I've had my two blogs at Google's Blogger since 2006. They used to call the blogs Blogspots. I bought my own domains for each a few years ago. I pay $12 per year each. I was following 126 blogs over the years. I found recently that most had stopped blogging around 2015, with a handful blogging up to 2017.
I unfollowed those, ending up with 6 blogs and 2 of those are mine. So, it does seem that blogging is virtually dead in the handmades and creative community. There are, however, still creatives who have tossed around the idea of blogging. They are wondering today if they should start blogging. I will share my thoughts on this valuable marketing tool.
Blogging is work, especially if you care about the format of the posts and adding images. If you're blogging for joy, you'll keep at it. Being able to see statistics of who's visiting your blog may inspire you to continue. It can also discourage you if you only see a few people visiting every few months. The same with blogging for interaction from readers or to make money through monetizing.
I don't care for most of the affiliate advertising that is available. I tried Amazon Affiliate Marketing for a short time but I did not have enough traffic so it didn't work out. I tried affiliate marketing through a couple of book sites like Abe Books, Alibris and Thrift Books.
I just didn't take to it and I'm not a trendy, popular online influencer. I can't remember exactly which book affiliate I used, because it was so long ago. It's not easy generating comments and an income through blogging. I think that's why many who have those goals give up on blogging but a blog can be used in other ways.
A blog can be useful for a number of reasons other than affiliate marketing. If you discover ways to use it to further your interests or brand, you'll keep blogging. I appreciate blogging because it's a place where you can say whatever you want, how you want and as often as you want. You can market yourself as often as you want and in whatever way you want.
Unlike marketing on social media and other marketing platforms, no one will tell you what you can't do when you do it from your blog. You can use the SEO that you want to use. When blogging to market your products and services, you can share as many images as you want. Your product descriptions can be as long or as detailed as you want them to be.
Most of all, you can add as many links in your blogs posts as you see fit. There are no annoying restrictions or constrictions. As long as you follow the TOS of the blogging platform that you are using, you are free to market yourself through the blog however you see fit.
Though my creative friends and many others have fallen by the wayside in their blogging, I am so glad that I have not. I can't think of a single creative whose blog I enjoyed and was inspired by who is still blogging. Writing your own blog is a fun way to promote yourself and your brands! It can be very effective if you stick with it and learn how to use it to your benefit. At this writing, you can still do it for free at some sites and even still buy low-cost domains.
Substack (Substack helps anyone set up a blog and email newsletter. No tech knowledge is required. It’s free to get started on Substack.)
Blogger (recently sold their Blogger platform to Squarespace and I'm still here waiting to see what changes Squarespace makes over time)
Yola (2 websites with 2 pages each for free plan, have to design your own website through their templates and drag and drop)
Wix (unfortunately, only a 14-day free trial, have to design your own website through their templates and drag and drop)
Weebly (have to design your own website through their templates and drag and drop)
