May is a very strange month in France. With three Bank Holidays making three long weekends I will probably be making fewer posts this month. However, I have recently decided to experiment with two new blogs, so I should still be very busy!I have found that blogging takes up far more time than I ever thought possible, and I imagine that I am not the only person to wonder why I even do it at all. The final answer must be for my own amusement and as a new way to interact and learn about my surroundings. It also makes me feel part of a small community in some way, and such connections are important in life.
So why launch two new blogs? The first idea is a very simple one. I write about Paris and live here, so shouldn't I try to reach out to the local French speaking community too? I am far too lazy to try to translate each post I make, but I think I should at least make some effort in this direction. I have decided to republish some of my previous posts, but in much shorter forms, not directly translated, but trying to capture the same spirit in some way. I would do this very infrequently, perhaps once a week at most.
The second new blog is dedicated to my favourite subject; brick! I have often written about it on my main blog, but in such a way that I try to incorporate other aspects or parts of history into the story. This brick blog will be different though in that it will concentrate just on the building. I will try to discuss the period in which it was built, why brick was used and in what manner it was incorporated into the design. I think it has an interest as Paris is not a city that is immediately associated with the material, but which in fact contains many fascinating examples. Again, this will be updated just when I feel like it, but will also incorporate groups in Flickr and Facebook in an attempt to generate a kind of community flavour and share my passion!
Why tell you of this here? Well, firstly to give links to the sites, but secondly to ask for your opinions and previous experiences. Am I giving myself too much work? Do these blogs offer anything of interest to potential readers? Has anyone else tried to run several different blogs at once? Any suggestions on how to do so efficiently?
Finally, enjoy any weekends or holidays you have planned for May!
11 comments:
I used to run three blogs but one of them shut down. Of my remaining two, I only update the one on Blogger when I travel and the online journal is usually updated once a week.
I very much like your blogs because I love architecture and the history behind it. I'm sure your other readers feel the same.
Oh, I forgot to say how much I like this picture. I love the colors.
I don't have a blog but I love to read them. Maybe it would be easier just posting a picture and few words with it.
I can't imagine all the time you bloggers spend on your blogs; they are enjoyable for those of us who check in with you. If you're doing a "facebook" blog, I won't be going there.
I enjoy seeing and knowing a little about the architecture of Paris.
You know that I admire the work you put on to make already this blog and how much I enjoy reading all your “discoveries”! To do what you do, having a job and a family is surprising to me. I like very much the idea to learn something when I read a post and I definitely do so when I read yours!
I imagine that with the type of blog you have, you wish readers with the same deep interest as you of similar subjects and they are not easy to find. One way is of course to encourage each other, link to other blogs treating with similar subjects... We are not in competition!
To add additional blogs to find the friends and readers is certainly one way to go. The question is perhaps not so much the number of blogs as the frequency with which you post. If you don’t feed often enough, the readers may not come so easily.
I have also often thought of creating a French version of my blog, but have so far trusted that the more or less adequate translation tools that are offered would be enough. At the same time, I feel sometimes that some of my posts (like the one today) may more interest locals than foreigners, so a French version would be nice. But, if I did, I would have to reduce on my present blog; I don’t want to be a blogger only!
I’m not a Facebook fan, but never tried to blog with that tool. You must tell me your experience!
Adam, to tell you the truth I have no idea how you can possibly contemplate running three blogs.
In my own experience, running more than one is a lost cause, considering the time and energy you and I tend to put into things. You're not one to post poorly written or insufficiently researched material and unless you give up on all social life you just CAN'T run three quality blogs at a time.
But anyway, I'm off to follow your links. Cheers!
Thanks for your comments. I guess I should try to make a couple of things clear following them though. Firstly, I won't be using Facebook to run a blog, but only as a way of creating a 'group'. I hardly use the tool myself, but it does have interesting ways of communicating and sharing photos, so the idea was to use it as an extension of the blog. The Flickr option is for those who don't want to go anywhere near Facebook.
Secondly, I'm certainly not intending to spend anywhere near as much time on the two new blogs as I do on this one, but they are more a way to do something with a stock of photos and material I've built up, and to see if they are a potential way of building an audience. I'll let you know how it goes anyway!
Tu es passionné de briques ? C'est drole, nous avons reçu des amis de Californie qui nous on dit que des briques il y en avait peu en France... Et nous les avons emmenés voir un jardin dans le Nord, j'ai pris une belle photo d'un alignement de maisons ouvrières datant du paternalisme (pas publiée et je ne sais si je le ferai).
Aujourd'hui j'ai parlé de la voie romaine qui passe près de chez moi ; elle menait à Rouen. A un endroit où je passe tout le temps pour chercher mon pain, il y a un lieu-dit "la briquetterie", il reste une ancienne maison de gardien (photographiée il y a peu, mais je ne peux en parler vu que cela n'intéressera pas les foules), la briquetterie est à présent une fabrique de parpaings.
J'ai traduit de l'anglais un livre sur les bassins de jardin : il faut reconnaitre qu'en Angleterre on utilise plus souvent les appareillage de briques et on sait mieux la travailler qu'en France...
La fresque au fait ne provient-elle pas du musée d'art moderne ? La fée électricité de Raoul Dufy ?
I just started a second blog, I figure I will give it six months and see if it picks up enough interest to continue it. I'm not sure that thee are shortcuts other than planning a series of posts ahead. i did read a tip that posting at specific times or specific frequency is good in establishing readership if you will not be posting often.
Cergie: Oui, c'est la Fée Electricité de Dufy. Bien vu!
Artsparker: Very good suggestions. I think I will make the French version a once a week project, and the brick one a bit more random, but try to pre-publish a stock of posts whenever I have a bit of time.
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