Tuesday, June 30, 2015

Blogging the Distance

Posted by: Jenny Schwartz
I think I've been blogging five years, now. I'm always a bit shaky on dates, so it could be a while longer. When I started out, I was enthusiastic and had multiple posts every day. Thank goodness for the emergence of Twitter and Facebook which take that overflow of ideas.

My blog is small. But it's part of my website, so updating it is a good way to flag to Google and other search engines that my website is active with new content.

One of the ways that I ensure regular posts is a weekly column. Every Monday I share a "Flower Fortune". The idea for this came from my love for photography (even if I'm not very good at it) and a decision to brand my author self as "a hopeful romantic". So now, every week, I share a photograph of a flower and a few paragraphs along the lines of an inspirational star sign prediction.

I can't say that Flower Fortunes bring me loads of new blog followers, but I have had some lovely compliments and that is encouraging. It also means I'm a content creator as well as a curator (which is mainly what I do on Facebook and Twitter - i.e. share articles I've found).

In between the weekly inspirational posts, I post my writing news and occasional advice posts. Most recently, I've been obsessed with Amazon's Kindle Unlimited lending library and algorithms.

The important thing when blogging is to be realistic about what you can commit to delivering. Your blog is part of your promise to readers, part of your brand. If you can leverage a hobby or interest, that's a win (and makes it seem less like hard work).

What do you blog about?

4 comments:

  1. Good idea to be a content creator on the blog - love the flower photos! I blog about anything that takes my fancy, and when I'm not moving or unpacking boxes LOL, I do my Wednesday Whimsy with photos or Victorian trade cards and relevant quotes....

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    1. You're excellent at both curating and creating content, Veronica ... although I can see how a hobby of unpacking boxes might interrupt that ;)

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  2. I put something up every day on my blog. Mostly pictures of things I find funny or interesting. Of course, I also announce new releases, print releases, and audio book releases, as well as my guest authors on my blog talk radio program. But otherwise, I just try to make it entertaining. ;)

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    1. Linda, that's very smart. I've been reading loads of places that images are among the most searched for things online -- so that's a great strategy both for engaging readers and attracting search engine attention to your blog.

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