13 Days to go: Blogging in and outs - Part 2

Before I start on Part 2 of this series, I'd just like to point something out.

The countdown I have going in the title is the countdown towards the opening of the first ever Northside Makers Market that will be happening in Northcote, Australia. If you'd like to visit or learn more about this market, please visit the website for more info.

This is Part 2 of a little blogging tips and tricks that I will be posting over the next week or so.
New to this series? Read Part 1 here: Part 1 : Blogging, the ins and outs

Now let's get down to business.



Image by Koalazymonkey via Flickr


You have a blog now, you have a few posts. You still feel stupid. There's nobody reading it: no comments being left, no numbers scrolling on your traffic counter. Plus you think your posts are boring anyways. What's the point?


STOP!

Put a huge stop sign in front of all that negativity. That will be your number one reason for not having any readers! Get up from your seat and shake it all out. This is not a popularity contest. This is not high school. This is your blog and the number one thing you have to learn about it is that you reap what you sow.

Did you put in the effort to promote your blog? Did you drop links in appropriate places to ensure that people know about you? Back in the day where websites were few and far between, getting noticed wasn't quite as hard as it is these days. Now, there's more blogs, more personal websites, and even more pages on the internet than we could possibly fathom. If you don't do something that's going to make you stand out, what right do you have to expect people to pay attention to you?

So here are a few quick and easy hot-tips to get people reading:

1. Social Networking sites

Facebook, Myspace, Twitter: hate them? Too bad. They are really great networking sites that work. Set up linkbacks, set up fan pages, tell your friends on facebook about it all. You have to shout your name from the virtual roof top, and you have to shout it loud. Don't know how to work these things? Google and Help pages are your friends.

Or ask me. Email me and throw me your questions. I'm always happy to help. =)

2. Post constantly

Keep.on.posting : I cannot stress this enough. I don't want to have stumbled upon your blog and see that you only have 3 blog posts with the most recent one being 3 weeks ago! It makes me think that you cannot be bothered updating your blog. And if you cannot be bothered with updating your blog, why should I bother with reading it? Get into a habit of posting at least once every few days. You will form a routine, a habit and very soon you will be blogging spontaneously, or even planning up blog posts while you are away from the computer.

3. Give and Take

If you don't read other people's blogs and leave comments, just why should they return the favour unless you are some really awesome celebrity? And chances are if you are a hot and famous celebrity, you won't be needing these tips anyhow since your publicist would be the one getting the name of your blog out there. I know, I know. Leaving comments are a pain, a hassle, and troublesome. I used to be a lurker as well, and never bothered to leave comments. As a result, I didn't get any back. You can't expect something and not give the same back in return. Show the love to others, and they will show the love to you as well.

So start today, start now: leave a comment on this post and you'll be well on your way!



Image by Martin Deutsch via Flickr

4. Interactive content and incentives

People want to be able to get something out of everything. It's how the way the world works now: we are all terribly materialistic. So once you have gotten into the groove of blogging, start coming up with interactive content to involve your readers.

Kirsty from Kootoyoo has the perfect example of this: she keeps a growing list of creative spaces on her site and encourage people to show theirs as well. She picks her favourite creative space with the winner getting a featured spot on her sidebar. People start going back to her blog to add to the list and check out other people's links. It involves people, gives them ideas for blog posts and is creative at the same time.

You can also post up polls and surveys. Ask your readers what they think of something. Should the focal in this necklace be red or blue? Should I sell this or keep it for myself? Readers are people too, and we all love for our opinions to be heard.

Giveaways are also a popular way to involve the reader. I don't really think I need to elaborate more on this as this is pretty self-explanatory. Be careful on having too many giveaways though: people will just end up coming to you with the idea that they can get free stuff out of you instead of actually buying something. So unless that is your intention, try not to overdo the giveaway idea.

5. Photos, photos, photos!

Try to always have an image to accompany your wall of text. People love to look at photos and pictures plus they help to add some colour to your blog! Often if I see a wall of text, I start skimming and eventually stop reading. So have a photo to break it all up, and try to find photos that relate as well!

Of course there are other ways to promote your blog and obtain readers. But the above 4 are amongst the most basic of them all, so ask yourself: Are you doing these?



Image via Andrew Mo via Flickr


Part 2 will end here, I hope this has helped even a little bit in any way or form! Do you have any other tips to share on how to bring the readers in? Please do share your thoughts if you have any!

My next segment in this series will touch on the blogs from the perspective of a reader.

Stay tune for more, and I do welcome feedback! I love getting comments so please do leave some. I check back on your blogs via your username as I love to follow new blogs and read them. So if you don't leave a comment, I don't know where your blog is to follow =P

13 Days to go: Blogging in and outs - Part 2

14 days to go - Blogging, the in and outs - Part 1

Image by linda cronin via flickr


While this entry would benefit from being short, concise and to the point, it is not my style to be writing it in such a manner. So pull up a chair and grab a cup of tea. If you want to read about the in and outs of blogging (the long winded way), then this is the post for you.

