The Mudcat Café TM
Thread #126207   Message #2802389
Posted By: Cuilionn
03-Jan-10 - 04:10 PM
Thread Name: Blogs
Subject: RE: Blogs
Jerry--

Blogging has been, for me, primarily a pleasant bit of writer's discipline. I started mine after admiring the work of some other women--mostly clergy and homesteaders of various stripes--who write well and regularly. The goal was to make myself write one short essay a week. For the first several weeks, I also tried to teach myself one blog-related skill per week, too: changing font effects, imbedding photos and video clips, etc.
I never had a commercial aim with mine, and was pleasantly surprised to pick up a handful of "followers." (figgered my readership would be pretty much limited to myself and my mother...how the others found me, I'm not entirely sure.) Eventually I hooked up with a web-ring of like-minded bloggers and participated in some of their regular writing games/exercises (called "memes").
Most of the "site traffic" I've generated has been the result of my participation in memes and the comments I've taken the time to leave on others' blogs. I also go on Facebook and note my blog postings in my status update with a clickable link to the blog-- again, mostly so kith & kin can see what I've been up to, but also to generate a slightly wider circle of interest. (I do not do any Twittering as I distrust technologies that cater to short attention spans.)

A note about posting creative material and personal compositions-- take the time to include a copyright notice somewhere on your blog, and/or include one below each new bit of lyricism that you post. I've noticed that many people who post photos have managed to "stamp" the images with a copyright notice so that it can't be cut-and-pasted by anyone else without the true source being known. (Likewise, on my blog, whenever I use lyrics, photos, etc. from anywhere else, I always try to post links to the source(s) of that material as a courtesy.)

Hope this helps... if you want to take a gander at my blog, PM me and I'll send a link.

Blessings,

--Cuilionn