I'm still trying to figure out my message. My (blog) posts have a tendency to be all over the place. Some about pottery, some about my daily health struggles, and some just because! Do you really think that it is beneficial to narrow the point/audience of a blog, or will the "wide net" approach I've got going on work?
When I first started this blog just over 7 years ago, I knew I wanted to share my world with people, but I struggled with distilling my world into interesting blog posts. My biggest mistake initially was thinking I had to maintain a professional facade for the sake of potential customers. Like my blog is a fancy store or I'm going to sell you an appliance or something. I wrote about a dozen polite, very restrained, heavily edited posts that I hoped gave the impression that I was a serious artist with deep thoughts. By the way, only click on those links if you are feeling suicidal and think being bored to death might be a painless way to go (it's not).
Then, I had a terrible weekend at a bad retail show and I let loose in a blog post how I felt about it. I was completely honest about my anger, discomfort, and disappointment when I have to stand around like an idiot all weekend and people don't buy my work, or even talk to me.
That post was a lot of fun to write, and I was so scared to publish it because I was afraid of what people would think of me, complaining like that. But I did publish it, and it was the first time I had more than one or two comments. I made the great discovery that people pay branding companies lots of money to manufacture for them: authenticity creates connection.
Authenticity is scary. Knowing who you are deeply enough to show your authentic self is work in itself, and you also have to accept that some people are not going to like you and what you have to say. And you know what? Fuck them. Not in a personal way, people aren't bad for not liking you. In a general way, fuck the people who are not into your world. The people who love your world can't wait to see what you do next, and they are the people who matter.
The question about narrowing the point/audience of a blog vs. wide net is not what needs to be considered, that's approaching it from the back end. The front end approach is honing your point of view through writing and sharing. If you don't know what your point of view is, keep writing until you figure it out.
Withney, I want to be like you!!C-:
ReplyDeleteNow seriously, I think I agree about all that you said (english is not my language but I think I understood mostly all of it) and most of all I admire those like you who get to the point of just being themselves no matter what other people say. I think you are really brave and I hope I get to that point some day!!
Best regards from Barcelona
Eli
Eli, I want to live where you live!
ReplyDeleteAnd you WILL get to that point one day, one little piece of truth at a time.
Great post. I have struggled with finding my view point since I started blogging (about 2006). I go back and forth with not giving a shit what people think about what I write and editing myself so much that it literally takes me HOURS to write a post. Hopefully this year will be the year that I finally figure it out!
ReplyDeleteI think it's okay to take hours to write a post, good editing means good writing! When I said my early posts were"heavily edited" and therefore boring, what I was referring to was editing my real thoughts in an attempt to make them more palatable and "nice". I spend hours on posts most of the time, and I usually take a few days because you need to have fresh eyes to catch all of the mistakes-- run on sentences, half formed thoughts, poor grammar, etc. I think it just comes with practice so if you want 2014 to be your year, write more posts!
Deletethanks Whitney. You inspire me and I'll just keep keeping on in 2014 :)
ReplyDeleteGreat post Whitney and thanks for the link! :) I agree with you that being authentic is important.. and I think I've been able to maintain my authenticity and being true to myself. This year.. my goal is to have more pottery related posts thrown in amongst the other stuff. I think it gives people the "big picture" about me and why I do what I do.
ReplyDeleteThanks again!
Shawna
jsbarts.blogspot.com
Yes Shawna, I agree that you come across as authentic on your blog. If I were in your shoes, I would think more about writing blog posts you are excited about than worrying if your posts are too all over the place... these things have a way of becoming clear as you write more!
DeleteAnd you're welcome!
I made a commitment to myself when I first started my blog to be honest and authentic. I am no good at faking who am, so I don't edit my language or opinions for anyone in public or on my blog. I do try to respect people's feelings and not be hurtful, but I can sure whine and bitch on my blog some days. I started out only talking about my pottery but last year when I took a break from pottery my blog became about my searchings and ponderings about my life. It's all good, whatever you write, if you write well and stay honest and interesting.... people will read and respond and yes, make a connection with you!
ReplyDeleteWell said, Tracey.
DeleteNice post, and good advice for folks who decide to blog. I wrote a blog pretty consistently for a couple years and it was always a struggle to say what I really wanted. Not so much a struggle with myself, but more-so with my wife. I would occasionally post something she thought was inappropriate or that would push away customers and she would let me know it. I haven't written a blog in over a year now; partly because I do not have time, partly because I was getting bored with it, but also partly because I was tired of censoring myself to assuage my wife's worries about potential customers. I should probably send her this blog post to let her know that blogging is rarely about making sales. Thanks for your honesty and such!
ReplyDelete-Rob
That is an interesting problem to have, I can't even get my husband to read my blog, much less try to manage what I write in it! I imagine that feeling like you have to censor yourself would be pretty boring and kill all the fun. And yeah, I don't blog to make sales, though I think it helps. My blog is for people who are interested in my world and what I have to share. It's impossible to quantify whether or not I've lost sales because of something I've written, I simply cannot imagine that. I also can't imagine finding work that I love and then deciding not to buy it because of something that was written on that person's blog, unless they were horribly, horribly offensive in a way I cannot abide, like racist or homophobic. If you are interested enough to look up someone's blog and actually read it, I think it's pretty doubtful you will decide you are not going to buy because of what was written. Again, I think worrying about that is approaching from the back end in a way that is distracting. You cultivate the "right" audience by being who you are.
Deletebig love.
ReplyDeleteBack at you, lady.
DeleteAgree about authenticity! The worst is when you've met someone in person, and then when you read their blog, you realize they are full of shit. Impossible to take them seriously anymore.
ReplyDeleteI'm a bit of an over-sharer, myself. The blog sometimes serves as a journal for me. I think the readers are almost an abstraction, and on the occasions which I meet one, I'm always a little embarrassed.
ReplyDeleteBut not embarrassed enough to stop doing it. In some ways writing a blog is not unlike making pots: when I try to do it in a way that will have broad appeal, I just end up with a result that even I don't like. So I keep right on with my diarrhea of the fingers. Some people will like it, some won't, and that's okay. That's kind of what authentic means.
Yeah, I don't think it's possible to really create a blog post for "broad appeal" because really, what broadly appeals to people is that thing that hits people in the heart, which is almost impossible to manufacture.
ReplyDelete