How To Kick Start A Successful Blog

Monday 

As inspiration for starting this blog, a friend in marketing recommended I watch the movie, Julie & Julia. (Yes, I know. It’s 2015 and this is the first time I’ve seen the movie. Better late than never, right?) It’s about a woman (Julie Powell) who (like me) wanted to open up new writing opportunities in her life. One of the points my friend was trying to make, something that Julie Powell also espoused in the movie, was that in order to create a successful blog, one should focus on one topic…like the challenge of cooking one’s way through all 500 plus recipes in Julia Child’s iconic cookbook in a single year or (in my case) providing readers with something to ponder. My friend told me, “Blog about one thing, but don’t write about random stuff. Whatever goes in has to fit the criteria of your blog. You can’t be all things to all people.” Huh. Well that wasn’t what I’d necessarily wanted to hear. However, the principle of keeping my blog focused made sense.

The movie, btw, was wonderful. I enjoyed it so much that I was also inspired to read Julie Powell’s blog that kick started her success. Only one problem: her blog can no longer be accessed on the internet. It’s been taken down. In its place are sites from people who are not Powell but who have, presumably, read her original blog. So with several successes under her belt (blog, book, movie), imagine my surprise when I found out that many on the internet were less than complimentary of Powell’s now defunct blog site.

One criticism centered on Powell’s foul word usage and rants littered throughout her posts which, purportedly, even offended the legendary Julia Child. More importantly, some complained that instead of Powell focusing just on the food/cooking challenge, she wrote about random things: her job, her numerous relationships and other varied facets of her life. Wait… WHAT?!! Let me get this straight…and yeah, I get the novelty of the cooking challenge which was the initial impetus for her blog, but Julie Powell still managed to get both a book AND movie deal that all began with a blog that mostly included writing about the everyday stuff of her life?!!  I don’t think this was the message I was  supposed to learn. Still, I’m grateful my marketing friend urged me to watch Julie & Julia. It’s provided so much to…ponder.

Let me know what you believe makes for a successful blog.

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