Okay folks, I need some help here. I'm wondering about this whole blog thing. I feel like it needs a focus and I'm not sure what to do. I started it two years ago because a friend of mine who's a marketing expert said that if I wanted to be successful with my online sales I would need a blog so that my customers could get to know me personally. Also, so that I could show my work in progress and how a particular design goes from an idea in my head to jewelry you can wear. So far my online sales have been infrequent and, frankly, dismal.
I've been thinking about the blogs I read and what makes them interesting. There are many that regularly post "Look what I made" or "Look at the materials I bought" or "Look how messy my workbench is". These are wonderful. I love reading about what my colleagues are doing. Sometimes they have new techniques that I find fascinating. Their new posts show up in my blogger reading list and I go look. Everyone is SO creative!
Then there are the blogs that I intentionally go to every day and I'm disappointed if they haven't posted. These people are pouring their hearts out online. They're wonderful wordsmiths and seem to have interesting lives that they let me in to through their words. I always read and frequently comment. They're not all jewelry artists, but most are artists in one medium or another. Some examples are Kate McKinnon, Andrew Thornton, Ken Thomas and Rice Freeman-Zachery.
My "Look what I made" posts have been rare, mainly because my time in the studio has been so infrequent the last few months. First, my muse left me and I couldn't come up with any ideas that I felt were worthy of the rising cost of silver. Then, I got these damned hives (which I still have) and dealing with them consumes the majority of the hours in my days. And my father died fairly suddenly and that's been very hard on me emotionally. I've been quite depressed.
So, I've been blogging when I can about other stuff besides jewelry, but I really don't feel like my life is all that interesting. I see that the popular blogs are the ones that are updated regularly and my inner critic (whom I'd like to have arrested) says "If you don't post something, people will stop reading", "People might be tired of hearing you whine", and "If you want to sell something in your Etsy Shop, you'd better come up with a blog post."
I really don't know what to do next. I suppose I'll keep meandering my way through the blogosphere with my blah, blah, blah posts and hope I find something interesting to say. If you have any thoughts on this I'd like to know them. In the meantime, thanks for reading!
Oh... Look what I made three months ago:
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| Copper and Fine Silver Cuff Bracelet |
4 comments:
I like reading your blog Zoe because it is uniquely you, you make beautiful jewelry and you are quite funny at times : ))
With my blog, I stopped feeling obligated to write daily...ok that takes a lot of pressure off! Then I gave up trying to paint the rosy world i don't live in.
And I just love my blog. I write for me and apparently for everyone in the world who has "molting chickens" LOL -- seriously most hits to my blog are from that search LOL
You better keep on writing, I would miss it!
Hey Zoe,
Don't be so hard on yourself. You are listed as a blog I check frequently. I too enjoy reading your blog and finding what you are up to. I would be very disappointed if you stopped. Not every post has to be about jewelry and I know all too well about the stretches where nothing is happening. It's okay, we love reading about you with or without the muses. Don't stop!
Hey, Zoe!
I would never recommend that anyone who didn't NEED to write have a blog. The blogs that people make just to increase their online visibility aren't usually the ones I have on my must-read list, because they often come off as the chores that they are.
Pretty much anyone who says "I'm having trouble coming up with blog entries..." probably shouldn't be blogging. You know? Do it if you want to, if it feels right, and if not, then give it a skip. You can accomplish as much with Facebook or Twitter.
I'd say find what you actually enjoy online, and do that.
As a fellow blogger, I really enjoyed this one, as I often wonder whether I should continue to blog or not. One tip I got from a published novelist was write about your feelings. They are what move people. Several of my readers encourage me to post more pictures, so I do. And I like to look at your pictures, especially of things you've made, but also pics of your flowers, wildlife and Lola. So I hope you continue and thanks for doing it thus far!
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