Last fall, I enrolled in Blogging Your Way, a blogging e-course by Holly Becker of Decor8 and Leslie Shewring of A Creative Mint. The four-week course was packed with information and inspiration; months later I'm still digesting everything! It sparked ideas for new projects, new directions and even a new blog (stay tuned!), but also made me think about this old blog in a new way.
When I started blogging seven years ago, the blogosphere was very different. A blog was an online journal, a diary. If you had a lot to rant about in real life, your blog would be full of rants. If you had nothing going on in your life, your blog would be full of meaningless blather. The average blogger didn't give much thought to presentation and promotion back then. It was always about what you had to say.
Things have changed. Today, blogs are carefully curated, prepared, promoted—ironically enough, whether or not you even create your own original content. There are simply things you need to do, that I hadn't been doing. Some things make perfect sense to me; other things, like reblogging and reposting, just... don't (yet).
So consider this a bit of housekeeping that's been long overdue. I've put some new things in place, first of which is the About page. Even if you've been reading my blog for a long time and feel you know me pretty well, read it anyway! You just might find out a few things you don't already know about me. Like what the heck a Currystrumpet is, for example.
It was hard to write an About page for myself! To describe myself as a "lifestyle" blog or a "travel" blog would have been very neat and handy, but I don't think I quite fit into either of those categories. Still, I've written something I'm happy with, and that I think sums up me and my blog pretty well. Holler if you agree!
It was fun choosing a picture. This was taken shortly after my 30th birthday, in Istanbul. Our host Suzan had this gorgeous traditional Maltese balcony with a leather wing chair that just screamed to be posed in.
The second new addition is the Welcome note on the right-hand column, essentially a shorter version of the About page. Below it, you'll now find links to my Twitter and Pinterest accounts. Follow away!
Finally, I've organized my Blogroll and moved it to a separate page. I've realized that I have a) so many fun and interesting friends who blog, and b) great blogs that I've discovered but kept to myself. So starting this January, I will feature one blog per month from my Blogroll as my "blog of the month." Just sharing the love, y'all.
Do you like the new About page and the "blog of the month" idea? What kind of things do you want to see more of on this blog in the New Year? Hit the comments and let me know.
When I started blogging seven years ago, the blogosphere was very different. A blog was an online journal, a diary. If you had a lot to rant about in real life, your blog would be full of rants. If you had nothing going on in your life, your blog would be full of meaningless blather. The average blogger didn't give much thought to presentation and promotion back then. It was always about what you had to say.
Things have changed. Today, blogs are carefully curated, prepared, promoted—ironically enough, whether or not you even create your own original content. There are simply things you need to do, that I hadn't been doing. Some things make perfect sense to me; other things, like reblogging and reposting, just... don't (yet).
So consider this a bit of housekeeping that's been long overdue. I've put some new things in place, first of which is the About page. Even if you've been reading my blog for a long time and feel you know me pretty well, read it anyway! You just might find out a few things you don't already know about me. Like what the heck a Currystrumpet is, for example.It was hard to write an About page for myself! To describe myself as a "lifestyle" blog or a "travel" blog would have been very neat and handy, but I don't think I quite fit into either of those categories. Still, I've written something I'm happy with, and that I think sums up me and my blog pretty well. Holler if you agree!
It was fun choosing a picture. This was taken shortly after my 30th birthday, in Istanbul. Our host Suzan had this gorgeous traditional Maltese balcony with a leather wing chair that just screamed to be posed in.
The second new addition is the Welcome note on the right-hand column, essentially a shorter version of the About page. Below it, you'll now find links to my Twitter and Pinterest accounts. Follow away!
Finally, I've organized my Blogroll and moved it to a separate page. I've realized that I have a) so many fun and interesting friends who blog, and b) great blogs that I've discovered but kept to myself. So starting this January, I will feature one blog per month from my Blogroll as my "blog of the month." Just sharing the love, y'all.
Do you like the new About page and the "blog of the month" idea? What kind of things do you want to see more of on this blog in the New Year? Hit the comments and let me know.
Hi, Deeps. The About page is a good idea. Been thinking of adding one myself, but I dunno what to put there, haha.
ReplyDeleteI think you should also add a comments section in this particular page. New followers can introduce themselves here, if they don't comment right away in the post they first "landed" on (referring only to users/ readers who are led to the blog via search terms that match your tags. I guess it's different for users who get to your page without referring sites.
Plus, maybe instead of or in addition to the tags, you can add pages for major or "umbrella" topics. Say, add a page for "Artsy Fartsy," and all art projects or anything related to art fall here. Then there's your Travel, and your guest entries on other sites. There'll be entries falling under one or two categories, but it's more user-friendly kasi if you have pages ready, instead of people going through a block of categories or typing in the search bar.
Hope this helps.
Thanks, Melita! Yes, the next step is to add a page for all my "elsewhere on the Web" posts. Categorizing posts is a great suggestion that makes so much sense since I have so much content. That task seems so daunting to me right now. That would mean I really need to get ORGANIZED! Haha. But thanks again.
ReplyDeleteNice job Deeps! Can't wait to see Currystrumpet 2.0.
ReplyDeleteDitto on your thoughts about the changing blogosphere. I knew it had changed for good nung hindi na uso mag-post ng meme at online autograph, ha ha. Hay, those days...
In any case, I've been going through a kind of blogger's identity crisis for quite some time now, because of these bigger paradigm shifts - my previous 'solution' has just been to avoid blogging, but I know you know how vital and fulfilling it can be to write for your own little slice of the Internet, even when you're absolutely sure that no one's reading, commenting, or "liking" it.
Your About page has just the right combination of sparkle and warmth that your blog has always been about! :)
Thanks for the reference to the BYW workshop. Definitely considering it.
As we say in dapilipins... more power to you! :)
I've been a long time reader of your blog and I still learned new things about you from the About page - yes, why Currystrumpet? hehe
ReplyDeleteJeline: Aww thanks. Sparkle and warmth! I like! It could be the name for a new blog, haha.
ReplyDeleteCris: Thanks for reading. Tadaaaah! Mystery solved :)