The Business of Creative Blogging

Since I am teaching my Crafty Business Seminar in Dallas this week at The Make Shop & Studio I have been going over my notes and adding all the new info I have read and learned about to my handouts. One of the topics that I always cover is blogging. Not blogging about your pet cat or what you watched on TV last week, blogging for your business. When you run an online craft business having a blog to help augment your brand can be not only helpful it can also be tons of fun. This is actually my 1,156th blog post and obviously I’m not just writing these to make Naughty Secretary Club a household name, I write them because I enjoy writing. The fact that the blog helps my business just so happens to be an extra perk.

All that being the said I always recommend blogging to my students. Some people scoff as if they would never have the time others are very interested and just not sure how to go about the whole thing. Well you don’t have to take one of my Crafty Business Seminars to get the scoop. Just check out a few of these amazing resources.


Blogging for Bliss: Crafting Your Own Online Journal
Ok so I’m a little biased about this book because I am one of the profiled bloggers. However, even if they didn’t feature me I would recommend this book as a great tool for someone looking to start a creative blog. The subtitle is after all A Guide for Crafters, Artists & Creatives of All Kinds. Topics covered include how to take great photos, building a banner, blogvertising, contests, bloggers pet peeves and more. Some of the most beautiful blogs on the net are profiled, the ones that you can spend the hours on drooling over the pictures. A few faves from my blog roll are profiled like Everyday Beauty, Inside a Black Apple, Design Sponge and Loobylu. Author Tara Fey knows what she is talking about as she writes her own amazing blog Typing Out Loud.


Problogger
I got turned onto Problogger reading mega blogger Gala Darling’s Icing. I subscribe to their daily newsletter and though they are not always directly applicable to my blog type I generally walk away having learned something. Definitely worth checking out, they have a book too.


Crafty Pod
Crafty blogger extraordinaire Diane Gilleland has not one, but two E-books you can download all about blogging. I must admit that I have not read either, but from being an avid crafty pod reader and listener I’m sure both E-Books are amazing. Your two E-Book choices are Making a Great Blog: A Guide for Creative People and Creating a Blog Audience: Unconventional Marketing Guide. Both are on my short lists of to-do activities.


Whip Up
Every crafty blog reader and writer worth their salt is familiar with Whip Up. Not only are there links to some of the best craftiness on the web they also have an oh so informative tips section for crafty bloggers. The ladies of Whip Up bestow their knowledge of blog etiquette, blog tone and how to network within your blog circle.

These are a few good places to get started if you are pondering starting a crafty blog. These and of course signing up for my crafty business seminar in Dallas, Austin or Houston. I leave you with 5 blog tips that I have learned along the way.

1) Please do comment. I of course don’t always comment when I read blogs, but blog writers do appreciate your comments and feedback. However, don’t be a know-it-all. A multi paragraph comment where you try to outwit and out inform the original bloggers post is never a good idea.

2) Have your contact information on your blog. I can’t tell you how many times I have been on a blog (and sometimes a website or Etsy page) and there is no email or contact information to be found. Don’t make me leave a comment to get in touch with you I might have something important to ask you about.

3) Oodles of pictures are a good thing, just make sure the pictures don’t suck. One of the main things people like about creative blogs are all the pretty pictures. After all if you are going to take the time to write a how-to project or document some adventure you have had what’s the point if it is illustrated with dark or fuzzy pictures. Blogs are basically online magazines. Do you think that Elle Décor or Country Living would sell many copies if their pictures and styling sucked? Well nobody sells a lot of magazines anymore, but you know what I mean.

4) Unless you are Perez Hilton there is no need to post more than once a day. Your information will just get lost in the shuffle. Sure there are exceptions like Craft Magazine, but for the general blog once a day is plenty. The key, and I should take my own advice, is regularity. Blogs that post something everyday or at least 5 days a week seem to have the greatest success from what I can tell.

5) If you have something really juicy to write about that you are just sure your readers will love post it on a Tuesday, Wednesday or Thursday. Those seem to be the days when blogs get read the most. Don’t waste a great how-to project for a Saturday when people are out at the bar or spending time with their family and not reading blogs. If you are a poster with great regularity your amazing Saturday post will get lost by Sunday and Monday by the time Tuesday rolls around and people are really into reading blogs again.

Got any hot blog writing or reading advice? Lemme know, in one paragraph or less of course :)