Remember that mentoring contest you helped me win? I started my lessons this week, and I’m already overwhelmed (the good kind of overwhelmed) by all of the changes I want to make!
All this talk of being overwhelmed has me thinking of this quote from one of my favorite movies when I was a teenager. Scroll to 42 seconds. Ha!
I don’t think I realized how intense this course is when I signed up for it, but look at this 300 page workbook that she includes with the course.
One of the first things Kelli did was look over my website(s) and have a Skype call with me to give me feedback on what she saw. Most of the things she suggested were little things, changing wording in certain areas, tweaks to the design, changing my profile picture to match my brand (I’ve been wanting to do that anyway, as I’m halfway to my goal weight now that I’ve dipped below 170 lbs!), etc.
One of her suggestions was a really huge thing though, and I wanted to get your opinion before I went ahead and did it. When I started Jenna Cole, I purposefully started a second blog to keep my professional and personal photo separate. Most of my clients know about That Wife, but not all. I link to JC on TW and I link to TW on JC, but it’s not noticeable if you are just glancing at the front page and then clicking away.
Kelli suggested that I merge Jenna Cole blog and That Wife blog, and keep the Jenna Cole portrait gallery, so I only have two sites instead of three. Maternity posts like my latest one at the zoo would show up here, and a lot more people would see my pictures since the readership for That Wife is so much higher than that for Jenna Cole blog.
For the sake of this discussion, here is the link to my gallery site and blog if you haven’t visited before.
My brainstorming has led me to come up with a few pros, and a few cons.
The Pros:
- I would have a larger audience looking at my pictures
- I wouldn’t have to worry about “keeping up” the Jenna Cole blog. Regular posting makes a huge difference if you want to maintain a blogging audience.
- Clients would feel like they know more about me and my personality, which I think helps create more intimate and relaxed portraits.
The Cons:
- I, as you know, sometimes talk about polarizing issues. I’m not trying to hide this from my clients (as I said, I link to my personal blog from my photo one) but I’m not sure I want it so up-in-their-face.
- I also talk about breastfeeding, and my vagina, and very occasionally I touch on nuzzling. Are these things you want to be hearing about from someone you are going to meet in person and have a professional relationship with?
- Because I believe every post is better with a personal photo, I often hastily take and edit pictures (ahem, like the ones I’ve taken for this post) so I have something to break up the text. The photos I post on Jenna Cole to show what I can give back to paying clients are carefully chosen and edited using Photoshop. Would some of the mediocre pictures you’ve seen me post here turn you off from hiring me as your portrait photographer?
- The designs of That Wife and my portfolio site don’t match. I just spent a lot of money redesigning Jenna Cole portfolio site and blog too!
Those are the reasons I can come up with for, and against, merging my two main blogs together. (My scripture site and food blog will stay as is).
I’d love to have you take a moment to weigh in and let me know why you might be FOR the merge and why you might be AGAINST it.
Either vote in my poll, or even better (many many many times better) comment below and let me know your reason(s) why.
Thanks loverlies!
ETA: Thanks so much for your feedback so far. You guys have given me all sorts of awesome ideas! At the very least I’m going to start putting up a “That Shot” post on That Wife every time a new session goes up on Jenna Cole.
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March 3rd, 2011 on 8:09 am
It seems to me that merging the two would require you to change the blog name from “That Wife” to “Jenna Cole”, unless, of course, you’re planning to change your photography business name to “That Wife Photography” =P. I don’t think it’s a good move, I like them being separate =)
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March 3rd, 2011 on 8:14 am
I’m far from a pro at stuff like this, but I think the two sites should stay separate. I don’t think there is anything wrong with your clients knowing information about your personal life, but I think you have a valid point about not wanting to be “in your face” with your clients. I appreciate how frank and open you are on That Wife and I’d hate to see that go away if you merged the two sites together.
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March 3rd, 2011 on 8:16 am
Do whatever is best for your biz. Just keep the TW feed coming to my GRS. For what it’s worth, my hair stylist/photog for my wedding had a blog and very different values/background than I did, and it didn’t make me respect or adore her professional work any less!
Also, this post made me laugh. Mostly bullet #2 under Cons. Thought you should know.
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March 3rd, 2011 on 8:18 am
I said no because in my opinion if I was hiring a professional I wouldn’t want to know the ins and outs of their personal life. Plus, I think the readers of TW know about your photography business and would already click through to that site if they needed a photographer. I don’t think you would find many readers of TW who have never been to JC. Maybe make an effort to update on TW anytime you add to JC?
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March 3rd, 2011 on 8:22 am
My wedding photographer posted about this recently on Facebook. She maintains a single blog and for her personal life and business and, for her, it totally works. Most of her personal blogs are about her family and include photos of her children and really capture her brand and image. Honestly, a large part of why I chose her (aside from her awesome photos, obviously!) was the fact that I was able to decipher her personality and values from her blog and knew we would click.
Having said that, I don’t think this is a strategy that can be applied in all cases.
I think you’re a talented photographer, and I love reading your personal blog but, to be perfectly honest, if I were a prospective client, I might be turned off by some of the more controversial topics you post about on That Wife. As a casual reader, I like those thought provoking posts, but as a prospective client (and also a professional in the communications/marketing field) I don’t think I would.
While I really think the single blog model works incredibly well for some, in your case, I don’t think it would be the most prudent path. Both your blogs are awesome, but serve very different purposes and, I think, would be best kept separate.
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amanda Reply:
March 3rd, 2011 at 11:24 am
This is exactly what I would say if I happened to be more eloquent.
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Beth Reply:
March 3rd, 2011 at 12:50 pm
I would have said the same thing. I think for the sake of keeping the TW blog like it is and not doing away with the things you feel very strongly about you need to keep the two sites seperate.
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Marissa C Reply:
March 3rd, 2011 at 4:11 pm
Ditto exactly. I wouldn’t mind seeing Jenna Cole posts show up here, though.
I just don’t think there is any reason to introduce the possibility of “scaring away” clients, even though you are not a scary person!
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March 3rd, 2011 on 8:24 am
I don’t think you should merge for the exact reasons you listed above.
