I blogged pretty regularly from 2000 – 2006 or so. I had a pretty good readership, active readers and commenters – certainly plenty drama to keep them coming back for more. But honestly, A LOT has changed since then. Everybody seems to want to be a blogger rock star, to make tons of money with their posts with sponsors and give-aways etc. And readers expect that too I think. It’s sort of overwhelming, for someone just starting. I’d be lying if I said I didn’t want readers, but I honestly don’t know how one does that without being a blog that is a job. I don’t want my blog to be my job. I certainly am not talking about anything that I can monetize, because I’m a newbie quilter, and a mediocre photographer. What I want is my blog to mark my progress as a quilter. I would like visitors and an online community to talk about what is going on in my quilt life too though.
So can a blog be successful being a personal homegrown thing these days? Without offering free stuff, patterns or organized activities? What marks a blog’s success anyways? I don’t know, but I am pretty good at talking to myself so I guess it doesn’t matter much, really.
I don’t want sponsors on my blog and have no desire to be a rock star blogger either. It’s a diary for me to keep track of my quilting and a little about my life, it give my family who live far from me and friends too, to see what I’ve been working on. I mostly visit blogs with quilt pictures. I sometimes participate in a blog hop but only to give me access to more quilty blogs to read. I love to be inspired by what others do. If people I don’t know want to see my quilts, help yourself. Comment? I like it but I don’t comment on every blog I open so I don’t worry about it. I do it for m.
I do like blogs with plenty pictures. I also like when people talk about their process, and their difficulties – and how they solved those problems. Also – I added you to my links!