Challenge of Blogging – Part Three
The biggest challenge to blogging is feeding the beast.
Just remember, we are not just talking about a few postings, but hundreds of postings over many years.
If you post only once a week then you will need content for 52 postings. In the crowded world of blogs, expect 3-5 years of effort before your audience reaches a critical level of support (however, you define that).
Ask yourself, what topic will give yourself enough content to get to the promise land of brand recognition and then beyond?
I am a big fan of Film Riot on Youtube. Film Riot explores the techniques of film-making, but even these guys have mixed up things to generate new content and to keep things interesting.
Recently, they invited other film-makers to create short films with behind the scenes look at how they did it.
This raises another challenge, the content must be relevant, it must provide value to your audience. You know why you want people to follow you, but why should they?
For example, I love watching artists create their art, but it is a slow process and needs something more to keep me coming back until the project is finished. If all you offer is essays on how it is to be artist, then do you really believe that people will stick around?
My answer to the challenge is to be local. However, not just with a few references to coffee shops and places to shop, but detail studies on the urban landscape and how the past has shaped the places where we live and work. Further, I try and visit these places and create regular written and visual postings. All this being directly or indirectly connected by my art.
The results may be very rough, but it is my hope that the focus on local urban architecture and local landscapes will compensate for the lack of polish.
Next week – defining your audience.
