggles at the moment. Similar people will resonate with you.

Responsibility also means being transparent and honest regarding your blog posts. Don’t make things up, don’t cheat, don’t offer half-truths. Blogging is serious, and you should treat your audience accordingly, especially if you want to be more than yet another www out there.

3. Write for yourself first 

Express your personality and way of thinking through your writing. You are the first to read that blog post, so make sure it resonates with your inner why and aligns with your beliefs and values.

Don’t write it as if 1000 people will read it; write it like speaking with one person. If what you share is real and comes from your experience, your visitors will notice, and they will return in the future.

“I love meeting my readers, but I am so aware that the person who writes the books that they read is the best version of me — the most hopeful, the most helpful version of me. In my day-to-day life, I am as confused, & stupid, & pessimistic as anybody.” https://t.co/aug6SNQdrK

— Lucy Bellwood is on Tour (@LuBellWoo) June 22, 2018

Put yourself in their shoes and see how you feel: does the blog post feel authentic, reliable, meaningful, or is it just a bunch of lines without a clear goal?

What to write about when you’re starting a blog

You might think that there’s an answer for everything, so there’s nothing much left to cover. I beg to differ.

Even though it’s true that we are exposed to a massive load of information, it doesn’t mean that nuances are not important. In fact, we live a time where we genuinely need them.

Differences are the engine of the world, and once we accept and internalize them, we will definitely live more meaningful lives.

When it comes to blog posts, since you are in your early days, I have a few suggestions regarding how to pack your content.

Of course, there are far more, but I highly believe that you need to narrow the gap and start with just a limited set of options because it will give you direction and purpose. Constraints can be liberating.

1. Write personal stories

Share what makes you-you. Experiences, wins, failures, mistakes, beliefs —anything that says something meaningful about the person behind the scenes. 

If you are a creative person, be generous and write about your creative process, how you get things done, what keeps your wheels spinning, what brings you joy when things are hard to handle. Don’t shy away from sharing the downsides, struggles, and pain—others might go through similar experiences and need a helping hand.

2. Give a twist to common topics

If you are knowledgeable in a particular field, you might have a different perspective on things than the majority. Go ahead and share it with the world, and you might change the way people see or approach things.

Invest time and energy to pack everything to suit your style of writing. You might even be surprised to see that many people resonate with your approach.

3. Share bold statements

Showcase the values you stand for by writing opinionated articles. Boldly express your personality and invite people to share their own thoughts on the matter.

Document what you experience during the writing process because it will help you get a clear perspective on the next step and how you should continue publishing new blog posts.

A step-by-step writing process for your blog posts

First of all, good writing means good reading. There’s no other way around. People who don’t read a lot have a tough time writing well.

It’s the same principle that applies to other forms of creative work as well. Take photographers, for instance. Good artists travel, meet people in person, spend time in solitude, are active folks who have a deeper understanding of how the world works.

“Words have energy and power with the ability to help, to heal, to hinder, to hurt, to harm, to humiliate, and to humble.” — Yehuda Berg

A simple yet effective process to put the above advice in practice is to do the following exercise. Don’t overthink every single step from the bellow list; just go through it and see where it takes you.

1. Choose a topic that you are interested in or have know-how. It can be anything as long as you manifest excitement and a dose of genuine curiosity. Or, on the other hand, you gathered plenty of experience that could be useful for others.
2. Write one paragraph about your idea. This way, you have a summary at your fingertips, and you can get back to it during the process.
3. Define a clear structure to help you keep the red thread: 
   1. → Intro (the central idea that you will explore in the article),
   2. → Main sections (headings and the core message)
   3. → Conclusion (an insight you hope people will react to or sleep on)
4. Write a rough first draft. Don’t take it too seriously; just throw all the thoughts you have in mind related to the topic.
5. Edit what you wrote without mercy and get the garbage out. Read it out loud and see if it makes sense if you can cut some sidenotes, or maybe you can rephrase ideas and make them easier to grasp.
6. Go in-depth. Start adding layers of information to complete your ideas and make sure all match the red thread.
7. Ask for a second opinion. Give these pieces of content to close friends or family and ask them what made them memorable, touched them and how, and what was hard to understand or to follow. Kindly ask them to provide these answers in writing to help them articulate their thoughts.
8. Edit again. Try to integrate the feedback you received in the best possible way, without pleasing everyone or changing the main idea. It’s your call to filter and keep the must-have only.
9. Publish. Celebrate the fact that you published your first blog posts on your terms. Yaaay!

Writing is an excellent way of expressing your unique personality and a crucial skill you want to master on your blog. On top of that, it’s a form of freedom hard to beat by other forms of communication.

You can always explore new perspectives and discover a new world through writing digital content. It’s not a matter of how many words you use; it’s how you craft them to touch people’s hearts, as Seth Godin reminds us: “I wonder why anyone would hesitate to be generous with their writing.”

Want a blog where you can showcase your blog posts in style?

Check out our blogging WordPress themes and start shining.

Give it a go

The post How to write the first blog posts that resonate with people appeared first on Pixelgrade.

As a small business, you might invest a lot of energy, time, and money in keeping momentum on your blog, yet you fail to achieve results and get people reading.

There are a few reasons why that happens. On the one hand, you might write about topics that make little sense for your audience. On the other, you might have trouble keeping up with the tempo, so the blog quickly turns into an abandoned ship that gets rusty with each passing day.

Since we craft WordPress solutions that help people build websites, we have first-hand experience working with many small businesses that create blogs: from restaurants, digital agencies, and architecture studios to NGOs, photographers, ceramic artists, you name it.

During the past ten years of working with such creative souls, we identified what works and what doesn’t when it comes to building a blog that aligns with your values and objectives.

In this article, I’ll guide you through identifying the blog posts that are most relevant to your audience, the next steps after publishing a post, and how to differentiate yourself and your business through your blog.

Let’s get to it.

Quick navigation:

1. Your company blog is not (just) a self-promo channel 
2. Have a clear intent behind your company blog
3. Writing the blog post is just the start

#2. Have a clear intent behind your company blog

There’s A LOT of content of all types out there. From Youtube videos to new Netflix shows almost every week, to blog posts and newsletters to social media posts—each of them fights for our attention.

People’s mental bandwidth is the most precious currency these days. Therefore, it’s important to:

Be thoughtful about what you publish

When there are so many things to do with our time, it’s important to choose the right places to spend our attention. Try to be crystal clear about what you have to offer, when you are offering it, and deliver on your promises.

And don’t think that more is always better. Your audience will be grateful for not overcrowding their mind and digital space with updates every day. They have more important things to do.

To make sure people understand what our blog is about, we created a dedicated blog post (pinned on the blog archive) in which we talk about why we run a blog, why we named it Upstairs, what we’ll be writing about, and what to expect while visiting it.

You might consider writing a similar statement piece to set the right expectations for your audience.

Speak from experience

We’re all tired of reading the same recycled content that floats around the Internet without providing a new perspective on things—“10 things to do this. 5 ways to change this.”

These types of articles don’t fly anymore.

If you want to stand out, make sure you share your expertise, your know-how, and the lessons you’ve learned along the way. Avoid copy-catting others just because they seem to attract more eyeballs. You’ll be the winner in the long term.

For example, when we wrote about how to create your website’s footer, we shared the actual process we went through on pixelgrade.com. This way, people can see that we put skin in the game and share only tried-and-tested advice.

Acknowledge your shortcomings

Your audience will appreciate honesty and transparency and would rather hear about your missteps than read glamorous pieces about how great you’re doing without sharing anything about the process and learnings that got you there. 

In the end, how much can you learn when everything seems to be flawless? Not much.

That’s why we never shy away from sharing the ups and downs we go through each year. Our goal is to provide insights into how a business evolves and maybe help others avoid our mistakes or, at least, know that they are not alone.

That doesn’t mean that you shouldn’t write about your successes. Just be careful to bring value to the people reading it by offering advice and insights into how you did it, and you’re not just bragging.

Don’t be afraid to be bold

While it’s true that your writing should match your audience’s needs, that doesn’t mean that you cannot speak your truth out of fear of making some readers uncomfortable.

Own your voice to attract people who resonate with your approach.

We did the same when we spoke about what we think should change in the WordPress publishing and media world, and we found that many other people felt the same way.

We were the first to voice those problems, but they were felt throughout the entire industry. This article opened a bigger discussion inside the WordPress ecosystem and made our voice stronger.

Don’t write only about what you do and the things that your prospective customers might be interested in right before purchasing. I encourage you to go beyond your core work and explore complementary areas that touch on what you do.

Younger generations, in particular, put a lot of pressure on brands to be more open, more transparent, more ethical.

For example, suppose you are a graphic design agency; you can write about the creative process behind your brand collaborations. Many other independent artists are interested in this type of content, thus making you a great source of inspiration for your peers (and open a pool of people who would love to work for you).

Or you could write about the local community projects you are part of that bring you joy and fulfillment—these stories will show your human side and allow potential collaborations to know they’ll be working with someone that cares about the wellbeing of others.

Another interesting route is to create a blog that brings your products in the center without shoving them into people’s faces. One of our customers is MontanaCans, a German company that produces high-quality spraypaint, which runs a blog dedicated to helping people creatively personalize their home and surrounding using the spray paints they make.

In our case, we share a lot about the culture inside the team and about the local endeavors we take to fulfill our mission—to support people to have an impact in their communities. These narratives showcase our human side, the challenges we face, and how we practice what we preach.

Although not all of these articles will be very helpful for SEO per se (optimizing for search engines), they exist to paint visitors and potential customers a fuller picture of who is behind the scenes. They will learn how you do business, the values you stand for, what you aim to achieve, and how you want to impact the world. It’s far more valuable than any search engine optimization tactic.

