Why aren't you blogging?

This post may get me nowhere since perhaps only artists who are blogging already are reading my blog, but I'll take a shot at it anyway.

Why aren't you blogging yet? What's holding you back?

Time? Nothing to say? Don't know where to begin?

Comments

[Jul]

Very good question... while I do have an art blog, it gets very little attention (maybe 1-2 posts per month). Probably for the same reasons that I sometimes have trouble producing art - fear of putting something out there that's not perfect, fear of being laughed at or looking stupid... so really, no good reason. I just need to make it a priority.

[Tammy]

I'm not going to tell you I don't blog. I do. And I can't stop. I post a lot -- maybe 3-5 times a day.

I've stopped worrying about being afraid and "what others will think" and "maybe what I do isn't good enough"...that's all fuzz...and I had to jump over that hurdle. Once I did -- I never looked back.

What I like about blogging is that it's a history, an ongoing conversation with myself and others about ME...what I like, what I do...how I think.

It's exhilarating when I write something that strikes a cord, gets feedback, or influences someone else. It makes me feel like I have a place in the world and that I'm not alone. Too often, creative people find themselves alone (at least in my experience) because they are making things that are unique to them and how they think.

Blogging adds clarification to what you think and generates ideas for what you might do next.

I love it. It's easy -- and intimidation shouldn't be a road block. Put it out there and see what happens.

Tammy

[Cynthia]

I love blogging and I can't say enough good things about this activity. While there is a learning curve when first starting out, I have found that it is as natural as brushing my teeth. I recommend it for artists especially. Sometimes we work in a cocoon and blogging opens the world up!

[Cathy (Kate) Johnson]

Hi Alyson...yes, I blog and have for several years now. I got into it on the suggestion of an artists' group I belong to, as a marketing tool, but it has turned out to be a great deal more than that.

I share my work, my thoughts and feelings about it, notices of shows or new CDs I've published or paintings for sale on eBay. I chronicle my life with cats, my love, my students, and the effect those things have on my art.

It's been very valuable for me, beyond the initial marketing concept. I've made good and empathetic friends, learned about other artists and sites, shared everything from recipes to new art supplies to creative blocks to poems.

I think you're quite right to encourage us to keep them!

Best--
Kate

[Carla Sonheim]

I have really been enjoying my blog lately... lots of lively comments and I've "met" a lot of great people... I've even had sales from blog posts!

[Mary Richmond]

I started blogging last August while recovering from a mastectomy. I read your blog and many other artist blogs and then a book on blogging and decided to jump right in. I can't begin to tell anyone what all it has done for me, my art business, my writing business, etc--plus put me in touch with so many wonderful women coping with breast cancer. I second your motion here--artists who blog reach all sorts of people and make new friends as well as cool contacts....it's a wonderful experience all around. Several other artists I know also started blogs recently and can't believe all it has done for them--on all sorts of levels. So I agree- try it!

[Kathy Eyster]

Why don't I blog? Well...I'm an introvert and I don't necessarily *want* to tell everyone what's going on with me! ;-)

On another note, I recently attended a meeting to redesign the web site of the adult education school where I teach. One of the suggestions was a blog to help build a spirit of community. A more experienced web designer among us said that 1) blogs are meant to be added to regularly, daily if at all possible, and 2) if people post a comment, they expect a reply. Not replying to comments is considered the same as not returning phone calls.

So this raises an issue for me because I was considering creating a blog to answer digital photography questions. People have already sent me questions as a guide to what to include in an ebook. I was thinking of beginning to answer them with blog entries. But if the answers generate just as many questions, I could become overwhelmed with trying to keep up with the "conversations".

So....how true is it that I should post to a blog daily and reply to all the comments people post?

I don't want to start this snowball rolling if I won't be able to keep up with it and end up disappointing people.

[Corinne Stubson]

I've been blogging for about 2 years...I have a full-fledged website that I use as my art gallery, teaching calendar, etc, but use my blog to also share art, tidbits about my art life, my current art, and other items I think will be of interest to readers. The thing I love about my typepad blog is beig able to have so many links to other blogs, books, my classes, resources, etc.

