Blogging - How do you start a blog?
If you have been looking through all of the wonderful craft blogs on the internet, hobbyists, acticists and the craft selling community, you may be contemplating taking the plunge yourself. Perhaps you've just filled up your online shop and now you're twiddling your thumbs and looking for a way to promote it......writing a blog is a brilliant way to promote your website or online craft shop!
You don't need to be great to start, but you need to start to become great - Plain Type
Why haven't you started a blog yet?
Here are a few of the common reasons that people give for why they have yet to either start a blog, or write that first daunting post.
A blog is a fantastic way to learn - blogger blogs have been designed for ultimate user friendliness and you have sites like this if you get stuck!
- Lack of confidence in my ' e-ability'
If you have a passion for your craft, that is enough - your enthusiasm will shine through and you will learn how to tailor your content to that of your target readership (ie. the ones you get on with best - so easy!)
- Not sure how to attract people into reading it - will anyone want to?
Take your time and do not feel you have to constantly write about yourself - write about others and help yourself to get into the swing of promotion in general - treasuries of other's work is a great way to start - you could simply add one of your own items in amongst the rest.
- I'm terrible at self promotion...
Blogging is hugely beneficial to boost confidence in the real world as well as online - take it slowly and write short and sweet posts to begin - you don't need to write essays. Take a look through the directory of blogs in the sidebars here for inspiration.
- I lack confidence to be able to openly talk about my crafts let alone sell them!
Baby steps - don't close yourself out of the blogging community because you are worried about technology. Take little steps to learn a bit more each day to avoid feeling overwhelmed - use Craft Forums for advice, they are so friendly and very willing to help.
- I don't know how...
Research - read other blogs and write up a list of blog post types that can help your to structure your blogging. Read this post with 10 great ideas for blog posts
- How do I keep finding new things to say that will hold someone's interest?
- What if no-one follows my blog?
Make a start on your new craft blog today!
If you are feeling brave you could go right ahead and set up a blogger blog in minutes - you just need to head to www.blogger.com and follow the prompts. (You'll need a Google account)
My advice would be to STOP! hold your horses and instead of heading over there, get out a pen and paper and start planning. Then maybe start the blog tomorrow or the next time you have a few hours to spare.
The following are a few questions for you to consider when planning your blog -
#1 Choosing a name for your blog
It's worth taking your time with this and not doing it on a whim one evening after a few glasses of wine, although you can always delete a blog and start again if that happens. (enjoy the wine!)
Think about your long term goals - don't call your blog something very niche if you want to write about lots of varied topics - or if you think you are likely to expand into other crafts in the future. Take a look through your favourite craft blogs and get some inspiration - do any names stand out? Why?
Ask friends to help you with the name or ask advice from a craft forum, a second opinion is rarely a waste of time. Even if you don't find the perfect name, you will have already begun promoting your blog in a surreptitious way.
#2 Decide on the look and style of your blog
The template or theme you choose should reflect your taste and be in keeping with your particular craft. There are many templates to choose from - I have written a post here that give some great free sites to choose a blogger blog template from. You can add your own banner and choose what appears in your blog but the template you have chosen defines the style of your blog and feel. Blogger blogs are easy to customise, you can choose the widths, columns, colours and fonts all from the 'Blogger in Draft' dashboard.
It's important to try and give your blog a branded feel so that it is in keeping with your website and any other networks you currently promote your crafts on. You could use the creation of your blog to really pin down your brands identity - what image do you want to give off?
#3 What type of content to write about on your blog?
The content you write dictates the type of readers you want to attract - so it's worth planning posts and getting to grips with what your writing style is going to be.
Don't panic too much. Your writing will develop as the blog goes along. Every post is editable so even after you publish a piece of writing to the web you can always go and change or delete it at any time in the future.
The most important part of blogging is to REALLY ENJOY it! I do :)
x
For more advice why not grab a copy of my book - a handy guide to selling crafts on the internet by creating a successful craft blog and understanding how to use social media to get your blog (and craft products) discovered!
For more advice why not grab a copy of my book - a handy guide to selling crafts on the internet by creating a successful craft blog and understanding how to use social media to get your blog (and craft products) discovered!