Blogging

[Former_Member]

Hi,
I'm new to the 'teams' and currently looking at different avenues to get my business 'out there'.
I have yet to start a blog, however I am quite interested in getting it going.
What sites would you recommend?
Do you find blogging brings in more business?
What do you primarily talk about? Is it your business or your interests?
Thanks in advance :)
Janelle

[TheSSSeamstress]

Hi Janelle! I have a blogspot/blogger (it goes by both names but is the same thing), and it is super easy. I like it because it is slightly more customizable than Wordpress and you already have an account if you use gmail. I have found that if you talk strictly about business, then no one will care much. Find other interesting things that deal with the same theme as your business and you'll be cooking (the same applies to facebook and twitter, in my opinion). I know personally I have been on the fence about whether to buy something, and checking out the seller's blog has made me buy since they start to feel more like a real person. I'd recommend starting one up--it's free, so what do you have to lose?

[Former_Member]

I also have a blogger account, and love it. It's basic but customizable, which is really good if you're concerned with branding. I agree with Dana about including more than just business chatter. No one wants to hear only about Etsy over and over again! I've found that it's best to have lots of pictures of "behind the scenes" so fans feel connected with you as a real person. I've done give-aways and featured other artists, as well as done a picture tutorial. I'm slowly growing a following and am not in any position of great wisdom, but I think blogs are great for building your business.

This totally isn't given in the spirit of self-promotion, but you can look at my blog as an example: http://makingmyrent.blogspot.com/

[MythOfTheWild]

[Edit: this is such a massive wall of text, I'm so sorry! I really need to make a permanent blog post about all of this to save time and thread space!]

I've read numerous times that blogging exclusively about your shop does little for your business. It can't keep people interested for long enough. I used to do that and found it to be true, for me at least. I blog about other interests and what I'm up to, as long as it's significant - for example, I've just started sending out cover letters and the first three chapters of my novel to agencies, so I've been talking about that, and the responses I've been getting, as well as current projects. I also try to participate in Project 52 and post tutorials to a few things, which helps bring people in. And last, but not least, every week I post a very small feature of four items plucked from my etsy favourites list - with their consent of course - and post them on my blog. That also helps.

I've tried wordpress, because people say you can make it look great and really control the design, but I found that the only way to do that was to pay for the ability to use a custom CSS, and when I was starting my blog, I didn't have that kind of money.
I've found blogger to be best. I can change the CSS myself for free (alternatively lots of people can be commissioned to do a custom design for your blog), I can rearrange gadgets, and it's easy to follow when implementing new features.
If you do start a blog, however, I highly recommend signing up to bloglovin.com, networkedblogs.com and hellocotton.com and "claiming" your blog with them - these can help your blog get out there more, and give readers alternative ways of following. I personally find it easier to follow a blog through bloglovin because of the simple method of notification of new posts, and they're not arranged by blog in that case, they're arranged by time posted, so if I'm truly interested in following a blog, I'll add it to bloglovin - however, people can still follow your blog that way if you don't claim it. If you claim your blog on there, you can see how many people follow you that way and moderate some settings.

My blog is www.ablackbirdsepiphany.co.uk - it was originally named after my shop, Peaches and Pebbles, but when I realised that it was a bad idea to connect the two so directly, I changed the name, and soon bought a domain name - it wasn't as expensive as I expected, and it's a yearly rate and easy to fix to the blog. I've also built my own layout, background and all of that, but it's taken a lot of time and there's still many improvements to be made - how your blog looks is important, too, and I also recommend that you -don't- make the number of followers visable.

Not all people are like this, but too many are. If someone finds a blog with 10 followers, it's easy to write it off as a poor blog that isn't worth their time, regardless of content, however if there's a blog with 1,000 followers, people follow immediately, without looking at posts. Like I said, not everyone is, but lots are, myself included. I figured that by removing any immediately visable way of seeing the number of followers, people will be forced to judge my blog by quality rather than quantity.

But don't take any of this to mean that you should never mention your shop. I keep an Etsy mini at the top of my blog to help promote it, but I also occasionally mention the shop if it's doing really well, or really badly, or if I'm having a sale, or if I've got lots of new items, or just one new item that I'm really fond of. And also, try to update frequently. And be yourself - blog about the good times and the bad, and don't not write about something because you think no one is interested - if they're not interested, they won't read it, it's that simple. OOH, and use pinterest to spread your blog posts around. This is made easier if you try to include one relevant picture in each blog post.

I hope my rambling hasn't put you off. I realise that I've made it sound like a lot of work. I'll link you to this page that might also help: http://www.thecuriouspug.com/2012/02/advice-for-bloggers-whats-worked-for-me.html
the most important thing she mentions is not to ever compare your own blog to anyone else's, and that a smaller number of followers than another blog doesn't mean you're unsuccessful.

And one last thing, if ever you're in need of a colour scheme for your blog, go here, it's helped me massively whenever I get restless and fancy changing my blog around: http://www.design-seeds.com/

/rant