You’ve heard about it, you have artist friends doing it and maybe even tried it yourself and you’ve decided you just don’t want to blog. You’re NOT a blogger. You know what? That’s totally okay.
I don’t like the word, blog much either.
You’re curious if it could really help, but you just can’t go there – setting up a blog, plugins, images, security, SEO – who has time for that?
What if I showed you another way to write online?
You don’t have to go all-in, hang your sign out and own the land where you want to write or post photos once in a while. There might even be a few benefits to writing on a free site. Let’s explore some ways writing online might be a good thing.
You’re already online
If you’re reading this though, you’re at least online and if you’re selling or want to sell your art, you’re writing somewhere – posts on Facebook, Twitter or images on Instagram, maybe commenting once in a while on someone else’s blog. What did you talk about there?
Develop what you already have
What if the comments or posts you already make can be added to and developed? If you want to test it out, try sorting through a few of your posts and take the main idea and think about it, talk about it, write more of it down. Not all posts can be stretched this way, but if one touches on a problem or solution, give it a go and see if you can make it into a few paragraphs.
If you’re starting from scratch, pick a topic that you’re known for, or want to be known for, and passionate about. If you’re trying something new for fun that you want to share – but it’s not really what you’re all about – save it to share another way, like Instagram or other social platforms.
If you find yourself getting stuck here, go back for a read here 10 Reasons why artists need a blog and 2 Ways to make your art blog stand out to spark up ideas of your enduring passion or what you want to teach or show.
Challenge and consistency
Creating consistently, like being consistent in most anything, is a challenge and one of the great lessons of life. Consistency is part of self-mastery, showing up for yourself and your commitments.
One of the benefits of blogging is that it acts as your accountability partner. You decide when you’ll show up, usually a few times a month, you create and publish on that schedule and there it is – LIVE. You see it, others will see it. You prove to yourself that you can be accountable. You’re a writer! The next step is to go to work developing your skills.
BUT “I’m not a writer”
Writing may not be your main expression, however it IS a creative muscle that can be built just as anything else. You have to practice and do the work, of course. And there are workarounds, like recording your words and then simply edit for your post.
(Spoiler alert: At the end of this post I’m inviting you to join along with me in a non-blog challenge so we can practice together!)
Do yourself a favor and don’t add on another label or say, things like, “I’m not a writer, I’m really a jeweler.” Or however you describe your work. Simply say that you write a bit or you’re starting blog – it is an extension of your art.
Blogging is an investment
Unless writing is your main gig, your writing is really marketing your main work. Beyond the creativity of it, It’s an investment into your business. Marketing is sharing and the more you share, the more you invite fans and collectors to engage with you.
No rules
The beauty of no rules is that there are NO RULES! The hard thing about no rules is that you have no guiding system in place and you’re naturally patterned to look for boundaries, we all are. The black and white boundaries of either blog or don’t write online at all, are where many artists are.
Publish without blogging
There are some great online platforms where you can publish for free, whenever you want to. One of those is Tumblr and another is Medium.
Honestly, I haven’t published to either of them yet, but I’d like to give it go (update: A few hours after I posted this, my grandmother gave me a compelling reason to post my first article on Medium.) – so I’d love to hear your thoughts and suggestions in the comments if you’ve published on Tumblr or Medium. (If you’re really adventurous, I hope you’ll join me on the non-blog challenge I talk about at the end).
Here is my initial research on the pros and cons that I gathered on both platforms:
Publishing on Medium
PROS
- The simplicity of drop your art and go sounds really appealing.
- Built in audience of eager readers of quality content.
- Begin building your own audience of people with similar interests who may follow you.
- Practice writing and posting.
- No design distractions, editing or improving your site, just write.
- Write about anything – you can go off topic from your main business.
- Things like SEO ranking are high on Medium due to constant posts overall.
- Easy editing and formatting, no code.
- Tags to help readers find your story.
- Highlight a piece of text to emphasize a part of your story or a quote.
CONS
- You don’t own the space.
- You can’t put your portfolio or your products there (you can link).
- The audience isn’t yours, they are a casual reader.
- You are competing with other writers for attention.
- You don’t control the experience the reader has on the site.
- No control of the content – Medium can be shut down without warning.
- Don’t have design control and only a few options to organize your stories.
Publishing on Tumblr
PROS
- Find great content
- Audience of artists, coders, designers.
- Show images.
- Equal visibility for all types of work – art, videos, graphics, illustration.
- Ability to design your space and use HTML
- Create a fan-base for your work.
- Meet other artists.
CONS
- Audience response and quality is varied
- Making real connections and follows is difficult.
- Attribution is not always followed and your work may be posted around with no credit given.
- Users may often modify or edit art without permission.
- Could be more party than progress.
Both seem really interesting and worthwhile to explore and I’d like to test them out for myself and see what the value is for my big vision.
What do you think?
Have you been struggling with blogging and maybe even dropped the whole idea because you didn’t know there were any other options or didn’t have any support?
Join The Non-Blog Challenge
If you’ve read through this whole post and are ready to challenge yourself, hop on the 10-day Non-Blog Challenge for Artists and Creatives on Medium.
>>Just 10 days for this one because it’s doable. A 30-day challenge might seem to daunting if you’re just starting out. If you’re ready for that, hold-tight, August may be the month for a more focused and longer challenge to really make an impact.
I’ve chosen Medium because it’s set up for supporting each other – to easily follow, give hearts, shares and comments to those in the challenge, and you don’t need any special software or a website – so no tech reasons to not do it.
Participating as a group ensures that, at a minimum, you’ll have the group following, sharing and commenting on your work. Getting those immediate follows, comments and shares will elevate your posts and give you the traction.
Up for it?
Connect with other artist bloggers and grow your community and audience faster with group support.
- Follow the hashtag #artblogchallenge on Twitter and Instagram.
- Join The Creator’s Group on Facebook where we’ll focus on the challenge starting on May 15th for 10 days!
- Enter your blog info in the form on the Art Blog Challenge page (be sure to click over and visit other people’s blog!)
- Share and join with a friend – we’ll all do better with more non-bloggers.
Ready to start your blog? 10 Reasons Why Artists Need a Blog
I’m in…
Hey Jet! Thats AWESOME! I’m excited that you’re joining me in the Art Blog Challenge!! We officially start May 15th!
>> It looks like your form didn’t come through, so go ahead and submit it again so you don’t miss any emails on the Challenge:)