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Internet Wonderland For Quilters - Blogs
Blogs show who you really are.
After having posted your facts on the web page, and your pictures on Pinterest, you still have left the question of who are you? What do you think? How do you work?
Blogging offers a regular place to explore that. A blog is different from your web page because it's a series of current articles, that can be regularly refreshed with all kinds of new information, projects, tutorials, thoughts, ramblings and personal reflections. It's a place where your readers get to know about you personally. It's a place to answer people's more complicated questions, which shows off what you have to offer.
We think of ourselves as businesses, or as a service or as a function. But all of those have a personality as well. We choose who we work with and go to only partially on what they do. That choice is also made by how we feel about what they do and who they are. There's a small place for that on the about section on a web page. A casual visitor to your site may never look at. But nothing tells us more about a person, group or store than your blog. We can see from what you say and do on your blog how your personality and approach fits with our own. And it's a place to show off what you know, how ingenious you are, how you connect with others, how you can help them do what they want to do. In the end, that is what your internet visitor really wants to know. They can truly meet you, or your business on a blog.
"But I can't write." I hear that a lot. That's probably not quite true. You don't need to write that much. There are people who simply put up a picture and a caption. You can also, with permission, repost someone else's blog. If you're selling someone else's book, fabric, project or pattern, they probably have a blog entry they're delighted to let you utilize. Ask first.
You can hire people who can and will write your blog for you. You need to give them information about what you want to talk about. Plan your blog to build the image and on what you want to maximize. But here are topics that connect to everyone.
Blog Topic Possibilities
- New cool products
- Tutorials
- Sales
- New books you love
- Old books you love
- Special Exhibits
- Cool things your staff does
- Cool things your customers do
- Stories about the community
- Changes in your store/service/abilities
- Stories about how your store/industry has changed
- Trips to different conferences/shows/exhibits
- Wishes and dreams
- Hopes for your business/clientele
- Special services you offer
- Town festivals/events
- Things you love and want to share
- Groups in your area
- New machines
A blog can do more than sell products or services. It can make you a major part of their community, which is what makes you theirs forever. Where else would they go? They know you.
How often should you blog?
Bloggers say that they get the best following when they're posting 3 times a week. A weekly blog is minimal. That feels like a lot. But it can be small and it doesn't have to be the same kind of post. An event, a project, a reflection, a product review or a bio about staff or customers can make a great blog idea, and a mix of them will appeal to a broader group of people. You can also offer guest blog space to people who are interesting to you and your following. Keep those posts coming. They tell your clients and customers who you are, and make your business personal.
How much help will you need with blogging?
Blogging requires a little set up. Both Blogger and Word press have tutorials available and offer free sites. If you're happy with their templates (which are fine for most purposes) you can set them up pretty easily. It's likely that your local kid can teach you functionally how to use all of these. They'll be honored you asked, and they probably know all the ins and outs. Like the telephone, they won't know how it works, but they can show you exactly how to use it.
Check This Out!
Check out the most popular tool on QuiltingHub. Use the search 'Map Of Resources' or the 'Resources Trip Planner' to the right (or below).
Glossary
- Posts
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Smaller blocks, often colored fabric, which are used to join the pieces of sashing together.
- Press
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Method of using an iron to press seams and blocks. This means simply pressing downwards on the seam with the iron from above and not moving the iron back and forth which can distort the block or seam.