Finding Inspiration as a Blog-tivist

Finding Inspiration as a Blog-tivist

Posted on 28. May, 2010 by in Oink, Moo, Woof

I know a lot of you reading this are bloggers. Which means that, like me, you have your moments of pure frustration or even writer’s block. You might even be one of those bloggers who has started a new blog — promising yourself that you’ll keep up with it daily, or even weekly — at least a dozen times. But then you find yourself too busy watching Whale Wars, or maybe you’re grasping at straws for ideas and constantly coming up empty. Whatever it is, you know you want to master the art of blogging, but you’re just not there yet …

You need inspiration, and you need some tips on effective blogging. From time to time we’ll try to provide you with both of those. And, in truth, we’re trying to provide us with that too!

You might already know that I’m kind of obsessed with Daily Blog Tips, which I recommend subscribing to. The lovely folks over there recently published a guest blog by Ali Hale (author of The Bloggers Guide to Effective Writing), entitled “Finding Motivation During the Early Months of Your Blog.” Some of Hale’s tips include: waiting at least six months to build a serious following online; getting into a writing routine which includes working out how much time you can realistically commit (he suggests figuring in at least two hours a week to set aside for blogging, though I’d recommend more like five …); making sure you’re not bored with your writing, because then your reader will most certainly be; finding a new angle (this is something we consciously try to do with Our Hen House since there are so many vegan and advocacy blogs out there); and writing with your readers in mind.

I’d add the following to this list of tips that Hale suggests: be consistent with the frequency of your blogs (we blog once a day here at Our Hen House, which is a huge time commitment, but one we’ve decided to stick with no matter what, at least for the time being); keep your entries short and pithy, whenever possible; don’t get too self-absorbed (especially if you have an advocacy blog!) but do write from the first person and let your unique style come through; for the love of dog, edit and proofread (or find someone to do so for you, since too many typos or mistakes in a blog makes it pretty undesirable to read).

If you have any resources, tips, or inspiration to offer to your fellow bloggers who might be reading this post, please share in the comment section below.

Photo: Used with permission by the Creative Commons License.

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5 Responses to “Finding Inspiration as a Blog-tivist”

  1. Rob

    28. May, 2010

    Thanks for the insight, and for the link to http://www.dailyblogtips.com/. Inspiration comes in many forms, but having a plan and sticking to it is definitely a key to success. Hate to say that, because self-discipline can be very difficult for creative souls. Half the battle then is in finding a way to make self-discipline work for you. The other half may be patience, and understanding that readership is built like any other business – slowly from the ground up. Define success, design plenty of little steps to get there (making sure you know exactly what is necessary to achieve each step), then tick off each one when you’ve achieved it. Don’t be afraid to allow a step or two to change along the way, or even to define success differently and change all the steps! After all, the world is changing all the time, and you have to change with it. Remain true to your ethics and your vision, and you will find a way to achieve your success.

  2. Annie Shannon

    28. May, 2010

    Love the daily blog tips! Mine is: encourage comments. Like you did here! inviting people to interact with and participate in your blog makes it more of a community, and keeps people coming back!

  3. Elaine Vigneault

    28. May, 2010

    Some tips:
    - make it easy on yourself by setting realistic goals
    - use technology wisely (eg. if you can blog from your mobile phone, do it!)
    - learn about SEO
    - recharge your own batteries, not just your laptop’s batteries
    - don’t feel like you always have to be original; you can restate old ideas to remind or freshen

  4. AlisonC

    28. May, 2010

    Those are all great tips, Jasmin. Makes me feel inspired to start my own blog, too! One day. Soon.

  5. Ali Hale

    31. May, 2010

    Great additional tips … thanks for taking the article and running with it! :-) And thanks for the link to it and to my Blogger’s Guide!

    I think consistency is really key. Short and pithy works brilliant for many blogs (though I write much longer, less frequent posts on my Aliventures).

    Oh, I’m female, by the way (Ali short for Alison) — it confuses a lot of folks online!

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