I receive a lot of feedback about how much folks like the blog- but it has also brings me new avenues for selling my art, teaching and etc...the exposure is the thing. I put my blog link under my signature every time I write to an art group or anyone.. it's the repetition, week after week, that eventually 'gets the word out'. My blog in an integral tool in marketing my art and teaching. (in addition to just being fun to share a few personal tidbits every now and then - like the snow day we had last week...)
However- as an artist wanting to share art, I do NOT intersperse a lot of personal stuff in my posts...I want it to be mostly about my art life...not my personal life.

[Corinne Stubson]

addendum...I do a better job of proof-reading my posts on my own blog than I did here! :))

[Carol Barber]

Can anyone look at my blog and tell me why I don't get picked up with Google Alerts?
I linked to the Daily Painters hoping to get picked up but it didn't work. I like having a running history of my paintings and it makes me clarify my intentions in writing but it would be nice if someone else in the world saw it.
Thanks!

[Carol Barber]

http://www.carolbarberart.blogspot.com/
This is the blog address.

[Melissa Lanitis Gregory]

I started to blog about a year ago, and after 4 entries, I stoppped. I wasn't sure where I was going with it, I didn't know how to get the word out, and felt slightly uncomfortable with putting myself so "out there". Also, I have questions about what features are available...I use GoDaddy, because that's who hosts my website, but are there features I might want or need that I may not have access to? And what the heck is a Technorati tag?!

[Aurora Fox]

I recently celebrated (on my blog) my one year anniversary of blogging! Through blogging I have met many fellow artists and craftspeople and even visited some of my new internet friends when I traveled. I have an interactive map on my blog where visitors can leave their information and comments and I love seeing how my blog is visited by people from all over the world! I try to reply to folks who leave comments--if they have an e-mail address I can access; my own blogging has led me to begin reading other artist's and designer's blogs on a regular basis--where I find much artistic inspiration. I try to post new entries to my blog every 2-3 days, and I like to have good interesting photos to accompany my writing.

I think the best aspect of blogging (both my own blogging and reading other's blogs) has been discovering there are many other like-minded artists I can have conversations with--even if they live far away. For an artist, feedback is important--and this is one excellent way to receive feedback.

[Timothy Gray]

This is a great topic to discuss, and I'm glad to see someone finally address one of the most important aspects of marketing to come about since the dawn of the personal website.

I have a background in Web Design, and despite my best efforts, continue to struggle with blogs on two fronts:

1) Integration into an existing website
2) Customizing the look and feel

The problem as I see it now is twofold:

1)Most blogging tools were created by tech geeks FOR tech geeks. No single entity has yet addressed the individual needs of visual artists.

2)Each blogging system is essentially a "closed system", requiring the artist to commit to a system early on or face significant time/costs should they switch.

As for Integration, these tools are currently written as self-contained publishing systems, not an extensible API or plug-in for an existing site structure.

Personally, I don't want my entire portfolio or business/gallery site to look and act like a blog, but given the current blogging tools available, integration requires serious technical know-how (or the means and money to hire it) and a re-engineering of a current site structure.

As for customization, most blogging systems are not yet at a "visual enough level" to appeal to artists. Yes, I know you can edit the CSS or create your own theme, but who has the time and resources? I'm a busy photographer, and I don't have time to mess around at the code level.

Give me the same drag and drop, what you see is what you get functionality that we find in today's HTML editors and then maybe we can talk.

I hope the blogging companies visit here and start listening to artists, as we area HUGE untapped resource.

Thanks!

Tim

[michelle my belle]

I was very hesitant starting a blog, for one I've never been confident in my writing/communication skills and for two what would I have to say that people would want to read.

I finally, thanks to all the encouragement from you and your blog/website, started one about 5 months ago. It has taken a while to get comfortable and find my place (still not quite sure if I'm there) but I have been very encouraged. I've noticed google searches pulling me up in the top spots when searching my name, I've had lots of kind comments and I've made a few sales.

[Tommy Thompson]

Dear Alyson,

My wife Marie writes a blog for each of my art businesses--Tommy Thompson Art and Village Prints. This has been a great boost to my business. In fact, yesterday we received notice that a potential client in Canada searched on Google for Tommy+Thompson+wildlife and found one of my paintings on the blog post that Marie had written about it. Blogs make the world a lot smaller!

[Joanie San Chirico]

I've been blogging for over two years now. I treat my blog as an extension of my website, somewhat chatty yet professional. It's a great marketing tool that I use to talk about projects, press and exhibits. My blog actually gets more hits than my website does!
If you want a peek, it's http://joaniesanchirico.blogspot.com/

Oh, I really enjoyed the teleconference with Paul Dorrell. Thanks to both of you for that!

