To Blog or Not to Blog?

Before I opened my blog, I wondered whether or not I really needed a blog.  After all, my life isn't really that interesting.  Who would really want to read about my life, my opinions, my ideas, my business, or my unending love for my husband?  Well, as it turns out...more people than I ever thought would.

So I came to a new dilemma.  I had a blog before that was boring and unimaginative.  I couldn't get anyone to visit or to view my blog.  So when I joined the Etsy community, I recognized the importance of blogging.  There were lots of my Etsy friends that had blogs and they were very active and brought them a lot of traffic and even sales.  Then there were other Etsy friends who said that they also had blogs but they didn't do very much for them and they just couldn't find the time to make it worth it.

First, let's keep a few things in mind.  If you're going to have a blog, make a commitment to it!  But start small and don't overwhelm yourself!  Some people say that they only blog when they feel 'inspired.'  I recently read a blog from someone who hadn't posted anything in over a month because she hadn't felt "inspired."  While I agree that this can be true, I also feel that inspiration is all around you and all around the web.  Inspiration can come from other people's blogs as well.

Here's what most newbie bloggers do...they decide they want a blog and then they write like crazy for a week.  Their posts are fantastic, informative, creative, and even humorous.  And then it happens....the posts become less frequent.  Twice a week, once a week, then once a month, etc, and then decide that it's not worth it...why?!  Because they're not gaining "followers" and they're not enjoying blogging.

Blogging can be very beneficial if it is done well.  Here's the key: keep it semi-random yet with typical elements, keep it relevant, and keep it appropriate for your readers.  For example, if your blog is about cooking, why would you start to blog about designing patterns for cross-stitch?!  That doesn't mean that your blog can't be varied.  Variety is what keeps your readers coming back.

Our blog here at Kater's Acres has many focuses.  As you read in our introduction to our blog, we want you to enjoy yourself and your time while you surf our blog.  This means to get your cup of coffee and relax.  Our main focus is to showcase our love of our art form, polymer clay, and let you get to know me, my life, my likes and dislikes...and to create a virtual friendship in some sort of way; so that you feel like as you read our blog, you're actually getting to know me better.  Our second focus is to feature a wide variety of other artists and Etsians, we do this with our "Link It Up" and "Hidden Treasures on Etsy" series.  Thirdly, we teach a little bit about polymer clay and keep you up to date on our studio with our "In the Studio with Katie" series.  We also incorporate some advice and life-help information in our "Coffee Break with Katie" series as well as fun/funny elements like "A Daisy Day."

DreamGrow tells us why every small business should have a blog:

• Create an image of an expert
• Interact with clients and prospects
• Improve search engine rankings
• Spread the word
• Talk about more than just products and services
• Solve client’s problems
• Build trust
• Stay on top of your field
• Build brand
• Exercise your creativity
• Put a human face on your brand
• Proving ground
• Foundation for social media activities
• Differentiate from competition
• Educate clients, prospects, stake holders
• Increase traffic
• Make money

The above bulleted points are from: http://www.dreamgrow.com/why-businesses-need-to-blog/

So if you haven't started a blog yet and would like to, there are literally hundreds of resources out there on the internet on how to blog, what makes a good blog, and what kinds of things to incorporate into your blog.  There are hundreds of bloggers on this site, but there are literally hundreds more blog hosting sites for you to choose from.  So to all those veteran bloggers, keep up the good blogging.  To all you new bloggers, keep looking for inspiration.  And to all those people who are still considering whether or not to open a blog, seriously consider whether you will have enough time to keep it up to date.

This post originally appeared on the PCETeam Blog on 3/7/11, written by Katie A. Oskin.