It’s taken me a while to find the time to get back to writing. Also finding the inspiration – sometimes you wonder if the blogging is worth it, are you creating something worthwhile? Do you have what it takes to build your blog the right way? If there is a right way…
So I was in the library the other day, and a book caught my eye. BORN TO BLOG * by Mark W Schaefer and Stanford A Smith. I wanted to feel like I was ‘Born to Blog’ – like blogging came naturally, so I picked up this book, and here I am blogging again. I have plenty of books at home about writing a better thesis (and I have to say these were incredibly important to my writing process) but nothing specifically about my new chosen medium of blogging.
What did I learn?
A lot – but more than anything I felt completely encouraged in my blogging – the premise of this book, as the authors put it, is that ‘anyone – with a little coaching – can blog’ (p5). The ‘blog skills quiz’ provided by the authors is fantastic, and helps you to discover what kind of a blogger you are – so I am a ‘teacher’ followed by a ‘curator’ – makes sense, I do like writing ‘how to’ kind of posts! I learnt that keeping it simple with blogging is okay – Schaefer and Smith reassure the reader that ‘the most effective blogs are managed using minimal guidelines and straightforward objectives’ (p83). Phew. I know I am one for making things more complex than they need to be! In terms of turning your blog into a business, the authors also encourage readers to ‘give away your best’ (104). I find this a really helpful reminder – and definitely on my music blog I do a lot of this. Also, they encourage the reader not to hurry to monetise their blog (p124). Funnily enough, I find this tip incredibly liberating – I can just worry about building my blog for now, and let the business side grow slowly over time. Definitely helps me prioritise my thoughts, and focus mostly on the writing for now.
There is plenty more in this book for anyone who wants to build their blog, whether for business or personal reasons – like creating a content calendar, what kinds of content you could create, choosing a platform, using social media, and more. The stories of bloggers and their blogs which are interspersed throughout are also very encouraging, and gave me the sense that yes, I could blog too!
Highly recommended for all bloggers out there!
*Please note this is an affiliate link
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