A year in quilts... 1. City Stops, 2. Serendipity Quilt, 3. You + Me, 4. Done!, 5. Picket Fences, 6. Hexagon Table Runner, 7. Bohemian Forest, 8. Old + New Quilt, 9. Mermaid Mini Quilt, 10. Teacher Quilt, 11. Wonky Nine Patch, 12. .Modern Disappearing Nine Patch , 13. On the Road to Spring quilt, 14. Odyssea Tumbler Quilt, 15. Free Motion Quilting, 16. Dresden Plate Pillow
Can you believe how quickly this year has flown by? I can't until I browse through the archives of my blog for 2010 and then time seems to slow down a bit... something I love about having a blog because it documents my busy-ness in organized freeze frames.
I get a lot of questions about starting a blog, blogging, and growing a blog so I thought I'd make a list. Now, I'm definitely not a pro; I've been blogging a little over a year and I'm certainly not a "big" blogger but I can share the top 10 things I have learned and what I like to see in a blog...
- Write. Write. And then write some more. Develop your writing style until it feels like a conversation you would enjoy having with a friend.
- Post often and consistently. Some of the early blogs I enjoyed reading stopped posting often and my interest waned. Readers want to feel like they are a part of your day to day process. I didn't want to be a fickle reader but that's what I am... a reader who wants to read fresh content.
- Aesthetically speaking; keep your blog clean. My eyes are drawn to clean lines and well organized blogs. Try not to clutter your blog with a ton of lists, badges, links, etc. Try using tabs or free standing pages to organize; this made my blogging life so much easier.
- Tutorials! Share a tutorial. Not only does it show off your creativity, it also gives back to your readers. We are all busy so every moment someone spends reading your blog is an investment of their time. Pay them a dividend for their loyalty.
- Take good pictures. This is probably the hardest part of blogging for me and it's still a work in progress. It almost goes without saying... good pictures draw people in.
- Make your blog search-able. Use good titles for your blog posts and relevant tags. Search engines like blogs who label properly. :)
- Be a good blogging friend. Leave comments on other blogs and follow other blogs. Link to other blogs in your posts; I love stumbling on new blogs through posts.
- Be real. If you feel bad, just say so. If you are happy, share that too! I might be a bit too candid at times but I'd rather feel that way than feel like I'm faking it.
- Be honest. If you are burnt out, take a break. Don't feel like you have to cram your blog full of posts just for the sake of posting. However, if you can, let your readers know you are taking some time for yourself. They will appreciate that you are human. ;)
- Have fun. Don't be afraid to embarrass yourself i.e. sweaty balls. Funny is almost always better than perfect!