If I Knew Then

M A R I A - Natalia Gustafson - Chris - Geena Carminucci - Trouble Dethly 

The theme of yesterday's Blogger Experience Discussion  at SeraSim  was "if I knew then what I know now" with tips and philosophy of what each blogger has learned over time. If this is of interest to you, check out the Blogger & Vlogger Network

From the group description: 

Our mission at Blogger & Vlogger Network is to improve the accessibility to helpful information and to provide a platform for unrivaled networking and mutual support with a strong focus on improving the impact of Second Life blogs and vlogs.  Visit our website at http://www.bvnsl.com/

Addendum:

No one asked and likely no one cares but I am going to add to this post with what "I" would have said if queried.  I am going to  think of it as a meme from Berry if that was still going on :D.

• My primary advice would be to be true to yourself.  Make sure you are featuring brands and items that you admire, that are made well, that you would BUY if they weren't passed to you.  If you are starting a blog, don't worry much about the number of views -- whether they are 6 or 600 or 60,000  a month. Do the work FOR YOURSELF ...

• And of course for the creators you are featuring.  Personally I hate those blog photos that are so filled with clutter that you can't actually see any of the items that are supposed to be in the spotlight.  I have had folks send photos to my store Flickr (this long ago when I was doing lots of events) that "featured" my new releases.  Yep, the item was there in the photo ---  in the background, over on the left and about an inch high when the photo was seen full sized.  Is this really doing a good job of blogging? 

• Recognize that blogging takes a big hunk of time. If you can only blog once a month, then most likely you should just make a Flickr account or a personal diary blog for yourself.  The typical blog reader wants to visit your blog and see new items or hear about yesterday's adventures, not visit six times hoping that there is a change on the page. 

• Decide what you are willing to do and what you are not.  Most of the folks I blog for have been with me (or I with them) for well over a decade.  I am not a fan of  "blogger corrals" and only worked in that type of system if I was grandfathered in and didn't have to fill out forms and complete quotas.  Still, I would get the nasty group messages from blogger managers yelling at folks who took the goods and failed to fulfill their part of the agreement.  It was NOT fun.   So decide  if you really want to be in those situations -- and if not, leave.  

• Understand that it takes awhile for your blog to take off, and these days playing the game is called for much more than in the past. So Flickr, social media et al are part of the package -- most of the time.  I never jumped on the Facebook, Instagram, Twitter etc. bandwagon and still, I am here. So it is possible; but that choice is the harder choice and most folks don't have 13 years of history  to buffer the hole opting out of social leaves.  

• And MOST OF ALL --- have fun!