Disclaimer: I am by no means an expert on blogging. But having blogged for a few years now, the following is a collection of my observations and what I myself as a blog reader love to see and read in a blog

By definition, a blog (short for weblog) is a term used to describe websites that maintain an ongoing chronicle of information. It is a frequently updated, personal website featuring diary-type commentary with links to articles or other websites. A blogger : a person who maintains a blog.

Judging by how far back my archives go, you might think I'm new to the blogging world. On the contrary, I have been blogging since 2003. Not quite as long as some others, but not exactly a new blogger either. I started blogging on Livejournal.com and in fact, I still blog there. As of current, my personal blog on Livejournal has a total of 2,187 journal entries, with a total of 8,005 comments made on the blog either by myself or by my readers. Impressive? Not really. But it definitely proves that I have been blogging for awhile.

There are many handmade crafters out there today. Many trying to sell their humble wares, myself included. As a new seller especially on Etsy.com, you are often told to 'start a blog' to promote traffic and interest to your store. And while starting a blog can be as simple as clicking a few buttons and filling in a few blanks on the signup page over at Blogger.com, what comes next? If you spend all your blogging time just talking about your stuff and flogging your store, people are not going to read it for the simple reason that it's boring!

So what then?


Image by E-magic via flickr

Why are you blogging?
When I first started blogging, I had a reason. My (then) boyfriend and I were seperated and in a long distance relationship. It was my way of showing him what I was up to and letting him be part of my life in a fashion. After we broke up, I continued blogging as I had fallen in love with it. I loved to write and what better way to show my love for writing than to write?

So be very clear on why you have started your blog and why you are blogging. If you are only doing it to promote traffic to your shop, I'm afraid that is not going to be enough. Blogs are tools to look into a blogger's life, heart and soul. If you don't put the human factor into your blog, your blog will never take its first breath and live.

I now run 3 blogs simultaneously. I still post on Livejournal.com as that is my personal blog where my deepest and darkest secrets go. It is locked to the public and only pre-approved people on my friends list are able to view the entries I make. This ensures my privacy and keeps me safe from random naysayers as well as online drama and internet wars as I can be fairly opinionated sometimes. I also post on this blog (while running a mirror of this one on livejournal for the livejournal readers). My last blog is a travel and food review blog over at Berry travels which is unfortunately taking a bit of a back seat currently as I have been working hard on my crafts. They were all started up for different reasons, and as long as the reasons are still valid, the blogs will continue to exist.

I figured out my reasons, now what?

Once you know why you are blogging, this should be easy: start blogging! My suggestion is not to force it. Do not sit down in front of the computer thinking: I have to blog today. Your blog post will come across as forced and uneasy. Blogging should never be a chore!

Take a notepad around with you if you need it and jot down ideas for blog posts as they come up. I used to wish there was a way I could write blog posts up on the internet instantly as I thought of them! And they don't all need to be related either. You can talk about food on a craft blog, you can talk about yourself, or other people. It really doesn't matter! You obviously want a constant theme running through but don't sweat it too much. If you are an avid blog reader like me, you will definitely know that readers love to read about quirky random things, interesting things, and other things that might have happened to you around your life. We are naturally curious beings, so we want to know!


Image via Kevin Marks via Flickr

I feel stupid writing all these: is there even anybody reading?

How are you ever going to get anywhere if you don't keep those posts coming? It really doesn't matter whether or not somebody is reading. If you have been dropping links and promoting your blog as you should have been, then somebody would be reading it. Think about it this way: blogging is just as much for yourself as it is for others. One day you will look back through your archives and go "I did what? " and "Oh gee, that was dumb." It's like keeping a diary, a scrapbook, or even a photo album. Just in a digital form.

Plus if you keep writing quality posts (this is important!) and not just "Hey, my shop is this way!" style posts, people will start catching on and passing on the link to your blog to others. Interesting posts will spread like wild fire, so concentrate on writing and not how many followers you have showing on your Google Friends Application.

I don't want to share my life; my life is boring

Do not underestimate the power of human curiosity. Yes, I do actually want to know what you had for dinner. Yes, I do actually want to know what the weather was like in Tokyo. Yes, I do actually want to know that your cat spewed all over your laundry and you had to skip a movie so you could rescue your laundry. In these modern ages where people are just so busy working, working and doing more working, little things like these makes the day go by just that little bit quicker. Many of us read blogs at work: we just don't admit it since our bosses won't like it. So reading that you had a cheery day makes our days that little bit cheerier as well; reading that you had a bad day makes us sympathize and secretly be thankful that it wasn't us.

But if you are a private or a shy person, I understand how opening up the door to your life can be intimidating. It's not the end of the world of blogging, trust me. You can write about other things! You can share interesting links you found on the internet, you can share book reviews, you can share photos, you can share so many, so many things. You don't need to talk about you to have an interesting blog.

Just remember this: Nothing, absolutely nothing is considered boring. Unless you are endlessly promoting your shop. Because yes, that's boring.


Image via Andrew Mo via Flickr

I hope you have enjoyed my little essay so far. This is merely Part 1! Stay tune for more, and I do welcome feedback! I love getting comments so please do leave some. I check back on your blogs via your username as I love to follow new blogs and read them. So if you don't leave a comment, I don't know where your blog is to follow =P

Part 2 coming soon!

14 days to go - Blogging, the in and outs - Part 1