This weekend I was thinking about my blog and my blog identity. It's not a secret that I'd like to figure out how to have more blog traffic but if you've been a reader for any length of time you know that my posting has gotten a bit sporadic lately. This is partly because I'm just crazy busy all the time and my blog feels like an indulgence, but it's also because I've realized that my blog lacks cohesion. There are plenty of bloggers who do completely unrelated blog entries and it works
really well for them, and while that's the type blog I'd most like to have, it's been a bit discouraging.
In the midst of all this self-indulgent introspection, I read two posts about blog identity, which gave me more food for thought. First, I read a post about sitting down and making goals for your blog, maybe "increase traffic" or "learn SEO" or "post every day" and I actually took notes! It suggested that you find your niche, which seems hard to do when you blog so randomly, but it did get me to thinking that perhaps I could slightly change my posting style to make the randomness less random. I started to pay attention to other bloggers who seem to pack a lot of everything into one post and how they did it. I don't want to copy their style, but I'm going to start intentionally altering mine. Slightly. Unfortunately most of the bloggers who blog in that style also lead off with a terrific photo, and my photos are a lot more snapshot and a lot less pretty, but I'm going to give it a shot.
The second post I read about blog identity was from my very good friend Trish. Yesterday she wrote a post about her blogger identity, and moving away from book blogging and into being "
Just a Blogger." (It will seem to you that I am posting because she did, but really, I was thinking about it prior to reading her post!) I've never been a strict book blogger. I did used to post a lot more about what I read, and I still imagine that one day I'll do it again, but I've never been a hardcore book reviewer. I've always talked about more personal stuff, so I don't think that most of my readers will be surprised when I say that I'll continue to post about anything. What I have always done though, is try to confine each post to ONE topic. If I'm talking about a book that's all the post is about. If it's about camping, it's about camping. Etc. I always thought that this was a way to make it easier for those of you not interested in reading about camping to just skip that post. Then you didn't miss anything else I might say that might interest you. The problem with this model is that you end up with a big handful of topics that you don't have
quite enough to post about. Posts get skimpy because you (I) think that a little more research or thought needs to go into those posts, and who has time for that? Then the posts aren't written and you end up with a blog that gets a Random Friday post every week and that's about it.
So what does all this mean for my blog, specifically? Probably not a lot on your end. On my end, I'm hoping to write slightly broader posts. For example, instead of just "reviewing" the last book I read, I might want to talk a bit about it, and a bit about how it relates to me, or to how I associate it with where I was when I read it, or something. I want to do more of the "what we're loving now" type posts. I'd like to put a little more thought into each post. Expect that posts might ramble more (hey! like this one!) I'll probably change my Friday posting. I love the "
this moment" posts on Soule Mama, so maybe I will do those. I love my weekly post on what I'm reading though, so I will continue that. I'd like to expand it a bit, actually, and so will likely move it to another regular day. I'll still talk too much about my kids and I'll still continue to spam you with sewing and
shop items. I'd like to take suggestions from
you on what you'd like to see. On what you hate to see. On how many pictures of the Princess is too many pictures of the Princess.
And it's completely possible that I won't change at all, because y'all, change is hard.
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by Veronica Roth. Still enjoying it, but Mike stole it so I've mostly been reading other things.
by David Levithan. Finished this one. It was good, but despite the topic (9/11) I wasn't as emotionally invested in it as the author would have expected. There isn't really a plot at all, it's about processing the event and I suspect native New Yorkers would feel it more.
by Charlaine Harris. Just started this one last night. Wish I had it on audio for the car ride.
