The Benefits of Personal Blogging

This is Camy Tang, the loud Asian chick, talking about an alternative way to see if you even want to start an author marketing blog.

I found this excellent post on ProBlogger about how starting with a personal blog before jumping into an author blog for marketing might be a good starting point.

As Tricia Goyer mentioned earlier this week, blogging isn’t for everyone and you shouldn’t feel pressured to blog if you don’t enjoy it.

A good way to figure out if you enjoy blogging or can invest the time in an author marketing blog is to start a personal blog. Even if you have only 2 readers a week (your spouse and your dog), a personal blog forces you to blog regularly and to see if you can (1) keep up with it, (2) enjoy doing it, and (3) get used to the software/format.

With a personal blog, all the “rules” of what to post in an author marketing blogs don’t apply. Write about anything you want. The purpose of the personal blog is not to attract readers, but to test drive the blogging platform for yourself.

You should try to strive for in a personal blog is to post regularly. Try to post as often as you think you’d post on an author marketing blog. That way you can see if you can keep up with it, and enjoy doing it.

Also, try to keep with the other pieces of advice I’ve given about choosing your blog host and posting format. If you eventually decide on an author marketing blog, you’ll have already gotten used to these blogging techniques.

However, the sky’s the limit on content. You can post about your crappy day at the office or your kids’ bout with stomach flu or your cat’s problem with spraying.

Update: Kelli Standish made an excellent point that in reality, people can google you years later to find out that you confessed to dropping your hamster or burning your roast. It might be a good idea to set up your personal blog anonymously or under a pen name. You will still get all the benefits of getting into the rhythm of blogging, but without the violation to your privacy.

Eventually, your blogging topics will probably change, especially if you find you like blogging and want to start an author marketing blog. But a personal blog is a good stepping stone to decide if you want to take that route or not.

And don’t feel bad if it’s not your cup of tea. Blogging isn’t for everyone, and there are tons of other great methods for marketing, as seen on the other blog posts from my fellow CAN marketing bloggers!

Camy Tang is the loud Asian chick who writes loud Asian chick-lit. Her debut novel releases September 2007, and she runs the Story Sensei critique service. In her blog, she gives away books and ponders frivolous things like dumb dogs (namely, hers), coffee-geek husbands (absolutely no resemblance to her own...), the writing journey, Asiana, and anything else that comes to mind.

Comments

[Kelli Standish]

>"However, the sky’s the limit on content. You can post about your crappy day at the office or your kids’ bout with stomach flu or your cat’s problem with spraying."
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Camy,
Your comments about starting a blog are excellent, but I've got to post a warning here about your comment above. If authors start a blog under their name, that blog can be FOUND by a search for that name.

An article I once read said you "blog for your future boss" and in a way that's true. If you blog under your name and a publisher or interested reader Googles you, they're going to find your blog. So be careful what you post!

I worked in radio for a number of years, and there's this weird, (false) sense of invisibility and anonymity you get when you're by yourself talking to an empty room and a microphone. It's was easy to forget that I was talking to a five state listening audience of thousands. The same is true for blogging.

So my advice is this:

If you want a place where you can really express the fullness of your emotions, make your blog anonymous.

Otherwise, remember you have an audience that could be comprised of anyone, including your future publisher, ex spouse, representatives from PETA, current readers, past agents, etc. And word your posts with that in mind.

Thoughts from someone who's learned the hard way :)

Kelli