Good Blogging

Starlightmntn · Apr 5, 2006

Blogging is an especially powerful tool for writers. First and foremost, blogs are written in form and are widely available to readers. Perfect, right?

Second, they are a great way to network, learn, and promote. If you do choose to blog as a writer, whether you share creative writing or enjoy discussing the craft and business of writing, I urge you to do the following:

1) Comment on other writers' blogs.

2) Exchange links to build cross traffic.

3) Reply to all comments made on your blog. You want that interraction, that sense that you value people who take the time to read and comment.

4) Visit the blog/website of everyone who visits you, and be sure to leave a comment there.

5) Update regularly, but not so much that people can't keep up (I do a minimum of 3 posts per week).

6) Strive for exciting/intriguing content. Use pictures/graphics on posts whenever possible.

I guarantee if you follow good blogging techniques, the number of regular visitors will grow. The writers' community will also grow and strengthen. I'm always sad to see folks who take the time to blog, but put little effort into nos. 1 - 4 above. They generate little interest or loyalty and seem to fade away in a few months.

veinglory · Apr 5, 2006

I would add

7) always spend more time actually writing than blogging about writing.

8) Track your traffic, do people go from your blog to a point of sale> You can't assume a busy blog translates into sales.

jenngreenleaf · Apr 7, 2006

Hmm.

5) Update regularly, but not so much that people can't keep up (I do a minimum of 3 posts per week).

I read another tip elsewhere that said you should blog daily to keep people coming back for more. Which tip do I listen to? Hmm.

Starlightmntn · Apr 7, 2006

Daily might be great if the content suits it. What-I-did-during-my-day rant blogs should probably be daily updates. Many of these are really funny and show off a person's writing voice. I post fiction, photography, and poetry, so I probably couldn't keep up with a daily post schedule even if I wanted to.

One thing I will say is that people tend to read the top entry only. If you post more than once a day, you are probably not going to generate as much action in the posts you knock lower down. Also, conversations in comments may take a little time to play out. Once you supersede a post, commenting tends to drop off.

Shadow_Ferret · Apr 7, 2006

Daily? I don't have the spare time to read all those blogs daily. Nor do I even have the time to read them if they all did it three times a week. I'd be spending all my time just reading blogs.

In fact, a lot of your advice, give comments back, comment on blogs read, etc. etc. are all very time consuming.

I blog as the mood hits, sometimes it's once a week, sometimes less than that.

razibahmed · Apr 7, 2006

jennhollowell said:
Hmm.

I read another tip elsewhere that said you should blog daily to keep people coming back for more. Which tip do I listen to? Hmm.

I update my blog 5 times a day and now it is only 17 days old. I have started to get a decent amount of hits and my Google PR is 5. Of course, much credit goes to the fact that I am a part of Know More Media Network.
If you want to take blog seriously, you must update it daily. You must try your level best to produce nothing but original content and finally you must try to be loved by Google and Technorati.

veinglory · Apr 7, 2006

I think that blogging daily could easily lead a person to take their blog more seriously than their writing.

jenngreenleaf · Apr 7, 2006

This is certainly good information -- thank you everyone!

I update daily, but it isn't a blah-blah-blah-blog -- it's kind of a snap-shot informational type of thing for artists trying to learn new methods and learn how to sell their work. Posting daily hasn't been a problem, but I think posting more than that would be a rediculous thing. And, I worry if I post less than that people won't really look at it as the resource I want it to be. I don't know if I'm making sense. It's being built up with links and resources all the time, too . . . I want to keep it growing and, so far, there's only been two comments since I started.

Dawno · Apr 7, 2006

If someone is committed to blogging as their platform for writing, rather than being in print, many of the suggestions above make great sense. However, Shadow_Ferret and veinglory are right - if you're serious about getting into print you have to commit to that and only blog when you've done your BIC for the day (BIC = Butt In Chair).

Starlightmntn · Apr 7, 2006

You can maintain a strong blog after BIC. It just takes commitment to both.

