by Laurie Lico Albanese
“Go with your passion,” was the phrase of the day at Stacey Gill’s Kick-Start Your Blog workshop held at The Writers Circle in Montclair this past Sunday. “Focus on what you’re passionate about and put all that energy into the blog.”
Stacey – a.k.a. the hilarious parenting blogger at One Funny Motha – launched her own blog anonymously three and a half years ago on the advice of The Book Doctors. She now has more than 12,000 followers and is shopping her parenting book to publishers.
“I believe if you’re a writer you really need some kind of online presence,” Stacey said. “I started to blog because I knew it was a way to hone my craft. I knew I had to press ‘publish’ every day, and it forced me to write.”
Stacey told the full house at St. Luke’s Episcopal Church that writers who want to build a following and a platform should choose a topic that energizes them, and then launch a blog and Facebook fan page to build their online presence.
“Blogging provides a platform for writers that didn’t exist before,” Stacey said. “My entire network is online; I can think of several successful writers who never would have been published if they hadn’t been online.”
Just some of the topics Stacey covered in the two hour workshop included:
- Defining blog goals
- Finding a catchy blog name and tagline
- Developing a following
- Creating a platform
- Building your base
- Honing your voice.
She had the room chuckling and buzzing with insights about writing blog posts that attract readers. “Internet readers searching for ‘butt crack’ and ‘Costco croutons’ have brought a lot of visits to my blog!”
Stacey shared these tips to consider
BEFORE YOU START YOUR BLOG
- read and look at other blogs
- see what blog designs appeal to you
- visit wordpress.com for free blogging platforms and information
- decide upon a name and tagline for your blog
- Google your blog name to make sure it’s not taken
- reserve your domain name for the future at GoDaddy.com
- create a Facebook fan page (with your blog name)
She also suggested getting familiar with other bloggers and follow the ones you really like. Some she mentioned were:
BLOGS TO FOLLOW
- Jill Smokler of Scary Mommy
- Jen Mann of People I Want to Punch in the Throat
- Jenny Lawson of The Bloggess
- Bunmi Laditan of Honest Toddler
- Karen Alpert of Baby Sideburns
- Ilana Wiles of Mommy Shorts
- Allie Brosh of Hyperbole and a Half
Workshop participants came from a wide range of fields, including a wine merchant, a book group blogger, a real estate agent, a veterinarian, and even a fan of the One Funny Motha blog. Everyone left with a to-do list to help them conceptualize their blog, and plenty of tips for getting started.
“It’s no longer optional. If you’re a professional, you need to be on the Internet and you need to be able to be found there,” one student observed.
Stacey will be teaching a 9-week Launching Your Blog workshop on Thursday evenings in Montclair, 7-9 p.m. beginning Thursday, April 21st.
