Although I first posted this blog five years ago, I believe it remains true and relevant today. If you’re still not sure what a “blog” is, this blog’s for you!
Why (do I) blog?
originally published October 20, 2010
Many of you who subscribe to this LifeLines blog are rather new to blogging. You’re not sure what “blogs” are, or why you need them, or how to engage with them. So when I saw this video in a social media class, I thought, “Cool. I want to share this with my subscribers.” (The good people at Common Craft put together this video—and they gave me permission to use it here. Check out the other “in plain English” videos they’ve created to explain a variety of topics!)
Helping you share your story
The tagline for my blog (and my business) is “helping you share your story.” Those five words are what this blog is all about. My story is that I help other people share their stories—in books, on business cards, through fundraising letters, on their own blogs or websites, however that story-telling will be most appropriate and most effective. Throughout the process, I’m both discovering and living out my part in God’s larger story.
As this little video says, there are millions of stories to share. And many of them are worth sharing! But people often need help with the sharing.
I like being in a position where I can provide that help.
What do you think? Did this little video help? Which questions did it answer for you? Which questions remain unanswered?
I liked the video alot.
It lets me know exactly what to do if I do start a blog -which I keep being encouraged by people to do -and which i avoid as “one more thing” –thinking a few lines on fb should be enough for American audience :)
But i liked how it said it creates many news outlets for small numbers of people –so there is an audience who would follow –those who pray and support -and who’ve been disappointed w/ how little I communicate but people seem overwhelmed w/ emails in their box and barely have time to look at snail mail in their box -but maybe what blogging does is give people a choice to be the ones responsible to look/read if they WANT to -not have something come straight to email or snail mail box. Does this make sense? I’m so frightened technnologically -pictures seem needed -but I’ve figured it out on fb on my own because it’s social so maybe I’d figure it out on blogs! as it could be social…
You’re asking some good questions, Jan. I can tell you what my experience has been like, and then you might have a better sense of whether blogging is right for you.
First, yes, it is more work than Facebook, mainly because it’s up to you to make a lot of the decisions that Facebook makes for you when you post there. Facebook doesn’t let you choose your own fonts, or a different layout for your profile, or what goes in the different sidebars—everyone gets the same template. When you set up a blog, you have the freedom to make all those choices, but you have to figure out how.
Also, there are some expenses involved with blogging. I pay InMotion to host my blog, and I pay FeedBlitz to deliver it to my subscribers every week. There might be some free blogging platforms out there—I think Google used to have one called Blogger, but I’m not sure if that’s still around.
When you have a blog, it’s up to you to get people to subscribe to it. Facebook is a social platform in the sense that people are already gathering there, so when you post there, people are likely to run into your content. A blog is social too, in the sense that it’s interactive, but it’s not an “automatic” gathering place; you have to get people to gather there, and then they can be social with each other and with you.
Maybe you want to consider something like a Constant Contact account. This would allow you to create “fancy” emails, like e-newsletters, with pictures and everything. You could import whatever email addresses you already have. You’d essentially just be emailing people, like you do now occasionally, but you could write them ahead of time and schedule them to send at a later date. And it doesn’t have to be a long email; you could just send a picture and a caption if you want.
Anyway, that’s my input. If you have any other questions, feel free to reply to this post or send me an email!