Once my blog was on the world wide web I didn’t really know what to blog about… I wondered who would be interested in what I would write. In the beginning I blogged every Etsy frontpage I was on, every feature that my work got and I participated in every award that was handed to me by other bloggers. Occasionally I told about new work to come and old ceramic work that I had made.I started to like blogging and soon I realized that I was repeating myself all the time… I mean, how many frontpages, features or awards you want to read about?

I decided that if I wanted to keep my blog interesting and attract more blog readers, I needed to approach it from another point of view.So I started sniffling around on other blogs to find inspiration. I made notes about what I loved reading: creative processes, tutorials, eye candy pictures, happy colors, crochet, cooking, nature,… the list grew and grew and it made me happy that suddenly I was inspired to write many posts.

Inspiration wall by Photobird

So basically, I started to write about what I love reading myself. After all a blog is a personal thing and even if you don’t share many personal facts, it can still reflect part of you.

I have a blog schedule where I have certain days that I post certain topics. It helped built a community around my ideas. I host a Flickr Favorites post on Tuesday, play along with ‘My creative space’ on Thursday and usually have a crochet post on Saturday. All the other days fill up by itself: the spur of the moment, an inspirational picture, work in progress, a tutorial, …
I had another topic that came back regularly and it kept people curious to come back for more. I called it ‘the secret project’ and showed work in progress of me and my collaboration partner Anna from LilaRubyKing.

Showing sneak peeks of your work is a good way to pique people’s interest and a good way to promote your work. I’m also not afraid to show failures on my blog which makes me actually look human!

Lost Giraffe on the highway by Ben Heine

I think it’s important to contribute valuable information when you have it, help other people out, show interest and explore what other people do. Caring will keep your heart and blog healthy.
Blogs and social network sites are carried by many people and you need to participate regularly to stand out. So, don’t be invisible. If you aim to be seen on the web, make sure you’re not a lurker only. Leave a meaningful comment on a blog, speak up in the community that you joined, drop a message on Twitter,… After all, only when you speak out, you can be seen. Don’t be shy!
Now, go write that blogpost…
Here’s a good post about how to collect ideas to write about.

Questions to ask yourself:
Do you have a clear vision on what you want to share on your blog?
Do you have goals on what you want to reach through your blog?
Do you share your creative processes?
Do you visit and leave comments on other people’s blogs?

Be on the look out for the next installment in this series… we will be covering tips for hosting your own open house party.