Back in November last year I took part in a blogging course run by Holly Becker of Decor8 (www.bloggingyourway.com). At the end of the month-long course, Holly chose six blogs to critique and produced a screencast looking at those blogs.
Guess what? My humble little Wolves in London was one of those blogs! Yes, that’s right, Holly Becker, THE Holly Becker, looked through my blog and gave a critique of it.
By the time I had finished fainting from excitement to realise I was one of the chosen, I sat down to watch the screencast, feeling more than a little trepidatious. After all, a critique ain’t gonna be 100 per cent positive, is it? What if she had chosen my blog only as an example of what not to do???
Of course, she’s not mean like that, and she gave me lots of positive feedback (including saying that she loved my photos, which was outrageously exciting to me since I struggle the most with getting photos I’m happy with) and the “areas for improvement,” reassuringly, were things I had been thinking about myself for some time too.
The main issue she pointed out is that my blog isn’t actually about what I say it’s about. Had you noticed that too?!
In my first blog post, and in the tagline in my header above, I say that I am trying to set up a fabric business and this blog will talk about what I learn along the way. (Okay, my tagline gives me a little bit of breathing space too, with the “…doing just about anything else” conclusion.)
On my blog I actually talk about… …well, gardening a lot, making stuff, knitting, sewing, a little bit of cooking, general chat about my life, waffle about our new house, but, well, not really ever anything about this alleged fabric business.
The reason? I’ve done naff all on that plan.
It’s been bothering me for a while as to whether I should change my tagline, or whether I should change my blog. Do I make more of an attempt to write posts about the yet-to-be-realised fabric plan? Or do I just accept that’s not happening anytime soon and change my tagline to reflect that?
Though, the honest tagline to this blog would be something like:
“Making stuff and pootling in the garden”
Doesn’t have a great ring to it, does it?
But I’d love to hear your thoughts on the issue. What do you think about the increasing proliferation of gardening posts? Not what you’re here to read about?
Should I narrow back my focus to fabrics, crafts and sewing in particular?
Or should I just carry on writing about whatever inspires me, in the hope it will also inspire other people too, and not worry about trying to give the blog a specific angle?
Any thoughts hugely welcome!
Related articles:
- The rainbow wool combination in the photo above was the one I used for the knitted rainbow chevron blanket
- The beautiful Liberty fabrics are for the (still not finished) quilt I started many blue moons ago
Wolves in London 
I suppose, ultimately, it depends what you want to get out of your blog. Is it a vehicle for something you want to launch later? i.e the fabric business. Or for the sort term at least (i.e. you have enough on your plate right now) is making stuff and pootling about in the garden just a lovely way of sharing your life and keeping in contact with your readers and in doing so creating a diary of your children’s early years and what interested you at the time.
I love your posts. Don’t change the blog. I’m sure your readers would agree or they wouldn’t be here. You’ve plenty of time to hunker down and become more specialized in the future should you choose to.
Maybe change the tagline just a little to reflect this busy time of life and all your passions.
Thanks for such lovely compliments, Lucie! And yes, you’ve basically hit the nail on the head there: when I started my blog it was really with the intention that it would be a vehicle for sending traffic to the fabric business eventually, but it has gradually evolved away from that completely into a place to talk about all the various things I enjoy…
Thanks so much for commenting. xx
Reblogged this on trudijparker and commented:
“Pootling” yup, my cats love to do that in my garden, too!
….wait a minute! There are 503 more words! WOWZA. You caught me to the end – loved the pictures between paragraphs for the pregnant pause.
Personally, if you posts were about finance, I’d say “single task” but since it’s about things
you enjoy, keep it as it is. I’d add a pic with dirt just for the sake of it. Good day!
A photo with dirt is a brilliant idea! I think you’re right, embrace the gardening!
(503 more words, I know, I am a terrible waffler, despite full knowledge that nobody likes to read long things online… I often look with envy at other peoples’ succinct blog posts and wonder why I can’t pull that off!)
