One thing that scares me on : MAY
The sign said,
"Keep this door to remain closed
at all times."
Correct me if I'm wrong
But doesn't that defeat the purpose
of a 'door'?
Danny McCrossan
What is a door means to you?
As a life artist,
me and you would probably answer this question easily.
Door mean opportunities
Door mean hopes
Door mean a way for wonderful journey
Well,
Have you ever think your blog as a door?
Think about that.
Such a simple comparison
but sounds realistic to me to assume
that my blog IS my door.
Whenever I want someone to know me better,
I invite her to my door.
Whenever I want to know someone else better,
I go to her door.
Next month,
I'll be celebrating 3 years of making this door.
3 years of an awesome journey
that change me and my world completely.
I have many plans in hands to celebrate that....
(Does the word 'celebrate' means cakes,
parties, give aways, goody bags, to you?
Then keep thinking about those nice things
when you come back here next month...LOL)
but that will be another story for another post. *wink
Now, what you read at the title of this post is true.
Something scares me this month,
but I want to do it anyway.
I want to give you some tips on blogging.
There.
I said it.
Oh, I am certainly not the expert of this.
And you can get much much better tips out there.
And I am still bitting my nail while I type this.
But,
there are some who asked me, How can you create
such a nice blog?
And for this month, while I am still shivering inside
(WHO do you think you are, girl?)
I try to give you some tips that I personally learns
from 3 years being on blogging world.
- Blogging is a social activity, so the same basic principals that govern any social interaction should apply. Be thoughtful (Leave comment on other person's post to let her know that you came to visit her. No bloggers who don't love getting comments, trust me. Besides, when you are not leaving any comment, it's like you stalking someone's home and do not want to be caught. Imagine that in real life. You come to someone's home, take a look around, take pictures as your own record later - that would be clicking 'save as' in the blogging world - then leave without saying anything to the owner. Uh, scary.) Be kind (You only want to hanging out with kind people, right?) Be courteous (When people leave comment on your blog, imagine that someone who is very nice is giving you a nice cake and put it in front of your door. Then, you thought you are being a polite person, and give her other cake back (another comment), but you are just too lazy to go to her home to give it, you just put it in front of your own door and hope some day she will come again to get it. Not quite right, eh? So, since this is a social activity, to get as many cakes as you like, you should go around to your neighborhood-which is spread until US and Australia if I must say) and deliver your cakes personally to their door. Sound fair enough?) You may skip this tips only after you are as famous as Ali Edwards or Donna Downey.
- By now, the tips above should eliminate your thinking "Why should I blog? No one is coming to see my post, anyway." You know what's wrong now, I hope. And just for your information, no one leave comments on my blog until about a year after I start it. But I keep posting. And posting. And posting.
- You should be able to answer the question, why you need your blog. You cannot do it just because other people do it as a trend. It must become your voice, your main necessity. It is like building your own company profile, but now, the company is yourself. When you can say to someone who ask, "What do you do right now?" , just go to my blog and find out....then it will be right. You are on the right track of recording your own life in your blog.
- Your blog becomes attractive to people not only because the design of it. You can change the design weekly and still you wonder why not many people come. It must have a soul. An attractive story. A breathtaking image. A tip on parenthood. A recipe. A step by step project. An honest perspective. Anything you think will be useful for the reader. What you expect from the blogs you see all the times, those are exactly what you should have in your blog.
- How many hours in a day could you spend blog-hopping?(Sometimes being on facebook for several hours a day is already enough for us, right? LOL) Let's say, you can have one hour each day to do the blog-hopping. How many blogs do you wish to visit in that precious time spread? As many as you can, of course. And what happen to a blog, that once you click open, (imagine you are opening a door), you still looking at three months away's post on the top. Not interesting, eh? You can't even imagine looking at last night's dinner that being left on the table for two days! And no matter you like and adore that blog person, slowly, but sure, you are not going to open that particular door anymore. You only have such little time! So.....my tips is simple.....post regularly. Twice in a month's post is certainly not enough (that's me on the first year, by the way). Every day's post is certainly driving you nuts. So, choose in between, and you will be alright.