Dawno · Apr 7, 2006

Agreed! I find I have to give up some sleep and some TV - but we have TiVo and I can always catch up on sleep at work

jenngreenleaf · Apr 8, 2006

Dawno said:
Agreed! I find I have to give up some sleep and some TV - but we have TiVo and I can always catch up on sleep at work

I find time for both, too -- I don't have any kind of "TV life" outside of about one hour before bed each night after the kids are down. Aside from that, the TV is off all day. The kids have no interest in it -- thank goodness, so this is the last of my worries. (yay!)

I guess I was mainly concerned about not blogging enough and blogging too much . . . I'm asking myself (and anyone else) if I have found that balance? I want mine to be something people will refer to in search engines and all that for reference time and time again. I don't know if I'm making sense here . . .

Shadow_Ferret · Apr 10, 2006

My blog is strictly for fun. Not sure what yours are all intended for. I post if something interesting prompts me to blog. Otherwise it could sit there a long time unblogged.

Maybe I'm missing the value of the blog. To me it's nothing more than an online "Dear Diary" or vanity writing.

*shrugs*

jenngreenleaf · Apr 10, 2006

Shadow_Ferret said:
My blog is strictly for fun. Not sure what yours are all intended for. I post if something interesting prompts me to blog. Otherwise it could sit there a long time unblogged.

Maybe I'm missing the value of the blog. To me it's nothing more than an online "Dear Diary" or vanity writing.

*shrugs*

I use my livejournal.com for "dear diary" type entries. I was hoping to turn my blogger into a resource type of thing.

Dawno · Apr 10, 2006

Shadow_Ferret said:
My blog is strictly for fun. Not sure what yours are all intended for. I post if something interesting prompts me to blog. Otherwise it could sit there a long time unblogged.

Maybe I'm missing the value of the blog. To me it's nothing more than an online "Dear Diary" or vanity writing.

*shrugs*

I think one of the great things about this forum is that we're exposed to all the various ways folk use blogs and reasons why they keep them. Certainly an online 'dear diary' is one use - but I can also see what Jen is trying to accomplish - an online resource for people with similar interests to hers. The challenge either way is to find and keep readers (if you want them).

jenngreenleaf · Apr 10, 2006

Dawno said:
I think one of the great things about this forum is that we're exposed to all the various ways folk use blogs and reasons why they keep them. Certainly an online 'dear diary' is one use - but I can also see what Jen is trying to accomplish - an online resource for people with similar interests to hers. The challenge either way is to find and keep readers (if you want them).

Thank you! (and thank you for checking out my blog, too!

) That's exactly what I'm trying to accomplish!

Shadow_Ferret · Apr 10, 2006

Heh. Sorry if I sounded at all critical. I just don't have the imagination to turn my blog into anything more than a haphazard personal opinion type venting thingie.

Dawno · Apr 10, 2006

Nah, you didn't sound critical...but you did kind of ask a question about what Jen's blogs were intended for...and that was what I was responding to.

All types of blogging and bloggers are welcome here!

jenngreenleaf · Apr 11, 2006

Shadow_Ferret said:
Heh. Sorry if I sounded at all critical. I just don't have the imagination to turn my blog into anything more than a haphazard personal opinion type venting thingie.

When I first started, that's all I thought about, too. So, no judgement from me here!

Good Blogging

Starlightmntn

veinglory

volitare nequeo

jenngreenleaf

Here to network and learn.

Starlightmntn

Shadow_Ferret

Court Jester

razibahmed

AW Addict

veinglory

volitare nequeo

jenngreenleaf

Here to network and learn.

Dawno

Shiny!

Starlightmntn

Dawno

Shiny!

jenngreenleaf

Here to network and learn.

Shadow_Ferret

Court Jester

jenngreenleaf

Here to network and learn.

Dawno

Shiny!

jenngreenleaf

Here to network and learn.

Shadow_Ferret

Court Jester

Dawno

Shiny!

jenngreenleaf

Here to network and learn.