Blogging for Creatives : 2016 Workshop Recap

I had such a wonderful time teaching my class “Blogging for Creatives” at Hive Workshops again last week! Since I last taught this workshop in the summer of 2015, so much has already changed…new social media platforms have been launched, blogging platforms have been updated, successful plugins have been discontinued and new ones have taken their place. I was honestly amazed at how much new information I had to share! But the core principals of the class were the same.

Blogging is a way you can build your business, enhance your engagement with current and future clients, and grow your brand. I am finding more and more that the trends in the blogging world are coming back around again. When I first started, long form essays were the way to go, and blogging was all about authenticity and sharing the real deal with readers. In the past five or six years, blogging has swung more commercialized, with blogs looking super polished and curated content everywhere. But I feel the pendulum swinging back toward the center. While I love the idea of blogs serving as “online magazines” with beautiful images and clean designs, I also miss the real truthfulness and gumption that used to rule the blogging world. I believe we are trending toward the center, with more and more bloggers writing long form again, and mixing that in with their shorter, more visual content.

For creatives and small business owners, this presents a real challenge. How do you create a trustworthy blog while also using it to sell your wares or services? I believe it’s by mixing it up! Yes, of course you should feature your work, but you should also share a bit about the person behind the work. What do YOU love? How does the outside world influence your work? What can you teach your readers and clients? These are all great questions to ask yourself as you either start new or revamp your creative business’ blogging practice.

Thank you to all the incredible creatives who attended my workshop and inspired me with their thirst to learn more! I was so grateful for this review submitted by Nancy Tucker Garcia, a creative who attended the class:

I recently took Megan’s class “Blogging for Creatives” at a Hive workshop event, & I can’t say enough great things about it! Megan is a WONDERFUL teacher & makes everything easy to understand. I already have a blog “somewhere” out in cyberspace that I haven’t done a lot with in recent years, mainly because it’s been difficult for me to figure out how to do a lot with it. After taking Megan’s class, I understand the value of blogging, not only for my business but also just for fun. She gave us some valuable pointers for making our blogs more user-friendly, which I especially needed having lived most of life without all the technology we have at our disposal today. I love to write, & I always have something to say…For anyone mildly interested in starting (or improving) their own blog, I can’t think of a better authority on the subject than Megan.

This is what it’s all about for me…encouraging others to blog not only to improve their business life, but their personal life as well. There is something pretty fantastic about watching people spark up when they realize blogging can help grow their creativity. The possibilities are truly endless!

Special thanks to J. Lynn Designery and BlogStomp for sponsoring this workshop! J. Lynn Designery’s Revive Blog Planners are a necessity for anyone wanting to start or build a successful blogging practice. You can see me showing how I use my planner as an editorial calendar in the images above! BlogStomp software makes creating web compatible image layouts super easy, and has cut down on my workflow and the amount of time I spent editing images for the blog. I love their platform and highly recommend it!

(All photos by Melissa Slater)