My Blogging Journey and Where I Am
As you are painfully aware by now, I’ve been running this blog for a year. So, of course, I feel like an expert on the subject of blogging. HA! Right! There are people out there in cyberspace (do people still call it “cyberspace”–or has that term died, along with “the information superhighway”? After all, the internet seems to be far more to do with commerce than information these days… but I digress…) who have been doing this many years and are far wiser than me on the topic. And I read advice about blogging before and after I set up my little corner on the information superhighway (ha!), and I continue to read blogging tips and advice.
Among the more popular pieces of blogging advice are:
- Focus your blog. Determine what you want to blog about, and stick closely to it. Make sure people know why they come to your blog, whether it’s for book reviews, recipes, gardening tips, homeschool encouragement, or whatever.
- Related to the first point: know your audience. Once you know what your blog will be about, make sure your blog is written and designed in a way that will attract the kind of people who will be interested in your content. Advertise yourself in places your readers frequent, either by guest blogging, commenting on blogs in the same subject area, and so on.
- Blog regularly. Don’t let your blog go weeks without new content. Otherwise, people will think your blog is an abandoned car on the shoulder of the information superhighway and ignore it.
- Keep a schedule. Decide how often you will blog, and as far as is humanly possible, stick to it. Don’t make your schedule so demanding you can’t hope to keep up with it (in other words, homeschooling moms shouldn’t commit to a daily blog schedule–once or twice a week should be fine).
These are just a few of the hot tips I’ve picked up, and, for the most part, attempted to apply. Some of these have been really helpful getting my blog off the ground. I don’t have a huge following–though that’s harder to quantify now, thanks to the whole WordPress/Google Friend Connect issue (grrrr)–but I know people read this blog, and there’s enough content here that I get daily hits from all over the world. So my blog is here, it’s known, and it serves a purpose–even if it is just as a source for New Kids on the Block pictures.
But now it’s time to take stock and evaluate. Because one thing that I know has suffered in my whole effort to establish this blog is my writing. I have to make a decision. Am I trying to be a professional blogger, or a professional writer? Clearly, I want to be a professional writer. So this means I need to look back at this last year with a sense of accomplishment, and then back off. I have a blog. And now it’s time to get back to writing.
That said, starting next week I’m making some changes:
- I’m scrapping the schedule. I will continue to blog, and hopefully blog at least a few times a week. But I’m not holding myself to a definite schedule. I’ll try to do at least a Road Trip Wednesday, and perhaps even a Top Ten Tuesday, so there will be at least one post a week. I’m not going away–just giving your RSS feeds some relief.
- When I do post, I’m going to try to do more book reviews, writing tips, and flash fiction, since this is in-keeping with my desire to give more time to writing. The more my blogging activity focuses on my writing, the more, hopefully, I will be encouraged to write. This doesn’t mean there won’t be posts about other things–it’s just a question of focus.
- With fewer posts, I’m going to try to make sure each post is a quality post. Some of the
delusionalkind people in the audience might say that I always provide quality content. Bless you! But seriously, without the pressure to post four times a week, I can concentrate on making sure what I post is worth your reading time. - I’m also going to try to do a better job of visiting and commenting on blogs. I may be pulling back my own blogging activity, but I’ll still be around.
I almost said that I was going to try to keep my blog posts under 500 words (that’s another tip from the Ones That Know About Blogging). There’s some wisdom there, but I don’t like to make promises I can’t keep.
Tomorrow, I’ll be deviating from the Broke and the Bookish‘s Top Ten Tuesday and doing my own: Top Ten Lessons I’ve Learned About Blogging.
Dear Colin’s blog: Happy Anniversary. For some reason, I thought you were older (in a good way I promise :D). Your owner puts a lot of effort into you and it shows, you look great!
He has a lot of good writing insights and even though I am not a Doctor Who’s fan (maybe one day), he seems quite passionate about it which is fun to read about 😀
Dear Elodie: Thank you so much! I know Colin works hard on me, and I’m glad it shows. But the old man does need to take it easy. I know he’s glad you read me, and I guess I’m pleased to have people take an interest in me too. *blush* 😀
I’ve been posting less lately too, and I’ve noticed that a lot others have gone missing. My Blogger dashboard and RSS feed reader is mostly empty. That’s all right, though. With the summer weather and everything that comes with that, one of the last things people feel like doing is blogging. I’ve seriously cut back on how much I’m blogging for that reason too. I deleted my blog schedule tab from my blog because I didn’t want to be held to a schedule that I might not keep. Plus, it just didn’t seem useful anymore when I’ve been participating in things like Blogging From A to Z and Blog Me MAYbe. I’m looking forward to what you do post. 🙂
Thanks, Jaime. I enjoy blogging, so this is going to be hard. But I have to give my fiction writing more time. My blog is an adjunct to my writing career–it’s not my writing career, and my writing career needs a lot more attention right now. But I really appreciate those who encourage me by reading and commenting on this blog. This is the closest I get (at the moment, anyway) to knowing what it’s like having an audience for my writing. And it feels good. 😀
Happy Blogoversary, Colin! Isn’t it amazing how quickly time goes by when we blog? I started mine in late 2008 and have been going ever since. I completely agree that knowing our audience and writing regularly are two of the big keys to being successful. It’s so important to give our readers what we want and to show them that we’re dedicated.
Thank you, Julie. Wow–so this year’s your FOURTH anniversary. You’re a blog veteran!! I really appreciate your encouraging words… and the fact you read my blog which in itself is very encouraging! 🙂
Happy Blogoversary! And great tips. I’ve been meaning to focus more on general writing and book reviews as well. Blog Me MAYbe really helped give me an idea of sorting out specific days and what topics to do on them. I’d say Blog fests have really helped. Can’t wait to read the tips tomorrow!
Thanks, Robin! There are a lot of really good blogging tips. One thing I’ve found, however, is that many great tips are geared toward those for whom blogging *is* their writing goal. The trick for me this year has been trying to weed through the advice and finding the best tips for those who treat their blog as a support to their dream of becoming a published writer. And some tips work better for others. Those who manage to keep their blog word count down below 500 words can probably manage a regular three-times-a-week (or more) schedule. That’s not me (as you can tell)! 🙂 Rachelle Gardner’s blog is a good example of short-to-the-point (and usually really useful) posts. And she usually blogs 5 times a week.
Great post Colin, and I feel I am in the same situation right now… I’ve blogged for about over a year, and my writing has suffered a bit from it… so I’m also going to be taming my schedule back… First time visitor and now a follower:)
Thanks, T.F.! Great to have you along for the ride. 😀