Blog Smart

In talking with a screenwriter friend about blogging I was asked how many hits does a writer need to be recognized.  I’m guessing it’s somewhere in the neighborhood of 100-300 hits a day. That would make 3,000-9,000 in a month and is achievable.  But 9,000 Twitter followers and  thousands of Facebook Fans? Not so easy.  In fact, you’d have to be an author endorsed by Oprah to make those numbers. So are we all wasting our time?

I originally began to blog two and a half years ago as a way to market myself and a book.  But as the Internet is becoming more saturated, I believe it will be more of a strain for a new blogger to make waves in the blogosphere.

There’s a difference between having a writing platform so tall that you can snag a book deal based on your reputation alone and having a well written book with a little social media behind it to show agents and publishers that you’re out there making connections and that you’re book-marketing savvy. The key is to make sure the book-writing comes first followed by the blog, Twitter, and Facebook.  I say this to remind writers that there are times when we feel like we are spending more time on social media than on a book, which is counterproductive. Because without a great book, what’s there to market?    

While I don’t think blogging is a waste of time, I think blogging poorly is a waste of time. The key is to find your niche and delve in. Write about what interests you, what makes you unique. If that’s rock climbing, gardening or speaking Portuguese, then that’s what you should blog about because people with those interests will find you and follow you and read your work.

What about you? Do you have a particular niche, something that makes you different from all the other writer/bloggers out there?
In my next post I’ll be having a fellow writer join in as a guest blogger.