What have I learned?

Just like the persistent Hamster, sometimes you might feel like you are getting nowhere with your blog, but you have to stick at it.

Okay, so I've trawled literally hundreds of blogs, I've found three of my favourite Blogger "Blogs of Note" and conducted interviews. It's been fantastic and my interviewees have provided some great advice on starting a blog, making it successful and keeping it hot.

But what have I learned? It's time to take stock and look at the top five tips I've picked up via my interviews:

1. Find something original - One thing that is common to successful blogs is their unique content. "Have a gimmick, a schtick, something original to offer," said Angie and Chantale from CinemaObsessed.com. "Truly, nobody will care what you had for lunch, or how your cat's vet visit went." And Mattson Tomlin agreed, saying, "I've actually never come across another blog like mine."
2. Read a lot of blogs - Angie and Chantale describe themselves as not only bloggers but also "huge blog readers". Mattson Tomlin advised that you should "visit the blogs of those visiting you" and Holyoke Home said, "I comment on the blogs I love - all the time." It seems that to be a good blog writer you also need to be a good blog reader.
3. Make an impact - Most successful blogs have a very definite identity and within seconds of arriving at the blog you know what it is about. Angus and Chantale from CinemaObsessed.com said, "If people scroll through the entire first page of your blog and still don't really "get" what your blog is about, you'll probably lose them."
4. Lots of pictures - one thing that seems synonymous with successful blogs is visual content (consequently I've added my first picture to this post!). Mattson Tomlin found that visual content really helped increase traffic to his blog. "If you go to the beginning of my blog, there are no pictures, and thus, no comments."
5. Stick at it - Just about all the bloggers I interviewed agreed that you need to stick at it a while before your blog will gain any momentum. "I have a full time job, so the time involved in growing Holyoke Home can be taxing," said the bloggers who run Holyoke Home, but their success proves that if you do stick at it and promote, promote, promote, eventually your blog will take off.

So that's it. Obviously there is a lot more advice that can be gleaned from the interviews that are currently on my blog and from the future interviews that I'll be putting up. I'm veering away from Blogger's "Blogs of Note" now and looking at the many other blog recommendation sites out there, some of which were mentioned in my interviews.

So far I'm enjoying my first forays into the world of blogging, I have three followers and I hope to get many more, as I build my content and get better at this blogging stuff (thanks to tips from my interviews). I've also enjoyed visiting all these fantastic blogs, who knew this Blogosphere was so vast and wonderful?

Another day, another great interview.

Following on from my great interview yesterday, today I have an interview with the people who run the blog Holyoke Home. I stumbled across this blog about a week ago, and after initial concerns that this blog wouldn't be something I'd be interested in, I am HOOKED! It deals with one couple's mission to restore their historic brick row house in Holyoke, Massachusetts. It's a fantastic blog, with regular updates and lots of fantastic pictures) that is starting to amass heaps of followers (lots of them also dealing with the trials and tribulations of renovations) and is another one of Blogger's "Blogs of Note". Thanks Holyoke Home for the interview, and all the best with your renovations.

1. Why did you start your blog?

I started my blog for two reasons. One? Holyoke weaseled its way into my heart while I wasn't looking. My city has a spark, a crackle, a 'something's coming' kind of excitement and potential that's palpable, and I wanted to document it via our experience updating an achingly beautiful historic row house. Two? I really like the sound of my own voice. I really, really like the sound of my own voice. La, la, la!

2. What does your blog offer that others don't?

How do I answer this question without sounding like a supercilious jerk? I'm not sure my blog offers anything special that others don't. But I try - TRY - to tell authentic stories about my experience living, working, and renovating/decorating a home. The most authentic posts are the posts I'm happiest with in the end. I also try to keep the visual 'look' of the blog clean and modern, while maintaining a little character - kind of like our approach to improving our row house. I hope this consistency makes Holyoke Home a blog people like to read and look at.

3. Do you promote your blog? If yes, how?

- Anytime someone comments on my blog, I always do them the respect of visiting back their blog. I'm not sure this counts as 'promoting' Holyoke Home, but it feels like the right thing to do.

- We were recently a Blogger 'Blog of Note', which was an AWESOME surprise. I tweeted @Blogger once to ask them to consider us, but never expected anything.

- I belong to a blogging group called SITS, which has really helped me grow our audience. I highly recommend SITS if you're a woman who blogs.

- Holyoke Home is on Houseblogs.net and Digg and Stumble Upon and....gosh, probably some more places!

