# Helpful tips for successful blogging



## mrjohngilbert (Mar 11, 2009)

Blogs are really hard to keep going! But a blog is only good IF it is updated multiple times a week. The best blogs are usually updated several times a DAY - which is insanely hard to do.

What you need is many short entries that still have people interest. I know one blogger that whenever he is stuck for a topic, just tosses out a picture of a cute kitten. Always good for foot traffic.

Pictures of cute girls/cute kids work too. An easy (lazy) idea is to take some of your shirts, round up all your attractive friends, and do a photo shoot in the nearest big city downtown. Then post a daily "new" picture on your blog of someone in one of your shirts.

Even turn it into a weekly contest - vote for your favorite picture. No prize, but it will bring many people back day after day. Even open the contest up to people that want to send in their own pictures of themselves in one of your shirts. - NOW we are getting somewhere!

There is a little grocery store in Washington state that has a deal like this, except it is send in a picture of one of their grocery bags in front of a famous landmark. And they have HUNDREDS of these pictures, from places all over the world. People get into audience participation.

Best regards,

John


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## Solmu (Aug 15, 2005)

mrjohngilbert said:


> But a blog is only good IF it is updated multiple times a week. The best blogs are usually updated several times a DAY - which is insanely hard to do.


I think this completely depends on the genre.

In my opinion, corporate blogs are best *not* updated several times a day.

Blogs like kottke.org that you read to keep up with news, interesting articles, etc. are best updated frequently because they're a launching pad to multi-author content.

Whereas Joe Blogg's Clothing Company Blog is going to have entries about what Joe is doing with his life, what new products are coming out, etc. In small doses that's interesting, but too much and it just sounds like shilling, or narcissim (depending on what he's doing to fill the entries).

There's only _so much_ we want/need to know about the company and those who run it.

Plus if you put unrealistic expectations on yourself (like updating daily or multiple times a day) you're more likely to burn out and stop.



mrjohngilbert said:


> What you need is many short entries that still have people interest. I know one blogger that whenever he is stuck for a topic, just tosses out a picture of a cute kitten. Always good for foot traffic.
> 
> Pictures of cute girls/cute kids work too. An easy (lazy) idea is to take some of your shirts, round up all your attractive friends, and do a photo shoot in the nearest big city downtown. Then post a daily "new" picture on your blog of someone in one of your shirts.


As a reader/customer I hate this kind of lazy stretching out of content.

Don't mistake quantity for quality. If a blog isn't worth reading, people won't read it. I think you've outlined the perfect strategy to alienate your readership.

The point of a blog isn't so that people look at it and say "Yup, that's a blog alright."

It's there to be *read*.

I think the two most important things with blogging are, in this order, 1) Quality of content. 2) Consistency.

Frequency doesn't make the list. First and foremost, content should be worthwhile. If it's not worth other people looking at, save it for your personal diary. By consistency, I mean if you are an update 3 times a week blog, then update three times a week. If your speed is once a week, that's fine - just don't drop back to once a month.

Even a blog that only updates once a month can be worthwhile - so long as it reliably *does* update once a month, and makes that entry worth reading.

No reason a company couldn't post a "What we did this month" summary once a month, and have that be worth adding to our collective RSS feeds.

Personally I think a t-shirt company blog is best updated somewhere in the realm of 1-4 times a week. More often than that and it's likely the author is stretching for content and just wasting their reader's time.


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## GraduateClothing (Feb 22, 2009)

Good ideas!
I'm going to use alot of them.
thanks!


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## krylonking (Aug 28, 2007)

I think too many people treat their blogs like their myspace page and most posts turn into..

*2-26-09: omg so i just...*
pooped

go buy a shirt.

*2-25-09: Sooooo..
*How is everyone doing?

*2-24-09: Wow
*I haven't posted in a while.. whats up?

*etc etc etc..


*And I have no problem with funny goofy or random posts, but when the blog is 99 percent crap there's 100 percent chance I won't subscribe or re visit their site. The same applies when the only posts are new shirt go buy it, new hat go buy it, etcetc. I think a blog should be an even balance of self promotion and personalization (for clothing companies) because I like to feel like I know the company I'm buying from and I think a blog can help to do that.


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## Wringer Tee (Mar 5, 2008)

I have a blog and you are right, finding something to write about is difficult. My solution is much like the blog posting pictures of cats, etc. I take my camera everywhere, snapping pictures here and there. When I download my pictures I ask "Is this blogworthy?". Most of the time they are not but once in a while I will find something I can write about. 