[Katherine (Making a Mark)]

Blogging is a great activity and I've met a lot of wonderful people through blogging. It's had also sorts of benefits for me - some of which I didn't anticipate.

I started my blog ( Making a Mark ) about 15 months ago and I mostly post on a daily basis except when I'm away. I've focused on trying to create good content which will be of interest to others and now have over 100 subscribers. The blog stats indicate a typical daily average of well over 200 visitors and upto 500 page loads each day. The blog is separate from my website but generates traffic for it.

The best advice I can give to people starting to blog is:
* before you blog: get out and read other people's blogs. This helps you to get familiar with different styles of blogging which, in turn, helps to sort out what you want your blog to be about. In my experience, blogging is much easier if you have a clear purpose.
* after you start: nobody knows your blog exists unless you get out and about in the blogosphere. Comment on other blogs if you want to generate traffic for your own blog. Most people are very polite and typically reciprocate if you leave a comment.
* focus on creating and maintaining good quality content rather than getting people to link to you. If your content is good enough then the links will come.
* if you keep going for at least three months, chances are you'll keep blogging. Personally, I don't link to blogs under three months old as too many of them tend to fizzle out.

I think a blog is successful if it is a meaningful activity for you (something you want to do) and it provides good content for others (something they want to look at or read about). It might have other benefits as well - but having some meaning is a good place to start.

And doing my blog post first thing every morning has proved to be a wonderful discipline and gets every day off to a good start.

[Sue O'Kieffe]

i have a personal/social blog ive had for over a year. i have just begun a business blog (http://sacred-circle-mandalas.blogspot.com) for my art which i am finding harder. i feel less confident with the language, tags, what makes good content, how to get indexed with google.
that kind of information would be helpful to me (even though i've read plenty, im still not certain how to apply it to what i do.)

[Casey Klahn]

My blog, http://thecolorist.blogspot.com, has grown tremendously over the past two and a half months. The key has been good (even silly) content, good images, regular posting, connecting with my audience, and networking around to other good art blogs. Link to other sites. Tag your posts, and have links in your posts that are eclectic, not just related to art.
It helps to string a story line along for a week, or even a month. Your readers will be wondering, "what will he post next?"
Now, I have fulfilled several goals by having this blog. The multiplication of effort by adding to my genres (I added a realist line of pastels, Colorist Italian Landscapes), selling online, daily marketing activity for free, and writing about one's art as a form of "artist's statement" all go into my blog.
Oh, I should say: blogs.
My second blog is http://100italianpaintings.blogspot.com.

[Nancy Bea Miller]

Not only do I blog, but I have TWO blogs! My brother threw together a basic website for me about three years ago and he suggested I start doing an art blog as a way to draw traffic to the site. But very quickly I began blogging as a creative outlet in itself...not just as a way to report on my creative career. So it is a mixed blog..photography/painting/life/food/books/poetry etc. I am amazed every time I look at my statcounter and see how many people are reading it. Of course some of those folks click over and visit my website too. I can't say it has resulted in big sales or anything, but I have made blog-friends with other artists around the world, and feel enriched by these connections.

At some point I realized I could make another blog to fulfill the "News" section on my blog...avoiding tedious updating involving html writing and uploading and downloading of a static web page. I am pretty proud of this idea and have already turned many of my friends on to it. It is easy to keep updated and fun for your website visitors to read.

[Sharon Crute]

Alyson, I'm glad that you'll be discussing more about blogging. I've started a blog and update it regularly. How do you get visitors to post comments? Lots of people e-mail me with comments instead of posting on the blog. And they tell me they check back and read it frequently. What gives?

[Terri West]

I have two blogs. I promise I just posted now and am resolving to post more often :)

[Deborah Company]

I have 3 blogs and I love blogging! My MySpace blog even allows me to post links to my YouTube videos!

Vlogging is a wonderful activity to get involved int, too...........

[Bonnie Bowne]

My artist's website just started offering a blog. I've made two entries but felt that what I said was silly or inconsequential or maybe boring so I stopped doing it when no one made any comments. Do you really think your website is the place to blog, or does it "cheapen" or make your web page less professional? I still somewhat associate blogging in with teenage girls gosssiping on MySpace.com. Do you think one should both blog on your website AND subcribe to something like blogger.com