A few times on this site you’ve put up 1 or 2 pictures from a photoshoot (and good ones to snatch us in) and linked over to your Jenna Cole site to see the rest. This may be a good thing to do for all your photoshoots/posts on Jenna Cole. It’s not exactly linking the two sites together, but exposing your photography site to your entire readership here. Most (almost all) times you link to another post/site/article I go and at least look at it for a split second and you have such a loyal following here that I’d guess I’m not the only one. That may be a good medium for providing more exposure to Jenna Cole. Those that want to read about your opinions/vagina/breastfeeding/etc. and see your photography can, but those that are just interested in your photography see just that and don’t get an unexpected surprise.
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amy Reply:
March 3rd, 2011 at 11:49 am
I agree with Sage and Andrea. You should link on That Wife to Jenna Cole more often telling us that you have a new post rather than joining them - I forget to look at it and I love looking at your shoots! I don’t think you need to bring all of your potential photography clients into the That Wife fold quite so intimately , as this should be a more open place for you to toss around ideas and thoughts, which I guarantee you would start thinking twice about/filtering if you knew ALL photography clients HAD to come to That Wife to see your talents. And I like keeping a link to That Wife on Jenna Cole but keeping it ‘out of their face’. Good luck with the mentoring, at least the book looks pretty! =)
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Kat22 Reply:
March 3rd, 2011 at 12:51 pm
I agree too, with Andrea, Sage and Amy!
I wanted to look at Jenna Cole at one point and found it difficult to find the link to your photography site (OK so maybe I’m a bit slow, but I knew it was there and casual visitors probably wouldn’t). So I definitely think you should link between your sites more obviously. (And could it be a link at the end of your Jenna Cole intro instead of a website to copy and paste into my browser?)
As others have mentioned if you want That wife readers to see more of Jenna Cole (because there are more of u) you should definitely do short posts with links to your new shoots etc. (Although, to be honest, if there were lots of these and less of your personal posts I would be less interested!)
But of course you need to do what’s best for you and your business!
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March 3rd, 2011 on 8:25 am
gosh, that’s such a hard thing to decide.
For my own online presence (blogs, emails, etc), I tend to keep each bit separate from other bits (therefore I have something like 7 different email addresses and 2 different blogs). I just like having everything separated.
BUT- I am no expert on online media and marketing. She does make a good point about getting more traffic to your Jenna Cole site. Why don’t you check out some other photographer’s blogs and see what they talk about?
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March 3rd, 2011 on 8:34 am
Not that I’m anywhere near your level, I’ve been considering the same thing. A photographer that was speaking at a workshop I recently attending has only one blog. She says that her brides are able to really get to know her before they pick her as their photographer. I enjoy reading photographer’s blogs and getting to know their work and them as a person.
I voted Yes. But I think it’ll be up to what you feel is best for you.
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LifeOnMulberry Reply:
March 3rd, 2011 at 8:55 am
I agree that there is an element of liking the person who is photographing your wedding. But - you could make “Personal” or “Get to Know Me” as a link in the upper RH corner of your Jenna Cole site, and link to TW. That way, you don’t immediately scare off clients who haven’t taken the time to read more of your writing, but you also more clearly offer potential and current clients the chance to get to know you.
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March 3rd, 2011 on 8:39 am
Some of my favorite photographers have a personal/pro combined blog (hellooo Jamsine Starr) and it really works. While you do post more controversial topics here and there, you also do it with a well-thought out voice and an appreciation for discussion and honesty with your readers. It’s up to you, but I think it could work.
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March 3rd, 2011 on 8:41 am
Initially I wasn’t a fan of merging. But then i thought if there was a way you could do a multipurpose site it might be very successful. I’m particularly thinking of Pioneer Woman’s site, where she posts everything from homeschool, to pictures of cows, her hubby’s butt, and then of course the recipes.
But I guess only you can decide on what you want your brand to be and how you want to showcase it on your blog. Maybe you could try merging this blog with your photo blog, your food blog, your travel blog (and maybe even your scripture blog?) for a little bit and see how it feels. It might help you focus and organize instead of updating 5 or more blogs, you’d have one that you write multiple posts for.
Even though it goes a little against what I said above, I’d still definitely keep a separate gallery or dedicated site for your business, maybe with a few featured blog posts just to keep it interesting, but not updated super frequently.
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FM Reply:
March 3rd, 2011 at 10:30 am
I vote against making your site like Pioneer Woman’s site at least in terms of how it’s organized and presented. I mean, clearly she’s super successful with what she does, but I find sites organized like hers really, really hard to follow as a regular because it takes too much energy for me to figure out what to read. When I go to her site, it’s only to look for something in particular (a recipe, a tip, etc.). I like being able to come here and see your blog post at the top, and be able to click over to your photog, food, etc. pages on the side if I want to (not to be confused with your regular blog post).
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Julie D. Reply:
March 4th, 2011 at 7:23 am
I agree with FM. The concept is good in theory, but in practice it makes it quite hard to navigate. I’ve had similar issues with her site and sites like hers where I’m not sure where to click to read and what is in what order.
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March 3rd, 2011 on 8:43 am
I have the same opinion as Andrea.
And a question too. How many prospective clients do you expect to get from your regular readership of TW? As far as I believe at least 70-80 % of your readership on TW is made up of married girls, moms of little babies. Of course I am not sure of this, but I am safely assuming, since the readership progressed through your Weddingbee stage to your being a mother.
That said, as a prospective client, honestly I would not feel very comfortable hiring you since I have been following you on TW for some time. Although I admire your frank thoughts on motherhood, weight loss and your convictions on a lot of controversial topics, I would not feel comfortable working with someone with such conflicting views from mine such as the idea of women working full time once she gets married etc. In any case, you aren’t hiding anything as you said. A client can see your blog references either way, so wouldn’t it be nicer to let the two remain separate and work more on your photography site? That has a lot of space for growth to project you with all your strengths and make more readership on its own.
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March 3rd, 2011 on 8:50 am
Oh gosh - when I saw this header in my GoogleReader, I confess I was a little sad.
I vote NO on the merge, with the preface that obviously, its your blog, so my offering this opinion is only because you asked, not because I think I’m entitled to dictate your web presence!
