Blogging: Developing a Web Presence

Lately, I've had a few people ask me about my blog and how I developed my following. I haven't been blogging all that long, so I'm definitely not an expert.

But I thought perhaps I could share a few lessons I've learned that may help others who are struggling like me to make blogging a successful and rewarding effort.

I won't be delving into how to balance blogging with other responsibilities. I did a series about it not too long ago and if you want my two cents on that subject, you can read about it here: Balancing It All. Instead, this week I want to focus on another aspect of blogging: how to have success at it.

Writers blog for various reasons. We're all at different places in our writing careers and so naturally our reasons for blogging will reflect this. Therefore, I think one of the first things bloggers must decide is: Why are we blogging? What are we hoping to accomplish through our blogs? Here are a few ideas:

• To journal life experiences


• To share a message or touch another life


• As an outlet for writing


• To gain a readership for potential published books


• To connect with and find encouragement from other writers


• As a way to learn about the writing craft and industry


• For building a platform or web presence

And what, might you ask, is web presence? Here's my definition: Web presence is the length an author's name reaches into cyberspace.

Some writers are cruising around lots of cyber pathways, intersecting with many others, reaching to the far corners of cyberspace. And some writers are going a short distance, meeting a few others, but not branching out too far.

Not all of us are ready or even need to develop a greater web presence. If we're still fairly new at writing or are at the beginning stages of learning the craft, then developing a web presence will be a lesser priority. Agent Rachelle Gardner said it this way in one of her recent posts:

"If you are writing fiction. And you are unpublished. You really MUST be putting your writing first. Spend most of your discretionary time learning to write. You do this by continuing to write, and by reading high quality fiction, and by using crit partners, and reading books on craft. But mostly from writing, writing, writing."

"Dabble in social networking for fun and leisure, and to get a head start on what you'll need in the future. But you should keep in mind a 90/10 ratio. Spend t 90% of your free time on your writing, and no more than 10% on platform building. Things change when you're published. And things are different if you're a NON-fiction writer. But again, if you're an unpublished novelist, improving your writing is top priority. If you don't do that, all the rest will be irrelevant anyway."

However, if we're nearing publication or headed in that direction, then we should begin to look at how to build a wider web presence. Blogging, Facebook, and Twitter are all useful tools for pushing our name into the nether reaches of cyberspace. But blogging is often the best home base.

So, how do we blog effectively to build a web presence? How can we make blogging a successful endeavor to promote ourselves and our careers? After all, if we're going to take precious time to blog, we want it to be successful, right? Those are the questions I'd like to tackle this week.

For today, I'd like to hear about your web presence. Why are you blogging? Is developing a web presence one of the reasons you blog? And if it is, how far into cyberspace is your presence reaching?

Join in on Wednesday as we discuss the 10 Most Common Blogging Mistakes.