Welcome to the The PR Desk! Written monthly by PR professional Heather Travis, it guides food bloggers on the ins and outs of working with PR agencies and brands. This month, Heather talks about the change that's afoot in the blogging world and the opportunity it presents to you as a blogger.
Blogging isn’t about to "blow up" in the fun way Manolos blew up when Carrie mentioned them on Sex and the City. It’s about to blow up like an avocado in the microwave and it’s going to get messy.
This dismantling of the blogging world we know has already slowly been happening.
Don’t get me wrong, this dismantling of the blogging world we know has already slowly been happening. We all know it because we see it and feel it. Our audiences are fragmented and the sites, tools, and social media available to us are too many to count. Consistent numbers can’t be relied on anymore and we’re seeing lots of popular blogs shuttering or changing things up radically, moving from one platform to another or one medium to another (or both). FBC is even changing up the conference platform with the awesome adventure of the road trip! Change is afoot and this is year we’re really going to feel it.
Shaking Up Our Comfort Zones
Yes, it seems this year is the year our comfort zones are really going to get shaken up. This is the year we take all the wise knowledge we’ve gained over the past years and put it to good use. Some blogs will become vlogs, some recipes will get made into a cookbook, some will delete their least favourite social media accounts and start new ones, some will launch new businesses, and it will all be scary and totally worth it.
Worth it because this presents us each with a unique opportunity: the opportunity to pick exactly which platforms, tools, and media deliver our message the best way possible. So go ahead and blow things up — sometimes things need tearing down before they can be built the way they were meant to be.
Throw the spaghetti against the wall and see what sticks.
While this all may seem a bit doom and gloom, I’ll leave you with this certainty: No matter what shape your content creation and sharing (and enjoying) takes, the basic principles of your early childhood education still stand. You should always strive to play nicely in your sandbox, be polite, respect, support, and encourage the community around you, try new things, and never stop learning.
What are some of the ways you're planning on disrupting things this year? Are you shuttering social media accounts, changing formats or platforms? How do you feel about all the changes in the blogging landscape?
Some good reminder reading for your new adventures:
- Five Things To Do BEFORE You Pitch
- Contracts & Disclosure — Why They're Important)
- Why Small Blog Numbers Are No Big Deal
- Setting Boundaries for Your Brand
Heather Travis is a PR professional and lover of all things creative. She has extensive experience developing and implementing integrated public relations and marketing programs for agricultural brands, producers and processors, as well as high end sporting goods. She’s a DIY junkie with a mean power tool addiction, and can often be found painting, refinishing, and scouring both junk yards and antique markets for her next fix … err, piece of content for her blog heatherinheels.com. Find Heather on Twitter @heathertravis and Instagram @heathertravis.
You can unsubscribe any time!
Enjoyed the read, even though it makes me think – haha!
So glad to hear it Diane:)