This is a really long comment, tried to break into bullets…
Polarizing topics on TW: To bring these up in a forum where your readers “know” you better is one thing. If I was cruising for a photographer who posted about the controversial stuff you write about, I would be afraid that she’d lecture to me, that she was a know-it all, why doesn’t she like college, why doesn’t she eat breakfast, etc etc. As a TW reader, I know the answers to all of these questions, and I also “know” you well enough to be patient when you do something or say something that, at first blush, may seem odd to me. I know you’ll explain it and it will make sense. If I were a stranger/potential client, not sure that I’d take the time to get to know you like that.
When I emailed out my wedding photographer to my family, my photographer happened to have a sensual boudoir post up that day, and my photos were just after or just before them. My dad was uncomfortable, and I got a few questions about why I was using the “underwear” photographer at my wedding. Obviously, she has two areas of focus, but her blog didn’t distinguish between audiences.
Inundating your “social readers” with JC marketing pushes: We’ve commented a few times (as a group) that we like the lack of crazy ads or marketing ploys or “go to my second and third blog to win a washer/dryer set from “. I would be worried that the Jenna Cole posts *might* start to feel like that. Every chance that they won’t - but they might?
I would be in favor of you posting a photo from each of your JC posts on TW, with the hyperlink though. That feels sincere and I would honestly probably click over to TW more often. Not sure that I’m the kind of person that you need to click over more often, as I’m already married and I’m already begging you to come to NYC and do a duet shot for us. But, from a hits/traffic perspective, maybe my being inspired by “That Shot” from each of your JC posts would help you.
In summary, I’d rather see you try to drive TW traffic to JC than JC traffic to TW.
Advertising on TW: Would it be strange to advertise on a photographer’s blog, as opposed to the TW blog? Not sure how I’d feel about that… potentially more traffic, potentially just odd.
Its Your Website/Brand: But, having said the above, of course this is your place & space to do with what you like. I know that you and TH will make a good business decision that’s rational and grounded in evidence… so while I may not “get” it at first, I have faith that you would pull together a convincing arguement or else you wouldn’t merge.
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March 3rd, 2011 on 8:51 am
Just a little anecdote that you can take as you will. I added my wedding photographers as “friends” to my Facebook, and they do not keep their personal posts to the realm of the professional. In fact, some of them are downright unprofessional. They use crass language and I disagree with many of their personal/political/social opinions. A year into this, I am turned off to them. I don’t like them as people. I don’t think I’d hire them again, to be completely honest. (And I DID like them when I met them in person and when they photographed my wedding.)
This would be a different situation for you, because (obviously since I keep reading your blog) I HAVE come to like you as a person. But there is always that possibility that people will see to much of you-personally and develop an off sense of you-professionally.
Also, I think that combined personal/professional blogs require the personal to be much more guarded, a “supporting actress” to the professional. Selfishly, I don’t want to lose the You-ness of TW. I LOVE the controversial posts (even when we disagree), the babies, the nuzzling, all of it. I would hate to see TW get “watered down,” so to speak.
This is all just my opinion and obviously I’m not a professional. Take with a grain of salt.
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Marissa C Reply:
March 3rd, 2011 at 4:18 pm
Same…I’m friends with my DJ on Facebook. I didn’t know she was a lesbian until then-and I don’t really care-but I assume she keeps her personal life separate as some wouldn’t hire her based on that fact.
Just another anecdote.
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March 3rd, 2011 on 8:57 am
I read TW because I like following your life, family, books, etc., however I have little interest in professional photography. I feel if you merged the two the business impact of posts may out weigh the pesonal impact (for fear of oversharing, insulting, less than perfect photos) and would compromise the quality and honesty you’ve built on TW. I like the suggestion of making sure to link to all your Jenna Cole posts on TW, but I don’t know if a complete merge is a good idea… However, I don’t know anything about marketing or photography. So, make the decision that is best for you!
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FM Reply:
March 3rd, 2011 at 10:45 am
I completely agree with this! Selfishly, I don’t want you to merge because I don’t think your blog would stay as open and honest and interesting. However, if you decide Jenna Cole is the main focus and merging is the best way to grow Jenna Cole, and that’s worth any effect on the TW blog, of course you should do that.
On the flip side, maybe you could make Jenna Cole more personal, by putting some things you might normally post on That Wife on Jenna Cole instead (things you feel comfortable with, to intersperse with your photography posts) - and linking us to those posts instead of having to do them twice. I don’t read a ton of photography blogs anymore now that I’ve married a long time, but I am just thinking of Jessica Claire’s site, where I think she does a good job of balancing some personal stuff with photography posts so you feel like you “know” her and have a personal stake in her life a bit, but she never, ever says anything remotely controversial or that begs conversation. And those qualities are part of what we love about TW and wouldn’t want to lose!
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Jess Reply:
March 3rd, 2011 at 1:05 pm
I agree with this. My first thought was that I was worried it would limit the content on That Wife, maybe even subconsciously, because you’d be scared to post too much personal stuff. I don’t think there’d be anything wrong with adding a little more personal stuff to JennaCole (travel recaps and pictures, for example, or look at my cute baby pictures, things of a personal nature but not very controversial or too personal) and linking more often to a shoot on ThatWife but a full-on merge isn’t something I’d like.
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March 3rd, 2011 on 8:59 am
I don’t like the merge. I don’t think that it would really be good for business because your readers here already know about the photography that you do. You would have a bigger audience, but we come here to see this and would go there to see that if we wanted to. I wish you ONLY the best with your business, but I’m not interested in visiting Jenna Cole the website.
And this blog isn’t really professional. I recently posted on my LJ about someone having a poster at their business that was, to me, pretty polarized and a bit offensive. I don’t care about the personal beliefs of people, but if they advertise them at their place of business (something I feel is unprofessional), they have to be prepared to lose (or gain!) business as a result. He lost mine because of the poster he had up. If he thought what he thought but didn’t connect it to his business, I wouldn’t have cared.
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March 3rd, 2011 on 9:03 am
I voted no to the merge but I do think you should make the links between the two blogs much more obvious.
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March 3rd, 2011 on 9:04 am
Also, I too feel “whelmed” sometimes! I loved “10 Things I Hate About You” when I was in high school and had the poster up in my bedroom. It was the beginning of my love for Heath Ledger, which was sadly short lived
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Jackie Reply:
March 3rd, 2011 at 1:21 pm
Can you ever just be whelmed? I think you can in Europe.
