I have been blogging for six years this July. Almost daily. And my readers grow by at least five new followers a day. So I have learnt some things and it is time to pass a few of those things on.
Here are ten tips for you. These are only tips mind you. I am not the director, I am a player just like you.
- Testimonial. Write down what your blog is about. Your objective. Your job description. The challenges you have given yourself. Be very clear. My blog is developed around three major promises. (a)The blog is about the farm and all the photos are from my own farm. (b)I will tell the truth. (c)It will always be about yesterday so is absolutely current. I do not promise to blog every day – that happened all by itself and i will not accept that as a presssure. My blog sometimes turns into a travel blog but I give you warning. But the basic premise has continued for these five and a half years. The farm and the food from the farm.
2. Photographs. Always have an image. Mine are all taken on the farm and are often pretty random. They don’t have to be professional quality. Just follow these few rules. (a) Check your corners. (b)Straighten horizons. (c)Lower or raise yourself to check you have the best Point of View. (d) Give your eye a way out. (e) Make them big. (f)Look for focus. (g) A single simple well presented image has as much power as multiple images. (h) High contrast for small screens.
3. With words Less is Best. I seldom write more than a thousand words. Don’t say musings or ponderings – get to the point. Cut out extraneous words. Read your words out loud before you publish – your voice is your best editor.
4. Engage your Audience.Talk to your readers as though they are sitting across the table from you. Then answer them when they talk back. When I leave a comment on a page and the writer cannot be bothered answering me within a few days, especially when they only have a few comments there – I don’t go back. I conclude that they have no interest in discussion. I choose to visit the blog writers who will talk to me. (Many blogs are too big with too many comments to answer and I am not talking about those blogs. They are in a different realm. I also need to say here that in the summer when I am flat out I don’t get to answer all my own comments myself, I read them all and try to answer fast if the internet is co-operating but often fail. So I also understand if you cannot answer my comment every time. Winter is my favourite blog time because I get to talk to my all my readers then).
5. Go to other blogs and leave comments. Especially when you join that blog. This is the best, and simplest way to find people to have your morning chats with. We are here because we love the community that develops around a blog.
6. Write your words down when they come to you. My blog is daily so everything depends on what happened yesterday but if a sentence comes to me when I am knee deep in mud at ten in the morning, I jot it down in the notes folder of my phone which I keep in my pocket. It is shocking how many good ideas fly out the windows of my brain if I don’t write them down.
7. Use social media as a tool. Social media used correctly is an excellent way to get your posts to a wider audience. But be careful, it can also grab you by the left leg and suck you down. Set a limit on the amount of time you spend on blogging.
8. Honesty is your best policy. Unless you are writing as someone else: Be honest. We can smell stirrers and mongers. Be honest and true and the best you can be. Using your own voice. This is very attractive in a blog.
9. Relax. Most bloggers are like me – they use their blogs for record keeping and sharing. This is a perfect way to keep track of your recipes, or your farm, or your children’s cute sayings or your art or your travels. But it is not the be-all and end-all of your life. Blogging is like instagram it works WITH your life. So relax, have a good time with it. Blog when YOU want to. If it is important to you to build a big number of readers then it is a good idea to stay current – maybe once or twice a week. The first thing I check on a blog is the last publication date. Set yourself doable targets.
10. Develop a rhythm in your postings. I post every morning, early. It gives your readers a handle. I am like my cows – I love a routine. I would encourage you to post on the same day at the same time each week. Use your publication settings. Though many bloggers post whenever they feel like it and we love them.
11. Devices. not everyone reads on a huge screen anymore. Many people will read your blog on a small phone with the tiniest of screens. Keep this in mind when writing titles, choosing the size of your images, paragraph settings and writing your comments.
12. Have fun with it. I know I am repeating myself but there is enough pressure in other areas of your life. Enough hate speech in other corners of the social media world. Enough hammers on our heads. Give yourself permission to relax and have fun with blogging. Engage. Chat. Smile. Be positive. The right word in the right corner of your screen can change someones day. ust like a good waitress can change you dinner to an Occassion. Writing with a smile ensures that you are involved in changes for good.
I bet you have a few other tips to add in the comments! Our Longe of Comments being one of my favourite places to learn.
It is still dark this morning so there must be a good cover of cloud out there. Rain is coming they say.
I hope you have a lovely day.
celi
The Kitchen's Garden 
148 responses to “Twelve Tips for New Bloggers”
Great tips. I have recently had a lot of new people sign up for my blog for no apparent reason. I rarely hear anything from new people and wonder why they bother to sign up at all. The number of followers goes up, but the number of hits does not. Just as well this is not my motivation. I find my blog and excellent way for me to record me travels and I love sharing my experiences.
And all your beautiful photos – I just love them! c
All very good advice. 🙂
What I love about your blog Mad is all the links you use to explain what you are writing. This enables us readers to quickly research a recipe or method or restaurant. I always come away well informed and inspired (usually inspired to travel!) c
Thanks Cecilia – it takes time to find and add the links, but it makes it encyclopedic and helpful.
I just thought of another good bit of advice. Keep the pictures small, in terms of kilobyte size. If they are huge the page will take ages to load and people get fed up with waiting. These days, this is particularly important for phones and tablets. WordPress will dynamically make the images and text fit all formats, but it won’t reduce the size. I recommend 150 KB per picture. All picture editing apps will perform this task. In Photoshop choose “Save For Web” 😉
Beautiful advice C!
Have a super day.
