Why to blog like a professional even if you are not one

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We are not professional bloggers, but we are members of several groups of «cat» or «pet» bloggers. These communities include professional and non-professional bloggers whose common point is to be fascinated by what they are doing, and who want to share their passion with the world. The discussions concern all the aspects of the blogging : writing, photography, legal aspects, monetization, design, ergonomics of the site, …
Why to blog like a professional even if you are not one ?

Why to blog like a professional even if you are not one ?

To have a blog pleasant to visit

Is your sidebar blocked by dozens of useless badges ? Does your homepage look like a christmas shop window which flashes everywhere, in the point to be illegible ? Can we easily find your previous articles ? Is there a harmony in colors and chosen polices ? Are the various elements (menu, titles, widgets) well separate ? Are the contents of your pages always up to date ? We make a spring-cleaning of our blog every summer, during Claire’s holidays.

To take beautiful photos

Photos are one of the elements which attract your readers. We learnt to use the regulations of our device better, to play with natural or artificial light, to take into account the background, and to have a more critical look on the quality of our photos.

To write quality texts

A rich vocabulary, a well-kept spelling, a correct grammar, our readers are sensitive to these elements also. We try to be attentive to these various points by writing our articles. And we are very aware that our translations in English, German, and Italian still have a lot of room for progress.

To know how to use various social networks

Social networks are an excellent way to spread our blog posts. Still, it is necessary to know how to use them … By knowing the advantages and the inconveniences of the various social networks, and how to use them, we were able to choose which suited us best.
Use various social networks

To support the professional bloggers

Know that only a minority of professional bloggers can earn a living from their blog. You need a great deal of work as well as simultaneous implementation of several strategies to earn money with a blog : sale of products or services, membership programs, advertisements display, sponsored posts, … Every word of a sponsored post (or almost) is chosen to optimize SEO ; the article is then shared on various social networks according to a schedule and a frequency chosen to optimize the information dissemination. The attractiveness of a blogger for brands depends on the size of his audience and on his capacity to engage with his readers. And it is a work of constant promotion, that has to be done with irreproachable ethics : a blogger who “lies” to his readers loses fast his credibility, and his popularity…

However, small blogs as ours are also sometimes requested by brands to promote a product. As says it the proverb, time is money. If the product pleases you, the time you are going to spend taking good photos and writing an honest and detailed article has some value. By respect for the professionals bloggers, do not sell your time off : ask for a small fee, in cash or at least in kind.

And for fun, most of all !

What other reasons do you see to blog like a pro even if you are not one ?

What other reasons do you see to blog as a pro if you are not one ?
To those who are attending BlogPaws Conference this year, we hope you have a blast ! Have fun, learn a lot of cool stuff, meet furriends in person (or in fur), and enjoy everything !

43 thoughts on “Why to blog like a professional even if you are not one

  1. Mark's Mews

    We blog because we MUST write. We do it as best we can, but we think if we did it poorly, we would still do it.

    There is a movie we like called “Conagher”. Its about a cowboy drifting on the open plains. In it there is a lady who attached notes to tumbleweeds. One note was something like “If I do not write, I will go insane”.

    We are like that lady, sometimes.

  2. Sammy

    Love this info……..we are blogging for FUN only – and don’t follow any particular rules – we just talk about things we feel like talking about and put a lot of fun things in along the way. I admire professional bloggers but don’t want to be on a “schedule” with reviews and feel an obligation to write in a particular way – SO, as long as we have our blog, it will be just for fun.

    Hugs, Sammy (and Pam)

  3. Flynn

    We also blog just for fun. Our blog content in our opinion is not as good as it was. When Eric was here we would go for long walks around the fields with our mum, and she would take lots of photos which she would make into mini stories or conversations between us.
    Now I am getting old and unable to go far I sleep most of the time. Mum is unable to get many interesting photos so we only blog 2 and sometimes 3 times a week. She does it mostly for herself to look back on, but also for our followers.
    Even though we don’t blog often we still have a good following which is nice to know people still want to come and visit us.

  4. easy rider

    we are still waiting for this chance to find a sponsor or a brand-owner who wants to work with us… but if I see our photos and our texts I think we have to wait a little longer for that moment LOL

  5. Cathy Armato

    What a great post! You bring up many good points. I especially like the first one about a blog being pleasant to visit and not full of annoying ads, badges, etc. I do blog professionally but I don’t like visiting blogs that are cluttered & I try to keep mine clean and simple. Too much stuff on a blog also takes a long time to load. Sorry you won’t be at BlogPaws2016. It would be nice to have the opportunity to meet you!
    Love & biscuits,
    Dogs Luv Us and We Luv Them

  6. Maggie

    I’m blogging to show the beauty of the cats waiting for homes at PAWS. I also want to encourage people to volunteer at their own local animal shelter. Blogging is a labor of love.