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March 3rd, 2011 on 9:12 am
The first thing that came to mind what professionalism, and whether the topics you talk about and the discussions they spur are ‘professional’ (and I love the topics/discussions!). You mentioned this (more or less) as a con.
However, I would ask this one question of you: how many clients of JC were TW readers first (or friends of TW readers)? How many clients of JC simply found your site through a search or some other photography site?
I tend to think that a large portion of JC business is a result of TW (I could be wrong). And if this is the case, the idea of merging them seems less of an issue to me. Maintaining conformity is what branding is all about!
Would there be a way to make JC a sub-site of TW? Like the food blog and scripture blog? Could you create a home page with a more generic description of who you are/what you do/etc…and then link to the various blogs?
I am a very detailed person, so perhaps I’m getting lost in the details and making things more complicated. Hope this helps…even if a little.
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Jenna Reply:
March 3rd, 2011 at 9:33 am
Whether or not I do any kind of merge, a “splash page” for That Wife is a really interesting idea. I’ve never thought of doing one, but I might look into it.
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March 3rd, 2011 on 9:15 am
I agree with the other commenters that have said not to merge the two blogs. There is more than one side of you. You are not just a photographer, nor are you just a wife. You have different sides to you just as you have different blogs. I think it is more professional to keep the photography blog separate. Good luck!
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March 3rd, 2011 on 9:18 am
My initial opinion is NO!!!!!! But I am wondering what her reasonings for this were. I can understand the time commitment/upkeep that both blogs require. But if traffic and time are the only reasons will both of those make you THAT much happier? If so, then do it. I think everyone who reads you will know that you have weighed out the pros and cons and will do what is best for Jenna Cole Photography and That Family.
Good Luck!
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March 3rd, 2011 on 9:39 am
I think it’s a bad idea for many of the reasons you listed above. I love both your blog and your photography site and subscribe to both, but I am sure not everyone feels the same way. There are many other photography sites I subscribe to because I love looking at the pictures; I don’t feel the attachment to the photographers themselves and am not interested in reading about their personal lives.
I also agree that some of your topics of discussion come off as not really… professional. Not that they are unworthy of discussing, but while I might blog about my vagina, I wouldn’t discuss it with my coworkers, but by merging your blogs, it’s the equivalent of discussing your vagina with each of your clients. I picture some women directing their significant others to your site to look at your photos, and the men being traumatized by stories fo your trips to the OB/GYN, etc.
If you want to direct individuals to both, how about one main page, with sub-blogs? A “That Wife — Personal Blog” link off the photography page, but keeping the professional photography posts entirely separate for those who are considering hiring you and want to share your work (to parents, etc.), without having to scroll through more personal posts to find each professional photography session. (Since you post more frequently on That Wife, I can imagine times when the entire front page of the blog wouldn’t have any professional sessions on them… and I would hate for you to blog less just to prevent that!)
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March 3rd, 2011 on 9:45 am
No time to read the other comments this morning (sorry! running late as always) but I’d vote for no merge, but - every Friday (or choose a day, or every other Fri, etc) on ThatWife have it dedicated to photography and show a summary of what has been going on at Jenna Cole that week. Or (as I think is now an edit at the bottom of the post), every time something new goes up on the gallery or the JC blog, put 1-3 pics on ThatWife. Or, if you are going to dedicate a day per week on TW to talk about JC but worry about being boring to some readers - maybe put a few pics from what JC’s been up to this week and talk about growing your business/your class/thoughts on working from home/working mom guilt/what the heck and apperture is. Maybe something kind of like Make Under Your Life blog which talks about her business woven in to many of the posts. In general, just talk about your business more, in one form or another, on TW b.c. it has the highest readership BUT don’t merge them. xoxo ps - SO happy you got the class. How many weeks is it? Or how many days per week? Write a post on the class with some JC pics.
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March 3rd, 2011 on 9:52 am
I think you’ve done a really good job of branding Jenna Cole, and That Wife, as distinctly separate entities. I think you could do more Jenna Cole features on That Wife- I think your “That Shot!” example is great- but I think a merge would destroy the separate, distinct brands. As someone up above said, you’d kind of have to choose between being That Wife, or being Jenna Cole- because they are very different professional online “personalities” and a merger would really,in the end, probably be more about putting one on the chopping block.
I do think that you would have to begin censoring yourself more if you combined them as well.
I voted no on the merger, but I definitely think including more Jenna Cole posts here on That Wife would be a fabulous idea.
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March 3rd, 2011 on 10:06 am
I also think No because when prospective clients leave the Jenna Cole site, they realize that they are now entering your personal blog and they may or may not agree with everything you say and their business ($) decision should be based on your Jenna Cole site.
I think the separation is a good thing, and as many others state I click through to Jenna Cole when you post pictures so I feel as if most of your TW reader probably know about Jenna Cole.
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March 3rd, 2011 on 10:07 am
I said no for the same reason I’m keeping mine separate: you post way more blog entries on That Wife than Jenna Cole, right? So any potential client who wants to look at blog pictures predominately (this is what I did before hiring Olivia) is going to have to go through a lot of TW posts just to see the Jenna Cole ones. I think that could get frustrating if they’re looking at a lot of wedding photographers at once, because it’d probably feel like they’d have to “work” more for it.
Only the other hand, if you had a really good tagging system it could work. You’d have to revamp the whole site, but maybe you could have entire headers to sort posts into something like “That Wife” “Weddings” “Portraits” or something, you know?
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March 3rd, 2011 on 10:07 am
My opinion is that you do what is best for both your business and your family. I realize it is sometimes very hard to do.
I think the best option given is create a splash page to direct people to either That Wife or Jenna Cole. I think then your clients will have the chance to read about your personal life if they wish as well as see your work and vice versa.
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March 3rd, 2011 on 10:08 am
I vote no too. I think all of your That Wife readers know about the Jenna Cole site, so if they want to look at it they will.
If I am reading a photography blog, I want it to be all photography.
