The Benefits of a Content Retainer Service for Photographers

When you’re in the midst of a busy season in your photography business, what’s the first thing you let slide?

For most photographers, the answer is easy: content creation. 💻

Here’s the thing: I get it! When you’re so busy serving your current clients, it’s difficult to take time to create content that will help market your photography services in the future. But as business owners, we always need to be thinking and planning ahead, and like it or not, we know that slower seasons in business are right around the corner.

In order to ensure that you stay top of mind for people in your area who are looking to hire a photographer, it’s important to continue generating content even when you’re in the midst of a busy season. This is especially true when you consider the likelihood that your competitors, who might also be in the midst of a busy season in their business, are still churning out consistent content.

We all have the same hours in the day; how can YOU use your working hours most effectively? ⏰

One way that you can continue prioritizing your current clients in your photography business while also creating evergreen and SEO-friendly content for the future is by trusting your content creation process to a copywriter like me.

There are SO many benefits to working collaboratively on retainer with a copy and content expert, and partnering together can be more affordable (and more profitable for your business!) than you may think.

Ready to unpack with me the reasons why I absolutely LOVE working with photographers to create content on retainer? Let’s do it!

1) What’s Included in a Monthly Retainer Service with What Sara Said?

The truth is this: Client retainers get a bad rap on social media and in some service provider circles.

But it’s one of my favorite ways to work with photographers who want consistent results and a partner in creating a content strategy that works!

Photographers and creative business owners like us are always looking for ways to streamline our marketing to-do lists, and while there are as many ways to go about accomplishing that as there are camera lenses on the market (read: A LOT!), my best recommendation is to partner up with someone you can trust to do the heavy-lifting (the content creation!) for you. 💪🏻

When you hire a copywriter like me on retainer, I don’t simply create content for you and go along my merry way. Instead, we partner together to move your business forward according to your goals!

Rather than creating content just to check a box, I want to write word-magic for your business that supports your signature offer, generates hype and excitement for a launch you have coming up, or truly educates your clients, so that they’re more prepared and confident about working with you.

Curious about the nitty-gritty details of working with me on retainer? Keep reading!

2) The First Benefit: Consistent, High-Quality Content

One of the most important marketing strategies for business owners to deploy is content creation, and while there are SO many ways to create content and SO many places to publish your content, I’m a big fan of watering your own grass, so to speak. 💧

In other words, when you put in a lot of time (and money!) creating content, it should benefit YOU, not the social media algorithm. That’s why I love and preach on writing and publishing blog content on your website, because YOU as the business owner get to reap the benefits of driving traffic to your website on a consistent basis.

The benefit of working with a copywriter like me on retainer is that the very basis of our working agreement is to ensure that there’s a steady stream of relevant and engaging content available across your digital footprint, from your website and your blog to your email list and social media feed.

The best part? You don’t have to constantly manage the writing of it all! 🙌🏻

The other benefit of trusting a copywriter to write your content involves the concept of brand voice: the way that you naturally communicate with your ideal client. Copywriters like me are trained to analyze your brand voice type and replicate it, which is key in making your content sound like you without you actually having to put in the time or the effort to craft it yourself.

3. The Second Benefit: Time Savings

Ready for a mind-blowing statistic? Here it comes: according to SEO blogger and researcher She Knows SEO, based on a study of 640 participants, it takes the average business owner 5-6 HOURS to write ONE blog post. 🤯

Raise your hand if you have 5-6 spare hours to spend writing just ONE blog post? 🙅‍♀️

The fact is, most business owners don’t have this kind of time to dedicate to content creation, and that’s absolutely okay. After all, you’re not in business to write content; instead, you’re creating content to help you run a successful business!

This is yet another reason why it makes sense to trust your content creation to others (like me!) because when people like me sit down to write, we’re WAY more efficient, simply because we’re working in our zone of genius.

Just like you wouldn’t hire a chef to mow your lawn, you shouldn’t expect to be a whiz at content creation when your (amazing!) skills reside in other areas, like photography. By entrusting your content creation to someone who’s expertise is in that area, you’re able to focus on your core work (photography) while someone else (me! 🙋‍♀️) lives in their happy place, doing what they’re good at (writing).

4) The Third Benefit: Strategic Content Planning

We’ve covered consistency and time-savings, but there’s one more major benefit to trusting a copywriter like me to create content for you on a regular basis, and that’s this: retainer relationships allow the time and space for me to get to know you and your business.

Why is that useful? Well, it’s like having a built-in business bestie who knows your services well enough to help you strategically plan AND create content.

We’ve all watched those sports movies, like Remember the Titans and Rocky that have shown us, time and again, how valuable it can be to put our minds together to make things happen. Whether the movie character relies on a teammate or a coach to achieve their goals, it’s clear that great things are in store when you ask for help from someone who knows their stuff.

In the same way, when you don’t have to figure out how to market and sell a new offer all by yourself, you’re more likely to experience success faster because you have the benefit of two minds (yours and mine!) working together to make things happen. I believe that the best things in life and in business are born out of collaboration, and that’s certainly true for retainer relationships, too.

In addition, trusting a copywriter to write for you helps you to appear as a thought leader in your industry. While you may struggle to write educational content that positions you as an expert and leads a reader to convert (either by something simple as joining your email list or something more high-ticket, like purchasing a course or booking a service), that’s literally what I specialize in as a copywriter!

Partnering with someone like me to create content makes it easier for you to share educational information (like how to prepare for a newborn photography session, or what you need to know about printing your photos) that’s woven seamlessly together with sales copy that serves and converts (without the icky car salesman vibes). 🚘

Retainer relationships allow me as your copywriter to act both as a content strategist helping you plan for upcoming launches and promotions AND a business bestie who knows your services inside and out. 👯

Two Ways to Work with Me on Retainer ✨

If you’re ready to invest in content creation that saves you time and ensures that you’re showing up online consistently, I’d love to partner with you! Here’s what a monthly retainer service looks like at What Sara Said:

• First, retainer clients choose either a three-month or six-month commitment, and then they reserve a set number of monthly writing hours (3 hours or 5 hours) upon booking.
  
• Then, each month includes:
  • Monthly 30-minute, 1:1 strategy session
  • 3 hours or 5 hours of dedicated time per month to write custom blog posts, email marketing copy, and quick website copy updates
  • All content is delivered in plain-text Google Docs for your review
  • A private 1:1 Workspace in ClickUp, plus one speedy round of revisions.

Over the course of three or six months (or longer, if you so choose), we collaborate to create an average of 3-4 pieces of content per month (blog posts, marketing emails, and more), which you can then publish or roll out on whatever timeline or platform works for you.

Starting at just $595/month, retainer services are one of my most in-demand services. I pack these services FULL of value, and since you literally get to set my to-do list each month, they’re sure to deliver exactly what you need! ✅

If you’re ready to start your retainer relationship with me, click here to learn more and inquire. I can’t wait to serve you!

NOTE: Clients who sign six-month retainer contracts earn a 10% discount. Email me at hello@whatsarasaid.com to learn more!