  7. The Island Cats

    What great information! We blog mostly for fun…there’s no way we’ll ever make enough green papers from blogging to keep us in cat food. 🙂 But that doesn’t mean we shouldn’t do even fun stuff well…and that’s what we try to do. 🙂

  8. Hannah and Lucy

    We started to blog having read about Eric and Flynn and have conversations with each other when Mum’s got her thinking cap on!! We have made so many friends through this and it has been amazing.

  9. Nerissa's Life

    Professionalism is ALWAYS important and isn’t always about making money and charging fees. It can be and often is, of course., but havin’ a professional attitude is what is most important to us. Makin’ sure we do our best, no matter what. Doesn’t have to be ‘the best’ but does have to be the best WE can do. And always strivin’ to do better with our writing ’cause there’s ALWAYS room for improvement, for sure. Respectin’ other kitties’ time. Respectin’ other kitties’ work. That sort of thing, you know? That’s what we aim for, the most.

    Purrs,
    Seville

    Hmmm… Please do not think I was usin’ the term “we” ’cause Peep #1 does any of the writin’ on my blog. She doesn’t. She’s merely my IT support and not very good at IT support at that. Her IT support is on life support, for sure. By usin’ the term we and includin’ the peep, I was merely throwin’ her a bone. MOUSES!

  10. Cathy Keisha

    Great post. The only thing I would have added is to make sure if you use images that aren’t you’re own, that you have permission to use them. I see blogs every day that are for fun or hobby that still use Google images which isn’t cool. I tried to make some green papers by blogging by everything fell through.

    1. The Swiss Cats

      When we wrote the words “legal aspects”, we were thinking of images among other things too : many people don’t know yet that everything on Internet is not free of use (and a few of them know it but don’t care !). Purrs

  11. Sweet Purrfections

    We celebrate 8 years of blogging next month. It began as something to relax Mom Paula in the evenings and became a way to chronicle our daily lives through photos. We’ve recently begun with sponsored posts. They are a lot of work to make each post unique, yet still stay with our “brand”.

  12. Julie Mackenzie & kitties

    We’re so glad you brought up the subject of blogs, a mention which we noticed on the social media we usually frequent.

    When we blog, which isn’t as often as we used to, it’s to explain why we haven’t been—usually because we’ve been consumed with the latest writing endeavor on the part of our mom Julie, trying to make a living on her own. She’s pretty focused now and makes time demands on herself that prohibit that regular commitment that we used to enjoy so much.

    We think you make some excellent points. When we do post, it’s for fun, to let people know what we’ve been up to in more detail than social media like Facebook or Twitter allows. Also, it’s because we want to re-connect with friends who have been with us from the beginning, letting them know we haven’t forgotten them, trying our best to return comments and compliments best we can.

    Til then,
    Hugs from Tinker, Anastasia, Chopin, Bridgie, Mom Julie and especially Angel Tom.

  13. The Menagerie Mom

    What great information and ideas you give here. Our blog certainly started out as nothing but fun, and it is still mostly a fun place to chronicle the furbabies’ lives. Nevertheless, we certainly understand and appreciate the importance of keeping it professional, and we strive to accomplish that with each post. Thank you for sharing this with us!

  14. Spitty the Kitty

    We blog only for silliness and fun. The Human has a very busy full-time job that brings in the green papers so that’s what she spends most of her time on. *I* am often an afterthought, albeit a most impawtant one, at the end of her day. I am allowed to say whatever is on my mind with little censorship from her. Too bad she isn’t a better photographer, though, because I am soooooooooooooooo pretty! Ha ha ha 😉 We has no ambition to ever earn any $ from our blog, but we love all the wonderful kitties we have met–and a few pups, too. Oh, and some Humans I guess.

  15. Glogirly & Katie

    I started out blogging for fun… and I still DO blog for fun. : )
    I also try to supplement my income through my blog and design business which grew from my blog.

    But whether for fun or more serious reasons, I really have a lot of respect for bloggers that approach their blogs like a pro. It’s doesn’t mean you have to be selling stuff or promoting stuff all the time. In fact, too much of that can really be a turn off. It’s more about a clarity of message, consistency and integrity. And fun… definitely fun.

    : )

  16. Lola The Rescued Cat

    What a great post! We blog for a couple of reasons; to promote our book and as an extension of our Facebook Page which we’ve had for five 1/2 years. We have a lot of fun with it. Mommy says she’ll never retire as a blogger because we don’t make money doing it, but we’ve met a lot of great people and friends are worth a lot more than money. We try to be a professional as possible (that being said – Mommy is NOT a good photographer!)

  17. Summer

    When Sparkle began blogging, it was to help humans see things through a cat’s point of view. That’s still the goal! Any money we earn along the way is icing.