- In the click of a mouse, you can open a door far far away, London, Melbourne, knock..knock....in a click. When you don't like being judged on the first meeting, sadly, your blog will be judged in a few minutes time by the guest who stop at the door. In order to keep the guest staying a little bit more (hip hip horray if they decide to bookmark your blog so they can come back later), the guest should be able to : find your profile easily and informative (Explain what you do or what your interest in couple of lines, so they know what to expect in your posts), know what you talk about mostly in a single post (I like to keep my post short. I don't like reading other people's post about the parties, or vacation, or their today's menu if that post is taking me more than 5 minutes to read. So I assume they will not have that much time to read my rambling either- except for this particular post, sorry -, so again, keep it short), know that your blog is an artful blog (How? By having an artful image. I hardly post a story without an image now. And learning how to make a beautiful images is already an art itself. So, learn about that, and many people will stop at your blog longer, I promise).
- As frustrated as you, that's how I feel about HTML code. My blog is even harder to be modified since it is a personal design, not a template. A single comma accidentally deleted will change the entire look of my blog and I didn't know how to turn it back cause I didn't know what the hell was I deleting just now. Don't get me wrong. After 3 years, I still experience that kind of situation even though my knowledge in this blogging thing is already make my husband proud. So my tips is, get someone who knows it better than you. And no, for me it is not my husband, since blogging is alien to him. Ask question. Ask other bloggers. It certainly takes times, months, years, but don't let the obstacles of this unknown code world make you reluctant to post.
Hope you find those tips help you in a way or two.
And to anyone who read these incredible long post,
please, please, PLEASE.....
don't take any of these tips as a personal critique
for your blog.
I am not capable for that
and certainly not my intention too.
If you know me from the beginning,
I have only listed 4 friends as Indonesian scrappers
that have blog of their own.
Now as the community is growing fast,
there are more than 15 scrappers I put here,
(imagine my joy)
and these tips hopefully will make that number
moving faster.
Now,
if you excuse me,
I should really come back to my project in hand,
week in the life's album.
And preparing the 'celebrate' word
as I mention before,
is taking most of my time too.*chuckle
But I'll be back soon.
Post regularly, remember?
*hugs
I have become my own version of an optimist.
If I can't make it through one door,
I'll go through another door -
or I'll make a door.
Rabindranath Tagore
Good advice ...thank you so much Ria
Posted by
Usaha |
May 27, 2010 at 2:44 AM
Great advice, I have left my blog for too long as of late, but I can't help it. There is too many obastacles in this moment. I was doing well, too, with Blogger, then switched to typepad...maybe now is just not the right time. I feel if I post regularly in this frame of mind I'm in, they will not be the kind of posts I want everyone to read!
Posted by
Darcey |
May 27, 2010 at 6:20 AM
Mmm, keeping it short seems to be my greatest challenge. :) thanks for the tips Ria.
Posted by
Chiquita Elaine |
May 27, 2010 at 8:38 AM
knock..knock...i like ur door Ria...and ur advise also...
Posted by
Ami |
May 27, 2010 at 9:18 AM
really love to come to your home mbariaa.. hihii..:D thankyouuu so muchh for the tips..:)
Posted by
devimphie |
May 27, 2010 at 10:34 AM
great advice to bloggers I like the bit about comparing people who visit but dont comment as stalkers as that gets on my nerves too when they visit but dont comment. Looking forward to your giveaways..have a good weekend
Posted by
Lorraine |
May 27, 2010 at 2:56 PM
I agree with your comments. Thank you for sharing them. I don't comment on every post that I read, but I try to leave comments often. Just so people know that I am visiting their little part of the world.
Have a wonderful day Ria! :)
Hugs, Cass
Posted by
Cass |
May 27, 2010 at 3:14 PM
Great tips. In the beginning, it's pretty helpful to have a private Test Blog too! **blows kisses** Deb
Posted by
Deborah |
May 28, 2010 at 10:52 AM
Thank you for the tips - there are a few that as a new blogger I wasn't doing! Thank you!!!
-and- CONGRATULATIONS on your three years!
Posted by
A'n'G Johnson |
May 29, 2010 at 1:47 PM
Ehm.. Aunty..
How to make our own blog design??
Cause I can only use my template..
Thx..
~and, by the way, I'm one of ur niece..~
Posted by
L..V |
June 2, 2010 at 3:08 AM