Yesterday was like being able to breathe again.  After the website launched and I posted the blog about it, I think I may have collapsed in my desk chair!  For so long I’ve wanted a website that I was proud of and excited to send people to.  The first one ever was super exciting because, well, I’d never had one before!  But as the years have gone by and my business has grown, I needed a web presence that displayed that growth.

But there’s also the blog, which was updated completely changed last May.  After having a blogspot for 4 years, it was VERY much time for an upgrade!  If you’ve been in business (of any kind!) for more than a couple of years and you still have .blogspot or .wordpress in your blog’s name, it’s time for a change.  You don’t have to stop using Blogger or WordPress, but you do need to upgrade from the free site as it really reflects that you’re a professional and have a professional business!

When I went from a blogspot to using ProPhoto and WordPress, I could have stopped right there and gotten rid of my website.  Wordpress is pretty amazing and if I wanted to, my blog could have become my website, or blogsite.  And I know several photographers that do this and it works really well for them.  But, I still wanted both.  For whatever reason, this introvert can type longer than she can talk (who knew??) so the blog is several things – it lets me share recent sessions and weddings, it lets me document life as it’s happening, and it lets me get all excited and use as many exclamation points as I want!!  So, it’s kind of part portfolio and part journal in a way.  And with it being that, as a way for me to share what’s going on with me and my clients as we display photos of their sessions, it’s as if I’m welcoming you into my living room to sit down and hang out for a while.

But before you come in, most people knock on the front door.  They’ve driven up to the house, seen the outside, and even walked up to the front porch.  They know a piece of what’s there, but they don’t really know the full story yet.  And that’s what the website is!  It’s the outside of my business and an overview of what I do.  The blog is a place to come and relax and to get to know me and WHY I do what I do.

But Sabrina, “It’s hard enough to blog, how am I supposed to keep up with my website too?”

I feel you.  We’re busy people!  Shoot, we’re a busy culture!  But as I’ve mentioned before, my Showit site is SUPER easy to update.  I create +sites (plus sites) for my brides and grooms, so after their engagement session and wedding, I blog their images so I already have my favorites sized and ready to go.  So, they get uploaded to their +site and since they’re now inside of Showit, I then open my site and add them to my galleries there.  I’m planning a blog post about my workflow so I’ll talk more about all of this then, but once I’ve blogged a session, it takes me two more minutes to open Showit on my computer and upload those same images to my website!  I love the freedom I have with that!

Aren’t the new +sites so pretty??

As I said, not everyone has both a website and a blog. And you’ll hear opinions on both sides of this fence.  But for me, I have both and I love it!

I hope everyone has an amazing Wednesday!