So do you want to be a dog blogger? Aspiring bloggers are often advised to post often, to talk about topics that truly interest them, and to include lots of pictures. But what about dog blogs specifically? For some help on this topic, I turned to Lori, the author of the popular dog blog, According to Gus.
Lori started blogging after researching dog friendly destinations for her upcoming epic trip across the United States and Canada. After noticing a lack of detailed trip summaries for dog-friendly destinations and accommodations, she decided to start her own dog blog. Although they aren’t yet on the road, she’s been blogging about her adventures with Gus, dog related products, and her preparations for their upcoming trip.
Since According to Gus has a large following (including lots of reader comments) and interacts with a lot of other dog blogs, I thought Lori would have some excellent advice for prospective pet bloggers.
Generally, dog blogs fall into 2 types: those “written” by the dog, and those written by the dog parents. Blogs usually focus on one of three general topics: dog-related news, dog training, or dog lifestyle. Lori posts on a regular schedule (Monday, Wednesday, Friday and Saturday). I’ll chime in here and say that it helps to have a regular schedule mapped out, both for your sake (staying disciplined) and your reader’s sake.
In addition to posting regularly, Lori stresses that the best way to gain a readership and connect with the blogging community it to interact with other blogs that you enjoy. As she points out, its important to find blogs that you want to read so that your comments are genuine and you actually have fun reading the content. Lori finds that she spends about 3-4 hours a day reading other blogs or posting on her own. (Impressive!) When she finds a blog that she likes, she’ll often check out the blogs of other commenters on that website, since they probably have the same interests that she does.
Joining blog hops are another great way to meet other bloggers and find fun sites. [Note: A blog hop is an event, usually started by a blog or website, where a group of bloggers all post on a similar topic on the same day. Each blog includes a complete list of participating blogs, so that ideally the readers and blog authors can “hop” from blog to blog while reading about a topic of mutual interest.] According to Gus participates in the Wednesday BlogPaws and Saturday Pet Blogger blog hops.
It’s clear that Lori follows her own advice to interact with fellow bloggers. Her insightful comments can often be found on TheDailyToki, and on many posts throughout the dog blogosphere. More importantly, she provides her fellow dog lovers with great reading. (One of my recent favorites was her post on how to use the blog format to create a comprehensive and easily accessible medical records file for your pet. It’s a genius idea.)
Thanks for the blogging advice Lori, and thanks for sharing Gus with the rest of us! To read Lori’s entertaining and informational posts, go to http://accordingtogus.com/.
Thanks so much for the link love! I’m glad I could provide some info on how our blog operates!
Eventually, I’d like to cut the blog-related time per day by 1/2 or 1/3. So much of my time is spent editing the photos I take…I hope to streamline my workflow! I just purchased Photoshop CS5 and both of the Totally Rad Action sets. Now I just need to learn how to use them!
I agree – editing photos takes up the largest chunk of my time too. Luckily, the more editing we do, the quicker it gets… hopefully!
Good post, i think we all want to have our dog blogs be as popular as Lori & Gus’ 😉
aaand since I just had a kick in the butt from a fellow photographer about doing pre-shoot work (to cut down on post shoot work)… learn about gray cards, it’ll cut down on photo editing.. And good luck with the CS5 lori, that should last you forever ;-).. I just got lightroom 2… but don’t have time to sit with it yet, but I’m hoping between that and the newly implemented gray card rule my post work time will be cut down a lot.
Take care
Anna
http://www.akginspiration.com
I was wondering how Gus’s photos turn out so amazing. It is clear there is skill behind the camera but his color’s are so vivid. I just go Photshop Elements but I have a long road of learning how to use it.
Great blog post and tons of good advice from Lori. It is so true about networking with other blogs of similar interests. I’ve noticed that so many of my subscribers and subscriptions have many connections with each other. Example, I recognize all 3 other commenters here on this entry!
I’m so glad I ran across this post! I have been trying to find the dog blogosphere for the past few weeks and it seems I have finally found it:)
Hi! I’m so glad you stumbled onto our blog! Welcome – and I’m glad we did our part to represent the Dog Blogosphere. : o )
I’ve enjoyed reading your recent blog posts – Toki also has a set of squirrels that she loves. But she long ago ripped apart the tree trunk… I still find squirrels in random places under the furniture though!
Happy blogging, and I look forward to reading more!
For sure if i am provided an opportunity, will surely love to be a dog blogger…. 🙂
Dog Channel
thanks for info.
great thoughts/ideas… agreed with ur sayins…”do you want to be a dog blogger?”
–yeah,,I too want to be a dog blogger….
thanks for sharing!!