Let's Talk: Advice for New Bloggers, by Bloggers

Advice for New Bloggers, by Bloggers 

Do you run a book blog? If not, are you toying with the idea? If you do, are you looking for tips to make your blog run more smoothly and to make the most out of your experience? No matter where you stand, today's Let's Talk topic covers just some of the advice for running a blog, shared by bloggers themselves. (AKA, us.) Keep in mind that no blogger, no matter how much or how little time their blog has been running, holds the answers to everything. Some may have more experience (and we're certainly ready to admit that), and some may have less. Blogs running for a year may have some pretty important advice that blogs running for five years may not think to share. Don't take away from this that the higher-up blogs have the most and best advice. Everyone has something to share!

So, without further ado, us ladies here at The Book Bratz have some advice for new bloggers out there! 

Jessica's Advice:

*Just because you're new doesn't mean you're worthless. If you're a new blogger, you're obviously going to have less followers and less traffic than blogs that have been running for years. Expect it for the first few months, and deal with it. Don't get discouraged. It's completely normal.

*Reach out and find friends! This is highly encouraged! Nobody makes it in the blogging world alone - you need to reach out through Twitter and meet other bloggers, check out their blogs, follow them, talk to them, and maybe even collaborate on a couple of things. Build a family of blogger friends. You'll have people to talk to and rely on.

*Reach out to publishers and publicity services when you're just starting out. As time will go on, these services will start seeking you out instead of vice versa, but nobody will come to you right away. Higher-up companies may request your blog's stats, which, being a new blogger, you may not have yet, but there are a good amount that will be happy to send you stuff to review without requesting any further information.

*Use social media to your advantage. Twitter will be a book blogger's absolute best friend. Develop yours, follow other bloggers and authors and see what they're up to, and INVOLVE YOURSELF IN THE CONVERSATION. Make yourself known and get friendly through social media, and Tweet links to your posts on your blog often! Social media will become your best friend. On The Book Bratz, more than half of our daily income of our blog traffic comes from "t.co" - which is Twitter!

*Buy some business cards/swag! Some bloggers use business cards, some buy customized bookmarks - whatever you want to do, find a way to pass out info on your blog! Make sure to include your name (it can just be your first name if you aren't comfortable sharing your last), your blog's name, URL, email, and Twitter handle. It only costs about $10 for 250 cards through companies like Vistaprint! Bring these along with you to book-based events to pass out to friends and authors and publishers you meet, and also slip one inside of books when you host giveaways. It never hurts to promote yourself! (Something funny that I do is that every time I return a book I read to my library, I slip a business card somewhere inside the pages!)

*Attend book-based events! Get yourself tickets to YALLFest, BookCon, Apollycon, author signings, release parties, events at bookstores, and even BEA! (Although it may take a little longer before you can get to BEA - give your blog about a year or so to develop substantially before you head there.)  Bring your business cards along and meet up with other bloggers, friends, authors and publishers. TALK TO PEOPLE. Make yourself known!

*Post, post, post! To keep traffic on your blog constant, aim for at least four posts a week. (If you have a co-blogger, aim for one post a day - with two of you, it's more than possible!) Schedule posts in advance and constantly participate in weekly memes and conversations. Sign up for blitz, cover reveals, and ARC reviews! Get your hand in wherever you can. It'll benefit you in the long run!

Amber's Advice:

* Personalize your posts! I love personalizing my posts. It is easy to tell which posts are mine too. I use lots of GIFs in my reviews and posts, make graphics, ect. It is your blog, your rules! 

* Participate in Memes! There are a couple of memes out there that you can participate in. There is Top Ten Tuesday, Waiting on Wednesday, Stacking the Shelves, and tons of more to participate in. Don't overdue it with memes though, 2 or 3 memes a week is a good number. 

* Participate in Giveaway Hops! If you watch around on twitter sometimes people tweet links to giveaways hosted by authors or bloggers, sometimes they are independent and other times through giveaway hops (it is like a chain giveaway, after you enter one giveaway you enter the next on the linky) Giveaways bring in some traffic to your blog as well as some new followers. 

What advice do you have for bloggers, new and old? Do you agree with some of the advice above? Disagree? Think there's something else that bloggers should know? Please share your thoughts and opinions in the comment section below - the purpose of these Let's Talk topics are to spark conversation within our fabulous blogging community! <3