Having a blog is a great way to build awareness, credibility and to make room in your audience’s mind as a possible solution to their problem. At the same time, each blog post acts as a way to (re)open the conversation and bring some light towards what you do and what you have to offer.

You can share a product presentation page so much until it becomes annoying. Still, a powerful story can reveal different perspectives around you and your business and attract new eyes to what you have to offer.

Plus, each article is an extra chance to create a liaison with your readers and generate a ripple effect. It’s easier to get mentions due to your unique perspective than to have your products promoted on other websites.

In the end, a blog means more eyeballs on you and more exposure opportunities. 

Who knows, maybe among those curious visitors, some will remember you and return to get some of the things you have to offer. A few could come back because they were impressed with a story you wrote, others because they get frank advice about overcoming specific challenges.

Embrace them all regardless of their why.

The post How to run a company blog that people want to read appeared first on Pixelgrade.

Sounds like a lot to swallow? Well, I hope that before letting it go, pushing the x icon in the corner of your browser, and searching for a place to scroll endlessly, you’re at least a bit intrigued about the lines above. Call it a storytelling trick or a marketing tactic, and you’d be right with any of the choices.

Writer’s block is more than you ever imagined and less than you like to believe.

If you’re restless, you can jump from one section to the other, but I encourage you to read from top to toe:

• When did the notion of writer’s block even appeared?
• The writer’s block gets unblocked when you’re writing
• Managing writer’s block implies allowing for error

But first, some history.

The writer’s block gets unblocked when you’re writing

This title sounds like the poorest one I wrote. Dumb stupid. It’s indeed not a masterpiece in terms of wording, yet it’s real and often neglected or superficially treated.

As Seth Godin wisely states in Debbie Millman’s podcast, you can’t have writer’s block until you write. When you feel you experience something similar, the best approach is to keep throwing up words, ideas, and thoughts on the paper, be it digital or non-digital.

Stopping the creative process and assuming that a day when you’ll no longer feel blocked is around the corner, it’s a cheap alibi that no longer impresses anyone.

Putting skin in the game requires a change in attitude that comes with both rewards and compromises.

During my research for writing this article, I came to dozens of opinions on overcoming writer’s block. Most of them are full of bull**t. They either recommend taking a walk, play with your dog, make another coffee, and other mindless activities, or give you an alternative packed into a blueprint of 13853743 (random number) steps to take if your writing doesn’t flow like a butterfly.

Both are extremes. They indicate another kind of distortion than the one lived by Graham Green in 1920, yet still not a healthy and sustainable solution.

So let me share what worked for me because it could get the job done for you, too. It’s called practice. By that, I mean both writing and reading. I always stated that one does not work without the other. 

Let me tell you why.

I write almost daily, no matter how much or how little. The act of putting down words, transforming them into ideas that take the shape of a story gives me a sense of progress. It fuels my tanks, and it provides the drive to get back at the writing board and keep practicing. By doing it over and over again, I earned more skills and became better at my game.

I’m also an avid reader of books, which keep my wording wheels spinning. Besides expanding my vocabulary and understanding—both are priceless—they allow me to discover analogies that otherwise would not emerge. It leverages my writings and makes them not only more powerful but more memorable, too.

As with any other skill, practice beats every theory and makes everything worthy. However, such a routine does not come easy as a Sunday morning, just with wishful thinking. It means investing the time, energy, even money and committing to building a long-term behavior.

Putting skin in the game requires a change in attitude that comes with both rewards and compromises, so make sure you consider them before bragging you are keen to join the chorus.

The post Writer’s block comes after you write appeared first on Pixelgrade.

Microcopy is a piece of this puzzle. Often attributed to UX designers, this new area of interest got traction and captured other professions too. For instance, today, most people working on the web talk and write about microcopy as a standard playground owned by designers, copywriters, and marketers. It makes sense since the complementary abilities bring the best on the table, right?

Before digging into how to write it in alignment with your brand and your business goals, I would like to make sure we are on the same wavelength. 

As always, I made my fair share of research while putting together this article. Once again, the world-wide-web walked me through a wide range of feelings. From enthusiasm and hope given by certain publications which cover the topic thoughtfully to frustration and sadness regarding the clickable headlines that are not backed with valuable information.

I guess this will be a de facto, and I should get used to it. However, this does not mean that I will embrace this approach. On the contrary, I will push back and write from what I’ve learned by having a direct experience. Not recipes. Not 10-steps-to-whatever. Not the ultimate guide.

In case you want to check a specific section, use the links below:

• Defining the notion of microcopy
• Where does microcopy matter (and why)
• Four elements that impact the microcopy

Where does microcopy matter (and why)

There are dozens of spots on your site where you display microcopy. Usually, when you create your site, you treat these areas poorly. If you work with a copywriter who knows his stuff, he should highlight the importance of them and come with solutions. 

Let’s take it one by one and notice how microcopy affects the experience, and what you can do to make it better. Just for the sake of transparency and clarity, I will exemplify everything on our site — pixelgrade.com. 

It’s not only the place I know inside-out, but it’s also a way of showing you that we have the skin in the game. We don’t talk theories, and we neither play around with big words. What you see is what you get.

#1 — Themes Archive Page

We redesigned this page almost a year ago because we had a specific need: to help visitors quickly skim through our portfolio of products and choose the right one for their goals. We started the shop by having only a cluster of blogging WordPress themes, but once we brought back all our items from other marketplaces, we needed an improved way of searching.

We started by reinforcing a part of our unique selling proposition “Choose a simple WordPress theme” — because this is what we are offering, and it asks a specific question “What’s the purpose of your site?” — because you need to have a goal when you create a www. 

On top of that, we even took a step further and offered an example for the search bar that prompts visitors to try — Promote a local business. This way, we help them with a clue about what could be the destination of a site. However, you can also type different intents, such as:

• Write a personal blog
• Showcase my portfolio work
• Display my photographs
• Sell products and services
• Create an online magazine

#2 — 404 Error Page

We’re a small gang of people at Pixelgrade (only eight creative souls), and there’s no surprise that we often think of Vlad’s and George’s dogs as part of our team. They are listed on our About page, next to the squad, they appear on the visuals we use on our blogs from time to time, and they are also in the spotlight on the 404 error page.

This specific page comes with irritations and sensitivities de facto. In the end, it tells you that you did not get what you wanted, that something is wrong, that there’s an error of some kind. However, this does not imply that you cannot tam the expectations and, therefore, the behavior.

We did that following our tone-of-voice and general attitude. We fine-tuned the microcopy to be funny, witty, and contextual for that specific scenario. Arlo and Paco sniff around and encourage you to do the same and browse our themes to find out the one that fits you. 

This way, not only did we reveal a bit of our personality in front of the visitors, but we also brought a smile on their faces. You got to love this Yin and Yang of Pixelgrade, right?

You can do a similar thing on your site. You don’t need to buy cockapoo dogs from England (yap, they deserve to be called with Sir) to show a human touch on your 404 error page. You can express your style by adapting the microcopy to your specific universe.

For instance, if you are part of a young architecture studio, this page can show some good humor by writing a message that divulges your rebel spirit. Here’s an example:

Ooops, mate! The digital building you are looking after is non-existent. But you know what? We can build a real one for you only. And yes, it will stay still and sexy.

As long as you keep your message in tune with the way you usually communicate across the site, you are safe. Make sure you keep this coherence up and kicking, and visitors will feel that they are in good company. 

As in real life, you have your way of saying Hi when you enter the office and meet your teammates, and you do it the same every day, right?

#3 — Thank You Page

This page can be put in good use within a wide range of situations. We love such occasions as showing gratitude towards our customers because this is another value that we have at Pixelgrade. Each endeavor that enables us to manifest it, makes us happy. We do it because it’s ingrained in our inner-why, not because we want to amplify a marketing tactic.

You can have a thank you page after someone has bought something from you, but also after a visitor made a specific action on your site. For instance, he pushed the subscribe button to your newsletter.

Whatever your situation, the microcopy should be clear in terms of intention — how do you want to transmit your appreciation, and lined up with your tone-of-voice — if you are a business where joking is essential, don’t be afraid to show it. It’s not the only area where you will reveal it, so there’s no need to hold back. On the contrary.

At Pixelgrade, we wanted to thank customers for trusting our WordPress themes and spending their money on our work. Our way of showing this gratitude is by writing down the name of the client — we want to acknowledge that everyone is essential — and give a few tips about some questions that might pop-up, such as ‘where is the invoice?’, ‘how can I access customer support?’, etc. 

The simple fact that we prevent some real concerns and then address them brings value and consolidates the trust.

If I was to bring the GPS analogy I mentioned earlier, don’t you feel good when you are announced that some streets are blocked or under construction? It’s a nice gesture of care that brings peace of mind and a little bit of joy. 

Well, the same is valid and accurate when it comes to the thank you pages. It’s yet another chance to treat your visitors with kindness and clarity through well-written microcopy.

#4 — Customer Support Page

Customer support weighs quite a lot these days. Not just because through assistance you can improve the relationships with your customers and transform them into ambassadors, but because it’s your chance to endorse who you are as a person, business, NGO, you-name-it.

There’s no debate that we’ve always put customer support at the core of our activity at Pixelgrade. This means that we worked on both sides of the spectrum.

On the one hand, we’ve been developing our products in such a way that you can get along on your own, with the right amount of freedom and constraints. On the other hand, we’ve been behaving as partners, comrades; and not as detached agents who don’t care about people’s feelings and treat each customer as just a customer support ticket.

Therefore, we created a dedicated customer support page where we make sure everything it’s obvious in terms of microcopy and the expected outcome. 