  18. Deziz World

    Well we must say ya’ll look gawjus. And we think your English is great. Even those of dat speak English could use a little work. MOL As fur SEO, we know huffin’ ’bout it so our sponsored posts are just our opinions and nuffin’ more. We do hope to learn someday, but alas… Fanks fur postin’.

    Luv ya’

    Dezi and Raena

  19. da tabbies o trout towne

    pixie & zorro….we will never bee proz; coz R foto takin iz like a vacuum
    masheen; it sux….

    N noe one likez reedin…… “trout”

    { …..itzs an acquired habit 🙂

    happee monday two ewe both; N speekin oh grate fotos yur scratchin post log foto… rocks !! ♥♥♥

    pea ess…we think yur blog translates veree well to English…grate job 🙂

  20. The Swiss Cats

    Awww… Thank you ! Claire read your posts loud the first times to get used to “trout”, but we are now able to understand your writing without her help ! Purrs

  21. Ann Staub

    Even if you don’t consider yourself a “professional” pet blogger, you guys sure do live up to the title. These are nice tips too. I am able to make some extra money from blogging which is nice. Especially since we are a single income family. It helps a lot.

  22. Brian Frum

    That was a terrific post, indeed! Actually we’re happy to make money blogging but if it wasn’t plain old fun we wouldn’t do it! I agree with Ann, you always appear to be utmost professional in all you do!

  23. caren gittleman

    I LOVE that you wrote this part “By respect for the professionals bloggers, do not sell your time off : ask for a small fee, in cash or at least in kind.”

    I keep wanting to write a blog post begging people (and myself!!) to STOP blogging for FREE. There is a large number who choose to do so (including ME, in some cases) and it needs to stop. Brands don’t get the message that they need to pay, when we keep agreeing to blog for free or in exchange for product. Most of the product receive doesn’t even begin to correspond with the time it takes for us to write a post.

    By the way, I think we ALL are professionals!! And…..my blogs are not huge, but like you, brands have wanted to work with me because they like how I present products, etc. You don’t always need a ton of followers to work with a brand. xoxoxo

  24. Ellen Pilch

    Excellent post. I think it is important to blog like a pro even if you aren’t one because we should always do our best and have pride in our work. We owe it to our readers, even if we only have a small audience, people are taking their time to read our blogs.

  25. Christine Caplan

    These are such great tips – I spend a lot of time curating pics over the weekend which inform the posts I write and sometime I feel like I’m wasting my time – but this reinforces that if I want to grow I need to stay the course. Thanks for posting this – with Blog Paws this week this has great reminders.

  26. frimousse

    “I can understand that some bloggers wish to make an additional income with their blog – even to make a profession of it in addition to writing books,” says my Master, “but it is not my way of seeing things. For proof the choice of WordPress hosted at a professional service provider to be absolutely certain to have no adverts. And of course I can but agree with with Zoe. About links with the other bloggers, last year, in June, we had the VISIT of Mouneluna, who was on holiday on the lakeside of Annecy
    http://mouneluna.eklablog.com/visite-chez-frimousse-a118115060
    I, Frimousse, have a question to ask Claire who knows (almost) everything. On TV my Mistress showed me a commercial with my Tigri. Yes she did! Should I really believe that it is MY Tigri, that he went away to make money and live in a place where there are plenty of mice, of sparrows, of tuna, or scallops?
    https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3zgRdDnosQs

  27. Laura Zaccardi

    Thank you for this post! Great tips with encouragement to be both professional and to have fun! I haven’t been a consistent blogger, but I’m striving to create a better cadence. I look forward to immersing myself at BlogPaws to further develop the skills you outline in a fun, creative environment!

  28. Little Binky and Granny

    Purrfectly written, Zorro and Pixie, great tips and the pictures are gorgeous! We only blog for fun and in my best English, maybe not so purrfect, but understandable for us and our readers 🙂 Pawkisses for a wonderful day 🙂 <3

  29. meowmeowmans

    Great post, and wonderful advice! We started blogging to give the adoptable cats at PAWS a voice, and greater exposure of the amazing bond that happens between cats and humans. We’ve always tried to be professional, because we want readers to enjoy visiting. We love that along the way, we’ve made incredible friends all over the world.

  30. Kathy

    I go in spurts. I will blog (hopefully like a professional!) for several months or weeks, and then I’ll take a break and either do no posts at all, or just post photos or something like that. I need to get back into it, as I’m on a long break right now due to some personal stuff in life.

    P.S. I know I’ve said this to you before, but my cats Cali and Tux are nearly identical to your cats!!! Meow!!

  31. Katie Kitty Too

    Blogging like a pro can give your blog a look that is easy to read and quality. One thing that I need to work on is getting blog posts early… More folks stop by. I could use some help in getting my blog to have a more quality look and identity that says Katiez Furry Mewz is a fun place and a caring place to visit.

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