Category / Reasons to blog

by Nancy at HisThumbprint

One is the loneliest number

 

one

Hey gang! I haven’t blogged as much lately as I was doing for a while. My ‘day job’ has been really busy so I’ve been tired. I don’t think I’ll go that long between posts again though. Why? I checked the views for the last post and I was….

BLOWN AWAY! There was 1. O N E. Just one. The loneliest number. My goodness! Did ya’ll give up on me? Or was it because that was a sponsored post? I’m actually seriously asking these questions so if you could comment, that would be great! Here’s what I learned on my own, though….

To make something grow, you have to feed it. Duh! Of course I knew that. I need to be here more. If you have a blog, make sure you show up! No matter what, post about something! I’ve seen pins on Pinterest that give ideas of what to blog about. Writing prompts or very general ideas. I think that’s a great thing. If you need inspiration, that’s where to go!

I also learned that people like when I’m myself. I need to write the blog in ‘my voice’. Everyone who writes a blog should find what’s comfortable for them and stick to it. It’s more comfortable to write that way and sounds better to your readers.

While I believe in Tailwind and think it’s a great app, I’m not sure if I was ready to write a ‘sponsored post’. I may again in the future when I’m more experienced at blogging and more comfortable with the idea. I felt a little ‘pressure’ when I wrote it. Sponsored posts are almost sales pitches in a way! Don’t get me wrong. It was my idea to do it. The pressure was from inside me. I don’t write as well when I put pressure on myself.

Bottom line is, I’ll be back a lot more often. More like I was before. I missed doing this!

Thanks for stopping by again!

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by Nancy at HisThumbprint

Subscribe to the newsletter!

Subscribe

So, today we’re going to talk about building an email list for your blog! I’m sure you’ve seen the pop-up inviting you to subscribe to my newsletter when you come to my site. This is one (and the best) way to build your email list! Why do you want one? Well, I’ll tell you!

Having a list of subscribers gives you a list of people who are interested in what you have to say or sell. You can direct sales right to them, keep them up to date on what’s going on, and give sneak previews of what’s to come! In turn, that will increase your sales or site traffic! Any good tutorial or blog on ‘how to grow your blog’ will tell you, contact is everything. EVERY. THING.And the best way to do that is to build an email list and keep in CONTACT with your followers…but never ever spam them or overwhelm them.(I’ll talk about that in a minute)  I know many of you get my blog in your email everytime I post and I thank you for that! But, just like me, you want your followers to be engaged with you.

Part of blogging…a big part, actually, is building community around a common interest. The blogging community is generally a fun and welcoming place. I’ve gotten to know a few bloggers that I follow and I feel like I know a few that follow me. One good way is through commenting, of course. I love getting comments on here, so don’t be shy! The more you get to know your followers, the more likely they are to share your blog or shop with their friends! That sounds good to me! And even better is that through commenting, your followers can get to know each other. Community!

Part of community is staying in touch through a newsletter. Mine comes out once a month. Around the first of the month. Included are tutorials for some of the crafts in my Etsy shop, blogging and small business tips, answers to questions you may have, as well as a coupon code from time to time! Also, in the September and October newsletters there will be sneak peeks of my fall, Thanksgiving, and Christmas items! AND….a chance to pre-order some of them….PLUS…the only chance to get some of them personalized!

See what I did there? I’m giving you, my followers, perks for signing up! That helps get subscribers, which builds community, which is what we want in the first place. I will let you know right here that the FASTEST way to lose subscribers is to spam them or constantly send nonsense. I promise you that my newsletter is all you’re signing up for UNLESS there is a major product release or a special sale. Those won’t happen often. Most of your email from me will be the newsletter, unless of course you ask me something 😉

We’ll talk more about email lists and newsletters again in future posts. In the meantime…..

Refresh this page and sign up in the pop up! If that doesn’t work, use the contact me form!

Thanks!

~ Nancy

by Nancy at HisThumbprint

Reasons To Blog

You need a reason to blog? Of course you do! I bet you have a lot of reasons. We’ll talk about a few here. Just as a side note, my next post will be reasons to sell on Etsy. I haven’t touched on that topic for a while. I don’t want to lose my small business followers! But, for today, we’re talking about your reasons to blog!

I started this blog to go hand in hand with my Etsy shop. To promote it, to boost its impact. It’s already become much more than that to me, though. But, I started with one reason. You probably will or did, too. Maybe you just had something you wanted to say. Sometimes that’s the case. A blog is a great place to just tell it like it is. Get things off your chest. Influence people on a subject that’s important to you.

You may just love to write. About anything. Blogs like that can be so much fun. Just to see what’s on someone’s mind. You can learn a lot that way, for sure. Photographers use blogs a lot to show off their work and promote it. If you’re an expert on something, sharing your expertise is good, too.

So, you’ve got your first reason. What are others? And the perks? Here’s what I’ve found;

  • Blogging involves discipline. We talked some about that on the last post. You need to schedule and plan. It’s a good way to grow your discipline skills
  • You get to know other people. You don’t have to go anywhere to blog so if you’re shy, it’s the perfect vehicle to meet people with similar interests.
  • You can earn money. Sometimes really good money. There are a lot of people who earn a living solely by blogging. How cool is that? As a matter of fact, I just became a member of an affiliate program, which you’ll be seeing on here in the next day or so. (I won’t forget my disclaimers) This is part of my business. It’s part of mgthumbprints. It will earn money for me just like the shop. Cool, huh? I’ll do a post on affiliate programs at some point soon.
  • Product development. If you are a crafter or other manufacturer, your blog audience is a good place to find ideas or get opinions on what you’re up to. You don’t want to give away too much info but you sure can pick your readers brains on your ideas!

No matter your reasons for blogging, the best thing to do is keep it up! There are many benefits to you and your readers. Even if you have a small audience, you could touch one of them and change their lives. Seriously! Happy blogging!

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