First of all, we take the worry that you are alone out of the table and we let you know that our job is to help you, which is what we are going to do. Second of all, we offer you alternatives. You can either check our documentation and find the answer by yourself or get in touch with us directly to receive our in-depth answers. 

No matter what your choice is, you will get answers to your concerns — even if the answer is not the one you might like, i.e. we need to test it on our side too. Since we’re selling software, some bugs and issues are unavoidable.

On top of that, we are upfront and vigilant and list a set of FAQs right from the start. In case you have one of those, you get the details you need in the blink of an eye.

Through this type of microcopy, we motivate our customers to take the right step, according to their journey. Whatever it is, we make it crystal clear what he/she needs to do next. No guessing around, no hidden email addresses, no annoying chats. We keep it real.

#5 — Sign Up Page

As the title is already explicit, I will skip stating the obvious. Thus, this does not mean that you cannot take advantage and cue visitors into functionality humanly and authentically. In this specific area, microcopy is even more crucial because it’s one of the first steps toward building a relationship. 

Most of your visitors don’t land on this page from the beginning and don’t have a desire to leave their email address. Especially in a world where the focus on privacy is increasing, and the awareness about how big companies play around with our data is getting higher.

Most probably, they read your about page to understand who’s behind the scene, checking your blog articles to see what and how you write about stuff. Maybe they even went to your social media channels to have a feeling about what kind of content you are providing.

Therefore, when they arrive on a sign-up page, they already have bits and pieces of information along a certain feeling. It might have created a good impression determining them to proceed with filling the form, or the opposite, pushing them to drop the action.

At Pixelgrade, this page carries on the approach we’re having for the entire site. It clearly states what you get by signing up, plus it offers you direct links to relevant information (terms and conditions and our privacy policy). We bring a bit of our style across the microcopy by keeping the joyful tone-of-voice. Moreover, we try to dilute any side of worry or concern to guide our visitors to take the next action.

Four elements that impact the microcopy 

I genuinely resonated with someone who defined microcopy as a voice leading and aiding users in their journey. I think it’s one of the most accurate descriptions of what’s the role of it and why it is so important to find the right balance between tone and rhythm. Too much microcopy can create harmful consequences just as much as too little can lead to confusion.

My two cents is that there are a few key elements that you need to take into consideration about microcopy to make it clear, smart, and meaningful. They are universal and legitimate for every type of site you have or plan to create, regardless if it’s a blog, a photography portfolio, a restaurant, or any kind of destination.

Allow me to present the core of each and every one of them to help you adjust them to your universe without hassle.

#1 —  Communication

Create microcopy in alignment with the way you communicate in general.

To continue with our example at Pixelgrade, it would feel strange, even hilarious, to write the microcopy of the thank you page, in a very formal tone. We’re not official, we’re not corporate, nor we are 50+ folks around here. Instead, we are a young team of passionate and hardworking fellows who sign their email with “Stay awesome.”

It’s not that it’s terrible to be academic and posh in how you craft the microcopy, just make sure you maintain the style from the get-go.

Tip: By using the same tone-of-voice, language, even rhythm, you create consistency and highlight an attitude that’s distinctive. 

#2 — Context

As with the GPS, the context when you are using it matters quite a lot. If you are super familiar with the streets and how to get to the destination, well, it makes no sense to use it. On the contrary, if you are new in the hood and need to be on time for an important meeting, it’s smart to turn it on. 

The same happens with microcopy. If it’s clear for our customers how to take a specific action, we make sure we don’t stay in their way. Imagine how it would be for them to be asked to sign-up in a way that creates confusion or alters the trust. 

Tip: The place where you add the microcopy influences how you write it, so make sure you consider its constraints.

#3 — Clarity

No matter how creative you are as a person or company (advertising agencies included), your microcopy needs to be clear and truthful. Avoid being creative and stepping out the boundaries just to play around with words.

For instance, on our archive of themes, we auto-filled the search bar with real intentions that our customers might have when they want to build a site. We’re not fooling around by playing smart, and we genuinely want to help them get the right product for their needs. 

Tip: Action matters most and to take the right one people need to understand what implies and how to do it. 

#4 — Customer

Even though it’s your microcopy and it needs to be evocative (for your particular brand), don’t forget that, in the end, it should be customer-oriented.

When we created the thank you page, not only did we aim to express some humanity and kindness, but we also wanted to show our customers that they are safe next to us. So, the first concerns that kick-off in their minds are already addressed, for instance: where to find the invoice, how to log in, how to get in touch with us.

Tip: Its purpose is to help them take a particular action, to move to a specific area, to address their situation. 

Microcopy has a huge potential in shaping a memorable digital experience for your visitors. It’s up to you to ensure that you’ll use it to amplify good intentions, directed to the right destinations, and show care and attention to their needs. 

As anything out there, it can be used to accomplish good or bad, but I hope that this article helps you move the needle to reinforces good behaviors. In the end, we want a better web, where the relationships we are nurturing are valuable and thoughtful, right? 

Take a closer look at your current site to determine how you can guide your visitors. Do they have the right address noted on their GPS? And if they do, what’s the safest and most pleasant route for them to take?

The post How the microcopy of your site impacts your visitor’s experience appeared first on Pixelgrade.

Before starting to put together this article, I experienced a bunch of mixed feelings. On the one hand, it occurred to me that it’s crystal clear how to present yourself on the About page — why should I write about something that everyone knows how to make it right? On the other one, I was pissed off because most of the content around this topic is highly superficial and misleading. Way too many people are fighting the ranking war and miss the essence. 

I thought there must be a different approach, one that feels more natural and honest, so I started to dig deeper. Not only I changed my mind regarding the fact that such an article is on the opposite side of irrelevance, but I managed to turn the disappointment into creative fuel. 

I felt that the obvious is neglected and poorly packed and delivered. 

I don’t dare to say that I found a solution or that this article is the supreme go-to source. No. It’s not about that. What I can promise you instead is that the following thoughts come after years of first-hand experience as a digital copywriter and storyteller. 

It’s what I discovered while putting my skin in the game from the first row.

It’s not about skyrocketing your website and place it in the first position of search engines. It’s about being authentic with both you and your readers. In the end, this is what will lead you further, not all sorts of growth hacks.

If you are looking for magic tips and ideas to skyjack your digital presence, make yourself a favor, and get out of here. You will find nothing of the kind in the following lines.

I tried to put together a red thread that makes sense for anyone who wants to present their story on the About page, no matter if you are a blogger, photographer, a small coffee shop, a bistro, or a company with plenty of history. Some elements are mandatory for each of these scenarios, so I will mostly focus on those. 

While I encourage you to go through everything I wrote, you’re free to jump directly to the section that feels more interesting and captivating. However, like cooking, you need to find a way to balance all the ingredients to get a tasty dish, so make sure you will savor a complete culinary experience.

Here’s what you will find in the next lines:

• The importance of the About page on your website
• A few key elements your About page needs to contain
• A simple way to test how good your About page really is
• Communication tips for writing your message authentically 

Let’s take it one step at a time and discover how all these areas fit together like the pieces of a puzzle. Rest easy, and join me!

Key elements your About page should accommodate

While researching and taking notes for this article, I fell into the same trap: three things to consider, seven steps to follow, ten messages you should not miss, but all the advice is superficial. If you found “advice” like add social links, an email so people can reach you back, a picture of your pet, then you know what I’m talking about.

Sure, they can work for some, but that doesn’t help you in writing about who you really are, in selecting the information that’s truly relevant to your visitors and one that can get people who are reading your website stick around, trust you and care about you or your business. 

Life, even the challenging digital one, is not about Michelin stars. It’s about being consistent and credible to serve a purpose.

This doesn’t mean that it’s easy for me to make this push back. Not at all. I felt I needed some extra time and energy to zig when most people zag. And when I’ve done that, I often seemed to be the misfit, even though there’s nothing wrong about me. I want to do things on my terms and offer you real added value. 

Therefore, I will walk you through a few elements I think are essential to encompass into your About page from what I know today. Please keep the last words in mind. Tomorrow or two years later, I might update these messages because I discovered and learned stuff that I genuinely believe it is relevant to integrate. 

However, get ready to learn more about some evergreen elements that your page should include, no matter what. Updating it’s a healthy thing to do since we all evolve and change over time, so it’s no brainer that you should keep it aligned with your reality.

The order is somehow trivial, but here I go

#1 — Show a photo of you or your team

It does feel strange when you receive a friend request on Facebook from someone who does not have a profile pic. You might think that something is fishy; why did the person choose not to reveal his or her face? It’s almost unacceptable. Well, the same applies when it comes to your website.

You need to show people the person or the team behind the curtain. It’s an act of respect and care. It’s not even transparency, the hot word of the moment. It’s normal, ordinary, you name it. 

When you introduce yourself to someone, you don’t show up with a bag on your face, nor you say Hello from a different room. You show in person. The approach should be the equivalent in the digital arena.

Now, I am not a photographer, but it’s not rocket science to know that you need a photo that’s relevant for who you are and the type of website you build. If you are part of a creative agency, where you run advertising campaigns “Mad Men”-style, feel free to play around and explore different ways to showcase the photo. 

What matters is to show yourself or your team the way you really are and in alignment with what you do and how you want people to see you or your business. If you want to be playful in a world with strict guidelines, who says you can’t? That can be an advantage and help you stand out as being real and approachable.

Regardless of the context, people need to put a face to the name. Your face, the way you look, your name, should be crystal clear. Avoid being so unconventional that nobody gets it. It’s not the place to play games. 

#2 — Write a curated version of your story

Curated is, indeed, the keyword. The reason why I am highlighting it is that people tend to exaggerate with a bunch of details that nobody gives a damn. They either tell the history of their life (from their perfect childhood — there’s nothing more false than that — to the yoga classes they took when they were in a sabbatical). 

