Blogging Basics II, Blissdom '10 Conference Recap

Blissdom '10 Conference Recap, Part II.

So you've been blogging awhile and you're thinking about concentrating your blog, focusing on one thing -- finding your “niche.” Many bloggers are “niche” bloggers and often those are the most commonly read blogs. Let me issue a small word of caution: before starting or converting your current blog, ask yourself these questions I gathered from a session at Blissdom.

Finding Your Niche:

• Which posts make you nervous when you publish

• Which feel like drudgery

• Which do you receive the most comments

• Which comments mean the most to you

• What are your top favorite posts that you've written

• What can you be excited about and remain passionate about 2, 3, 5 years down the road.

For me, the final question seems to be the most important. Passion is such a vital part of any blog. Loyalty is probably second to passion. If you gather a following, you don't want to let them down 3 years into it. It's fairly easy to write a blog for a year. It's a whole 'nother ballgame to keep on doing it when the novelty wears off. Picking a niche makes endurance a lot harder.
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Well there you go. Take some time to answer the questions and ponder your answers. There are so many blogs out there and so little time, readers are sparse and fickle. I'd encourage you to think hard about why you want to blog.

• If it's for yourself, to complete you or fulfill you, jump right in.

• If it's for others, to inform them or help them, take your time and strategize a little. It'll pay off.

Good luck and happy writing!

This info. came from a session brought by the following: Audrey McClelland (Mom Generations),Rachel Matthews- (A Southern Fairytale), Sommer Poquette (Green and Clean Mom), Jennifer Schmidt (Balancing Beauty and Bedlam), Nester Smith(The Nesting Place), Heather Solos (Home Ec 101).