I'm in the IT field, so I was aware of them from a subject matter standpoint, but never really saw the usefulness. As I've said in previous posts - I love writing and it's my dream to be a published author. I've always written, though not on a regular basis - so sometimes I journal, sometimes I don't.
Below are my observation(s) about blogging. Note: They are solely mine, and based on my experiences and professional background.
They ought to be boundaries. In no way should a blog replace your personal journal, for so many reasons the least of which is once it is on the internet, it's history. Think about the footprint you are leaving. I've read a couple of blogs in the past months where the authors had to remove their blogs due to invasion of privacy. Lesson learned - I'm not going down that path.
Niches. "There's a lid for every pot." I think the blog world is like that - there's some topic or area waiting to be discovered. Niches expand and change over time. Your niche may be talking about yourself because you have a unique perspective, or it may be pottery, or mothers who knit. You may start off as a knitting mom and then recognize that this is too narrow, so now you've become a crafty mom. As niches grow and change, clue the reader in.
Design on a Dime. They're are some amazingly well designed blogs out there. I like a clean crisp layout, where everything is easy to find and the page is not inundated with ads.
Backup. With the recent fiasco with blogger where you lost a day's work with the comments, I've since discovered that you can export your blog. This serves as a backup for your blog and you can do this as often as you need to.
Follow me, I'll follow you - Followers are nice; they indicate confirmed readerships as compared to lurkers - who read but never say hi. Believe it or not, those not familiar with the blog world are not familiar with following. Networked Blogs makes it easy as you can follow using your Facebook profile. Google friend connect requires you having a gmail account or you can follow annonymously. I LIKE to see the number of followers I have increase. Yes, I blog for me - but I love the validation of following. So if you don't follow yet, please do.
If you wish to follow using your Facebook Profile, click on Follow this Blog under Networked Blogs to the right.
Contact Me - so many of the blogs I read, do not have an email address for additional communication. Perhaps that's intentional but for the rest of you, please have an email address that's easily located on your blog or a Contact Me link. The Mrs. provided a great PSA on adding email to your Blogger profile.
Some of my recent favorite blogs are Ames who is single handedly redefining my view of Moms who Lunch and the Student who provides a Biblical researched based approach to The Science of Marriage.
Do you have any additional insights on blogging that you wish to share with me? I still don't know how to indent paragraphs using HTML, do you? How do linkbacks work?
I agree! I learned alot from reading this post! Thanks! :)
ReplyDeleteThank you for sharing this! I totally agree about still keeping a journal! I have to actually have a pen and paper meeting daily!! ;) But that's just my personal preference.
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