How Blogging Has Changed my Life, Part II
So, besides encouraging me to model, and posting pictures of things I’ve baked, how else has blogging changed my life?
Well, for one thing, I no longer pay for advertising. Now the blog drives traffic to the website and I no longer need to pay for advertising. There’s something to be said for advertising in print, or online advertising, but for now, I don’t need it. That’s pretty cool.
I’m getting to know more people involved in jewelry making, including all the folks in our jewelry blog carnival:
Angela B. Crispin
Lorrene Davis
Tonya Davidson
Marco Fleseri
Kirstin Skiles
Tamra Gentry
And, the wider circle of the Bronze Clay Flickr Pool.
And having the blog has gotten me into social media and blog reading — I admit it! I didn’t read blogs before I had one. I’ve cut back on forum participation so I have time to read the blogs-about-blogging and jewelry and crafts blogs that I like. Plus xkcd.com, the comic, gotta have some fun. : )
Before I had the blog, my computer skills were (even more) limited. I didn’t really know how to size a picture, I had to call my younger brother with all kinds of silly questions. Learning tech stuff can be so dreadfully boring, unless you have a right now application for it.
By needing to size and upload pictures, insert links, get code for ads and such, I had a reason to learn, and immediate results. That made it quite easy to handle when I went to set up my etsy shop.
The other unexpected bonus of blogging is that I found my writing voice. See, I’ve always wanted to write. I won a writing contest in, oh elementary school. I think I was the only junior high school age subscriber to Writer’s Digest. And in high school, I was on the same literary magazine as Hemingway, though not at the same time. (However, he was in the rifle club, and I was not, for the record.)
Unexpectedly, I’m back to writing, through jewelry-making. In fact, I’m participating in NaNoWriMo right now, National Novel Writing Month, where you write a novel in a month. I’m writing non-fiction, but there’s no NaNoFiWriMo, so I joined up with the novel writers.
In fact, I’m avoiding working on my book right now, by writing this post. That must make me a real writer. (wink.)
See, keeping up a regular schedule of blog posting is a great writing practice. Now I blog here, over at the recipe blog, and for not one but two volunteer organizations! It’s like making jewelry, the more you do it, the better you get.
How else has blogging changed my life? Keep reading, I’ll keep you posted.
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Missed part one? Here it is: How Blogging Has Changed my Life.
12 comments Elaine | Blogging, Selling Online
Looks like you have found your voice and really enjoy blogging! I totally understand. I kept a journal throughout my childhood which then morphed into just keeping a sketchbook. Now, with blogging I can do both electronically…I really like your anti-war metal. Where is more of your work?!
I’ve concentrated my time on the net to blogs and blogging as well. I have really cut back on forums and groups because I found sometimes it seemed I was the only one there! With blogs you can subscribe to them and get updates whenever new stuff is posted and you’re not left wandering around looking for crumbs of information!
Not me? You don’t know me better too? :-{ sniff.
Having a blog has totally changed my life too. teaching myself all kinds of baby html, loading, sizing and editing pictures. i just made an Etsy header for a team mate of mine! Who’d a thunk?!
Thanks for all the great comments guys! I appreciate the sharing!
@Heather – good question, I’ll post on that.
Elaine,
Just want to thank you for encouraging me to blog quite a few months ago. We “spoke” on line. I was debating doing a website or a blog. And, voila, almost at that moment Hanuman started this blog. I finally jumped into the Orchid Blog and have been a happy camper for about 2 days. Yay! Website next, but later. The pressure is off for the time being.
Kay
Hi–don’t forget the benefits for your readers. Between your blog and forum participation, my learning curve has been (a bit ) less bumpy. Anne Bellissimo
@Kay, thank you so much for letting me know! Congrats!
@Anne, I’m slapping my hand on my forehead. Duh! The readers! How could I forget the readers, you’re the reason I’m here! Thanks!
[...] the comments on my recent post, How Blogging Has Changed my Life, Part II, Anne wrote, Hi–don’t forget the benefits for your readers. Between your blog and forum [...]
[...] the comments on my recent post, How Blogging Has Changed my Life, Part II, Anne wrote, Hi–don’t forget the benefits for your readers. Between your blog and forum [...]
[...] you may want to subscribe to my RSS feed. Thanks for visiting!Heather asked in the comments of How Blogging Has Changed My Life Part II, where you can see more of my jewelry. I said I would answer in a post, so here I [...]
[...] asked in the comments of How Blogging Has Changed My Life Part II, where you can see more of my jewelry. I said I would answer in a post, so here I [...]
How does blogging drive traffic to your site? Have people really experienced an increase in sales by blogging?