Left to right: Erin Hagstrom, me, Lorraine Sanders, Sinead Norenius, Ashley Gustafson.
Last Thursday I was invited to speak on a FIDM panel about blogging. The students asked some excellent questions, and I realized the blogosphere has changed a lot since when I started! Among all the questions, a few themes stood out:
How do you know what you’re going to say? What if you run out of topics?
I don’t always know what I’m going to say, but I’m coming up on three years of blogging and I haven’t run out of topics yet. In fact, my posts just get better and better. If you don’t believe me, check out my early archives. Of course, it helps to blog about a topic you’re passionate about. Fashion blogs are definitely in right now, but you’ll definitely be more successful if you write about your own passion, not just what’s popular.
How often do you have to post on your blog? Posting every day seems stressful.
The nice thing about having your own blog is that you’re in control. So you can post as often or as infrequently as you want. ‘More often’ is generally better, but nobody should feel pressured to post every day. I started posting once a week, or even every other week. Slowly I ramped up to where I am now, which is usually four times a week. Every week I aim for five posts, and don’t quite make it. But soon, I will!
How do you know people will read your blog?
You don’t! The best blogs aren’t written to attract an audience; they were started for the author’s amusement or expression. Sure there are SEO tricks that can get you traffic, and you should definitely use social media, but ultimately you gain followers by producing good content.
One student pointed out that the blogosphere has blown up since any of the panelists began, which is true; but crowded field or not, you won’t get anywhere if you don’t get started.
What's your opinion?