…and I read every single word!!!! You gave my eye breaks with beautiful pictures. Like a pregnant pause with a great speech!
I set up this blog for a class I am taking. I only recently stepped into the (spider) web 😀
I LOVE your blog. So please, please carry on and write about everthing you want to share.
Of course I would love to hear about your fabric-business plans as well… but I totally understand if you have way to much on your plate to pursue these plans at the moment.
Just keep the good work up 😀
Awww, Sarah, thanks so much. You can’t see, but I am blushing right now…
I had the exact same problem with my blog. I planned to write about graphic design and illustration but I actually ended up writing about nature, gardening, food and crafts (oops)! But I really enjoy writing about these things so I decided to carry on and just let it evolve. I think all that matters is that posts have been written with passion. I love your blog, it has the right balance of everything and covers all my favourite things! If you feel guilty not writing about your fabric business, you could always add a post every now and then but it’s great the way it is 🙂
Ha ha, glad to know it’s not just me! The gardening somehow sneaks in there, doesn’t it?! And actually, I love the community of blogs-that-write-about-gardening (if not gardening blogs per se) I’ve discovered, like your one, so I guess I should feel proud to be part of it!
You always hear that you should be focused on one thing and not too diverse, but I guess as long as there are other gardening/fabric/craft lovers out there it’s no bad thing to throw them all up at once.
Thanks so much for commenting.
I’m a huge believer in writing for yourself, I’ve chopped and changed over the past couple of years on the subjects I blog about but the only way I can keep my zen levels happy is by just going with the flow. People like reading your blog for you, so whatever you write about it’l be all good x
You’re right of course, Annie, there wouldn’t really be much point in my doing it if it wasn’t making me happy by covering everything I like. And #HDYGG has been one of the most enjoyable little communities I’ve joined, leading me to some of my very favourite blogs as well, so I should definitely embrace the gardening angle! Now, to just figure out a catchier tagline, ha ha.
Change the tag line if you must but I would miss the real you if you change your blog. Your photos are special and I love pootling in the garden or anywhere else. When the fabric business is imminent just start blog2. I have a sewing blog and a travel blog and sometimes they intersect.
Thanks Cheryl. I definitely need to start brainstorming a new tagline! And, I have to confess, I think fabric business is looking less and less imminent, whereas my interest in all the gardening side of things is definitely growing. So reassuring to hear that others like both elements as well though!
I vote for more making things!
Yes! I vote for more making things too! Now, just to get on with actually *making them* and not just planning them. I hope there will be a bit more on the making side over the next few months, now I have a little more energy and time, compared to the last year. Thanks Barbara.
Don’t change a thing!
Huge electronic kiss going out to you, Uli, for such a nice comment…
Basically it’s YOUR blog, so write whatever YOU want to! I love reading it and there’s nothing wrong with a bit of pootling if it makes you happy! I do love your posts when you’ve made something (particularly stamping and papercrafts) – but frankly I’m in awe of you ever being able to get any blogging / making things / gardening done when you have two little sproglets to look after and a house to finish decorating! Well done you! Perhaps you could change the tag line a bit to reflect that it’s your long term goal / dream but I really wouldn’t worry – we’ll still be here hanging on your every word. Good luck with whatever you decide.
I think your tagline is perfect. It does actually say you are doing everything but set up your fabric business, so it does describe your eclectic blog pretty well, I think – although it may surprise first-time visitors that there isn’t much about the fabric side of things. I love the forays into different areas. Many people who like crafts also enjoy gardening, so that fits pretty well – please don’t lose it. The best blogs are like little peeks into other people’s lives and minds – yours is pretty much perfect on that score! 🙂
Thanks Wendy, what a lovely comment. I’m so glad to hear about all the fellow gardening lovers out there. It seems crafts and gardening are quite good bedfellows, despite my initial concerns. (I was imagining people reading the blog saying, “urgh, blooming flowers again, where is all the fabric?”!)