If you’re like me, you’re probably thinking “guh! Not another pedantic blog about blogging!” But come on, would I play you like that? That’s how I feel every time someone tells me to “advertise my posts on Twitter and Instagram!” like, I know I’m old but I do know what a Twitter is. Amidst the sea of well-meaning but often redundant advise, five things have stood out to me as being useful:
Consistent profile pic across all social media accounts How many times has this happened to you? Perusing blog posts, you find one that’s so hilarious, so true, so unique, you have to learn more! You try to follow them on Twitter…only to find there’s 5 users with her name and their profile pics are all photos of cats. You feel like you’ve been set up on a blind date by friends and you’re wandering around the bar like “I’m looking for Sarah? She’s a blonde? She has a blog? Excuse me, are you Sarah the funny blonde blogger who wrote the post about cats wearing socks?” Keeping the profile pictures consistent makes it easier to find you. I want to find you! I want to find and follow you! So stop playing hard-to-get, Cat Socks Sarah!
Know Your Niche! Oh I used to rail against the “niche” edict … until I started thinking of blogs as magazines. Makes sense, doesn’t it? Your blog is like a magazine where YOU are the editor, YOU are the photographer, YOU are the writer, and YOU are in charge of writing up the advertising! PHEW! It’s a lot of work, and you want to sell issues, I mean, gain followers, right? Now imagine walking into the magazine shop and picking up an issue of Vogue. You open it up to find 4 photo spreads and 38 articles on Motorcycle Maintenance. WTF, Vogue?!? In that case, Vogue totally abandons its niche and I’m probably going to stop reading it.
…But That Doesn’t Mean “Don’t Try New Things!” Having a niche doesn’t mean all your posts are exactly the same! You gotta do you, in the end. Back to the magazine metaphor! Know what feels right for you, but don’t be afraid to write that article on motorcycle maintenance if you’re just dying to! Who knows, maybe you’ll tap into a market of Fashionable Biker Babes who want fashion spreads and Harley tips?
Comment and Comment Alike Instant Karma’s gonna get you! The Golden Rule of Blogging: if you want comments, leave a comment! Every time I get a comment, I check out the commenter’s blog, and I usually leave a comment over there, too! I got into blogging to meet people and hear their stories, so leave a comment and introduce yourself, and we all shine on
Let me see it!! I have found so many interesting folks on Twitter only to navigate to their blog and…am I looking at it? What size font is that, 4?? I guess I don’t understand the point of pouring your heart out to your blog, or dashing off brilliant, witty ideas, and then making them so small nobody can read them. SING OUT, Tina Tiny-Type! I know I’ve unfollowed at least 5 blogs in the past because they’ve “redesigned” and changed their post font to microscopic light gray script and I’m sorry, ain’t nobody got time for that. I’m not gonna haul out my Rosetta Stone to decript what you just said, I’m not going to hit Ctrl+ five times every time you show up in my Bloglovin’ feed, I’m just not. Bye gurl.
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| Cuz if your blog font does this to my eyes I WILL NOT BE following you on Bloglovin’ ya feel me? |
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