Eric is right, nothing is private, although I am not connecting that
to your questions. Mike has the same perspective of a lot of people,
that it is a waste of time and for those who are vain and bored,
nothing to do.
I do have a blog (not public) which I use as a family diary (I am
collecting family letters, stories, etc. for archival purposes). It is
a nice way to share. I also share articles and business news with
others in my business circle via a micro blogging tool.
A blog is based on underlying software that makes content management
simple. Internal company blogs are an excellent way to share
knowledge. The example you offer, blogging for writers, is an
interesting one as the writers I know and have done blogging
presentations to, are either on board or not. Mostly this has to do
with their willingness to share their intellectual property and story
ideas so publically. Those who are using blog tools to share writing
samples are sold on it. They do strongly believe that publishers
prefer this. It also simplifies the process of getting manuscripts and
writing samples to publishers and editors. Blogs can be private so
they are not included in a blog roll.
I know 2 authors, both of whom have books published the traditional
way and one of whom is very successful mystery writer, who blogged
first, then created ebooks (self-publish) which they linked from their
blog, then were picked up by their publishers.
To answer your questions directly,
(1) yes, I blog for family archives and guest blog on social media. I
put my guest blogs (I do this for 2 companies) on my blog, which then
links to twitter, facebook notes, linked in and a few other places if
I choose.
(2) I am not a writer per se. I tend to share industry news with a bit
of commentary. I am not sure anyone is making a living wage from
blogging, but certainly there are those who turned it into a career
and job. It builds my reputation as a resource and knowledgeable
person. It did and will again, as I launch a new Internet radio show
this summer, increase listeners.
(3) I am positive.
To answer your unanswered question, about the 24 hours in the day, the
tools are more and more, especially with the advent of microblogging
tools such as twitter, making it simpler and less time consuming to
blog. I use posterous.com (another microblog, but not restricted to
certain number of characters) to post my blogs, which are then, as I
said, automatically posted to other social web sites. You can even
email your blog post to posterous so no login even!
The rule of thumb is to blog consistently: once a day, once a month,
every hour. Your readers will learn your schedule and look forward to
your next entry. Sort of like waiting each month for the next issue of
your favorite magazine. I know a CEO who writes her blog entry every
Wednesday. She sets time in her calendar for this. She is not a writer
but finds the discipline and return worth the time.
I'll look forward to what you decide and to bookmarking your blog.
That is one final part: the reading time. RSS is a good filter for
this. I find that even that is overwhelming. I take a day a month to
scan and read what others are saying and then respond/comment. Putting
a link in your comment will help drive traffic to your blog. The viral
marketing potential is real. For an author, that is a major plus,
don't you think?
/gayley
--
--
Gayley Knight
Business Her Way
twitter.com/mothergeek
Broadside at BHW <businessherway.net/broadside.html>
Join the Business Her Way group:
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Board: Heads Up DC, BPW/Montgomery County, AWRT-NCAC
On Jun 5, 2009, at 1:47 AM, Constance Warner wrote:
In the last few weeks, I've gone to several programs on marketing
at which the presenters said that it was TREMENDOUSLY important to
blog. Blogging is supposed to a) show employers how wonderful you
are, or b) help establish a "marketing platform" to sell your
unpublished book to a publisher. (You're supposed to say, "I've got
5,000 subscribers to my blog already, and they've been reading
excerpts of my novel for months; when my book hits the stores
they'll all buy it, and you'll make HEAPS of profit!) The
presenters usually give more reasons why you should blog, but these
are the two that are important for me.
Since there are only 24 hours in the day, and blogging takes time,
I'd like to ask the group a few questions:
1. Do you blog? What's your blog like?
2. Do you get anything out of it (besides the satisfaction of
writing)? Help for your business, a job, advertising revenue,
publicity for your nonprofit organization, a paycheck, help getting
your work published, etc.?
3. Are you positive or negative about the whole blogging experience?
--Constance Warner
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