Tips for New Bloggers-Interview Series-Kam of Campfire chic

This Spring, I'm hosting a series of interviews with accomplished and talented bloggers. We're talking about tips for us newbies and they've got some amazing answers. So, follow along, and learn with me from some of the best craft and lifestyle bloggers out there! 

Today's interview is with Kam of Campfire Chic. Here's her story: Campfire Chic is my story as a crafty camper. I share my story as a 9-5er looking for adventure and a handmade life. The posts I share encourage my readers to take risks and try new things, like camping, rock climbing, and yoga, while maintaining their current interests and responsibilities. Campfire Chic is about accepting challenges, setting achievable goals, and documenting the journey toward the finish line. I search out and share different methods for organization and goal setting because I believe that these can lead to a more productive life...which leaves plenty of time for more adventure! Campfire Chic allows me document my journey to adventure...the tale of a crafty camper.

1.      What's one super simple thing that every new blogger should be doing with their posts?

    There are quite a few things a blogger can do with a new post, but the most important? Proofread! I can’t tell you how silly I feel when I’m sitting at work glancing through my blog post for the day on my phone only to see a huge spelling/grammatical error. It’s the worst! I know that I can’t get home to fix it for a few hours, and by then, the post isn't as fresh. Proofreading your work before publishing is important. If you’re not willing to put the work in to publish good work, why should somebody read it?

2.      Did you have an 'Aha!' moment when you first started blogging that has helped you greatly? (How to do something, a nifty new trick, etc)

    My biggest Aha! Moment was when I realized I could give myself permission to not post 7 days a week. My analytics showed that my readership drops significantly on Saturday and Sunday, so why bother publishing perfectly good content on those days? Don’t feel pressured to have to stick to a specific “you’ll only be taken seriously if…” kind of schedule. Go ahead and only post on Monday, Wednesday, and Friday! Go ahead and only post once a week!

3. What's been your experience working with other bloggers and what kind of networking do you recommend?

    I have three years of experience working with other bloggers in different ways. I submit guest blog posts, host and participate in blog parties, co-host a semi-annual journaling challenge known as 30 Days of Lists, contribute to ebooks, you name it! Depending on your niche, I would avoid calling it networking and thinking more along the lines of building relationships. Some of these relationships are going to be more professional in nature, but it is still a relationship!

     When interacting with other bloggers, I suggest being yourself, being honest with deadlines and expectations, and being open to possibilities. Maybe you were hoping to get a guest blog post from a sewing blogger but ended up planning a co-hosted series of posts! The possibilities are endless, it just takes a little bravery to jump on board. 

Thanks Kam for a great interview! What I love about Kam's blog is her mix of crafty and DIY lifestyle things with informative and interesting posts about being a blogger. She has some amazing articles about meeting your blog goals and being more productive! Thanks for reading and check back soon for more interviews!

Publishing Your Blog on Amazon Kindle

Do you read blogs or magazines on your Kindle or e-reader? Do you know people who do? Did you know that you can get your blog published as a monthly subscription on Amazon Kindle? I'll briefly explain why and how you should publish your blog for Kindle to promote your blog and gain new readers.

Why You should Publish on Kindle

It's unbelievable how big the eBook world is right now. Even more incredible is how many people there are that read newspapers, magazines, and blogs on their e-readers, and pay for monthly subscriptions online, just as they would for paper copies of the same publications. There are thousands of blogs available to read through your e-reader. If you have a blog, you are choosing to promote your art or express your thoughts to the digital world. On the internet, new places to promote your blog continuously appear and grow very rapidly. Amazon Kindle is just one of the many spaces that has recently emerged as a popular way to read blogs. 

How it Works

Signing up to become a Kindle blog publisher is quick and easy. After creating an account, It's easy to follow the steps to create  your kindle-blog. You'll need your URL, a screen shot of the blog, the blog header, and a description of the blog. Note: Amazon sets the price of your monthly subscription and you receive about 30% of the total subscription price.

Want to learn more? Click Here to Go to Kindle Publishing.

Tips for New Bloggers

Take a Look Around

What made you decide to start your blog? Who inspires you? Write these things down. Work them into the 'about' page of your blog. Defining these things-what you want your blog to feel like, what you do and don't like about similar blogs- will help you as you grow personally and publicly as a blog writing.

Ask for Help

We all have weak spots (and strengths of course!) that we could use some help with. Evaluate your blog or writing and try to determine what yours are. Or, ask someone else to give you some feedback. Either way, once you know what those are, it's time to ask for help. Maybe you are clueless about HTML, or maybe you are unfamiliar with social media or photography. Regardless, find someone who can lend a hand and teach you the basics. This could be a friend or family member or another blogger or online buddy. Allow them to help you make your blog better and then start practicing the skills they've taught you!

Don't go Crazy

Blogging can be super overwhelming once you've written and published that first post and the question of "now what?" sinks in...Now you've got to promote to an internet community that doesn't know who you are in spaces where you've probably never been a regular poster. Start with just one. Just pick one place to start spreading the news that you've got a great blog. That could be Twitter, Reddit, Pinterest or Facebook or one of many others. Master just one and then when you are comfortable with that, slowly build up multiple outlets of promotion. 

Find the Right Tools

At this point, you're going to need some tools. Every great venture needs tools of some kind. Here are a few I use that are super simple and great for new bloggers like myself.

IFTTT-this website is a great one to use to have your twitter or facebook (or many other apps and websites!) update for you automatically when you post on your blog. 

Pic Monkey-need help with photo editing? This is an awesome site!

Twitter-Let's just face it: like Twitter or not, the people you want to reach use it, so sign up and become a Twit.

Facebook Pages-This is how you can create a Facebook page exclusively for your blog and post on it AS your blog, NOT your personal facebook profile. I use it to allow links to my blog posts to show up in the Facebook newsfeeds of people who like my page.

Realize it Takes Time

Understand that it takes a very long time to build a blog with readers and weekly features and something special. Don't rush through your posts, try to write quality posts, not quantity posts. Translation: Fewer, but totally awesome posts, rather than a ton of posts with only pictures, or excuses about why you haven't been around to blog. The art of blogging in the online craft world is crazy difficult sometimes- but it's also a lot of fun so slow down and enjoy it. Don't worry about blog stats or the number of published comments you have or don't have. Just focus on the enthusiasm you have as a new blogger. 

Note: Next month I will be hosting interviews with some fantastic and experienced bloggers about their bests tips and advice for new bloggers. Stay tuned!

This Memorable Life is now on Amazon Kindle!

Do you read by Kindle? I'm happy to announce that This Memorable Life is now available for a monthly subscription on Amazon Kindle! This means that you can read my blog on your e-reader. Blog posts will be delivered wirelessly and automatically to your e-reader each time I post something new! Interested? You can get a 14-day trial completely for free! Click here to get your monthly subscription now!

-Taylor

Cool Tool: IFTTT

Have you ever heard of IFTTT (like 'gift' without the G)? I stumbled upon this geeky site somehow...I'm not sure what path I took to get there but I gotta say: it rocks. It allows you to create "recipes" between apps and websites to perform tasks automatically for you. For example, every time I publish a new blog post, IFTTT automatically posts a tweet for me with a link and the title of my post to my Twitter profile. How cool is that?

There are a ton of apps that you can use to make recipes. I really think that this is a great tool for bloggers who are short on time or loathe social networking :)