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March 3rd, 2011 on 10:17 am
Only giving my opinion because you asked, because it’s obviously up to you. I wouldn’t merge them, though I do like some of the changes mentioned above. I think a lot of people who read TW don’t really care that you’re a photographer - I mean, it’s cool, but that’s not why they read TW. But it’s part of your life, so I do like the idea of an update on TW when a post goes up on JC. I think people who are looking for a photographer should be able to just see your professional site, and then TW if they’re interested (that’s what I did!) If I had had to wade through all your posts to get to photography ones…I won’t say I wouldn’t have hired you, but it would have been really annoying. But I’m not anti-cross-promotion, and I like a lot of changes mentioned above.
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Tiffany Reply:
March 3rd, 2011 at 11:26 am
i think i agree with this. i dont’ always want to see photos when i come to TW and i think if i was highering you i would only want to see your pictures and not all of your personal stuff. so i agree 100% with this comment! i voted no merge also.
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Kate Reply:
March 3rd, 2011 at 1:38 pm
Just a clarification! I didn’t mean I didn’t want to see photos on TW, I just meant it makes sense to keep them separate because not all the TW readers are completely invested in your professional life…that still sounds bad! We want you to succeed, obviously. And I like seeing photos! I just think they shouldn’t be the same site…argh, I hope you can tell what I mean, because I’m not getting it across very clearly. Yes to photos on TW and cross-promotion, no to merging!
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Jenna Reply:
March 3rd, 2011 at 1:53 pm
Your feedback is definitely the most helpful since you are actually one of my clients! I understand what you are saying
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the MRS. Reply:
March 3rd, 2011 at 6:48 pm
Perfect response.
I read TW to see what’s up with the fam.
And whenever you post about a new series I check out JC. I am not a big follower of photo blogs, as I already got married and hired a photographer and I am not at the moment looking to buy a nice camera and get into photography.
Also I know some people say splash pages, I hate them. I want things to LOAD fast. I want instant gratification when I click a page to see the content.
So I only click over from my Reader.
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March 3rd, 2011 on 10:18 am
Do you have business cards that you hand out? I’m curious how you currently represent the multiple sides of Jenna Cole there.
From a branding perspective, i do like how the logo that Jess designed carries through to all sites.
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Jenna Reply:
March 3rd, 2011 at 10:37 am
I have them, but I’m not very good at giving then out. Sales is apparently not my strong suit
I would eventually like to have someone redesign That Wife to better complement Jenna Cole. It would be fun to have all of my sites have the same “look”.
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March 3rd, 2011 on 10:32 am
I think it would make sense to also post your work here as well so you can touch more audience with your work.
But this is a personal blog and you have no plan to edit yourself to be a professional website. So I would still keep a separate photography blog only on Jenna Cole.
If I’m looking at a photographer, yes I’d like to get a glimpse of the personality of the person and see the type of picture taken of their family/children. But I wouldn’t necessarily want to read about debate on subjects I may not be interested in.
If you decide to go ahead and merge it. While it may be a bit annoying for readers you may want to consider the “click to read more” option so the whole article isn’t visible at first glence but keep the photography themed ones bigger (trip to Europe, T1, photography work). I think if i was a client I would like to be able to scan through the picture part without having to scroll down through pages or posts.
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March 3rd, 2011 on 10:43 am
I’m just a random reader with no business knowledge, but here are my two cents. I don’t think it would be such a good idea.
I think that when photographers write a blog that is “personal” and “professional” at the same time, the “personal” part is heavily edited to fit their brand. I don’t think that’s the direction you want to take with That Wife. That Wife is all about being honest about your daily life, your struggles and yes, sometimes your vagina. I don’t feel that belongs in a professional blog. I’m afraid that if you know you’re writing for an audience of prospective clients you’ll begin to tailor your personal posts and lose what makes That Wife special.
Another point to consider is that your most controversial posts could be a turn-off for potential clients. While I don’t necessarily believe that everyone I hire has to share my beliefs, I would be very put off if I were looking for a photographer and they wrote in their blog that they wouldn’t shoot a same-sex wedding, for example. Honestly, that would upset me and I would not hire them. Whereas I don’t feel that way at all when I read the same thing in your personal blog, because I read That Wife with the understanding that we hold very different beliefs and these are your personal opinions, which you always try to express respectfully. I don’t expect religious/political debate from a blog that essentialy advertises a professional service.
The solution to this? I don’t really have one. But maybe you could crosspost your “business-friendlier” entries from That Wife to Jenna Cole, to give it a more personal feel and increase the posting frequency. For example, T1’s month posts, yes. The “preparing my body for child birth” post, no. The trip to Europe, yes.
I hope that wasn’t too hard to follow (the usual disclaimer applies: I’m not a native English speaker) and that it’s at least a bit useful.
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March 3rd, 2011 on 11:16 am
Ok, I haven’t thought through the merge thing yet, and my opinion on it.
BUT….I am hoping that you linked above to the Movie “10 Things I Hate About You” ? I can’t watch vids on my work computer. But….this quote “I know you can be under-whelmed, and I know you can be over-whelmed, but can you ever just be whelmed?” “I think you can in Europe.” Was the quote I thought of. Best.Teen.Movie.Ever.
ok, on the merge, my quick thought is…I understand the value of the merge, and I look at both sites, but I would hate to see you not talk about your “polarizing” issues, and things like Vaginas.
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March 3rd, 2011 on 11:21 am
I don’t like it. I have had the same dilemma with wanting to write professional stuff on my blog… and it just doesn’t work.
I’d love to see more of your photography! But I think the two sites is best.
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March 3rd, 2011 on 11:23 am
I say no for mostly the same reasons as everyone else.
I liked lifeonmulberrys idea of linking some specific photog blogs on TW.
shortcake got rid of her personal site and I think it worked for her, but only because she was going to be posting LESS personal… I think the fact that you do post A LOT of personal would get people caught up in that and not necessarily the photog.
But also yes, maybe better linkage between the sites would be good.
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Jackie Reply:
March 3rd, 2011 at 11:25 am
also, why did I think that you did NOT win?? Did you actually post at any point saying you won?
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liz Reply:
March 3rd, 2011 at 12:14 pm
She didn’t win - but was still able to take the course.
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Jenna Reply:
March 3rd, 2011 at 1:07 pm
Actually, I did win!