Neither is relevant unless you either are a therapist or a traveler. I am joking. It makes no sense to go so in-depth because you consume mental space and leave your readers tired and frustrated. Instead, make sure that what you write is suitable for your introduction, but also for the central goal of your site. 

In real life, when you have the first contact with someone, you most probably tell them the information that the other person will find useful and relatable, depending on who they are and why are you meeting with them. You’ll share stuff about the current job you have, maybe the NGO where you volunteer from time to time and a hobby you practice regularly). In digital, you should stick to the same practice.

Offer context around the details you are providing to make your story credible. If you are a photographer, let people know what made you choose this creative field and how do you keep your wheels spinning. If you are a PR agency, tell more about the mission that governs your company and how do you plan to achieve it. 

Give your readers a few reasons why they should check the rest of your website. Don’t let them start guessing around because they will not. Time is too valuable these days to have an incentive to spend it digging and trying to find relevant details in the dark corner of the Internet.

#3 — Name a few highlights that make you who you are

Keep whatever you decide to tell in the new reality because it’s easier for people to relate and automatically to believe you. Nobody cares about the prize you took in the second grade at the dancing contest as well as nobody is interested in how you will go to Mars and live happily there. 

It’s not because people are rude or they do not have time (they don’t), but they need to quickly understand if there’s any chance to create any liaison with you. By liaison, I mean anything. From subscribing to your weekly newsletter to following you on social media or buying your course on how to improve your writing skills. Btw, my team and I created a free ebook on how you can craft better stories. It’s downloaded by more than 1,000 people from all over the world. You can have it too if you are curious to find out our insights.

Maybe you went through a personal experience that changed your perspective entirely. Perhaps you quit the corporate job you had in the last 15 years to join a social cause that fits you perfectly. Maybe you created open-source software to help people build better websites. Perhaps you run webinars about how to produce ceramics and sell them on the web. Maybe you wrote a book, or you’ve been invited to a famous podcast to share your creative process.

Or maybe there’s none of this, and that’s fine. Just don’t make stuff up as well as don’t try to force some things to mimic that everything sounds better than it is. If you do that, you are on the wrong path, and this is not the place to be and read such articles. I mean it.

Next, I took an example from one of our customer’s websites to show you an easy way to put together the elements I mentioned above. Marie-Eve uses Vasco, our premium WordPress theme, for her travel blog. On the About page, she introduces herself by the blink of an eye. 

Do you want to know what makes her page useful? Well, here are some solid reasons:

• The photo is clear, and you know what Marie-Eve looks like. It’s also in a cozy place, mostly on the go, which feels natural since she’s a heavy traveler. 
• Her story is both authentic and human, and maybe you can even relate to Marie-Eve’s journey since she’s treating traveling from an architectural point of view.
• You find out easily what makes her-her, how many countries she’s been to, what’s the goal of her website, and the reason for the activity.

A simple way to test how good your about page really is

Are you ready for the supreme test? You need to create a landing page, a Reddit account, start a thread on Twitter and…That’s bullshit. You don’t need to do anything of the kind. 

You can either ask on your Facebook or Twitter profile if there’s anyone who wants to take a look and answer some particular questions. At the same time, you can give the link to your family and close friends to do the same exercise. 

In case you wonder what questions to ask, no worries. I already thought which would be relevant, and have no worries, besides using my own years of experience, I also added some ideas from the notes I took about two years ago while taking the IDEO course “Storytelling for influence.” 

A simple method to test if the way you introduce yourself on the About page is right is by asking the following questions:

• What was memorable?
• What do you have questions about?
• What moved or motivated you?
• What, in your opinion, is the big idea?

You can use them at least as a starting point to see what answers you receive. Don’t try to justify yourself, be curious, and take notes. If folks don’t understand what’s your story, what you do, what’s your motivation and other relevant details, you need to get back to the drawing board and fine-tune the content. 

Ask these questions to people with different views of the world, no matter if they are in love with politics, economy, or if they have higher education, a low income, or are Richie Rich.

Communication tips to write your message authentically 

There is no wonder there’s enormous value in being consistent across the board. In other words, make sure you are writing the content on how you present yourself the way you are talking. Do that on every single channel of communication. Don’t pretend to be someone else to sound smart. The wisest approach is to explore the language that you use regularly, no matter the context. 

If in real life, such a mix would create confusion, when it comes to the digital, the consequences are even worse. People will tend to believe that you are not trustworthy, that you try to lie to them because they won’t understand who they’re reading at the end of the day. You use a different tone-of-voice on your social media channels, another on your website, and hey, your e-mail seems to be written by someone else. Not good, mate.

To keep things clear and steady, you need to do one thing only: be yourself. Maybe it sounds too simple, but in a world where a lot of people “develop” or better put it, showcase a different persona and personality online versus who they really are, taking this approach will benefit you big time in the long run.

I highly recommend you to shape the content for the About page (not only) in alignment with who you are and the values you stand for. Copy-catting others is not an option.

When it comes to specific tips to manifest this credibility on your website, here are my two cents:

• Write as you speak — expressing your personality; it’s not only a smart thing to do; it’s psychological healthy since faking it does not take long. You cannot go against you.
• Write at the right person — if you’re one man behind the site, don’t be afraid to show it and write everything accordingly (I not we). Faking that there’s a team means lying.
• Write creatively — express your personality traits through writing; maybe you have certain humor or a specific way to tell some stuff, don’t sink into banality.

You can apply the same actions to double-check it as the ones presented earlier. Let people who know you best provide feedback and iterate on the go.

Hey! You can grab my ebook on how to improve your writing skills.

More than 1,000 people downloaded it so far. Give it a chance!

Take it for free

As I was caught in the same biases regarding the fact that such an article could be nonsense, I almost got trapped into another one. I felt the pressure that I need to end it with a blueprint, a framework, something to help you write your About page by following a script. But you know what? Everyone is unique and has its own story, so creating such a rocky template should imply that I have a recipe or that I don’t welcome the diversity. Both are far from the truth. 

Need a helping hand with your About page? Write me at oana@pixelgrade.com and I will gladly take a look and provide some actionable insights.

The post How to write the ‘About’ story of your website appeared first on Pixelgrade.

I know my keyboard from top to toe. I’ve been writing professionally for ten years for a wide range of contexts and scenarios — various businesses, NGOs, communities, etc.

No matter if I was in the freelancer’s shoes or wearing the storyteller hat in my daily job, I always aimed to write genuinely. By that, I mean conveying my style and approach in stories that touch people’s hearts and give them a strong sense of feeling that is hard to forget.

Stories heal, connect, sell, endorse, repair, damage, help us feel less alone, and the impact that they can have on someone is astounding.

Learning how to express emotions through writing in the digital field is a powerful tool we all need to practice. No matter if you are a CEO, a volunteer, an activist, a creative entrepreneur, a food blogger, a marketer, or anything else, you too can explore this universe and craft your writing skills.

You can build and maintain your voice and writing style, no matter the context. To do so, you need to find out what lies underneath your words and build from there. 

In this article, I walk you through one area you need to deeply understand if you are interested in conveying emotions through your writing, not just throwing empty words on the already super crowded Internet. If you learn how to manage and internalize it properly, you will notice that your writing improves severely and reaches more people.

Let’s hit the road.

Convey emotions on your website by writing the way you are talking 

If you give a damn about being authentic and building healthy relationships with your readers, then there’s no doubt about the fact that you care.

Caring is a constant preoccupation that implies time, energy, feelings of all kinds, and focus. It is also a robust approach to developing stronger bonds and keeping an audience near you in the very long run since no relationship (digital or non-digital) can survive and grow without such an emotional investment.

Besides that, writing content on your website the way you are talking is crucial because that makes you-you. In a world where we are constantly pushed to be in a certain way (more popular, less anxious, more confident, less complaining, more questions, fewer answers etc.), the simple exercise of listening and transform internal thoughts into stories is already an important victory. 

Maybe it sounds naive and childish, but the truth is that you can’t pretend to be someone else. Even though it may work for a while and you succeed in misleading some of your readers without them knowing it, it doesn’t last long. 

People are smart, and they can feel that you are not true to yourself, and you are not writing out of your expertise or experience; you just pretend. When this happens, they are gone forever, and you have no chance to reclaim the lost trust. It’s done. 

Nobody wants to stay around frivolous folks who are trying to be something else just for the sake of grabbing attention and interest. In the digital world, these often equal more traffic, more clicks, maybe even a better SEO ranking, but does it really matter when they are not aligned with who you are? If you’re in this particular scenario, then maybe you are fighting the wrong battle.

Sleep on it: Would you like to write just for the sake of popularity and traffic, or would you prefer to express your personality and get together people with similar values with whom you can build greater things?

There’s no right or wrong answer, and it just takes you on different paths.

Furthermore, the reason why you need to dig deeper and achieve this balance is that folks get in touch with you on several communication channels. They read your website, the blog, they follow you on social media, they come across interviews you gave, they enjoy your newsletters, maybe they even meet you in the offline world.

Sooner or later, if you are not authentic, they will find the corners you cut and get disappointed. You need to be you no matter the topic you are writing about and gather people who resonate with your inner-why and appreciate this clarity.

“What I do every day matters more than what I do once in a while.” — Jocelyn K. Glei

I’m aware that we live in a world where recipes are the new mantra. However, there are no instructions out there about how to be you. You just need to follow your inner whispers, live in harmony with them, and translate everything in behaviors and attitudes.

You can’t be Seth Godin, Jocelyn K. Glei, Jason Fried, Swiss Miss, Austin Kleon, Neil Patel, Rand Fishkin, or anyone else. They are they, and you are you. Just accept the simple yet challenging to grasp the fact that you are more than enough, you have something to say, you matter, and you will get a precise clarity in how you approach writing on your website.

