5 Tips To Help You Write Copy Without The Stress with Alex Elaine
We would like to welcome Alex Elaine to the blog today. Alex is an Unraveled Expert Artist and an award winning photographer. She focuses on documenting motherhood, families and babies. Located in Germany, Alex’s work is emotive and passionate but perhaps, what we love most, are how beautifully share pairs her words with her images. She has a way of making you connect deeply to her work. Alex, thank you for sharing your knowledge with us today.
About the Author:
Alex Elaine documents families and newborns but her greatest passion lies in documenting motherhood. She longs to create images that make you stop and feel the moment and she finds that she is most successful doing that when a free spirited mother and her children are in front of her camera. THAT is when her heart and passion truly sore. Her work is full of movement, soul and warmth. After moving countries she has built up her business from the ground twice in the last 3 years, making her realise how important it is to step out and promote oneself, in order to run a sustainable business.
For more inspiration:
Instagram | Website
WHY YOU NEED TO WRITE COPY:
As soon as we step out into the world as professional photographers and launch our own business, it is mandatory that we promote this business. Many of us turn to social media in order to find an audience and customers. Some stick to the more traditional ways of print marketing. And a handful of photographers are lucky enough to just rely on word of mouth to grow a sustainable business… If you are not of the later kind, you have to use copy in order to promote yourself. Because your art, as beautiful as it is, will not be sufficient to gain followers and turn them into customers.
And yes, I know what most of you are thinking right now: “I am a photographer, I express myself in pictures and not in words.” Or even: “I am a photographer so my images can speak for me.” I get that- totally. But nonetheless if you want to run a successful business you have to get used to the thought of writing copy- a lot of copy. So you better get started today. Because what you will find is, the more copy you write, the easier it will come to you. And hey, it's not as dreadful as it may sound, if you stick to the tips I am about to give to you.
I am going to reference Instagram, as it is my favorite platform (but you can apply most of the tips to your blog, newsletter or any other social media you like to use):
Want to write your copy easily, consistently and successfully?
Here are 5 Tips to Help You Write Copy Without the Stress:
Find your voice and set the tone- ONCE!
Us photographers, we talk and think a lot about our voice. The voice in our imagery... But having found a voice or style for our art is not enough. If you are running a business, then your brand has to have a voice as well. Ideally this voice should complement your style and your images, as well as speak to your (ideal) customer.
So think about this:
How would you talk to your ideal customer? - You cannot talk the same way to a senior, as you would to an expecting mum, or a CEO coming in for headshots.
What’s your tone? - Is it quirky, funny, light, serious, etc. The tone should match the customer you are talking to, as well as your imagery.
What reflects your brand best? Emojis, or text only - short captions, or long stories? You see there is a lot to consider when setting the tone.
Stick to your tone in every post and you will see it will be much easier for you to start typing out your captions, because you have already done this work and don’t have to think about these things over and over again.
2. Writing with a goal in mind
What I dreaded the most for a long time, when opening up my Instagram to post a picture was the question: WHAT SHOULD I WRITE ABOUT? Most of the times I would just type some irrelevant sentences (or even just a #) and call it a day. Doing this is wasting your precious time! So don’t do it.
You have to have a goal in mind (ALWAYS) when writing your captions. And gear your captions towards your goal. Your goals can be: Promoting a product, giving valuable content to your followers (by educating or inspiring them), showing your expertise, tell a story in order to build a loyal followership.
3. Topics you should cover each week
From those goals you can destille 3-5 topics which you rotate throughout the week.
For example:
Sharing Tips and Tricks related to your business (eg what to wear for a session, how to prepare for a session, …) - valuable content
Share your why: Why do you do what you do?/ If you are a newborn photographer you could share about how it feels to become a mum for the first time... - brand story
Showing a before and after edit. - showing your expertise
4. Your copy does not have to be related to the image
This has been a major AHA moment for me: The image and caption do not have to be related. Let me tell you, this is not necessary at all! The image should capture people’s attention and stop the scroll, but the caption is where you tell your story in order to connect to your audience (and in consequence promote your business).
5. Reuse your copy (and images)
Ok, another mistake I have made for a long time was to think I need to write a new caption each time I post on the ‘gram. Oh boy was I wrong. You can reuse your words AND your images. Only 4% of your followers will actually see your post. And not always will they read it. So, by repeating yourself you actually make sure that more people will have the chance to see your message, as well as saving you a lot of time and thoughts.
So, that’s it –quite easy, right? I really hope these 5 tips help you writing your copy with ease and most importantly freeing up your time to do the things you are really passionate about!!!