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Jenna Reply:
March 3rd, 2011 at 12:19 pm
I didn’t win, then there was a voting discrepancy, and so I ended up winning!
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Jackie Reply:
March 3rd, 2011 at 1:43 pm
Oh man, you should have done a big Yay post about it! haha
Yeah, I thought I had read someones comment on formspring or something with condolences (actually, wasn’t that what started the whole “go back to school instead” thing?)
Congrats on winning!
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March 3rd, 2011 on 11:52 am
Don’t get weirded out by this, but I noted no because I appreciate it when you talk about personal things like your vagina
(that is by far the creepiest sentence I have ever written!) I like that your TW site lets you go as in-depth personal as you want to, while JC lets you be a professional. I’d be bummed to lose that personal connection.
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March 3rd, 2011 on 11:54 am
Like many others have said, I don’t necessarily think that it’s the best idea to merge the two sites. While I think that you take wonderful photographs, I’m not really interesting in scrolling through a bunch of posts of other people’s photography sessions. I think that the people who are looking at your Jenna Cole site are a very difference audience, looking for very different things in a blog, than those who read That Wife. I think that the continued occasional teaser or post about a Jenna Cole post could help to drive more traffic to that site and increase your business, but for those of us who are not looking for a photographer or aren’t particularly interested in looking at other people’s pictures right now, we can chose to not click over to the Jenna Cole site. Just my personal opinion!
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March 3rd, 2011 on 12:06 pm
As someone who takes family very seriously like you do, I would say keep them separate. I can only imagine how difficult it must be to maintain boundaries in your personal/family life while running a business from home. It will only get harder as you and TH have more children.
Even if combining the two worlds improves your business, it could end up doing more harm to your family life later. Anyone who reads this blog regularly enough knows you are a photographer and you do a good job of letting us see your work from time to time. I say, protect That Wife and protect yourself!
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March 3rd, 2011 on 12:15 pm
Obviously you’ve already gotten lots of good feedback here but here’s my two cents for what it’s worth.
I think your audiences are different for each blog. Clearly there’s some overlap but not neccessarily a lot. As someone who works in marketing/communications I see Kelli’s feedback as consistent with the trends in digital/social media marketing which don’t have a long history of proven success (though, as some have pointed out, it does work well for some people). I think it’s important to be authentically you across all your social media channels, but as you mention in your post, topics and tone differ according to context and audience.
Plus, who knows where That Wife could go in the future? The audience you’re cultivating here could allow you to go into business opportunities beyond photography and then you’d have to look at merging all over again.
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March 3rd, 2011 on 1:39 pm
Yes, your readership on TW is much larger than that on JC, but that doesn’t mean you’ll necessarily get more clients posting here.
For instance, I read TW daily, but I am 95% sure I won’t hire you as a photographer. Not because I don’t like your work, but because you live thousands of miles away from me, I’m not getting married, and I don’t have thousands to fly you out here
So even if you did post here about JC more, it won’t necessarily mean more business. But probably doing “That Shot” would be good reminders for people who live in the Chicago area/or are actively looking for a photographer.
That being said, if you ever find yourself in Montana, I would book you for a duet session, sure!
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Jess Reply:
March 5th, 2011 at 12:44 am
This. I AM planning on getting married and probably won’t even book a pro photog then. Honestly, I just don’t care enough about pictures to invest so much money in them. I have a bunch of friends with nice cameras and decent skills and I don’t care if they don’t end up with a lot of good pictures. (I also don’t plan on wearing a white dress or walking down an aisle or doing 5 million other normal wedding things, though.)
I can’t imagine ever booking an engagement or duet session because, again, I don’t care. I have maybe 5 or 6 pictures with my BF, it’s just not something we do or care about. I occasionally flip through the JennaCole pictures when she links here and the pictures are pretty, just not important to me. I’m also seriously un-photogenic, so that probably has something to do with it. I wish Jenna success in her business but I don’t want to see it all the time.
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March 3rd, 2011 on 1:52 pm
I’ve been a regular reader for a while now and I love your blog.
Being a photographer myself, I see SO MANY photography blogs with SO MANY photos that everything starts to blur together. I think you’re talented and you do good work, but sometimes I want to visit a blog that isn’t going to overwhelm me with ANOTHER e-session or ANOTHER family shoot.
I like having the choice of what to look at with your two different sites. This is personal preference as I don’t really consider myself one of your potential clients. I enjoy reading your posts about daily life and your opinions, but if I want to see your photography, I’ll click over there myself. That Wife has enough content and substance that I think adding your photography in the mix would just make it overwhelming.
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March 3rd, 2011 on 1:58 pm
I didn’t read all the comments, so this may be a repeat opinion, but from the view that I read my reasoning of keeping them separate is for a different reason. I’ve recently been looking at local photographers websites/blogs because we need new family portraits done. I personally prefer looking at blogs to websites because I like to see their most recent work and what kind of things they’ve been doing lately. The websites pull the best-of-the-best, which might not be the most accurate representation of what I’m going to get in my shoot, you know?
Anyway, I’ve come across a few who have their personal blogs mixed with their photography blogs and I find myself clicking off of them quickly. When I am coming to a site for the specific purpose of seeing their work, I don’t want to wade through their personal blog posts. Not that they’re probably not great interesting people, it’s just not what I care about. I want to see the pictures, I want to see lots of them, and I want it easy. Of course you can do things with tags and whatnot to make it still accessible that way, but I still think you’ll more easily lose people before they’ve seen all your great work.
I don’t think it’s about not wanting your clients to see who you are, that shouldn’t be a big deal at all, I just think it’s that your audiences are two different groups, and like others have said-your TW audience knows about your photography so you’re still getting all the exposure from it as it is.
Just my opinion though, in the end you should do what you think is best for you.
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March 3rd, 2011 on 2:30 pm
I totally agree with what seems to be the majority consensus above in the comments - keep them separate. As someone who just went through the searching-for-a-photographer stage a mere 2 years ago for my wedding (didn’t know about you then, or I totally would have asked!)- I think I would have been turned away by a site that seemed more like a “blog” than a gallery. However, I love your work and since I’m in the Chicago area, if I ever need a photographer, I know where to find you! I also think it’s a great idea to link us over to JC more from TW.
