I'm beginning to understand why lots of people enjoy blogging. Other people think they have no time to blog, but it takes no more time to blog than it does to participate in any exchange, short or long, about a favorite topic. More about that later.
I recently became a blogger because our publishing company got a surprise blog!
The idea was my daughter's. She e-mailed and said, " Check out this link! This is what I've been doing all morning! " I followed the link she provided and there was her blog! She made it and manages it for our company, which publishes non-fiction Christian books.
Both of our daughters have been involved at different ends of this work. And now we have a blog, which is one daughter's to manage and develop! It's good already, of course!
In the week since our blog started, here is what I have learned about blogs and what they need:
Blogs can be free and surprisingly easy to set up and manage. Any PC-savvy person can find blog templates and service resources on the Internet. You can see who's providing templates for other blogs. You can start a blog in a morning, afternoon, or evening. It does take a few key hours to get started, but if you're willing to do that, have a purpose for a blog, and have high motivation to create a special place, you can do it and keep it going.
Our blog setup was free, and yours could be, too. You can start your own free blog, with good design choices.
Blogs need a published purpose. Like a book or a gathering, each blog's focus is what bloggers want to know the first time they visit the blog. Blog visitors like to have an idea of why they're invited--to gather and exchange comments.
Deirdre, who is the blog's manager, explains all about the blog on the first page. She wrote the content and posted it before I knew anything. I love it! It's warm, friendly, and real. Then, she innocently wrote me to tell me about it and, later, to ask me to send a photo of her dad and me. " You know, the one where you're out in nature. "
Blogs have different time-frames for hosts to post new topics for comments/blogs. Some blog managers, or hosts, post daily. Others post weekly or even less. All variations exist. But, if you ever create your own blog as a daily blog, be sure to post a fresh theme daily. Or, you can advertise a change away from new, daily material.
Blogs need to be advertised. At Deirdre's suggestion, I sent e-mails to the subscribers of a free Christian writers' newsletter I publish quarterly. I invited them to visit the new blog and, well, blog! I sent a few info e-mails to friends and other fellow-writers, too.
I hope more of them will find the time to follow the link and see the blog!
Blogs invite followers as well as bloggers. Blog followers don't always blog, but they watch the blog and can jump in if they want to. Anytime. An early high point of a new blog is when someone signs up to follow the new blog and also posts a photo. That photo can cheer you up every day, and you wait to see more followers as time goes by.
Blogs are thrilled to get bloggers anytime!
Soon after Deirdre opened the blog, two visitors blogged on it. One wrote to Deirdre and gave thoughts on the topic Deirdre, as blog host, had posted. Then, someone else jumped in and blogged to Deirdre, as well.
Blogs with nice comments from other bloggers help shy bloggers jump in. I used to be a shy blogger, but when I saw blogs to Deirdre posted on our blog, I wanted to blog to Deirdre, too.
Blogs are like pieces of conversation:
I e-mailed Deirdre about blogging on her new blog. She e-mailed right back: "Of course! Do it!"
Then I got cold feet. What should I say?
I called her.
"Just think of it as a conversation," she said. She knows how I like to write long articles, and blogs are not meant for 2, 000 words for one comment. (Actually, I pare down my articles to between 800 and 1,000 words.)
As conversation becomes harder and harder, with cell phones, iPods, televisions, Internet and other technology gadgets interfering, blogs hold thoughts. As mentioned earlier, it takes no more time
to blog than it does to participate in any exchange, short or long,
about a favorite topic. Unfortunately, more and more people exchange views about things to do, rather than thoughts and changing perspectives, information or insights.
The blog can, if chosen to do so, allow meaningful conversation around ideas, interests, and perspectives, with rationales included. A blog can provide an environment where space and time open up, to converse from the heart, too. Isn't that rare often, in hurried face-to-face exchanges?
Blogging styles and interests can develop.
When I posted my first blog comment, the topic was a serious one. I began to have " conversations " with myself, and added a P. S. or two as my thought-processes began to congeal better.
I used the blog as a way to " converse " with myself– since so far, no one else is dialoguing with me – on why I was amending my opinions. I come from a " past life " where I had certain views or non-views and for a long time have lived a new life that has affected all of my perspectives, either to change or strengthen them.
The two worlds, or ways of thinking, converged as I blogged, and I needed to work my way through it. It was not that my beliefs changed, but surrounding parts changed. (Are you beginning to see why Deirdre likened a blog comment to a situation where one does not dominate the room – er, the conversation?)
Blogs need time to attract visitors and earn the interest and confidence of new bloggers. I now understand what I have read about blogs, that they take time to grow. Like conversations between people who don't know each other, or not all know each other, it takes time for a blog to develop. Patience and fun are important.
As an excited new blogger, I've brought my daughter into this article, since she's our blog's initiator, designer, and manager. Maybe I should blog her tonight and tell her I wrote about all of this, and about her. Or maybe I should call. It's late. I could e-mail her tomorrow. Or, send flowers.Or blog.
See if you can find one or more blogs you'd like to follow or where you'd like to join the conversation.
We all have opinions, views, likes and dislikes regarding books, faith, family, society, politics, and lots of other topics. We can have good conversations rather than depend on angry sound bites.
When you blog, your comments may mean more for good to others than you might expect. This is especially true, I think, if the comments are not too long, are interesting, give ideas, and are polite. I'm working on all of those levels, as able, for the next time I blog!
Let's blog!
Jean Purcell is a book publisher and writer. Her first book was Not All Roads Lead Home under her pen name, Jane Bullard. Her web site is http://www.opinebooks.com and her Writing and Publishing Nonfiction Books blog is at http://janebullard.blogspot.com/ Sign up for the free Opinari Quarterly for Christian Writers, Publishing Professionals, Book Lovers, and Reviewers on her web site.
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