When I wrote my first MAC Monday post last week, one of the things on my list was to improve/overhaul/focus on my blog. With the exception of my cilantro "issue", bettering your blog was the number one thing folks commented on - on the blog, on my FB page, in emails, and in person. A few people asked me how I was planning to do it - so I'm going to share with you the good, the bad and the ugly of how I got here. I hope along the way I will inspire a few of you to create your own blog, encourage those of you who have wanted to take the plunge and really make a go of blogging, and most of all help ALL of you to avoid the time and energy draining issues I've had.
*Note to all - if you are looking for a technical "how to create your own blog for profit"...this isn't for you. This is more of a "blogging encouragement for beginners and/or computerly challenged folks who just want to try it to see if they like it".*
1. If you are a computer/technology idiot - admit it. I am. I know this about myself. I don't totally understand my smartphone, I know there are a MILLION things my computer can do that I haven't bothered to try, I just print out my photos as they are instead of spending time editing them with fanciness, I am just an idiot. Or just don't care as much as I should. Or something. If you are like me but are interested in starting a blog, DO NOT believe your friends who tell you "you can totally create a blog yourself - it isn't that hard". They are only about half right. It isn't that hard to create a blog...but it is hard to create a blog that doesn't look like, well, a blog created by someone who has no clue what they are doing. That being said...
2. Try it anyway. There are many, many, many free blog sites in the universe - blogger, typepad (theirs is a "free trial") and wordpress just to name a few. I can't say that one is any better than another - I ended up here because I asked a few friends and they suggested typepad. It does not hurt a THING for you to sign yourself up for a free blog and mess around with it for a bit and see if you enjoy it/understand it/want to commit to it. Just remember...
3. Don't forget to read the fine print - and don't upgrade right away. There ARE added costs if you want to upgrade to this or add that - so read the fine print before you choose the site. This is where I made a BIG mistake. I had my blog for a few weeks and wasn't satisfied with how it looked, so I just ASSUMED that upgrading to the next level (and paying) would solve all my problems. It won't. Upgrading to the next level does not make you more computer literate, it just gives you more things to have to figure out, so...
4. You might get frustrated. Because I am computerly challenged I spent MANY MANY hours trying to use the "help section" of the site or googling questions like "how do I embed a video" or "why can't I reply to individual comments" or "how do I add a blinkie" to figure out how to make my blog look halfway decent. I got REALLY frustrated, because I created a blog to share my thoughts and creativity - not to become a computer programmer. It almost made me stop blogging - it sure made me blog less because I just felt like a dummy all the time. Don't give up though! Just...
5. Keep a list of what you like/don't like/don't understand about the blog. Also keep a list of blogs you come across that you think are beautifully designed or appealed to your style. I've had this blog for over a year (I don't recommend waiting this long - I think you'll be able to tell within a few months of starting your blog), and even though I was frustrated with the "technical" side of the blog I really loved having a place to put my ideas and express myself, so I wasn't ready to give up. I knew I was ready to make a real investment (of either time or money - see #6), so I took a good long look at the list of what I wanted to change on my blog and had to make the decision to...
6. Spend time learning how to be more technologically savvy - or hire someone. This ALL comes down to personal choice (and finances). There is no right or wrong answer. If my husband had a blog, his answer would be to teach himself how to be more technologically savvy. There are literally thousands upon thousands of articles and help centers for people who are do-it-yourselfers who want to create a better blog. He loves to learn and challenge himself and would enjoy the hours spent teaching himself a new skill. I wish I was more like him. Instead - I am me. I don't want to learn how to create my own header or how to figure out code - I want to write my blog and I want it to be pretty and I don't want to wait the 500 years it would probably take me to learn how to do it and I'm willing to pay a few hundred bucks to make that happen. So I decided to hire someone. If you take this route...
