As promised, I have compiled a list of links and tips from the talk "Blogging the Handmade" that Rena Tom (Rare Device) and I (Greenjeans) gave at the American Craft Council on September 20. Thanks to everyone who came out for the event, and to the ACC for asking us!
Rena and I got a lot of positive feedback about our talk, with people telling us that they found it helpful and inspiring. A few people even launched blogs of their own in response! You can read my recap of the talk here, or watch the short video Etsy made about it.
Without further ado:
BLOGS RENA CITED
Rare Device Blog
Obsessive Consumption
Uniform Studio
Personism
Skinny Laminx
Whip-up
Sapling Society
Port 2 Port
Beautiful Use
Lisa Congdon's Blog
BLOGS AMY CITED
Greenjeans Blog
SuperNaturale - craft blog kept by many contributors
Hrag Vartanian - art & culture blog kept by one contributor
Gothamist - blog about NYC
Grist - environmental blog with irreverent edge
Cai Lun - blog kept by bookbinder Dennis Yuen
Hear, Hear - blog offering "intelligence for small business"
Crafty Synergy - interviews with women in the craft biz
Craft Magazine's blog - DIY & indie craft ideas & reporting
Craft Research - scholarly blog from UK
Extreme Craft - off-the-wall blog from Garth Johnson
Furniture Society After Hours - great insights from a more traditionalist pov
OUR TIPS FOR GOOD BLOGGING
+ Post regularly (daily is best)
+ Add images to your posts
+ Insert links to other blogs & websites
+ Use searchable phrases in your posts
+ Sometimes mention your own name in posts and titles
+ Establish an RSS feed (see Resources below)
+ Read other blogs and comment intelligently on them
BLOGGING ETIQUETTE
We didn't get to this in our talk, but wanted to mention a few points here:
+ If you use an image you didn't produce, always cite where you got it and provide a link
+ If you cite another website, organization, company, etc., it's good to provide a link to it
+ If you find that someone else provides a link to your blog, it's nice to thank them by email or commenting on the post where the mentioned you
RESOURCES
> Blogger - free blog software, great for beginners
> WordPress - another blog software
> TypePad - yet another blog software
> Flickr - upload your pictures, make sets and slideshows, share with the world
> Technorati - track who links to your blog, network your blog using tags
> Sitemeter - track how many hits your blog gets and how people find your blog
> FeedBurner - set up and RSS feed so people can subscribe to your blog
> Bloglines - use this "reader" to subscribe to other people's blogs and read them all in one place
> Google Reader - another reader
If you have additional tips or resources to add, please leave a comment!
Happy blogging!
Posted by Amy Shaw.
Photo is a film still from Etsy's blogcast.
Photo is a film still from Etsy's blogcast.
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2 comments:
Hi Amy
I'm still waiting for the video to download, but while I do, I just want to say how thrilled I was to see Skinny laMinx included in this talk. My little blog gives me such nice surprises sometimes.
Great, too, to discover Greenjeans as well as some of the other blogs cited by Rena.
Best,
Heather
Thanks for the great tips! Wish I'd new them when I started blogging -- Thanks again!
Sarah
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