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March 3rd, 2011 on 3:14 pm
I love your That Wife blog, and I love looking at your pictures, but only TW is in my reader feed because I hate when my *reader* is overwhelmed with pictures. It makes it easier to read on my netbook, and my phone - where I do most of my reading, and it might start to feel like photo-spam. Just like I loved reading the Pioneer Women… until my reader was constantly being spammed with pictures of her dog. I ended up removing her from my feed, and now I just check it every once in a while.
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March 3rd, 2011 on 4:17 pm
I wouldn’t merge the two. Keep business and personal separate. Your photography website will seem much more professional if you keep it the way it is now. But I do like the idea of putting a “That shot” on That Wife.
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March 3rd, 2011 on 4:21 pm
The photographer I used to work for uses her photography blog as her personal blog. She certainly doesn’t talk about some of the hot button topics you do but she does talk about personal stuff. And it drives me crazy. Talking about a few personal things I think is fine but she talks about sunscreen and gives a review for every movie she sees. I find it annoying. I thing you should keep them separate so you don’t ever feel you have to censor yourself.
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March 3rd, 2011 on 4:41 pm
I would say ONLY if you feel like you can continue to speak here in your voice. If you’d feel limited, bad idea. I hate to see bloggers go overly commercial and change their tone.
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March 3rd, 2011 on 5:00 pm
If this makes any sense…. I would love to use you as a photographer because I’ve been reading TW for awhile and am a big fan, so I’d want to support your career. But I think that if I came to TW as someone looking for a photographer, I think I might have been turned off and wouldn’t have taken the time to read through. I like the idea of cross-posting good TW photo posts and any JC posts on the other blog and making the links more easy to find.
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March 3rd, 2011 on 5:30 pm
I like the idea of making a post on TW when you have some new stuff to share on JC, but I think merging them takes away from what this site is — a place to share your life. While I love your photographs, I only check in on JC every now and then, while I come here daily!
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March 3rd, 2011 on 6:09 pm
I voted no because I think you’d end up censoring yourself if this was also your business blog. It would be sad if you had to stop being so honest and open because clients don’t like reading about your vagina.
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March 3rd, 2011 on 6:57 pm
I didn’t read through all the comments, so I may be repeating things.
BUT, I vote no.
My wedding photography blog has about one personal post a week, usually, but it is in no way a “personal blog”. Sometimes I wish I had an online avenue to express more controversial things (I used to have a weekly newspaper column about politics, and I miss that outlet), but I recognize that I would be turning off potential clients if I got too nitty-gritty on my professional blog. Having just the RIGHT amount of personal posts on their helps clients get to know me, which has definitely been amazing for our business. I’m afraid it wouldn’t have the same effect for you, because of the things you post, and I would SO miss your posts if they changed to fit an audience of potential wedding clients.
We just split my boudoir work off to a new website at the beginning of the year, and I have seen TREMENDOUS gains from that decision (girlsonfilm.mcgowanimages.com) My boudoir business is growing, specifically because it now has it’s own home to thrive.
I think both your blogging and your photography will thrive best if they have their own room to breathe.
That said… I like the idea of you posting a link to your Jenna Cole posts here. I forget to check your photography blog, but I always like it when I see a new post!
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March 3rd, 2011 on 7:38 pm
I’m guilty of not reading all the comments and know that I’m agreeing with a lot of what was already said since I skimmed. I voted “no” for many reasons, but the largest was that I can see huge issues with clients wanting to send say, a mother-in-law a link to one of your posts, and not liking it being mixed in with posts on the very things that we all think make this blog so interesting!
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March 3rd, 2011 on 7:50 pm
I would definitely be open to seeing more of your photography on the blog, like you mentioned about “That Shot”. I love that you are so open and honest here, and I don’t want that to change as the result of trying to appear more professional if the blogs merged, but I support you in what you need to do!
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March 3rd, 2011 on 7:56 pm
Wait, I thought you didn’t win the contest? This is the same Kelli France course that we all voted on, right?
Personally, I think you should keep them separate, just like how you listed the cons. You talk about a lot of personal stuff, and if someone is looking for a wedding/portrait photographer, they really don’t need to read all of that, they just want to see pictures from your photography sessions!
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March 3rd, 2011 on 8:02 pm
I’d be curious to know what her rationale is. This will help you make the best decision. For example:
Is the concern that both sites take too much of your time? If that is the case, maybe you do some post sharing (some of your JC posts on TW, some TW posts on JC).
Is the concern that you don’t have one cohesive brand? If that is the concern, I’d work on growing the JC brand so it stands more on it’s own (not that it doesn’t already!). It is risky to make a brand about talking about LDS, childbirth, and food choices + photography.
Is the concern that your customers want more personal information about you? Then post more photos of family outings and vacations.
Traffic/Page views? Maybe you only put your family posts on JC complete with photos. We care about your life, we’d move to read those posts and keep TW for more conversational topics.
etc etc. I’m not sure I understand why she recommended this and it is hard to think through without that info.
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Jenna Reply:
March 3rd, 2011 at 10:01 pm
This is an awesome comment. Thank you! So much to think about.
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Amelia Reply:
March 5th, 2011 at 4:07 am
While it is hard to understand why she thought it, i can totally see why- these are two separate sites, two separate realms of energy Jenna has to find. if the mentors goal is to help Jenna find more balance- merging them into one means taking care of ONE audience, branding ONE audience, writing fro ONE audience- I suppose she believes it will cut down on
the work if you’re putting everything in the same place. Streamlining processes frees up more time…. and merging would streamline it.
As for merging or not- I’m not sure.. I am pretty in depth when it comes to researching vendors and businesses I want to use and its not as if you have ever hidden it- so why NOT put it out there?
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March 3rd, 2011 on 9:49 pm
It’s my opinion that personal life, including religion do not mix with business. TW is too personal a blog to mix with a business that you want to have appeal to a varied clientel.
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March 4th, 2011 on 12:39 am
Hello! I have skimmed some of the answers and here is my two cents:
1. I wouldn’t merge the 2 sites. Now I am not an expert about online marketing/presence, but I have learned about it some in my marketing classes, and I would be interested in learning her reasons for telling you to merge!
