blogging

[kaziewazie]

what do we think about blogging I started about a month or so ago but dont know how to gain interest does anybody else blog

[BlueShedCrafts]

I blog and have blogged since July 2007. It does take sometime to get followers but once you have followers it's nice to read their comments.
One way to get people to your blog is to visit theirs and leave a few comments.
You could join in with Handmade Monday (http://www.1stuniquegifts.co.uk/blog/2011/02/handmade-monday-5-welcome/)which is run by Wendy (here on CF)
http://www.craftsforum.co.uk/showthread.php?55036-5th-Handmade-Monday-promote-your-blog!&highlight=handmade+monday

I'll go take a look at your Blog now : )

[owllovespanda]

I love my blog, I follow people with similar interests to me and quite often they follow your blog back. I can spend hours reading other peoples blogs, they're so interesting! Here's mine if you want a peep: http://owllovespanda.blogspot.com/

[dreamstar]

Quite often if you feature something you like off folksy or craftjuice for example and inform the creator that you have featured them they will follow you too.
Also join in chats here and people will be nosey and click on your blog link in your signature.
It's like everything else, you have to let people know that you are there.

[sugarbeans]

It takes time to get visitors to your Blog, so keep going. Blog regularly and they will come. I only started my Blog in January, but each month I see an increase in traffic. I get visitors from this forum, Twitter and Ezines mostly. Good luck with yours! Nancy
I did have a look at yours and am impressed with your encaustic work. Something I have never tried!

[Mushroom]

What a lovely bright cheery page you have there:)

Lots of us are bloggers, certainly helps - though I too do struggle with what on earth to waffle on about sometimes, confess I do only manage once or twice a week though.

Lynda

[gz.]

You are on blogspot, so you can link to Etsy or Folksy.

Link everything! Facebok too ,although the Etsy link from, facebook doesn't seem to work at present. Get a facebook "page" for your work, and post links to your work in other places from that.

I'm getting sales from my blog and facebook, as well as my website. Every little helps!

[kaziewazie]

Thank you Ladies all sound advice
some very interesting blogs that I have been checking out you are all very talented
gz- I normally do post to facebook but havent used etsy yet its on my resolution list just need to add another 10 hours to the day lol
Also love all your signatures must go in and add my name forgot to do that
look forward to networking with you all

Karen x

[wendy]

Rachael - thanks for the link!

Karen - welcome to the world of blogging. Yes it will take time to build up visitors but if you keep blogging it will happen. It helps if you follow others, make comments on others, keep it lively and interesting and blog regularly.

Handmade Monday on my blog is where you can leave a link and link back to my blog. It will definitely get you some page views and may get you some new followers and comments.

I've been blogging since 2008 and I absolutely love it.

[Artistsinbusiness]

Blogging becomes a way of life - actually it's an addiction! We have two blogs, one for our general business and one dedicated to our handmade fairs. I love writing about artists so it's not a chore. We keep our blogs bright by including pictures.

[kaziewazie]

I think pictures are definately a great idea sounds like it keeps you busy xx
I have been blogging on handmade monday and its a fabulous idea you get to see blogs you are interested in too xx

[ClarkArts]

I've never really taken a step that way but I have been following other blog, I quite enjoy writing and often feel that i'd like to express something about an item that I cant necessarily do on the listing.
I may enter the blogging world soon :)
Goodluck everyone who has a blog. x

[Titania]

hi :) ive blogging 3 years now and i thought id share my thoughts with you :)

i have got a few blogs now and i must admit i got hooked on blogging.
ive tried 2 blogging platforms - wordpress and blogger and i like the latter best, its more user friendly and intuitive, i found wordpress settings too complicated, including such simple thing as adding photos to your post!

here are my observations about blogging:

to make your blog successful it's good to stick to some rules:
- keep posting frequently ( 2 times a week on average, if possible, of course) otherwise ppl will forget about you :)
- one note about one thing, it is good to keep it short, interesting and organised
- do take good quality pictures, blurred, dark, small sized photos are sooo discouraging! think of the setting where you take your photos, background, sunlight, photo focus etc try different shots, way of picturing things, photo collages etc the more varied you keep it, the better
- work on your graphics, layouts, colours, fonts, backgrounds, templates, as there is nothing worse than a monster blog with bright flashy contrasting backgrounds and visually challenging fonts that make your head spin:)
-dont just sit and wait till the followers find your blog, go out and find them first by visiting other blogs and leave a link behind you, if they like your blog, they will stay
-in fact the number of followers doesnt matter that much, what really counts is the total reponse you get from your readers after posting each note :) some people will follow your blog even tho they may not show up as your followers and anyway, the number of followers is always much bigger than a number of commments underneath your post :)
- these days having a blog is a must in a crafty world and an ideal way to show your talents off to the world, i met lots of interesting and talented ppl thru my blogs :) i ve been thru lots of gift swaps and card swaps

well, thats more or less it
hope i helped a bit :D

[tracykim]

I blog, facebook and tweet most days...Its great. :)

[Bebebubu]

I just start my blog too and I think it is addicted

[Carl Martin]

It's slow to start but it does get you kinda hooked in the end .. I actually like blogging, mines designed through wordpress and has substantial advantages as it's a set domain name.

[hayleyhandmade]

I've been blogging for a few months and I love it. It is slow to get followers to start with but its still great.

[Bebebubu]

Hi I have recently start my blog too and same here, everything seems to quite slow on my end too but I guess it will take time to build up audiences. Definaty join Wendy's handmade Monday as it help mine alot.

