The Great British Blog: a thing of beauty
This post is part of The Great British Blog Festival, where bloggers from all walks of life, all fields, all specialities, all interests, will be joining in and celebrating this fabulous thing that is blogging (or web-logging, as it first started out). Click the link to find more great blog entries for the festival over at LittleMummy.com.
Englishmum.com is a host blog for the festival, so this week, on here, as well as on various other host blogs, you’ll find a different blogger writing every day about something to do with blogging, whether it be a vlog (video blog), a post about the technical aspects of blogging, personal experiences, tutorials or list posts – do pop in and have a read – there’ll be something for everyone. Kicking off the week, then, is… erm… me:
But what exactly is a blog, or a web-log or whatever, I hear you ask? Well, according to Wikipedia, it is:
“a type of website or part of a website. Blogs are usually maintained by an individual with regular entries of commentary, descriptions of events, or other material such as graphics or video. Entries are commonly displayed in reverse-chronological order. “Blog” can also be used as a verb, meaning to maintain or add content to a blog.”
A blog can be anything from an online diary of day to day family life, through to a collection of 140 character cake reviews – a celebration of everything British, or a ‘letter home’ from foreign climes.
The great thing about blogging is that whoever you are or whatever you write about, there’ll be a little community just waiting to welcome you. There are parenting communities, foodie communities, and fabulous fashion blogging communities. Maybe you’re a woman who likes to write – be it fiction, poetry or even travel writing? Well you can join Judith’s Room, where you can submit your work for other people to read, chat to other writers, or get support if things aren’t going right?
These communities show the sheer power of blogging – a blogger is never alone, there’s always someone, somewhere floating about in the dark recesses of the internet with similar view or interests, or five minutes to spare. And what better example than Bloggers for Haiti? What started out as an email between friends suggesting that we each do a blog post raising money for a JustGiving page, ended up spreading across the whole of the country, and even across the world. The generosity of my wonderful, supportive commenters (some of whom have been reading my blog since I started writing four years ago) absolutely amazed me, and I discovered some fantastic new blogs to read too. Bloggers for Haiti raised £4351.50, plus numerous other donations to the DEC fund. A fantastic achievement and an example of the sheer force of community in blogging.
If you’re a mum and fancy having a go at writing a blog, check out my lovely friend Erica’s fantastic new Mum Blogger Ebook (if you’re not a Mum, don’t be put off by the title – there’s lots in here for any form of blogging: right from starting your own blog, to Search Engine Optimisation, right through to dealing with the press and PR companies (which you will, once you become a famous blogger in your own right!). I’ve been blogging for four years, but still learned absolutely loads.
The eBook is £25 at full price, but you can buy it for £20 (including the monetise your blog download as a bonus chapter which sells separately for £5). Just enter the discount code: ENGLISHMUM20
14 Responses to “The Great British Blog: a thing of beauty”
Love your blog and the pic of the cakes!