Demystifying Blogging

The Blogging Myth
It's So Easy, Anyone Can Do It

Writing a successful blog isn't a walk in the park. There are different ways to measure success, but if your main purpose is to increase the visibility of your work on iCraft, you want good levels of traffic, readers, followers and fans.

Perhaps you've read somewhere that starting a blog will help your store, and you're thinking all you have to do is post a picture of your latest listing once in awhile.

If that is your plan, you're actually better off not starting a blog at all, and spending more time making and listing new designs.

A blog that doesn't offer anything but your own self promotion isn't going to go very far, and the amount of traffic it will bring to your store will be minimal. The amount of time that you would put into such a blog would cost you much more than the $5, $10 or $15 it costs you per month to renew or list something and get a handful of new visits on iCraft, or the time it takes to send out a Tweet about your latest iCraft product.

Technically, blogging is pretty easy, and anyone can do it.
But you only get back what you put in.

As an iCraft seller and store owner, you get your own iCraft Blog. If you decide to have an outside blog as well, remember that copy and paste is terrible for your shop and blog SEO.

Choose an appropriate URL for you blog. Something that includes your shop name or selling username is a good idea. Your blog title should also be similar, but it's not necessarily a good idea to make your blog title identical to your shop name. It can make promoting it sort of awkward.

Look and Layout
Make Your Blog Attractive
 

You don't need fancy, expensive graphics and buttons and widgets to have a nice blog. Really. In fact, a plain white background and a few nice pictures allow your content to stand out without any distractions.

Choose one of your best product photos, or something that defines who you are and what your product is, for your banner. Crop it so it fits 654px × 125px required dimensions for a blog banner.
 

What Kind of Blog Will You Write?
Set the Tone of Your Blog

There are just as many blogging styles as there are bloggers, but most blogs can be placed into one of two categories: Journal or Magazine

A magazine blog is not only easier to maintain, but is much more versatile, especially if you're trying to promote other things that you do online, like selling your handmade products. Just think of yourself as the editor of your very own magazine. You come up with topics, write the articles and produce the content.

You can write with dry professionalism, if that's also the tone of your business, but it's perfectly alright to write your posts with humor, and include your own unique personality. Think of newspaper and magazine columns, which are often witty and even down right personal.

Before starting a magazine blog, try to figure out who your target audience is, obviously buyers , and plan posts that will engage those readers, and keep them coming.

Your Topic is Essential
Find Your Focus
 

If you neglect to read any other tips on this page, this one will do you the most good.
You must choose a focus for you blog and STICK TO IT.

If you start a blog about Throw Pillows, and write some great posts, like trends in home decor, and get a few followers, those readers will expect you to continue on that path. It's better not to disappoint them. If you frequently find yourself wanting to post about your cat, you may want to consider starting a pet blog. This way, your cat posts will be seen by people who are genuinely interested in cats, and your doll posts will be seen by people interested in dolls.

It is possible to write a great blog on a myriad of random topics, but it takes skill and finesse. If you truly love to write, and have lots of interesting things to say about lots of unique topics, then go for it. If not, choose one topic and STICK TO IT.

Obviously, if your blog's main purpose is to promote your iCraft store, your topic should have something to do with what you make or sell. For instance, if you sell all natural soap, you blog could be about earth-friendly beauty care, or about soap in general. If you sell jewelry, your blog could be about beads, or about the latest trends in jewelry. These are just a few examples of how to define your blog's focus. What you want to do is find a topic that you can tie in to your shop, but that also has potential for good reading.

If you only write about the products that you sell, no one will read your blog. If you write about related topics that are of interest to people like you, and to the people who buy from you, you'll have plenty of readers who would love to look around your shop.

Here's a great quote I found on a Blog:

"There's also a lot of chatter about twittering/blogging, and whether those are good at driving sales. Yes and no. If you have something interesting to say, eventually people will read it, and if you've got your products showcased next to what you're saying then it's free advertising.
But starting a blog and just posting when you list a new item isn't interesting to anyone except you."

If you decide to start blogging, also check iCraft's Blogging Guidelines.