Advice for new bloggers: Blogging and Social Media

Saturday 13 July 2013


Hello everyone! Welcome to my blog! I was so happy when Beth asked me to participate in the advice for new bloggers blog hop. It is great to read what other bloggers have learnt from blogging - and how they go about it. Today I want to share with you how I use other social media platforms when blogging. 

The blog - Made in Home, my shop window




I started this blog a year ago now - I was then 5 month pregnant with Baby MiH. Getting pregnant was a big change in my life (the actual pregnancy and having a baby). I felt that my first blog did not reflect my aspirations anymore. I wanted a space where I could share my makes but also show how they fitted into my life. I posted about Made in Home in my home, and I started posting outfits mixing handmade and highstreet purchases. 

I see my blog as my shop window - where I present all my projects. It is static in a way - you prepare a post, write it, post it - and it stays there. I do go back to some posts, to add some links to further posts that could be of interest or tutorials to make it easier for a reader to find the trail of posts. 

It is obviously the most important tool to show your projects. Sometimes I have to remind myself that it is the craft and project first, and the blogging afterwards - and not making a project for a post.

The MiH facebook page - the shop owner




I also have a facebook page. I use facebook a lot so it was fairly obvious to me that I needed a facebook page for Made in Home. It took me a while to understand how I could incorporate it into my blogging experience, but that all changed when I found out how to upload pictures from my phone. I was able to post progress on some projects, sneek peak at finishes and share some personal pictures (ie pictures of Baby MiH). I feel like I can share much more of my personality, and in fact I use this account as much as my personal one. 

It also enabled me to receive quick feedback on some projects, or ask for advice without having to blog about it. I try to upload one picture a day on a project I am working on or something I am doing during the day - in addition to the latest news on the blog. 

Of course, not everyone uses facebook - my husband is on it, but never checks his account. I have friends who have decided not to be on it full stop. It is fine, I just find it the best platform ever - especially when your family and friends are abroad.

Twitter - the marketing and texting tool




Ah, to be or not to be on twitter. Does it really matter? I am on twitter - in fact I have a work account (that I am not using at the moment) and a blog/personal account. Do I use it often? I have phases when I am on it non-stop and then days when I will not look at it all. I use it a lot to tell people that they inspired me, or how I used my latest purchase from a shop - ie like a marketing tool to link up my makes to the wider world. But also to connect with bloggers more directly and quickly - like a text for bloggers. 

I find twitter quite frustrating in the sense that since starting this post, I have already 60 tweets that have been published, and I will not have time to read them all (and I don't follow that many people). So anchoring a tweet by using @ is worth doing you ensure the person will see it (in the CONNECT section); tweeting a few times about the same post is also worth doing - who knows at what time your followers read your tweets.  

Flickr - The wider community




I must admit Flickr is the one platform I use the least. I only go on it to check progress in the bees I am in and add pictures, but that is about it. I am not sure I am the best person to provide advice on Flickr but I thought I would mention it - and maybe someone in the comment box can shed more light on this! 

Pinterest - Categorising




I have one board dedicated to my makes and tutorials, so people can pin them and found them more easily. I use it as well to refer to other people tutorials. And you can spend so much time on pinterest! 




And that is where it stops for me - it is actually quite hard to keep up with all of those, as well as making all my projects! But it is so much fun, and you get so much back! 



Do check the other bloggers who have already given great advice


Martha @ Weekend Doings

8 comments:

  1. I have the blog and FB page. It's a lot to maintain and be a mum and PTA participant while trying to design and knit for myself. I don't do Twitter. I think I would get in trouble on there.

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  2. How do you balance all these things?! I have the blog, Pinterest but that is not a difficult one, Instagram and Flickr. I am like you with Flickr though. Just for bees mostly now. I totally ignore my fb account and refuse to even look at twitter. I think my brain would implode if I added anything else.

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  3. Great tips! I feel like I have too many social media platforms to keep up with but probably not as many as I should have. I don't bother with twitter, I feel like it's better suited for people with smart phones. I used to love flickr but since these changed the layout, I'm not as big of a fan. I do love pinterest though!

    I never thought about making and linking to a specific board for my tutorials or recipes. Great idea---sound a lot easier than trying to manually update pages on my blog with pictures and links.

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  4. I am really struggling with the extended social media (outside my blog). I do not, at this point, have any other accounts. I don't know if I'm silly for not venturing out.

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  5. What a great post. I must say right now I am only really using facebook besides the blogging platform and flickr a little. I was trying to limit my social media in some respects because it was definitely becoming way too time consuming for me. Your tips really have been helpful!

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  6. Thanks for the advice! I'm like you in the way I use Flickr and tho' I do use FB a bit I haven't really expanded to my blog. For some reason I feel a bit shy about it-seems like self promotion and my blog is really a way to share with others in the crafting on-line community, so I,'m not sure others would be interested? But a great post and food for thought. Thanks.

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  7. Great tips Nat! There are so many media platforms that sometimes I find it difficult to keep up. I need to use Facebook more and Twitter. However, I love Instagram, so much fun.

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  8. Thanks for the tips! One thing I've always wanted to know is how to remove the white borders from my images. I've noticed yours don't have anyway, would you mind sharing how you managed to achieve this?

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