Read further to understand why being vulnerable and authentic enables more dialogue, which leads you to a loyal audience and better content.

Good writing on your website implies getting personal

I’ll be straightforward and say it out loud that I don’t have a framework or a blueprint, but I guess you can easily find an ultimate-resource out there. Take a look if you want, but yet again, the answer is much more intimate then you may think or like to believe.

This doesn’t mean that it is easier, not even close, but it does imply that once you embraced this self-discovery path, the road does only go high from there.

What works for me every single time is to keep in mind that I only write for one person. Someone I care about, with whom I would gladly have a coffee and chat about those particular ideas because they genuinely interest me. This scenario helps me get rid of a bunch of anxieties and get my hands dirty. I feel relaxed, filled with good energy, and able to highlight my personality.

“The more I want to write something, the better I write it. I’ve realized that if my writing is shit, it’s because I don’t care about the topic. Right now, I’m writing something I’m fired up about, and the words, phrases, and angles are flowing.” — Jason Fried

Moreover, similar to Jason Fried, Basecamp’s CEO, I can write the way I talk when the topic I am covering means something to me, and I feel the need to put my thoughts out there and share them with the world. If I’m not open to chat about it in the offline world or if it doesn’t suit my interests, it will surely not be handy in putting together the piece of the puzzle for a piece of writing on the website.

This is how good writing gets personal — you put your skin in the game and craft words out of your experiences, no matter how good or bad they were at that time. The simple fact that you learned some lessons which can be valuable for your readers is enough to convince you to start writing and publish a new article on your website or your blog. By doing this more often, it will start to feel like a reasonable thing to do, where you enjoy your flow and let words fly.

For instance, I wrote a piece about how collaboration with publishers within the WordPress community brought a lot of frustrations and a waste of time, energy, and money. I did that after almost four years of working with them on multiple levels and gathering lots of valuable insights. I did not try to find an empty spot in terms of keywords and write an article just to be popular.

In fact, I didn’t even imagine that it will get traction, and more people from the open-source shared the same perspective. It was a bonus, not a goal to accomplish — an effect of being authentic and providing thoughtful takeaways.

Conveying emotions through writing can’t be forced. It’s just the outcome you can get on your website if you assume what you are writing about and how you approach those specific ideas. However, you too can do that because no matter where you live, your background, what is your current experience, and stories to share with others. It’s more a matter of bravery and being vulnerable than a game that only a few of us can join.

Want to learn how to convey emotions through writing?

Read my free eBook on how you can explore the writing potential on your terms.

Get it now

📸 Photo credits: Katerina Nedelcu

The post How to convey emotions through writing on your website appeared first on Pixelgrade.

No matter if we do that through photography or painting on a grain of rice, we live in a world where we need stories to complement what we’re doing.

Writing has never been more powerful than today: every day, we read, write, post, send, enjoy, dislike, share, like a steady stream of written text. Thus, learning how to present your work (also) in writing has become indispensable. 

This article walks you through a specific list of actions that you can make to write authentic content with ease about your photos. 

Quick navigation:

• Three tips to write content about your photographs
• Three good practices to give your writing effort the best chances

My aim is to bring the best knowledge I’ve been acquiring in the past 10 years of digital communication and help you present your work in a way that resonates with your inner-why, and stands out. 

I deliver some specific tips about how you can write meaningful content around your photos. 

Before I jump into the subject, I feel the need to mention that photographers, like many other creative souls out there, have their anxieties, dilemmas, and fears of all kinds. 

Showing up and talking about their work is hard, very hard, especially when a strong emotional attachment is at play.

The next time you see a cliche from a wedding photographer or a not-so-coherent message published on the social media channels, stop judging and start thinking what makes it so hard for them.

Ready to find out how you can start writing content on your terms, without falling into derisory? 

3 tips to write content about your photographs

The Internet is brimming with recipes and how-to guides to walk you through everything you need to make it work. My goal is not to duplicate what’s already there, but to share valuable insights gathered both from my hands-on communication experience and from talking with professional photographers.

To be honest, nothing beats the added value I get when I talk to people who encounter these problems on a daily basis.

Here’s the thing: nobody can make it for you. Nobody can find shortcuts and get you to the final lap faster. Nobody can live in your shoes, not fully. Nobody can speed up your process and evolution. You need to invest whatever it takes to make sure you give yourself the best chance to shine out there.

The most important step you can take is to be as candid as possible regarding who you are as a person in the first place (then as a photographer), and what makes you, you.

Tip 1 — Write down notes while you take photos of your clients

As a photographer, you deal with quite a lot of different individuals every year. It is hard to keep track of everyone you work with since each customer has a different story, a different background – so the best way to be up to date is by taking notes during your photo sessions. Think of them as emotional snapshots of your inner self, in that specific context.

For the sake of more clarity, let’s assume you’re a wedding photographer and have around 20 contracts annually.

A simple way to develop long-term narrative memories of the couples you work with is by writing down all kinds of pop-up thoughts when spending time with them.

Just put on paper whatever words come to mind: how the weather is, what you observed, how they dressed, where they went, how they behaved, the color of their socks, the gestures they made, etc.

All these so-called random observations will be super helpful when you connect the dots to publish a text next to the photos on your website or social media accounts.

You will no longer feel stuck because you don’t know what to say, nor will you be afraid of sounding foolish or repetitive. The truth is that what you captured in that particular scenario, with those specific people places you in a unique, authentic mood and words start to flow naturally.

We rely way too much on our memory, our brain, our ability to remember, and we often get lost, and we dilute various important details. My recommendation is to write down as much as you can because it gives you plenty of ideas when you craft content around your photos, your clients, no matter where you will use them — on your blog, on Facebook, on Instagram, on e-mail.

Your clients will, most probably, feel honored that you took the time and the energy to pay much attention and that the final result truly represents who they are, in a raw, simple yet powerful way. The extra benefit is that you set aside from the rest by manifesting care and kindness.

Tip 2 — Put the storyteller hat on and ask open questions

For the sake of being consistent, I keep the example of the wedding photographer. I know for a fact that there’s much pressure to differentiate each story since most of the weddings look the same. I can relate to that, but the funny thing is that the events, per se, may look quite similar, but the people involved are surely not.

In the end, we all have something special, something that defines us, quirks that makes us different, but it’s the photographer’s job to see these aspects and showcase them elegantly, both through photos per se and content.

A simple yet powerful way to capture the uniqueness of the people you work for is to engage with them and facilitate meaningful dialogue. Don’t just snap the shutter, take stunning photos, grab the money, and move on to the next project. Create reliable liaisons through honest and vulnerable conversations. 

Learn how to ask genuine questions to help people share their narratives, and you will no longer face struggles when you write about your photographs.

Here are a few examples of questions that you can try asking:

• How did you meet in the first place?
• What are your favorite desserts?
• What do you love most about each other?
• Where did you travel together for the first time?
• What are your biggest fears?
• How do you make it up after a fight?
• What kind of music do you guys love?

As long as you refer to your clients as people who are unique in their way, who have a life full of ups and downs – as we all have, you can start putting the pieces together. Automatically, you also make the most out of your photographs, your content, and your relationship.

The lovely thing is that once you succeed in narrowing the gap, you start matching your photos with their story, and that’s basically the best thing you can do.

Tip 3 — Let you clients contribute to your writing process

I often hear that photographers don’t know how to highlight the specificity of each client because, from a certain point, they are so zoomed in that they are no longer able to see the nuances.

This challenge is common for most folks who work in creative industries since we are so bound to what we are doing that we can’t see the big picture anymore. But it doesn’t mean that we can’t get out of there.

For a wedding photographer, a witty solution is to involve your clients and ask them to generate content ideas to complement the photos you take for them. Ask how do they imagine the description of their photo album on Facebook, how they would write a message about their photo session, which words are the most appropriate to define the emotions revealed during the session, and so on.

You can experiment with any of the following:

• Are you the romantic kind of a couple of not necessarily?
• What kind of words do you use when you write about yourself on social media?
• When was the last time you published a personal message on Facebook?
• Which is your favorite emoji?

This way, you have a better start, and you no longer face the empty page syndrome or any writer’s block.

Let people express who they are in their fullness, don’t try to fix or judge them and publish what you think represents your shared reality. Let them be their authentic selves and capture the full spectrum of their personalities.

Your goal as a photographer is not to repack everything to look posh and mislead people but to showcase how they are, from top to toe.

3 good practices to give your writing effort the best chances

Great photographers are artists and behave accordingly. They have their unique way of seeing and understanding the world. They know that the right photo can speak by itself, but they are increasingly more aware that the crowded digital landscape requires them to show up with content around their frames. 

Photographers need to find a way to match their work with a proper message that says something about their creative vision, while it sets them apart. 

Are you eager to find out how you can make it happen? Read further discover specific actions you can take by yourself.

1 — Write about your photos the way you talk about them

I wrote an entire eBook on the importance of writing the way you’re talking and capturing emotions through your content, but I feel the need to add some more insights here.

First of all, copycatting others is the worst thing you could do. Even though you might sound like someone else’s voice for a while and people might get attracted to that style, it does not last. It is not sustainable to fake it day after day, and there’s definitely something far better that you can do with the time investing in mime the others.

Hey! I’m Oana 👋

More than 1000 people all over the world downloaded my eBook on writing. Want to join the growing tribe of storytelling lovers?

Yes, of course

On the one hand, because people are not stupid at all, and they quickly feel that something’s off and you are not authentic. On the other hand, why would you try to sound like a different person since you can sound like yourself? As you take photos in your particular style and you align it to your vision, I encourage you to do the same when it comes to writing.