- I comment on the blogs I love - all the time.

- I have a Holyoke Home Twitter feed and Facebook page that are both set up to post an update when a new post does up.

- I tell everyone I meet about my blog.

- I offer to write guest posts for the blogs I love.

4. What are the positive aspects of blogging?

Just like every geographic place I've ever lived, in the blogging world, there are wonderful friends to be made. I really value the people I've met and the inspiration they've provided.

5. What are the negative aspects of blogging?

I have a full time job, so the time involved in growing Holyoke Home can be taxing.

6. What are your future plans for your blog?

My current goal is to add advertisers and sponsors to Holyoke Home in the home purchasing, home renovation and home design categories. Also? I'd like to be on my favorite bloggers' blog rolls.

7. What advice can you give to first time bloggers?

Be yourself, be honest, and let your own voice shine through in your work. That's what I like to read and what keeps me coming back.

Thanks again Holyoke Home, for everyone else, here's a link to the blog:

Holyoke Home

My brilliant interview with Mattson Tomlin

Of all the blogs I've visited over the last week (and trust me I've visited a lot) one of the most enthralling is Mattson Tomlin's. Mattson is a film student and filmmaker from New York, he's currently working on a film and his blog takes you behind the scenes of its production. The blog is captivating and enlightening for anyone who has an interest in filmmaking, but even if you're not into filmmaking it's still just a great blog, which is probably why it has become one of Blogger's "Blogs of Note". And the blog includes lots of incredible photography (which you'll read is one of Mattson's tips for first-timers). Thanks for the interview Mattson, and all the best with your blog and your film.

1. Why did you start your blog?

My blog started in high school, when I started working on my third feature film. I was looking for another way to spread the word in a more long-hand format. Other internet mediums didn't quite give me the platform I was hoping for, so I turned to trying to make a functioning blog that chronicled my various productions as I went along.

2. What does your blog offer that others don't?

I've actually never come across another blog like mine. The amount of film criticism blogs is wonderful and astounding, but there are very few production blogs that go week by week, or, as will be the case once I start shooting, day by day. Aside from this, I guess I just try to be as human as possible, which is sometimes something blogs miss. I let my voice be heard instead of trying to write in anonymity, and hope that it serves as a place where people can really tap in and get interested in the film work I am doing.

3. Do you promote your blog? If yes, how?

When I was first starting blogging, I would promote my blog to people I knew, via facebook, or myspace, sometimes, if I had an interesting update, on an IMDb message board. Nowadays, I've managed to get a large and growing number of people that it's a bit more organic. I've found that if a blog is interesting, the people reading will want to share it with others for you.

4. What are the positive aspects of blogging?

Connection with others is definite. It also creates a great timeline. I sometimes go back through my blog, read what I was doing in October of 2007, and am able to track progress in my work in a slightly less daunting fashion that a journal would do. It keeps my progress extremely visual and linear.

5. What are the negative aspects of blogging?

Some of them look really, really awful. Ad's on blogs look awful. Sometimes the colors. I'm very visual, and if the visuals are bad, if the structure is in disarray, the colors out of whack, it's very difficult for me to get into what might, content wise, be an extremely well crafted piece.

6. What are your future plans for your blog?

I'll be, for the next 10 months, chronicling the production of my next two films, which are being shot back to back. I'm getting extremely in depth in my day to day activities with other creative people. The ones who are interested might come and blog about the work they are doing instead of having me blog about the work they are doing. In any event, I'm much more willing to show what goes behind the scenes (the downs as well as the ups) than many filmmakers.

7. What advice can you give to first time bloggers?

Pictures! Lots and lots of pictures! If you go to the beginning of my blog, there are no pictures, and thus, no comments. As I matured as a blogger, I realized. People don't like to read. They like to watch. They like to look. Pictures help people connect the dots from paragraph to paragraph. So photographs often! Other than that, always respond to people when they comment. Strike up conversations, and visit the blogs of those visiting you. Every blog is different, and many of them are great.

Thanks again Mattson, and for everyone else here's a link to his blog:

http://mattsontomlin.blogspot.com/

and his website:

http://wackeychan.com/

My interview with the lovely ladies behind Cinema Obsessed

The first of my blogger interviews is in, and what a great interview it was! This week I had the pleasure of talking to Angie and Chantale about their phenomenal blog CinemaObsessed.com. The blog is a haven for movie buffs, with bucket loads of ever-expanding content and fantastic regular features. It's a very successful blog that was recently awarded the prestigious title of "Blog of Note" by Blogspot. Here is the interview, and there are a plethora of links at the bottom to help you locate CinemaObsessed.com on the World Wide Web. Thanks girls for being my first ever blogger interview, hopefully the first of many.

