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Welcome back, everyone! I hope you had a lovely holiday season and some time off to contemplate the new year.
Of course, we all ask ourselves lots of questions at the start of a fresh year – What are my goals and resolutions? What do I want this year to look like? I’d like to suggest one additional question for bloggers to try on:
What will you be about as a blogger this year?
Now, I’m not asking you what your blogging goals are, though I’m a big believer in having goals for a blog. But usually, when we think about goals, we tend to think about results. We say things like, “My goal is to double my readership,” or “I want to get more comments,” or “I want to start running ads so I can earn income.”
There’s nothing wrong with those goals – they’re useful. It’s just that they don’t get at the deeper idea of how you’re unique as a blogger. And that uniqueness is awfully important, because it will make your blog more interesting and valuable, which in turn will help you to all those results goals.
So what parts of you is your blog sharing?
• What’s important to you about your crafting? What techniques do you love, and what do you love about them? What do you love to make and why do you make it?
• What’s important to you about craft in general? What does crafting bring to your life? Who do you share it with and why? Why do you craft?
• What’s important to you when you aren’t crafting? What are your other obsessions? Who’s important to you and why?
• What’s important to you about your blogging community? Which bloggers do you think more people should know? What’s going well in your community, and what needs fixing?
• What’s important to you about the world? What wrongs do you think need righting, and what causes do you think people should know more about?
If you can sit with these questions and noodle out some answers, I think you’ll find that it helps you see more meaning in your blogging.
We all love to hold up things we’ve made and things we like and say, “Wow, isn’t this cool?” That’s a time-honored mode of craft-blogging. But what would the craftosphere look like if we were also saying, “Here’s what’s important to me. Here’s how I see things.”
A good blog is really just a lens on the world that only you can create. When people read your blog, they see the world differently, and you’ve given them a powerful gift.
If you’d like to go deeper into this idea of who you are as a blogger and how that relates to your goals for blogging, check out this workbook I co-authored with my talented friend Tara Swiger. It’s called Crafting an Effective Blog.
We are going to celebrate what is good, fight what is bad, and create lovely new things together. :) More specifically we will celebrate what is bright and colorful and interesting and world-changing, advocate against human trafficking, and make whatever we can get our hands on.
I could go on and on…. ;)
I’m so glad you commented here, Elizabeth, because I think you’re a stellar example of being “about” specific things as a blogger. I always am inspired and informed by your blog!
Thank you. That makes me really happy. :)
Also, on 2nd read through “time-honored mode of craft-blogging” made me laugh. Blogging really is in dog years, isn’t it? :)
Ooo…definitely a different way to look at blogging goals. I started blogging just because it was an outlet to share and talk about crafty things I like. Soon I was sharing my work and discovering more of myself…growing. I realized that blogging helps us to think through whatever it is we are blogging about – like writing in a journal, you get more reflective. I love sharing and hearing people’s feedback and providing something that could be fun!
I think it’s important for everyone to share their passions, voice and craft…growing the blogging community so it remains diverse and everyone has a different style and point of view. It’s important to keep that variety out there…so blogging doesn’t become a template like thing that people do for money or the like…
That’s an excellent point, Linda – I agree that, the more finances become a blogging focus, the more it affects content. I thought your A-Z art journaling series was such a great integration of valuable how-to content and authentic personal sharing – a kind of manifesto about daily creating, and lots of insight into where your creating comes from.
ooh…will be heading over to see the art journaling series!
This year I think I will be blogging more comprehensively on the things I make. Last year quite a few ‘makes’ slipped through the net through a lack of discipline. I want to still write about mothering but more about craft. I have been crocheting loads over the past year and there were quite a few stumbling blocks that seem to be a given in some books and not explained fully enough (for me anyway) so perhaps I will incorporate some trouble shooting tips so that I can perhaps be of use to other crocheters.
Nice, Amy! I always love reading about someone’s learning process in a particular craft. And, I can always benefit from crochet tricks. :-)
Really great food for thought. Yes, I think honesty of sharing the world through my eyes and then asking the question of my readers … what do you see?
Awesome list of questions! Tons to think about – thank you! Just ran through them and was surprised by some of my own answers. It would seem that this years blog needs to be more about sharing the how and much more about the why. And most importantly have a ton of fun along the way. =)
That’s awesome – I’m so glad the questions elicited some new meanings for you! Happy New Bloggy Year!
I love blogging and reading blogs because it’s like having a friend right there to chat with. When I’m writing I can picture the faces of the folks I know are reading my blog, and that makes it more “real” for me. To piggyback on what Linda was saying about using blogging to think through things, yesterday I was pondering some idea in my head, trying to figure it out, and I thought, “oh well I’ll just blog about it!” That’s when I realized how much I do depend on blogging for sorting out my thoughts.
Definitely, Bobbi – I think the original progression of our thoughts, and the discussion that follows when we share them, are a big part of what makes blogging and blog-reading worthwhile.
The perfect time to put these questions out there in front of us! Thank you. I have printed out a copy and have put it on the wall right nest to my computer so that I can refer to it every time I write a post.
My blog has served well these past two+ years to prod me into more creative journeys than I have ever before attempted in my life. And I will definitely continue on that path. But I want very much to add more content this year that celebrates the creativity and journey’s of fellow bloggers.
Mom, this is just one more reason you’re such a blogging rockstar!
Thanks Diane for putting words to something that I have been thinking a lot about recently.
I will admit to having succumb a bit to much to the ‘look at this cool thing’ part of blogging and it’s something I want to change.
I would like to write more in depth about the crafts I love but also include more examples and point towards other blogs/posts that I think do this well.
Take care,
Eddie
Thank YOU, Eddie! I’m so glad you found the post useful. I think blogging like this deepens the experience of blogging, too – hones writing skills and helps us process thoughts and emotions. Enjoy!
I’ve bookmarked this article and intend to refer to it often. I just started a blog and have gotten some great tips on how to make it interesting and meaningful. Thanks! Please check it out and I would appreciate some feedback to get me in the right direction. ladybuglanesays.blogspot.com