• Do you speak in cliches when you drink coffee with your friends?
• Do you use quotes when you hang out?
• Do you use complicated words to show off when dealing with your clients?
• Do you overreact with emojis when you write an e-mail at work?

Your voice is the best voice you can use to make yourself heard. It should not be likable by everyone, so let that battle sink, and focus on those clients who resonate with who you really are. Try to be a bit more aware of the kind of words you use daily and make sure you approach your customers in a similar tone-of-voice. 

In case you fake it, you soon start dealing with a bunch of people who think this is the real you, but in reality, you are on a different wavelength, so nothing great happens from this huge misalignment.

2 — Write in a way that feels personal for the reader

Nobody likes the obvious. The beauty lies in the mystery, in the process of discovery, in layers that together form a beautiful yet surprising image. Therefore, write around your photographs instead of about them.

Avoid giving people a straightforward explanation about your work and invest more energy in crafting a message where you add things that are inexpressible in the pictures. Add your personality and show readers a different angle from which they can understand your style.

For instance, if you upload a photo album on Facebook with the latest couple, you worked with, try to skip the Love lasts forever with you, Sarah and John! kind of boring mantras. Instead, tell people something that surprises them, such as how that session touched you as a photographer, what you liked about it, how the light influenced the whole atmosphere, or describe, in a genuine way, how you see and feel their relationship.

Here are a few examples of messages that you highlight the above advice:

• Sometimes, the dialogue between two people requires no words. They know what they know and don’t; therefore, they accept each other as they are. And that’s huge.
• Love has many expressions, each of them complicated and beautiful at the same time. Alicia and William know how to mirror each other with authenticity.
• I was amazed to take photos of this couple, defined by kindness and care. The way they look, the way they touch, the way they stay next to each other — everything makes the time freeze. Isn’t that what great relationships are all about?

3 — Write when everything around you supports deep focus

Sign out from the digital landscape, leave your phone in another room, and start writing content about your photographs once you’ve established an environment that helps you create meaningful work.

If you want to craft engaging stories around your photo sessions while answering a message on Facebook or Instagram, checking your e-mail address, putting together the next offer, and editing a batch of pictures, well, you do a poor job.

As with any creative activity, you need to have constraints to bring forth the best you have.

Once you do that, grab the notes you made while documenting the life of the people you took photos of, and kick-off from there.

Write the first draft, and don’t stop until you put down every single word that came to mind. Don’t try to write and edit at the same time because it doesn’t work like that, especially if you don’t have strong storytelling skills.

Just throw up words. In the end, that’s why it is called the first draft. When you feel that you have nothing else to add, show what you got to someone your trust and invite them to a conversation and constructive feedback.

To guide the dialogue, you can ask questions like:

• What do you think makes this content memorable?
• What do you remember after reading it?
• In which way did the story touch you?

Don’t try to provide prefab clues, or focus on getting answers that make you feel comfortable, take notes from the responses you are getting, and you will see later what and how you’ll integrate them further.

Once you start switching your approach from “I am alone and need to do everything by myself” to “I am here with these people, and we can all contribute,” things get not only more accessible but also more meaningful.

The result becomes better in so many areas that you will be quite surprised about how great stories can match your amazing photos and change the lives of some people for the better. And isn’t that what really matters in the end? Crafting memories that last forever.

Looking for ways to showcase your photos?

Take a look at our collection of WordPress themes designed to put your work into the spotlight.

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The post How to write content about your photographs appeared first on Pixelgrade.

Some of us like to think that polishing a fake yet impressive online image about ourselves will make us look good and successful. I firmly believe that the truth is on the opposite side of the spectrum. Let me explain.

What you are going to discover:

• Why writing authentic content on your website brings you closer to the audience?
• How expressing more kindness in writing gives readers a sense of belonging?
• How to write genuinely about your vision of the world on the website?

I’ve been working in the communication field (especially in the digital one) for more than years now, so I’m quite familiar with the pressure of finding a blue ocean. To discover a new playground to explore. To be different, to come with something new, to innovate. Everyone aims to have a special impact, right?

Showing vulnerability and being in sync with your values and beliefs makes room for you to flourish.

Well, I noticed so many times that while trying to impress, we often forget about the basic rule of communication: how to craft messages that highlight our personality and pack them in a genuine story. Unfortunately, this authenticity is taken for granted by a lot of content creators. They prefer to copycat big websites out there: to use their tone-of-voice, their language tricks, their expressions. 

In the end, it’s far easier to follow recipes and mark checkboxes than diving into your core and make peace with who you are. Let me tell you something. This is the only way to find your voice in terms of communication.

While the first tactic is definitely a shortcut, something that social media heavily relies on today, and we’re kind of trapped there, the second approach requires process, iteration, rephrasing, dealing with uncertainties. In just a word: discomfort.

In this article, I give you a list of concrete tips about how expressing more human touch on your website impacts the outcomes. It’s not a marketing trick nor a growth hacking strategy. It’s a piece of first-hand advice from my experience, and I aim to bring it to the surface to encourage more people to embrace this path since it’s the only one that makes you memorable.

Let’s do this!

Why writing authentic content on your website brings you closer to the audience?

Express the human touch on your website with good intentions, and show your audience that you care about building stronger relationships with them. How can you do that? Start by writing an authentic yet honest story on your About page, and share meaningful information about how you are, what you stand for, what keeps your wheels spinning. 

At Pixelgrade, I’ve been running Skype calls with a wide range of customers: from small business owners to photographers, from bloggers to visual artists. Even though I only had little over 20 sessions so far, every person I talked with told me about the importance of informal, friendly, and meaningful communication. 

From the e-mails we send them (even those who are automated) to how we write blog posts or messages on social media, from how we respond to their customer support tickets to how we let them know about product updates or the release of a customization tool, everything strengthens a valuable feeling of trust. 

Each of these actions shows the fact that they are in good company and they can rely on us because the people behind the scenes deeply care about them. Moreover, we show we’re transparent because we really mean it, and we identify with this attitude when things are both great and messy, not because it became a hit nowadays, especially among digital businesses.

💡 Takeaway
Don’t be afraid to expose yourself and share what makes you-you. When it comes to communication, you can do that by being upfront across the website: from how you write content (even microcopy on the CTA buttons) to how you engage with your audience on your social media channels, show them who you are.

Pssst, do you want to learn more on this specific topic? I shared my insights about the importance of writing the way you are talking. Discover how you can make it work for yourself. 

How expressing more kindness in writing gives readers a sense of belonging?

The feeling of belonging gives people drive, keeps them together, and often acts as a powerful force which you can turn into concrete actions. Creating it requires time, consistency, authenticity, and open-mindedness. 

The way you communicate across your website can act as a catalyst. By being warm, accessible, true-to-yourself, you increase the chances to attract likeminded people. It’s not news that we are keen to stay around folks who share similar values and understanding of the world.

Deliver your message with kindness and you will start thinking of your audience as a community rather than random people.

As Malcom Gladwell, one of my favorite writers, wisely said in his book, you are the sum of the five people you are spending the most time with.

This powerful liaison occurs because it gives people a strong feeling of belonging in every touchpoint (no matter if they land on the About page, on an article you just wrote, on your portfolio, etc.) far more powerful than just being invited into a private Facebook group or Slack channel. 

Think about all the times you get back to your favorite website just because you feel the need to reconnect with those particular stories. I, for instance, revisit Paul Jarvis’ articles quite often. It reminds me of why I like being part of his tribe, and why I resonate with his approach to creative entrepreneurship.

At Pixelgrade, we invest time and energy in maintaining a cordial dialogue with our customers by sending handwritten letters and other swag. We do that not because it’s a marketing request nor because we want to sell them something extra. We highly appreciate our relationship, and we want to show them we’re grateful for having them aboard.

And yes, we aim to make sure that we show them they’re not an order number in an e-commerce report. We genuinely give a damn about the struggles they are facing with their websites. We take into consideration their insights, and we believe that in so many senses, they’re the best mirror of how good we are.

How you translate this human touch in digital communication can help you nurture powerful connections. The first step is to manifest vulnerability, to show that you are receptive, ready to leave your biases behind and to develop a long-lasting relationship with all the ups-and-down they imply.

💡 Takeaway
Share about the challenges you face and how you navigate murky waters too. Let people know how you felt during some times, what did you learn, why it was hard for you, and how did you make it work in the end. We are all more attracted to honest stories, full of ups-and-downs, because it brings us together, rather than only success case-studies where everything went okay.

Interesting in finding out what’s in it for you if you start launching vulnerable stories? I put together a few thoughts about what it takes to grow an audience. It’s a good reference to start with.

How to write genuinely about your vision of the world on the website?

How you communicate on your website with your readers indicates the values you stand for and the motivations behind your actions. Why you read certain stories, why you embrace a particular approach, what do you plan to obtain with that attitude?

Expressing a human touch doesn’t necessarily mean you are all poetry, and you do not face any struggles of problems. No. It shows that you are not afraid of being vulnerable and show up when you are up or down. 

There’s plenty of room for everyone out there to make it happen. It’s no doubt about that. However, at Pixelgrade, we’ve always been huge believers in the impact we want to have in the digital world. 

Our aim both as a business, but also as individuals, exceeds making money.

With everything we do, we try to create a meaningful legacy and leave something worthwhile behind.

One particular action we take in this sense is to communicate in-depth information about both our business and team. We publish a Transparency Report twice a year and share details regarding how much money we make, how we spend them if we brought new people on board, and so on. 

Moreover, we do something unique in the WordPress ecosystem. We document most of our marketing or product efforts and share what we learned along the way (both hard data and soft).