1. Why did you start your blog?

We are genuinely obsessed with all things movie related. We have always been the go-to people for our friends and family for film suggestions, for borrowing from our ginormous library of titles, and for general movie talk. We decided to channel it into a blog!

2. What does your blog offer that others don't?

Firstly, we're female - and most MOVIE bloggers are male. We offer a female perspective. Also, we're not movie snobs. We like pretty much everything, meaning it has to be a real piece 'o shit for us to hate it. But even then, we find the good in everything. We're not critics. That's a dirty word. We're just film lovers.

Second, we're sisters, and who doesn't love that? (joke) We're not a dry database or strict fact source or news outlet. We spice things up with our quirkiness. We have original content everyday, at least two pieces of our own writing, but we also have little extras that make our site quick and easy to navigate.

3. Do you promote your blog? If yes, how?

We've promoted with traditional media like newspapers and radio, and also use all the usual social networking tools - Facebook, Twitter, and have found other great more little known networks to help get the word out like Blog Catalog, 20 Something Bloggers, Blog Lovin', The Large Association of Movie Blogs, etc. We are also partnered with local radio station to give them video movie reviews (available here <http://www.cinemaobsessed.com/p/89-second-review.html>) so they give us on air promotion.

4. What are the positive aspects of blogging?

Finding other people who appreciate movies the way we do. That's the whole reason we started doing it. We knew we weren't the only people out there with this film-crazed mentality, and now we've found others! It's like a support group for an addiction.

5. What are the negative aspects of blogging?

Haven't found anything truly negative yet, it's been a fun ride. The only thing we know that frustrates most bloggers (especially the newbies) is the lack of a pay-off, at least at first. You have to be patient. Not everyone will explode into fame like a TMZ or Perez, but you have to work at it for a long time to be noticed. And the reality is you might not ever be noticed outside of the blogging community, but that's why you have to be blogging for yourself - because you love doing it.

6. What are your future plans for your blog?

We'd like to secure more advertisors, for one. We're always looking for new ideas, new segments, new games for reader participation, etc.

We'd like a redesign of our layout, we'd like to expand our podcast, our brains are always workin' on it! We talk constantly about this blog, as it's like our baby. And you thought two sisters couldn't parent the same child - well we've done it with a website. We birthed it and we're raising it together. Ok that was weird, but you get the metaphor.

7. What advice can you give to first time bloggers?

Have a gimmick, a schtick, something original to offer. We feel the most important thing about blogging is to pick a topic, a theme, a subject to stick to. Truly, nobody will care what you had for lunch, or how your cat's vet visit went. Unless you can deliver your own anecdotes in a completely original way (ie you're hilarious) then don't assume people want to read about the random details of your life. Only celebrities can get away with that.

We may be bloggers, but we're also huge blog READERS. We read many many many blogs on a regular basis, and we're always trying to find new ones we like. So as members of the general public, we always come back to blogs with a gimmick. If people scroll through the entire first page of your blog and still don't really "get" what your blog is about, you'll probably lose them. Avoid automatic music playing when people enter, avoid large chunks of text, bad spelling/grammar/internet speak, avoid dropping your url on other blogs comment sections (its considered tacky), and most of all - involve yourself with your readers! We're not trying to sound preachy here, these are just tips we've picked up along the way.

Some links to connect with us:

Click below:

Or try:

Twitter.com/cinemaobsessed

youtube.com/cinemaobsessed

search "Cinema Obsessed" on Facebook

or email: info@cinemaobsessed.com

In the beginning, Adam created his first post...

For all those who don't know what the Blogosphere is (a group of people that included me up until 10 minutes ago) Wikipedia defines it as:
"The Blogosphere is made up of all blogs and their interconnections. The term implies that blogs exist together as a connected community (or as a collection of connected communities) or as a social network in which everyday authors can publish their opinions." 
 
So here I am, I'm a member of the Blogosphere and this is my first blog, and I have absolutely no idea what to write, which, I think you'll agree, is a problem. So I'd better get some interviews done quick smart. I'm going to visit lots of Blog recommendation sites in my search for the greatest blogs, but I think I'll start by looking through Google's "Blogs of Note". My search begins...I will post any interviews and responses here asap.