Mary Engelbreit Mother Goose illustrationI'm looking for TravelinOma's Library. Where would you suggest I look?
In the spirit of self-improvement, I've been reading a bunch of books, articles and blogs about how to make my blog more reader friendly and easier to find, for the lost masses looking for it. (I'm NOT looking to make money, or advertise at all, just discover stumbling readers.)
My guru suggesters suggest that I connect with the bloggers who are in my Niche. Do I have a niche? I can understand the crafting corners, the mommy blogs, the politicos....but do I fit in somewhere? You've read my stuff. I'm kind of eclectic, to use my favorite term. Is that a genre, or a niche? Eclectic seems too broad to attract interest. I want to be a boutique, not a WalMart.
There's a popular post with daily blog tips that has suggested you can tell what kind of blogger you are, by what your readers think you're wearing.
There's the pajama blogger, the suit and tie blogger, etc. and maybe this exercise helps you find your niche. I'm supposed to do blog niche exploration and tap into niche readership, to study how those blogs have succeeded in making their sites welcoming and readable, and then follow their lead.
I just need your input:
- What is my Niche??
- Do I fit in a genre?
- And as long as we're chatting: Are short posts better?
- Long posts?
- Serialized posts?
- Lots of photos?
- Some photos?
- None?
- Do I let it all hang out too much?
- Tell more than you need to know?
- Or do you want all the nitty gritty details, the "he-said", "she-said" accounts?
- Do you use Bloglines or other feeds, or just check your blogs when you're in the mood?
- Do you stop reading when there's a long time between posts? How often is too often to post?
- Do you read just the first few lines of a post, or do you usually read the whole thing?
- Do you favor blogs for their content (text), graphics, or links to other blogs?
- What catches your attention?
- What's your favorite kind of blog....(Niche, or Genre,) and give an example of one so we can go check it out. This is one you read every day because you love it. Your aunt's that you feel obligated to read doesn't count unless you truly love it for other reasons.
- Do you blog every day, or just a couple days a week, or less?
- Do you want blog friendships to extend beyond commenting on each other's blogs?
- Last, but not least, how much do other peoples' blog lists influence you to go exploring?
I'm trying to see what others see. Do you see me in my nightgown, hoping my fairy godmother will magically type the first few sentences to get me going? Do you see me paging through every book of illustrations I own trying to match a thought with an image? Do you see my words pouring out of my fingertips faster than I can even think them, re-reading to see what I said? Is there a genre for that? Are any of you in my niche? What's it called?Consider this your good deed for the day: Help TravelinOma find her niche!
8 comments:
those are some great bloging tips
Hmmm....I see this as either a family blog or a memoir blog. Or...like a book blog. Sometimes your posts read as if you are writing pieces to fit into a larger memoir.
Create a niche if there isn't one.
Well, Marty...we're like-minded in a lot of things so how 'bout our blogs? I never have put mine in a niche or a genre. I am just so "me" I can't be anything else. I just figure if someone stumbles by and likes what they read and comes back again, I'm blessed. I blog about thoughts or things that happen during my day...it's pretty much a daily record. Maybe it's a record-keeping blog, haha! I don't think about it. I don't analyze it. Like my daughter says, "You just write."
I'd say you HAVE found your niche. You write what you're thinking/feeling and it just so happens to be relevant and interesting to us (your faithful readers). I'd say write for yourself. I know I enjoy how you write as-is!
mom, well i know what you're wearing. it could be your cute preppy plaid blouse, your nightgown with ruffles, your hip and trendy capris with strappy sandals. you may as well be the hippest 'oma' alive.
as for your blog, you are HONEST and genuine. which is a good thing. you write about your history, your stories, your past, the pieces that made you YOU. with all that you've been through, i feel that we can all gain a tip or two from you!
i especially love your TRAVELING tips, your cute mothering and grandmothering tips & stories, and it's always fun to hear the family stories (yet, i'm completely biased)!
you have a niche if you know it or not! you are optimistic, cheerful and write your heart out in such a realistic manner. it's refreshing how REAL you are. it's better than watching the Real World!
you are fabulous. keep writing, the readers will come.
So many questions!
I like the term "eclectic" - a little bit of everything - but as you say, it's not very descriptive.
I like your boutique analogy. I see your boutique as warm, homey, and inviting. It's set in a tree-lined street with sidewalk cafes. Inside you dispense cute family anecdotes, nostalgic memories, no-nonsense life lessons, observations and humour, all wrapped in stylish prose.
Being rather eclectic myself, it's hard to determine a niche or genre. Just keep doing what you're doing. Short/long, pictures/no pictures, it's all good.
Oh, and I do like looking at bloglists to find like-minded bloggers.
Mom... as a non-blogger, and busy mom, I look and see if I'm going to have time to read any post (on any blog) quickly - although when I have the time, I love being absorbed in your memories. I've loved the pics of England and your other images just add to your beautiful writing. I don't read everyday, but when I get the opportunity, yours is the first blog I come to.
Hi, Oma. I know this is an older post, but I have been away from the blog world for a while, and am catching up...hope you don't mind.
From the entries I have read on your blog over the past few months, I'd say yours is a memoir type blog. What keeps me coming back is the warmth that radiates from every carefully chosen word. I picture you blogging dressed casually and comfortably..can't imagine you put on airs.
I like your one-off, as well as your serial posts. I like that there is a record in the making of your life that your children and grandchildren can draw from. How far we've come...from an oral to a pixel tradition :)
I read the comments others leave on peoples' blogs, as well as the blog itself. It is the comments that people leave that pique my interest to visit their sites.
The blogs I return to again and again are those that are honest, those that change the way I see the world in some way, the ones that make me laugh, and the ones that remind me that I am not the only one who struggles. Your blog does all of the above. Thank you for permitting me this glimpse into a different way of being.
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