For the love of blogging

You may have noticed that it’s been a while since I last posted on this little blog over here. You know how it is, work and family and life and stuff have a way of taking up time. And it’s funny because, you know, I’m a writer-slash-editor and all. There’s a mild case of the shoemaker’s children over here.

Then on Monday night I was lucky to attend a chat put on by CRAVE Toronto called “In a Relationship with My Blog.” The room was packed full of eager and generous women entrepreneurs and the panel was fabulous. I’ve been thinking about that chat since I left, so I thought I’d share a bit about it here with you.

The Perfect Blogger Panel for Small Biz

First of all, if you’ve never been to a CRAVE chat, you should. It’s a super-positive environment to network, learn and have a good time along with a crew of positive and motivated women entrepreneurs. Kudos go to Brooke Milne for putting together a perfectly balanced panel. Trisha Evelyn  is a professional writer who writes blogs for a living. Marina Cortese of Nour-ish is a holistic nutritionist who uses her blog to support and promote her business. And for Nicole Wilson of Dainty Girl her blog is her business. Each approaches blogging from a different angle, and having them all there at once to share their experiences and answer questions made for a pretty inspiring night.

Tips from the Blog Lovers

I find that any time I attend a class or a talk, no matter the subject, I always leave learning something new or being reminded of something I really need to know. Monday night was no different. Here are some of my favourite points that came up during the night:

1. It all starts with the content. Take the time to write well and research. Your readers deserve it.
2. Have an editorial calendar. It doesn’t have to be fancy. It can be a white board with the ideas for the next month’s posts or it can be a spreadsheet with details to help you track keywords, status and outcomes. It’s really up to you. The point is to plan ahead so the idea of blogging isn’t as daunting.
3. When you have a great idea for a post, rather than writing it on a little piece of paper you’ll later lose, start a post in WordPress and save it as a draft, then go back to it later. You can set up a basic structure for the post and then fill in the details when you get back to it. I love this idea. (That’s how I wrote this post.) If you have an inner editor who holds you back from getting started, this can be a great technique.
4. If you’re just getting started, pick 3 to 5 categories to focus on and build your posts from there. It’s much easier to brainstorm ideas and then stay consistent when you have a few topics to guide you.
5. Use good quality photos on your blog to accompany your great words. If photos aren’t your strength, you can find them from other sources online. Just be sure to always provide a source. (Thanks again, Brooke, for the photo for this post.)

I could add many more tips. The overall take away is get inspired and just go for it. And with the support of other positive women in the blogging community, you can fall in love with your blog, too.