How to Keep up with an Art Blog

'Beach Dreams'         5x7         pastel        ©Karen Margulis

 I have been blogging daily since 2005.  I started with simple posts.  I would post a photo of my daily painting and would sometimes give a little commentary about the painting.  It was easy to get into the routine since I would take photos of my paintings anyway. It was just a little extra step to post to my blog.
Last year I decided my blog needed an overhaul so I took the online Blog Triage course offered by Alyson Stanfield. One of the things Alyson presented is that a blog needs a focus....you need to figure out who your audience is and give them quality content so they will come back.

I decided that I wanted to gear my blog towards artists and collectors.  I wanted to share my personal art journey and any tips and techniques I learn.  I began to create a more involved post along with my daily painting. I have had some wonderful feedback which helps encourage me to continue.

5x7 studies for 24x30 pastels

This year I will continue this direction with my blog and I am working on a format that will make it easy for readers to find older posts as well as easier for me to come up with new material!  If one of your New Year's goals is to start or be more active with your art blog I have a few tips that have helped me.

• Make it easy.  Find a good system for photographing your work and uploading your photos. If you can do it quickly and easily you will do it and it will become a habit.  

• Make time to post!  I usually write my post immediately after I upload the photo of my painting while it is still fresh in my mind.  Posting then becomes an extension of the painting process. It becomes a habit and it does get easier the more you do it!

• If you don't paint enough or have time to do a daily post try to post something new at least twice a week.  Your followers will lose interest if you post sporadically. 

•  If you have a very busy schedule, you can write your posts when you have time and save them as drafts. You can even schedule them to be published when you want.

• Keep you ideas for posts in a notebook so when you are looking for an idea you can refer to the notebook for inspiration.

• You don't have to be a writer!  Your readers are interested in you and your work. You can write as if you are talking to them. Share naturally and it will be interesting to those who are interested in you.