Basically, by doing so, we reinforce two of our core values: gratitude and care. Gratitude towards the team for their consistent involvement along the way, and care for the community we are part of by helping it became more resilient.

The simple way of publishing this analysis says something about our vision of the world, what kind of people we are, what are our values or beliefs. We do it naturally, on our terms, in our way, mostly because we want to give back because we know for a fact that this is one of the most powerful ways to shape the world we live in and make it better.

💡 Takeaway
There are no frameworks regarding how you should articulate your vision, only knowledge about what’s the difference between vision and mission. I encourage you to look inside of yourself, spend some time analyzing your values, and, as I mentioned at the beginning of this article, don’t run away from the tough questions. Put your vision on the website and let your audience know how you plan to make a dent in the universe. 

Eager to see an example from us to know how to start? Read our latest Transparency Report and check out how we package such messages in a way aligned with who we are.

We did not choose to manifest authenticity across our digital channels because it sounded like a good marketing tactic. We did not make a SWOT diagram to see how it will serve us.

We just embraced who we are and translated everything we’ve done in alignment with our essence.

It brought us in a place where we developed liaisons with the people who spend their money on our premium WordPress themes, but that’s just the beginning. It takes consistency and hard work to maintain this dynamic and make the most out of it. It takes two to tango, right?

Want to learn how to convey emotions through writing?

Read my free eBook on how you can explore the writing potential on your terms.

C’mon, download the free eBook

📸 Photo credits: Katerina Nedelcu

The post Tips for writing authentic content on your website appeared first on Pixelgrade.

I have more than nine years of writing experience, I mastered in English Linguistics and Pedagogy, and for the past four years, I’ve specialized in Marketing and Content Creation.

The idea for this article came to me when I was thinking of the writers out there who are struggling to stand out with their content and engage with their readers—a pain I frequently experienced throughout my career.

And in today’s ecosystem, finding your voice can be so misleading when everyone is shouting: Me! Here! This!

Because we are oversaturated with information and charged with excessive ideas, news, identifying value among any produced content is like finding a needle in a haystack. 

How many of you feel overwhelmed by the process of writing good content on your website?

Just like you, there were times when it was nerve-wracking and time consuming. I would sit down, prepared to deliver my best work for my readers, but I would stumble upon an abundance of ideas: What’s important? Is this helpful? Who will read this? Does it have value?, and the list went on. Shortly after, I would get frustrated, distracted and doubtful, even postponing my work.

As a result, after years of training and practice, I’ve decided to bring more structure and meaning into my research. I did it by drawing from all the ups and downs underwent, giving myself the best chance to write authentic, heartfelt and valuable content.

As a consequence, I’ve put together some content solutions that will simplify your creative process. Come back to them whenever you decide to bring more meaning and feel to what you create.

#2—Have you narrowed down your message?

Now that you know whom you’re addressing, it’s time we concentrate on the actual information. It’s essential to determine the general purpose and why your ideas are helpful and important, along with the main points that’ll help you support your ideas.

From experience, I came to the conclusion that by following these six questions, I will get more clarity to determine my major focus points for any piece I write.

1. How will your content bring value to your readers?
2. Does it address or solve a problem for them?
3. Are your ideas authentic?
4. Have you used enough, relevant examples to support your statements?
5. Are the ideas clear and logically presented, or have they become a bit mixed-up in places?
6. Have you answered what was actually set, or you focused on what you preferred to write about?

Give yourself time to answer these questions because it’s not the part you’ll want to move past quickly. When you provide the answers, draw them from your own experience, from something that touched and inspired you.

Don’t fear getting too personal because authenticity is what’ll differentiate you from the crowd, building trust with your tribe. 

For instance, at Pixelgrade, when we plan a new article, we don’t rush into things. We are honest, transparent and we take our time to extract the most significant and true pieces of information from our collective expertise. But we make sure the way we present ourselves to the world and what we produce is genuine and honest.

Dare be yourself to stand a chance.

At this stage, you’ve reached the point where you have a clear structure about the next article. So now, the hard data and examples must follow in order to complete your work.

When you talk from your knowledge, or when you share something personal, you open yourself up to your audience. Doing so, you let the guard down and let others step into your world to listen to your story. This approach is more impactful and genuine than generalising or adding stats.

When we post on our blog, we don’t shy away from sharing the sweet and ugly moments because when you open up, you determine others to join in and trust you as well. Thus, creating a real scenario, not a fake, cool-on-paper one. 

Additionally, when I started my website, I aimed at always sharing how I felt, even if it meant getting vulnerable or talking about things that were painful, like in this post.

I, too, was scared about sharing too much, but the reputation I’ve made and what my readers expected, has directly influenced what I deliver. And being sincere is a core value, and what my website stands for.

That is why, depending on your website’s objectives and the person you’ve become for your audience, it’s crucial to maintain that standard and consistency. If you fake it, or you distance yourself from your values, don’t be surprised if your engagement rates drop, and your web pages have reduced visibility.

#3—How to market your content?

Once you’ve ticked major elements related to your piece of writing, you’ll want your article to reach as many viewers as possible. Why? For more traffic on your website that luckily converts leads into potential clients.

Traffic is essential because the number of visitors equals the number of opportunities you have to add new customers. 

Does it sound complicated? Don’t move on just yet. I’m still here to simplify things and point out some basic tips you can implement, so you turn things around for your entries to gain blog visibility. Ready? Let’s dive in!

Writers often overlook the impact of headlines

Believe it or not but powerful headlines matter as much as your entire content. Without a great title, the rest might not be read. This is because we are exposed to so much information, that we quickly scan through relevant content, until something worthy grabs our focus. So your title is like a hook that will draw your readers’ attention or make them move away.

Sometimes, even if you have a genius idea and produce an amazing entry, if you are careless about finding the right combination for your title, it will remain unnoticed. 

And this happened to me on so many occasions. 

I would write an engaging, properly-structured article, but audience engagement was missing. It made me feel frustrated and so I began searching for solutions to my problem. 

That’s when I discovered the SEO world, and I focused more on the aspects I mastered, the ones related to content. That is because SEO is a vast concept and approach that requires some studying.

Four essential rules for content optimisation

Still, if you follow these four essential rules regarding your text, you will make your entire piece more reachable. 

#1. Use numbers and lists
Adding numbers will translate to readers that your content will be easy to read, point by point. Keep in mind that digit numbers are preferred instead of writing them. Additionally, organising your posts using lists, makes the viewers easily skim through the text so they go through the whole piece. 

For instance, in our transparency reports, we’ve relevantly added the issue number, showing consistency and continuity in our practice. Plus, if you scroll through the text, you’ll see how efficiently we’ve added lists for each main point and example. 

#2. Use free headline analyzer tools
Once you are finished writing, use tools like: Coschedule. The value this one brings is that it uses certain formulas that identify how appealing your title will be for your readers. 

Besides this, it identifies the problematic aspects in your wording, guiding you towards better options, so you get the best chance to get noticed.

When I write articles on our website, I copy-paste the title I had in mind, because I’m curious to see what words I should change, or if my title is too short/long, and then I add it in the tool.

It provides a precise analysis of the phrasing you chose and what can be bettered. I never skip this step to make sure I give my article the best chance in terms of heading creation.

#3. Use keywords
In simple words, they are how people reach your website, and how search engine optimisations, like Google or Safari, will decide how well your web post will rank online. This involves doing a bit of research regarding your content. Luckily there are a few good tools to help you determine key phrases and words. 

I usually use Google Trends because it provides more specific information and it’s pretty intuitive to understand this tool. 

For example, I think of the topic for my article and of the major concepts included. Then I type the words, select the region (The US, Worldwide, etc.), I click enter and then it generates a pretty thorough analysis, providing the keywords that are trending.

I also use BuzzSumo because it shows you how well the word included, performs on various platforms like Facebook, Twitter, Pinterest, etc. You simply type the appropriate word or words connected to your subject, adding time filters if you wish (past 24h/week), and it will generate your keywords. 

Once you identify your keywords (between 5-10 words), placement is also crucial. The best advice I followed myself, was to include them in headlines, subheads and in the first and last 25 words of your article.

This is because the search engines use bots (small programs) to examine each webpage and they pay more attention to certain places of the page. And so should you.

#4. Meta texts/descriptions
They are the short descriptions your webpage gets by search engines. It’s no rocket science so don’t get scared by the technical name.

To be more precise, they are HTML elements that describe and summarise the contents of your page. In the image below, they are the ones inside the red square:

If you don’t edit them yourself, they are automatically selected based on your text and added as a description to inform users what to expect regarding your post.

I recommend that you decide what gets written and to do it yourself. When you make these changes, don’t omit to add a few keywords as well. If you wish to know how to do it, check out this article.

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If you’ve made it this far, congratulations! 🎉 It means that you are now more knowledgeable about the new ways to write content. They will make your piece more valuable, closer to your audience’s needs, ranking higher on the world wide web.

So let’s recap the main aspects discussed:

• Knowing your audience — when you are aware of who your article will target, you will be able to construct your message in more relevant ways for them. Do your research.

• Organising your text — narrow down the main points and how they will blend in together. Don’t shy away from being authentic by sharing examples or stories from your experience. This way your article is original and meaningful.

• Marketing impact — even if it sounds complicated, by focusing on easy concepts like: headlines, keywords and meta descriptions, you gain more visibility. And when you also make use of some free, efficient tools, you truly simplify your work.

All things considered, once you integrate all of these steps into your work, you’ll begin to notice the added value and even engagement towards your website. I know that building up from them is no walk in the park but, then again, nothing good comes easily. 

After you decide to use these guidelines, ping us at hello@pixelgrade.com and tell us how it went. I’d love to see what changes followed for your websites. Let’s make our community a better one, leading by example and sharing from our experiences.