2. I found you for my wedding by searching “Dallas LDS Wedding Photographers” and I found That Wife and read pretty much all of That Bride! Your attention to detail for your own wedding and your desire to have things your way as the bride were things that attracted me to you as a wedding professional. Then clicked over to Jenna Cole and loved your photography! If anyone finds That Wife or Jenna Cole, they can easily find the other, I think you have done a good job with that!
3. I liked that I knew more about you as my wedding photographer than Jenna Cole told me, but that’s probably not for everyone! Some people who have vastly different views than yours might shy away from you if you were to put that in front of their faces when they were just trying to look at your photos. Not that everyone would, but I chose to learn more about you- I’m not sure how people would react to it being “forced” on them, if you know what I mean?
4. I do like the idea of a more detailed bio on Jenna Cole, or a link to one on That Wife.
I’m not sure I’m making sense anymore so I’m going to stop, sorry I’m rambling so much!
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March 4th, 2011 on 12:41 am
Hello! I have skimmed some of the answers and here is my two cents:
1. I wouldn’t merge the 2 sites. Now I am not an expert about online marketing/presence, but I have learned about it some in my marketing classes, and I would be interested in learning her reasons for telling you to merge!
2. I found you for my wedding by searching “Dallas LDS Wedding Photographers” and I found That Wife and read pretty much all of That Bride! Your attention to detail for your own wedding and your desire to have things your way as the bride were things that attracted me to you as a wedding professional. Then clicked over to Jenna Cole and loved your photography! If anyone finds That Wife or Jenna Cole, they can easily find the other, I think you have done a good job with that!
3. I liked that I knew more about you as my wedding photographer than Jenna Cole told me, but that’s probably not for everyone! Some people who have vastly different views than yours might shy away from you if you were to put that in front of their faces when they were just trying to look at your photos. Not that everyone would, but I chose to learn more about you- I’m not sure how people would react to it being “forced” on them, if you know what I mean?
4. I do like the idea of a more detailed bio on Jenna Cole, or a link to one on That Wife.
5. Also, I wouldn’t want anything about TW to change because of a merge with JC.
I’m not sure I’m making sense anymore so I’m going to stop, sorry I’m rambling so much!
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Laura Elizabeth Reply:
March 4th, 2011 at 12:43 am
So sorry for the double comment, it didn’t seem like it worked the first time, so I added a #5 and retried!
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March 4th, 2011 on 12:45 am
I also voted against the merge for many of the reasons mentioned above. However, i wanted to share an example from my wedding photographer. He runs websites all focused around his professional brand - photography, graphic design and blog. When you first arrive at his webpage, you see 3 photos, one representing each website and you can click the one you want. This allows potential clients of either business to be aware of both businesses and read his blog or just choose what they are interested in. In my case, I wanted wedding photos and therefore never looked at his graphic design blog. A similar model could work for you so you only have one address to maintain. You could offer all 4 of your blogs and formspring on the homepage so the traffic all goes to the same place and then readers can choose what to view. Honestly, I could never hire you for photography because I don’t live anywhere near you so no matter how pretty your pictures are, my interest is always TW. I enjoy a photography post in TW from time to time, especially when you’ve done something new or have a nice story to go with the photos. Good luck, sounds like the course is already making you think about your business differently!
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March 4th, 2011 on 3:07 am
I am probably not being very original (I honestly did not read any comments in order to be not influenced by them) but my opinion is - keep your blogs separately. I personally don’t care if I share all or none of my favorite artist’s views and philosophies. If I love their work, that’s all it matters. I am a very open person on top of it too. So, given how unique and thought-provoking most of your posts on TW are, I would refrain from merging both blogs. I would love to be photographed (or tutored) by you at any time despite the fact that we come from very different places. Others might be a bit more sensitive to things foreign to them.
In any event - I love reading your blog, and I look forward to each post. I am very excited for you for being very close to paying off your investment! Way to go!!! You are an inspiration!
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March 4th, 2011 on 12:27 pm
As an option maybe you could occasionally put a post from TW on your JC site: say one about how to take better photos in your apartment, pictures of T1, general Chicago happenings. I’d for sure keep diet, personal things about your relationship, religion, and other “serious” topics away from the business side. I think Jasmine Star does this pretty well if you want a sample!
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March 4th, 2011 on 12:40 pm
I vote for keeping them separate I love That Wife the way it is with the more thought provoking posts. I really don’t go to Jenna Cole because I’m already married and live across the country from you anyway.
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March 4th, 2011 on 6:50 pm
I follow another professional photographer’s blog also. I like to learn a little about her personal life, but sometimes too much is just too much. I think you should consider posting some of your TW posts on JC but not all of them. Just some that give a little glimpse into your life.
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March 5th, 2011 on 11:55 am
I, too, vote separate. One of the biggest problems in society IMHO is that everything is always “out there”. I listen to the women chatting at work and am just horrified at the things they share while at work. It’s hard to take someone seriously at work when you’ve heard about their childbirth, a fight with their mother, their angst about finances and, worst of all, about how their fat jean are getting tight. Women, especially, seem to have a terrible time with boundaries and knowing when to keep things private.
If I was looking for a photographer I would hire someone for professional reasons. My father used to say that there are 2 words: work and play. Because “work” is not play and should not be expected to share the same qualities as play.
And to be completely honest, I like your personal blog best without the millions of pictures. I enjoy seeing a few, but, for example, the long run of nearly identical pictures of your son was boring. It’s easy to think that non-family members (and I don’t say this just to you, but to people in general) are dying to see dozens of photos of one’s wedding, grandbabies, new house, child, dog. It’s just not that interesting unless you know the person.
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March 7th, 2011 on 2:53 pm
I get the impression that you write about the “polarizing” and personal issues because you want to put your voice out there, have a place to vent it to, and hopefully get some useful feedback.
If I’m correct - I suggest a partial merge. all your Jenna posts can go on TW too, but not visa versa. That way you aren’t worried about “keeping up” both blogs, but still have an outlet for non business related posts.
If you are going to go for a full on merge, I suggest reading Jasmine Star’s blog if you haven’t already. I think she nailed the “personal/professional photog blog” right on the head. She does talk about or at least touch on personal matters enough to really draw you in personally, but its mostly about her photography and clients wouldn’t feel bowled over by TMI. Just a suggestion!
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