The house is a mess. The bills are overdue. I missed a deadline. I haven’t signed my son up for a single summer camp or planned the family’s summer vacation.
I’ve been too busy blogging. For the past month I’ve posted here every day. 31 days, 31 blog posts – a couple more actually because some days I wrote more than once.
Why spend so much time writing for free, something that I counsel other writers against?
Because for the second year in a row, I hosted a month-long blogathon for freelance writers. This year close to 45 showed up. Together we blogged through weekdays, weekends and a holiday. We held a guest post exchange and wrote on another writer’s blog for a day. We encouraged each other on Twitter. Tomorrow we’ll be back on Twitter for a blogathon wrap party. You can tune in too, just follow the hashtag #MayBlog2.
When I thought up doing a blogathon last year, I only had a few month of blogging under my belt. My posts were sporadic and I didn’t know much about traffic or SEO. The blogathon was a way to stick to a schedule, teach myself about blog promotion, and bring a few friends along for the ride.
This year my blogathon goals were different. Over the past 12 month, I’ve settled into a regular posting groove, learned about promoting my work, and seen traffic grow 10 fold. For me, this month was about tackling subjects I’d wanted to cover but hadn’t made time for, like putting together this list of top 25 digital media trendsetters. I also used it to build my “brand” to get recognized in the industry I blog about, and getting to know other writers and bloggers better, especially those that cover what I do.
By those measures, the month was a success. At the same time, and just like last year, the best part was having friends along for the ride.
For most, if not all the writers in this year’s blogathon, blogging is still a side project, an early morning or after hours gig we do in addition to our “real” writing, the magazine or Website assignments that pay the bills. But I predict that for more and more of us, blogging will be the assignment, whether it’s for a publisher we already write for, at HuffPost to drive traffic to our other work, ourselves to promote a book or project, a hyperlocal news site, or ghostblogging for a corporate client.
So there’s a solid business case to be made for a freelance writer spending time becoming a better blogger. In 2009, blogging is a skill every writer has to know.
What have you learned from the blogathon, or from your own blogging practice? Feel free to leave a comment. I’ll include some of the best along with other lessons learned from Monday’s blogathon wrap party in an upcoming post.
I definitely would love to be apart of your upcoming blogathon — if there is one in the making!
I plan to launch my blog soon: Pen & The City (http://www.penandthecity.com)
The only thing that’s holding me back is actually designing the layout. The content and the thoughts are there. (I know, I know…designing should be the least of my worries, but nevertheless, it is).
Please bookmark my blog or my website — heck, just remember me the next time you have a blogathon. I’d love to be apart of it!
Michelle,
Since you first got me hooked into participating in a blogathon last year through FreelanceSuccess.com, I’ve initiated two of my own–with speakers. What I’ve learned from it is this:
_Blogging is not a solitary experience, nor should it be. If you want to journal for yourself, there are notebooks and ink pens for that.
_Blogging is more about creating community, not just airing out your thoughts. And a blogathon can help kick start the process.
_Blogging in a blogathon forces you to think about your audience and what they might be interested in…because if you’re going to spend the time posting daily, you might as well post something interesting or entertaining.
_Blogging in a blogathon, where you’re required to post a specific amount in a specific amount of time, forces you to plan ahead, or at least think ahead.
_A blogathon also teaches you the importance of information sharing. Because this year, we had Twitter, it created a whole new dynamic with the group. We were able to spread the word easier. And we were really successful at it.
_One other thing I can think of that a blogathon can do for a group of writers who want to blog is help them trust in the process of writing. If you’re not a writer disciplined to write daily already, it’s great training ground for that. Plus, this trust allows you to experiment with ideas (though, as you said, without pay) and a surefire audience at your fingertips you might not otherwise have.
My two cents,
Jackie
[...] But I could have done better. I should have done better. Why? Because blogging is as much a business as it is a passion. [...]
I think the relationship with readers and followers is the whole point of blogging. So, yes, do find ways/time to engage–on both ends. For me, that’s what MAKES the whole experience, though I admit it’s harder to get to other sites than it is to respond from your own. It behooves you to do both, as best you can.
Thanks for initiating the best blogathon yet! All the extras added great fun to the learning process.
Michelle,
Let me first start by saying that it has been an absolute pleasure not only being a member of the blogathon, but also getting to know all my fellow bloggers that also participated. I made lots of new friends and I gained a lot of readers along the way since May 1.
I appreciate the opportunity that you gave us to not only get to gain new friends, but also to help one another out. Writing is such a personal journey no matter what category your place yourself in. And to see others taking it so seriously to blog daily and give each other feedback and comments was just fantastic.
I can’t wait to continue to be a part of your blogathons in the coming years.
Thanks again. For the support, the friendship, and most of all the chance to get our voices heard, recognized, and taken seriously as writers. I know it means a lot to all of us who participated in your blogathon.
Michelle,
I’ve enjoyed the blogathon, though I didn’t participate directly– okay, I did two guest posts at one of the participating blogs, A Traveler’s Library, commented on other blogs, and read yet others. Here’s wishing you all a great wrap party and many fine posts and conversations ahead.
[...] that would have restricted my ability to blog about topics I also write about. One of the reasons I got into blogging in the first place was to get up to speed on topics I want to write about, so I’m not going to agree to limit [...]
[...] Start a blog: Start a blog to extend your brand and reach more readers and industry people online. [...]
Jackie: Thank you for articulating so completely so many of the same thoughts I’ve had these past few days thinking about this year’s blogathon. Blogging is not a solitary pursuit; one thing I tried to do more of this month was reply to comment – this I am with this one – in order to keep the conversation going. If the 21st century news model is shared communication, than having a relationship with your readers is one more way to practice for what’s to come.
MVR
Thanks Kerry, it was a lot of work, but a lot of fun too. We just finished the wrap party & I’m in the process of posting the transcript of our Twitter chat here.
MVR
Danielle, thank you for participating. The blogathon has taken on a life of its own, far beyond anything I could have imagined when I started it a year ago. As writers we work alone so much of time it’s a treat to do something as a group, especially for those of us (like me) who at one time worked in a newsroom or on staff at a magazine and remember the camaraderie that offered.
MVR
So sorry you missed us. Not to worry, I’ll do announce the 3rd annual WordCount Blogathon well in advance of May 2010 to give you and anyone else who wants to join plenty of time to get ready.
MVR