👋 Free eBook on writing

Improve your writing skills and craft better stories for your readers.

Get it now

The post How to write engaging content on your website appeared first on Pixelgrade.

As creative spirits, we feel the need to let people know about who we are, what we stand for, and how we plan to impact the world. It’s typical for artists of all kinds because this is part of the legacy.

By spreading stories about the vision, creatives not only find people who have similar thinking, but this is how they drive real change. The value of their lives lies in the way they succeed to pack their vision and attract similar people along the way.

Photographers make no exception. They too want to let the world know about what drives them and gather a relevant tribe of people around their visual work. They know precisely what they want to communicate and how they plan to protect the core from everyone who tries to mislead them.

Unfortunately, most photographers tend to race to the bottom because they don’t manage to craft an authentic story around their views, one that would make people love, remember, and feel driven by.

Most of the times, they just throw nice thoughts that lack meaning. Maybe they sound appealing at a first glance, but they definitely don’t leave a lasting impression.

Let me walk you through how you could put together a story that best represents your vision as a photographer.

What’s a vision in the first place?

The thing is that we often use the wrong words for what we want to communicate. We like to navigate through posh expressions to sound cool when, in fact, all we need to do is write the way we talk. There’s no need to impress anyone.

Hi! I’m Oana 👋
I created an eBook about how to improve your writing style.

Learn how to craft your storytelling skills

Grab it for free, mate

There are loads of articles, books, podcasts, webinars, and so on, regarding what’s a vision, but I chose the one that I feel it’s most straightforward and actionable.

After having my fair share of struggles during the draconic process of crafting Pixelgrade’s vision next to Vlad, George, and Adriana (a consultant who had led the process), I feel like leaving the bullshit aside is the best thing I can do for you. That’s why I choose to share a resource I really trust and recommend — Know Your Team:

”A vision is a picture of a better place. You see this picture in your head: It’s what you want the world to look like because your product or team exists. In many ways, your team’s vision is your opinion for how you think the world ought to be. 

A vision answers the question, “What world do you want to create?” 

Vision is often misconstrued with other business-y terms, like “mission,” “purpose,” and “values.” But a vision is different from any of those things. For example, the vision of Know Your Team is NOT “software that helps managers become better.” Nor is our vision to be “innovative” or “authentic.”

Rather, our vision is “a world where managers and employees work well together, make progress, and communicate openly and honestly with one another.” It’s a place.”

Just for the context, Know Your Team is a lovely product that helps me tremendously as a CPO (Chief People Officer) because it facilitates internal communication on a more meaningful level.

Thanks to this channel, I can reinforce transparency and vulnerability across the squad because it acts like a safety net where people are more prone to talk openly about a wide range of topics.

For instance, at Pixelgrade, our vision is to support creatives drive an impact within their communities. It is both inspiring because it sounds like a challenging thing to do (and it is), but also strategic because it guides us regarding which action gets us closer to it and which not.

In the absence of the vision, it’s super easy to dilute our efforts while trying to fight all the battles out there. We need to keep the focus on actions which help us move the needle in the direction we want to.

Eager to know how we came to this vision for Pixelgrade? Read furhter to find out and for extra details jump to the Transparency Report #7.

How to craft a vision of your photography work

I encourage you to be honest with yourself and think if you really do this work because you want to have a positive impact or you simply are in the game because (insert whatever reason here).

Maybe because you can easily earn some extra cash, maybe because you like to have fun from time to time and take pictures of your family and friends, maybe because someone pushes you to keep going on this path even though you have so many mixed feelings.

No answer is good or bad, it’s just how things are at this point, but it’s way better to have a wake up call now than to face regrets later on.

The need for a vision often comes after several years of hard work. You did a lot of stuff, experienced plenty of things, rediscovered yourself during all these challenges, and you felt like you have a particular way of approaching photography. You have something to say that makes you, you.

At the opposite side of the spectrum, if you’re just scratching the surface with this type of work and you’ve heard that having a vision is the hottest thing to do, well, I encourage you to stop faking it.

Don’t try to fool people around because they will quickly feel that something is off. You cannot pretend that you reached a specific point when you did not.

Now, think about why do you do the work that you do. Simon Sinek’s book — Start with why — is a great resource that you can consult to make sure you followed an accurate process to find a profound answer. If you don’t have the time nor the energy to read it entirely, at least ask yourself ”why’‘ a few times in a row. 

The author suggest that you should do that five times, but be gentle with yourself, start slow, and grow from there.

Here’s how this could work out:

1. Why did you choose do take photos?
   Because I like capturing people in certain moods and reveal their emotions.
2. Why do you like capturing people in certain moods and reveal their emotions?
   Because it gives me hope that we live a good world.
3. Why it is important for you to live in a good world?
   Because I had a complicated childhood and this is what I dreamed of since I was a child.

As you can see, maybe your motivation of being a photographer has nothing to do with shooting at weddings for instance, but with your inner need to have a positive impact and leave the world better than you find it.

This is far more powerful and inspiring than a trivial answer that you provide today only because you did not have the chance to access more in-depth areas within you.

However, the last answer can break the rules of the game you’re playing. All of a sudden, you will no longer feel trapped if you don’t take wedding commitments as this is your only chance to try something else.

You have the privilege to start thinking about other projects that match your why. Some will be around photography, some maybe not because, in the end, what matters to you is to live in a good world. And you can contribute in so many ways to make this dream come true.

How to put your vision in writing

Now that you got a better understanding of what’s a vision and how you can find yours, the next thing is to write it down on your website. You can also add it to your Facebook page, but I strongly suggest you make sure it’s well represented on your site first.

I already published an article about how you can mingle between these two platforms and which one fits which purpose.

#1 — Sum it up into one paragraph

Try to write down one paragraph which reveals your vision. Such constraints will help you be more specific and avoid useless accessories. You should be able to communicate it without efforts or too many words, so start with one paragraph only.

Here’s an example to inspire you:

My vision is to document life through photography in a way that change people’s lives. I strongly believe in the power of watching them evolve on their own rhythm in a raw and authentic way.

#2 — Provide a wider context around it

As you already noticed, your vision is rooted in your DNA. Make sure you offer a broader context about why it is definitive for you from top to toe. How it is linked to who you really are, where you came from, your own path.

An idea about how you can explore it:

Growing without my mom impacted me in so many ways. On the one hand, it forced me to act like an adult when I was only 10 years old. That definitely implies I’ve been treating life seriously and responsible from a very young age. Way too young to be honest. And now I pay a massive cost for the consequences.

On the other hand, I’m confident it increased my creativity because I always needed to find clever yet affordable gateways to navigate through life.

My ambition to document life through photography is heavily tight to memories and experiences I lacked as a kid. Therefore, I don’t want to miss any chance to capture emotions, moods, feelings because I am somehow afraid that one day, I will no longer have them. And that feels like I would lose for the second time.

Maybe it’s my way of coping with the loss of my mom, with the idea of regret, but it is definitely something that keeps my wheels spinning as a photographer.

I practice this exercise with every single customer I work, and I run it governed by authenticity and honesty. The raw within my photos is my way of communicating the language of love. Hope it is yours too!

#3 — Add a few details that make you proud

You can expand the context a bit more but do not overdo it. In the end, people want to get a glimpse about what makes you unique as a photographer and what was your tipping point, not to read an entire digital book.

Nonetheless, if you have some reliable facts which bring extra value don’t be afraid to share them, but make sure you don’t break the red thread. Smoothly integrate these details in the overall story.

Here are a few categories of information you might consider offering:

• Number of years of experience
• Studies
• A special prize you got
• A side project or a strong passion you have
• Your favorite quote which defines your work

Check-up questions to make sure you got it right

The best thing about a story in general and vision is particular is its uniqueness. The more specific it is the best chances there are to resonate with a bunch of people.

Ask yourself how representative is it for your context? If you can replace your name with ease with any other fellow photographer’s, it means you did a poor job. Try again.

Be open to ask yourself some check-up questions, such as:

• Does it sound memorable?
• Did it move or motivate you in a way?
• Does it accurately represent who you really are? 
• Does it make you proud?

I looked after what I consider a well-thought vision of a photographer, but I must confess I had a hard time finding a good one. Way too many artists out there are inert, detached; thus, they lack a meaningful story about themselves. I came across one that is quite close to what I consider a consistent vision.

Check out the following sneak peek and feel free to go here to read the entire statement:

“I’ve always been keenly interested in the different ways in which people find meaning in their lives. When I was a child, I could look at an image and feel as if I could walk into it. It is a magnificent feeling to be invited into another person’s private world, to witness their history and the inner working of what makes them who they are. My work thrives on this intimate connection.

I approach the people I photograph, with consideration and sensitivity. I want the people I am photographing to understand who I am and what my purpose is. Their permission and their understanding of my respect for them are essential in my process. In my view, people are the most sensitive of “subjects” to be photographed. 

Achieving trust—even with the camera positioned between us—is a genuinely heartwarming experience; it’s that feeling that keeps me on the road. These experiences, along with the resulting images, stir my soul. These people are not my subjects; they are my mentors. 

As Life photographer Ralph Morse said: “Photography is more than art, it’s knowledge.” In my genre of photography, I rely on intuition and sensitivity to document the lives of the extraordinary people I’ve had the privilege to meet and to preserve and share their moments of emotion and dignity.“

I encourage you to stay true to yourself and invest time and energy in shaping your vision as a photographer, no matter if you shoot nature, couples, food, corporate projects, fashion or anything in between.

By doing so, you will win a lot of clarity in the long run, but also the great feeling of protecting your core and doing work that resonates with your values.

The post How to put together and present your vision as a photographer appeared first on Pixelgrade.