[wendy]

Hi I have recently start my blog too and same here, everything seems to quite slow on my end too but I guess it will take time to build up audiences. Definaty join Wendy's handmade Monday as it help mine alot.

I'm glad it's helped! It's good to be able to support each other.

If you watch your stats you'll start seeing the numbers build up slowly but surely.

[CEmberson]

I love blogging - it is great way to share projects and ideas. In fact I wish there were more hours in the day to blog and read blogs! It is definitely true that the more you visit and comment on other blogs, more people will then view yours. I use Blogger (although it does have hiccups now and again) alot of people are switching to Wordpress.

Christine
Hope-Chances

[craftpaperandcard]

Hi Just started my blog and hope to connect with lots of other crafters out there. Not really sure what I am doing but stumbling my way through. I'll pick it up in time I'm sure. Any other card makers out there with a blog?

[Scrumptious Textiles]

I've just started blogging and find it very addictive I must admit, still learning though and making a few mistakes. Its great when you see people following it and adding comments.

I think its well worth doing as it is a way of getting your work known to others.

[rosiepinkStudio]

The most exciting thing about blogging is having 'chats' with like-minded people from all over the world!

[robin wood]

I have blogged for a few years, at first I had no idea if anyone was reading it and had no idea what to write or why I was doing it. Quite quickly I found that I enjoyed jotting thoughts down using it as a cross between an artists notebook and an online diary. I don't bother trying to publicise it but have c 1000 hits a day, sometimes I wonder why. We are passed the stage that Andy Warhol predicted where everyone has their 15 minutes of fame, now everyone wants to have their fame all the time and we all end up living vicariously. Don't get me started on "reality" TV.

[Critchley]

I know what you mean Robin I blog for myself, mostly poetry or ditties so I don't expect anyone to follow but it is a lovely surprise when someone does. I have just locked myself out of my long standing blog and had to start again so I lost most of my followers anyway.

[hanfords]

I used to blog but it was honestly just a way creating links to our website for Google. Didn't actually get many real people interested.

[craftofboredom]

I love blogging... the only thing is, I don't really have that much followers... I suppose I haven't really met all the other artists and crafters out there with the same interests as me!x It would be so much more fun if there was interaction in my blog!x

PAGING ALL BLOGGERS LIKE MYSELF!x Let's HUDDLE!!!xxx :D

[Making Monkey]

I've just started blogging too - I'm on blogspot and it's much easier than Wordpress IMHO. Maybe Wordpress is made for more more computer-savvy people.. I like the way blogspot is linked directly to Picasa so it's easy to put photos up. And I can imbed files for people to download (like patterns) with embedit.in.

Well, as I'm very new to this blogging thing, all your comments have helped me too, so thanks folks :) I'll be sure to check out lots of other blogs and Handmade Monday!

Edwina x

[stratis-art]

I've got my own blog to share with you, it is at my signature.
I am expecting your comments to improve it further.
Thank you.

[little-angel-furnishings]

Think its something else to put on my "to do" list.... Thanks for the info

[teaforever]

i think facebook "pages" have become more popular than blogs in the last 3 years or so.

[shpangle]

i think facebook "pages" have become more popular than blogs in the last 3 years or so.

Possibly but according to Wiki "As of 16 February 2011, there were over 156 million public blogs in existence" also blogs get indexed by search engines but most Facebook page updates don't.

Mick

[GennaDesign]

i think facebook "pages" have become more popular than blogs in the last 3 years or so.

possible, but every time you get links to your facebook page you help facebook get money from advertising rather than directing them to your own blog where you:

control what advertising is shown
control the content
can't ban yourself
allow anyone to comment on content, not just those with facebook accounts

[Critchley]

Also to a lay person like me who is not particularly computer literate I find fb soooo complicated but I can manage my blog and link to it with no problems.

[SnugCraft]

Also worth remembering Facebook have some very scary "rights" to your content, including photos.

The main benefit of an active blog associated to a store (especially if you have an automated google sitemap) is that it's constantly kicking google to make sure it knows what you are up to. Write the right kind of content and it's a real bonus as you're simply adding to the possible related content that people searching for the type of stuff you do and sell which makes you more findable.

[The Bead Queen]

google loves blogs, whilst facebook pages can go unnoticed without a lot of effort, i think its a much better way to bring people to your craft site/content

[C'est Belle by Mimi]

We have the option of a blog but really dont know the ins and outs of how it works or what to do really. I know that its a real plus for google but thats about it.

[Foodjewellerydirect]

I blog about my products, news and events, but not regularly.

[jenniferlou]

I'm a blogger before a facebooker, i've only just created a page. I adore my blog, it's so lovely to show people what you do via a computer.

I find facebook not very user friendly and their always changing it and making it more and more annoying to navigate, just when your getting use to a certain layout, it changes. At least with a blog, it's simple quick and not time consuming in any manner, unless like me you love browsing blogs. I don't browse facebook fan pages.
xx

[quintonwench]

I have a personal facebook page and I think it's a great tool to share banter and photos with family, friends and work colleagues. However, I have decided to keep my blog completely separate. I find blogging has so much more going for it. I have complete control of everything I post and how it looks.... and because it's not overly personal (as in my personal details etc) I can leave it open for anyone to see and share without any privacy worries or issues. Not everyone has nor wants a facebook account, but everyone can view a blog.

Karen.