Yes, my blog is t-shirt focused but I feel I am the brand so I blog about my life as I see it through my pictures. It seem to be working so far.


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## mamabloom (Jun 16, 2007)

I am a fan of Johnny cupcakes's blogs, lots of pictures and i am intersted in what he is doing as he always seems to be doing much more exciting things than me!


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## EnMartian (Feb 14, 2008)

Have to agree with Solmu on this one. I hate blogs that are just random junk thrown up. A blog should have a theme and a purpose and some reason for people to be there. 

I also think about three times a week is a good average for posting. As long as your posts are fairly substantial, that should be plenty. That's what I aim for with our corporate blog.


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## t shirt theory (May 9, 2010)

You all make great points. What I have learned from reading blogs for a while is that you really do have to know your readers. Blogs which post something everyday are great. I prefer blogs which post a few times a week and give me enough info but not overload. This is what I tried to do on my blog.

I have heard read blogs which are pages each post and posted about 2 times a week. I have also followed blogs which are updated several times a day. I personally am not a fan of either really. I think there is something between the two. One thing I definitely agree with is that content is key (completely over used but true). When you are reading something which is beneficial to your life you will not put it down. Write for your audience, what would they find interesting? Hope this helps!


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## TeesForChange (Jan 17, 2007)

i think if you can make your blog posts relevant to your audience and customers, then you can update as many times as you want! if you don't have the time to do it daily, then 3-4 times a week would be ideal, in my opinion.


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## Brad Kelly (May 26, 2010)

The problem with updating several times a day is that your real gems (the pieces of writing you're really proud of or that provide excellent value to the audience) don't get the "face time" they deserve at the top of your blog.

A news blog with multiple authors, like Tech Crunch...I expect to see that updated multiple times a day. A blog for a tee shop, I'm fine with once a week. They should be busy printing shirts anyways, whereas for someone at a news blog, the articles are their product.

I update when I find something noteworthy, something that I'm honestly enthused about. I don't fill gaps with meaningless babble..I think readers can see right through that.

Sometimes I'll have 3 posts up in a day, sometimes I may not come across anything that excites me for a week. I think my readers know though that when I do write something, it's something I'm honestly glad to be writing about.

If you're having a hard time staying in the writing mood every day but want consistently spread content, write multiple posts in one sitting. In other words, take advantage of the fact that you're excited to write today and kick out 2, 3 or even 5 posts. Publish the first and set the others to release on subsequent days.


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## lincolnapparel (Nov 21, 2009)

I'd definitely agree with many others here that it's best to post regularly with good content, rather than updating your blog once a day but filling it with "filler" material like pictures of your kids, LOLcats etc. There's enough of that junk on the Internet already. If I wanted to look at it, I'd read a Facebook page. Make every post a good, relevant post, and I'll read it.

I like following blogs that have relevant, interesting content. I'm known to read blogs that are updated once a month just because each post is good. As others stated, big news blogs are updated several times a day for that very reason - news. A blog for a T-shirt company should be kind of like the news section for your company. Make a post when you come out with new designs, and maybe post on subjects that are relevant to your audience.

Personally, I'm sick of all the pontless chit chat on social networking sites so finding a good blog that has well-written, interesting content is valuable to me.


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## oddGraham (Feb 17, 2010)

This thread makes very interesting reading. We are typically updating less than once a week but we try to make it count. Maybe twice a week is something we should strive for so long as the content is there. Thank you all for the ideas so far.


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## EnMartian (Feb 14, 2008)

oddGraham said:


> This thread makes very interesting reading. We are typically updating less than once a week but we try to make it count. Maybe twice a week is something we should strive for so long as the content is there. Thank you all for the ideas so far.


Graham,

I always try for three times a week, but I don't always make it. We also push education and added value with our blogs, so I want our posts to be substantial and helpful. I would, and do when time is short, pick fewer posts that are substantial and helpful over more posts that are filler. 

Every blog needs to find it's own style and to learn what the audience wants. That something that only time will allow to happen. Even though people will try to tell you that there are rules, there really aren't any hard and fast rules for blog. The successful blogs are the ones that stay true to their own personalities.


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## Brad Kelly (May 26, 2010)

EnMartian said:


> The successful blogs are the ones that stay true to their own personalities.


Truer words were never spoken. Everyone's got a "voice" and a personality, and the key is to find yours and stick to it. Readers that connect with your personality will stick around.


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