When I first started blogging back in The Day–’04 that would have been–no one in my circle of friends and family knew what a blog was. Or cared, for that matter. I was kind of embarrassed to admit I was a blogger when people asked what I wrote. It felt somehow illegitimate, like I was a $10 trick streetwalker claiming status with the callgirls. Now, however, everyone who is anyone and their neighbor’s best friend either has a blog or wants to start a blog. The explosion of social media sites and opportunities is fueling that drive, I think, in that it doesn’t seem a very long leap from Facebook or Twitter to blogdom. Last night I was at the Sacramento Social Media Club’s monthly meeting, where the topic was Food. The place was full of aspiring food bloggers. One woman I talked to told me, “I’m doing restaurant reviews on Yelp all the time, so it seems like a fun thing to start my own blog in my spare time.” When I asked her what blogging platform she intended to use, she just kept on bubbling about how fun a food blog would be. Far be it from me to rain on someone’s parade, so I just nodded and wondered if (a) she’d ever get around to launching her blog, and (b) how long she’d last as a blogger.
It’s not that easy, people. Those of you who have a blog know that. It’s like a child; it requires tending and attention and you’ve got to feed it regularly. And like a child, you can’t expect much back from it until it grows up. So if you’re thinking about starting a blog, or you’ve got one in the works–here are some questions to ask yourself.
1. Why do I want to blog? There isn’t any one or correct answer to this. People blog for all sorts of reasons, and your answer to this question will help you figure out what kind of blog you want. Are you looking for a voice for your opinions? A place to practice writing? A business to build? A community to grow?
2. How much time am I able to put into it? I would say a minimum of fifteen-twenty hours a week. You need to develop your audience, which requires that you post regularly and often. It also requires that you read other people’s blogs and comment on them. All that reading and writing takes time!
3. What do I want to blog about? Ah, this is the follow-on to why you want to blog. Here are just some of your choices: food, religion, politics, kids, family, product reviews, book reviews, advice, how-to, military, hobbies–. I could go on. I could also break those general topics down to more specific blogs. As in: if you want to be a food blogger, are you doing restaurant reviews? Recipes? Specific food trends? Niche blogging is what it’s called, and you need to figure out your niche.
When you have the answers to those three questions, then you’re ready to answer the one about blogging platforms. Maybe that will be next week’s Wednesday Writer’s Workshop.
Jane Gassner
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