🙂 Mandy xo
You too Mandy! Have a lovely day.. c
Cool tips. And so true! Thanks! Marcus
I am learning from your blog too – you often give us technical information – i am actually a very thoughtless photographer – rolling by the seat of my pants, I have no memory for numbers and I seldom am conscious of my technical decisions. But you are helping me with that. Thank you!
Thanks 🙂
Look at Mr Flowers tail train already … beautiful. Enjoy your day too C. Laura
Yes, he is beautiful, but I bet he poops on that hood! Three inches tall and black as tar…huge! (She said to tell the truth). Snicker, snicker
Yes and YES!! Love love
Yes, his train is growing fast now and I saw him lift it yesterday but he is shy still and moved away when I reached for my camera.. c
Wonderful tips! And sadly I’m catching up from Sat & Sun – so here are my comments from the weekend – Siblings will always bring the child out in you – snarky comments fly when my husband is with his sisters. Being an only child, my snarky comments fly around in my head. 🙂 As for the barn – I find it beautiful in that rustic and historic sense. And I bet it looks great in black & white! I have made it a side mission when we travel to make sure and take pictures of the oldest wood structures we find just so I can play with pushing black & white filters. I so miss working in a dark room!
Happy Monday! We are covered in fog with visibility less than .01 miles! I expect to see the headless horseman any moment carrying his lantern!
Yes, black and white is a wonderful medium for old structures. I miss the dark room too – particularly the smell – I loved the smell of those chemicals!! c
Good tips, especially #3 , #4 and #9. I’m trying blogging again after a lapse but going at it with a different mindset this time, as more of a journal of progress for our new farm and not feeling pressured about it. Thanks for the tips.
Great idea. i am glad you are having another crack. The lack of pressure on oneself is so FREEING. c
I also have been blogging for ages but my blog is about God's Creatures in one form or another. I used to feel that I HAD to write everyday but then realised that it was not so. Now I write when I have something relevant to say. My blog is always honest, never a false word and hopefully this comes through in what I write. I do not have many followers nowadays but that no longer bothers me..I like to put my feeling, good, bad or ugly down on 'paper' that way I feel I ma communicating….
Have always loved your writings…long may you continue
Sent: Monday, January 16, 2017 at 3:13 PM
An honest voice is always heard I hope. Even when said softly. c
Great tips. Do it because you love it and you want to, if that is no longer the case, stop.
Agreed. I am going back to look at your prawn and coconut curry today – i think it may be something for tonights dinner.
Excellent suggestions. I must say, that I need to improve in replying to comments. I have posted everyday since February of 2007 and find that I end up commenting more when I visit my friend’s blogs and answer some of my questions there. Several of us are in the same circle, and that has been fun. I seem to be long on photography and short on words, recording whatever has been done on that day. You are an inspiration.
This is how your blog system works though – lots of pictures and then following people home to chat at their place. if it works!! c
And this is exactly why we all love you! You are authentic and real. Perfect combination for a wonderful blog. Great tips!!!
Thank you Beth Ann – i hope you have a great day in store – c
What a wonderful list! I love how smart and genuine you are. I am struggling these days and it occurs to me your list could also be a guide to day to day living! Anyway I intend to read your list daily. Or more iften. There seems to be strength there. Love you Celi!
Mayve Print it and pop it in your handbag book. And don’t forget to write your own little daily list into that handbag health book – I hope you are still doing that. let me know how you are. All my love. c
I am and just got all clear . All is good for the present. Hugs, hugs and more☺
ALL CLEAR!! Well, you can write that in your book in BRIGHT red! For stops right here. Well done you! I am thrilled to bits
I love this advice. It is casual and as easy going as your blog presents itself. I’ve had to pull myself back this past couple of months from mounting pressure about my blog. Then, I throw my hands in the air, have a good laugh at myself, and wonder why we all put so much pressure on ourselves. I often hear comments like…don’t you want a cookbook? don’t you want to work for top magazines? If I hesitate and give some sort of answer like, “Well, not really. I enjoy blogging but I don’t know if writing, food editing, etc. is the career path I would choose.” I get the most disappointed looks. I feel like I’ve let people down with my answer.
You might tell them gently that you have already written the cookbook – it is all there on the blog. Call it digital. And your photos are just so beautiful. Your relationship with light is a real talent. And your styling is spot on. Maybe working for those top mags or trying to edit and jam it all within two covers would mitigate some of that gloriousness you have now. This is a new world we are designing – we don’t have to ground ourselves onto paper anymore. Have a great day. c
Sarah – you give people joy, you teach them about the beauties of your homeland, you tell them about places they would otherwise never know, you show them what photography can be all about, you write a blog I feel I have been hugely privileged to follow for years even being a cuckoo in the nest . . . you are a teacher . . . now if you want to add to your ‘repertoire’ we ARE her but that is not really necessary: we so love you as you are . . .
love it, I am going to give myself the freedom of more photos per post 🙂
freedom to blog any way you want should have been my Top Tip. And your photos are lovely – especially the horse ones.
🙂 thank you, I think your photos are awesome as well
Congrats on your blogging anniversary! I too am heading into my 6th year….acquiring followers is challenging – I try not to let it get the best of me when I don’t see any new subscribers. You are a wonderful writer and I’ve been enjoying your blog since the beginning!
And your new site is so beautiful! Did you lose people in the move? I seldom actually sign up for any blogs. I just follow my commentors back to their places to see what they have been up to. Wish you were down the road – you could bring some of your bees here – you are a great bee keeper. c