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I attended a great writing conference in May. On the first day of the conference, participants are offered separate choices for the lunch time speaker depending on their status as published or not. The not yet published attendees usually have a speaker that fits their needs. The published authors' speaker is nearly always someone offering advice on promotion.
This year our speaker was Jane Friedman. Jane has a great blog with lots of information for writers of all levels. She's offering a live webinar tomorrow, July 16th on How to Blog Meaningfully and Grow Your Audience. It's pretty pricey for me (about $30/hour) but I'm sure she has lots of good ideas.
But do A to Z 'ers need to take a class on how to be a successful blogger? I don't think so. There are so many terrific bloggers in this group, all willing to offer advice and lead by example. Haven't we all heard about SEO? Don't we know including images improves our posts and the dangers of including images we don't have the rights to?
I've also seen a few bloggers worried as they take breaks from blogging because of deadlines, vacations or personal issues. Will they lose followers? Will the WWW collapse or live on if a blogger takes a week or LONGER off? I believe a blogger can take a short break, especially if they let their faithful followers know they're going to be off line for a while. And if that blogger continues to visit and comment on other blogs while they're on break, they'll keep their connections alive. Check out some info Alex J. Cavanaugh shared on Monday about blogging frequency.
Would you pay for a webinar to help your blog grow? Are you taking a blog break this summer or do you take one during another time of year? Think it's okay to do that? Do you enjoy the dog days?
No I don't think I would. Too expensive anyway.
ReplyDeletetoo much for me too though back at the beginning I really needed help.
DeleteI love the hot weather but not the hunder storms that always follow. We had a fierce one last week.
ReplyDeleteI think many are taking a blogging break at the moment as it was quite quiet yesterday.
I too as Jo above said too expensive.
Have a good day.
Yvonne.
Thunderstorms are scary, Yvonne, but they're also beautiful. It's scary when they have the risk of tornadoes with them.
DeleteNo I don't think I would pay to attend a seminar to grow my blog. I think there is a lot of free advice out there about growing a blog. I think blogging is all about relationship. I try to establish a relationship with those that follow me, read their blogs, comment on them, etc.
ReplyDeleteI have taken several blogging breaks over the years; one time over a year, another time 6 months. I didn't intend them to be that long, it was just necessary with what was going on. I was amazed how many followers came back when I started blogging again.
betty
I don't think I'd pay to go to a seminar on growing my blog, or about writing in general - not because they're not good, but I personally feel like there's a wealth of free information out there already :). I think it's fine for bloggers to take breaks - everyone needs one! I'm actually planning on blogging more during the summer, as I'll have a lot of time off work, but we'll see how that goes!
ReplyDeleteThe merit of any course is a gamble. I would not pay $30 for 1 hour of an unknown quantity online. That is terribly expensive. I have learned much through trial and error. However, a good book on the subject is much more resourceful and you aren't buying a pig in a poke.
ReplyDeleteI am pleased with your knowledge of Dog days. I had the fun of doing school programs with a portable planetarium. No you don't need to know constellations but as far as general knowledge goes, it is good and makes a good pastime.
Sorry about the dog days for people who are suffering in the heat. At work, they keep the air conditioners on so cold that I have to wear a sweater.
ReplyDeleteI have not taken a break as yet from blogging but I have slowed down quite a bit. I am sure it is OK to take a break.
Have grown to be friends with a lot of bloggers therefore not seeing them write can worry me.
Hi Susan,
ReplyDeleteWe have been experiencing some sweltering heat in the UK. It can be a tough time for the elderly and indeed, our beloved animal friends. Precaution is definitely the key.
I never worry about exposure and how many "followers" I have. No concern about losing followers due to a blogging break or my lack of posting. In actuality, the number of followers, a word I hate, has virtually no bearing on a blog's popularity. I know this based on my own site.
Thank you for your post, Susan.
Gary :)
Thanks Susan for this - here in South Africa it's winter. I think it is quite ok to take time off and an excellent idea to let bloggers know - out of contact or whatever for next xxxx days/weeks. re: pay for a webinar? No I don't think so ..as someone said in one of the comments, there is excellent info about. Also, I agree about not worrying about xyz no. of followers ... Jane Friedman is an excellent resource. as is Linda Parkinson-Hardman (UK). I'm sorry I can't provide the link, bit of a Luddite in that area.
ReplyDeleteGreat post!
ReplyDeleteI try to blog 2 to 3 times a week, but if I get overwhelmed with offline stuff, I do try to blog at least once a week.
Heather
I only use my own images on my blog. I would certainly never pay anyone to find out how to Grow an Audience. That is down to one thing only being interactive with your followers and that is a lot of work, and I'm sort of lazy. As for taking a break it sometimes cant be helped but it does hit pageviews so I try and keep posting stuff on a regular basis, even a short. . . HEY HELLO. . . is better than nothing.
ReplyDeleteI try to blog once a week - I follow quite a few blogs and am overwhelmed trying to keep up with those who write every day. I post regularly on instagram or facebook.
ReplyDeleteI did attend a blogging conference when I first started blogging. I'd attend another if I found one nearby. I actually think one of the best things we can do as bloggers is read and comment on others' blog posts.
I take my own pictures except for the books I review which I copy from the publishers.
Nope. Been blogging for 8 years and I figured all I needed to know in the first 4 1/2. I used to worry about loosing readers whenever I would take an extended break, but I found that once I'd explained everything to my readers/followers (very important that you are upfront as to why you're taking a break) they were good with it.
ReplyDeleteRight now, I'm sort of on a semi-permanent break, in that I post twice a week on my main blog (thrice when ISWG rolls around) and once on my weekly Tumblr blog (FB has been giving me grief over the past 3 years about my book blog as they permanently labeled it as suspicious because I was overly zealous about my debut novel in 2013).
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