7. DO NOT "hire" a teenager from your church or a college student from your neighborhood to do it for you. It isn't going to work (with the VERY rare exception). I tried this tact myself about six months back - posting on my FB page and sending out emails to almost everyone I know asking if anyone "knew anyone" who would do it cheap (or even better - "for the experience"). Yeesh. You'll get what you pay for - and you'll probably wait five years to get it done. So, since you aren't going to do that, you need to...
8. Do some research. I googled "custom blog designer" and probably spent an entire night looking at websites. I have to admit - I had a blast! I loved seeing all of the creativity - and here are a few tips.
-If the designer's page didn't have MANY blog samples available to look at on their site I didn't bother digging any deeper.
-Review your list of sites that you like, but don't go strictly by that list. When I was looking at the blog designers websites I found some new style ideas that I'd never even thought of and never would have found otherwise.
-Find at least two or three designers whose work you like (this is where I made another big mistake), because...
9. This isn't like taking your car in for a tune-up. I found a design site that I really, really loved. They had an online "tell us what you want from your blog makeover" form that was pretty extensive, and I was taking this very seriously, so I spent a LOT of time answering the questions. They included things like: provide links to five blogs that inspire you and tell us why, attach or link four color schemes that appeal to you, etc. Two days later I got an email from one of their designers. They rejected me. REJECTED ME*! Carl's Auto doesn't reject me when I show up wanting my oil changed, my dry cleaner doesn't turn me away at the door, but apparently blog designers do. So be forewarned. It was pretty crushing - I started to get a "did they read my blog and think it wasn't worth it?" self-doubting mess in my head, but if someone had told me that being rejected was even a possibility I think it wouldn't have stung as much. So here I am - telling you. :) Don't let it throw you - their loss! If I'd had a list of my top few designer favorites I could have just moved on to the next one - but I sort of had to start over. Save yourself the time and have a list.
*Don says I should use the phrase "declined my offer" instead of "rejected me". Blogs are a very personal thing and being "declined" really made me feel like poop - so rejected it is!
Once you HAVE found a designer you like and they have ACCEPTED you...
10. Again - read the fine print and ask questions. The designer I selected (whose info I will pass along to everybody once the new blog is up and running - for now I'll call her Georgia) doesn't work in typepad - only in blogger. So I had to make the decision whether or not to get a blogger site (thankfully aintshecrafty was availalble over there too). She told me she would transfer my old posts and help me with whatever I needed to make it work. I had a LOT of questions about the possibility of maybe one day getting my own domain name and Georgia was VERY helpful and patient and happy to explain to me how the process would work and what she could do on her end. If your designer doesn't seem open to your questions or doesn't explain things to your satisfaction then pick someone else because you are going to have to...
11. Tell the truth - even if it hurts. This is where I am now. Georgia also had a lengthy "what do you want from this blog" process that we went through together, and we were upfront about everything - what I expected from her, what she expected from me, the timeline we were working with, and I was ESPECIALLY upfront with her about my lack of computer skills. I knew I was going to need a LOT of hand holding and I wanted that to be clear in the beginning so neither one of us got annoyed later on. Then - when she sent me the first draft of the blog - I had to be honest about the things I didn't like. We are women. This can sometimes be VERY hard for us. Of course I said it in the nicest possible way, but as a creative woman it was PAINFUL for me to tell another creative woman that her creation wasn't what I wanted. This is going to happen in your process. A stranger is creating a landscape for you to express yourself. You can describe yourself in words and colors and photos but this person doesn't KNOW you. There will be some trial and error - but if you have the right designer for you (like I have - yay Georgia!) then the give and take will be totally worth it. I've given her my suggestions, she is creating a new draft, and I should have it in the next few days.
Hopefully you all will see the results of this journey within the next week or so - until then, if this has demystified the blogging world for even one person then I will be one happy camper. I'd love to hear your blogging stories (successes and...uh...challenges) - and if you've started a blog I'd love to check it out! Please share! Happy blogging my friends!
