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I'm guessing that quite a few of you guys out there have blogs running alongside whatever it is you post on this, and probably other forums. I have even considered starting one myself but I don't know what i would write about, and really have no idea how to go about it. So bloggers tell me about your blog, tell me why have you started blogging? What do you write about? Who reads it? What are the benefits over say having a thread on here? Lastly, does it cost much, and how hard is it to do?
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I've been doing mine for about ten years - www.sucksqueezebangblow.co/ - although the pace has definitely slowed recently; I used to post every day, now it's more like once every couple of weeks or so! I initially started it as a sort of scrapbook of cool cars I'd found online and so on, but a few years ago I came to the conclusion that it felt silly to share other people's content on a blog instead of making my own, so I refocused it as a kind of archive of cool cars I'd seen at shows and whatnot. You'll see the counter on it shows over 2 million page views, but bear in mind that it's been going for a decade, it's not that impressive a number - about 500-600 views a day. Although there are a few loyal followers! And it is quite cool when you get a comment from some random person in a country you'd never expect saying 'Oh, my dad had one of those...' - to be completely honest, though, I write it with the assumption that no-one's going to be reading it. There are countless car blogs out there, mine's nothing special, I just do it for my own amusement. It's quite therapeutic sometimes. To answer your final questions - it doesn't cost me anything (aside from the custom url, which is about £15/year), and it's very easy! |
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ChasR
RR Helper
motivation
Posts: 10,275
Club RR Member Number: 170
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You're not asking for much!  . You have asked a few questions so I'll break it down a little. So bloggers tell me about your blog, tell me why have you started bloggingIt's just about cars and me really. As for the why it's because I enjoy it. I can appreciate it's not a well paying industry is writing blogs/articles but in recent times it's an industry I have considered going into ; I enjoy sharing stuff with people and helping everyone hopefully as an end result. In recent times the career thing is something I have given alot of thought. I see this as a potential step. But if nothing comes of it at least some part of me is on the internet. What do you write about? Who reads it? What are the benefits over say having a thread on here? Lastly, does it cost much, and how hard is it to do?I tend to write about my automotive adventures. Currently I am writing about previous exploits and a road trip. I also write about things which I feel would have benefited me if I had known more at the time. One example of that is when I bought my M3: theleylandlegends.wordpress.com/2017/03/11/yeah-mate-you-can-bag-a-good-m3-for-8000-really/theleylandlegends.wordpress.com/2017/03/15/bmw-searching-part-2/Who reads it?Whoever wants to in reality. While I not always one for C&C I am always open to it. Where people have given me their view I do try to refine my writing style and go from there. Now and again I'll drop my articles onto forums where I want to share my experience and it is relevent to the thread but it may crowd the thread too much. What are the benefits over say having a thread on here?It goes out to potentially a wider audience, where different opinions and people are about. But part of that is down to you. Lastly, does it cost much, and how hard is it to do?It costs my time. That's it. As for how hard it is I don't find it too hard. Checking for grammatical & spellling errors can be tiresome and take time. However, it does make a blog far easier to read IMO and it is something I need to improve on. |
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Last Edit: Jun 15, 2017 9:44:02 GMT by ChasR
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beej89
Part of things
Posts: 26
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I write one, www.thegearboxaus.blogspot.com.au I write it for the sole reason to ramble about cars and it means I don't have to bore those around me with nonsense about cars they don't care for! I write varied content. But mainly I talk about forgotten retro stuff that I find for sale, some new car or industry news, opinion pieces and the odd car review. Each post gets a few hundreds views from people around the globe, again like dbizzle said I do it presuming no one will read it so its a bonus when they do. I've managed to get few press cars out of writing it though, another nice little bonus. It cost me nothing, I use Google Blogger, its a really basic set up and doesn't allow much customisation but it works for my ramblings. |
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Jun 15, 2017 17:39:47 GMT
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I initially started it as a sort of scrapbook of cool cars I'd found online and so on, but a few years ago I came to the conclusion that it felt silly to share other people's content on a blog instead of making my own, so I refocused it as a kind of archive of cool cars I'd seen at shows and whatnot. Same here! I do still occasionally share stuff others put online, but I mostly publish my own content now. It's my personal bit of interwebs, where I share stuff I do. Not everything, but a lot of it. www.motofreibeuter.de and I'm actually surprised that people are reading it and comment on it. One word of advice though; make sure you have a good spam filter if you enable comments. I'm getting hundreds(!) of spam comments every day. But only some very, very few make it through the filter. I pay for my own webspace, but don't ask me how much, I honestly have no idea. But since I can still spend money on cars and car stuff and not starve to death - it can't be that much... I'm using WordPress as a backend, it's pretty much as complicated as posting on here.  |
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Stiff
Posted a lot
'kin 'ell
Posts: 3,019
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Jun 15, 2017 17:58:20 GMT
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I guess my reasons for starting are pretty much the same as dbizzle's - an online scrapbook but with a more older, nostalgic feel to them. (pre-90's) It's very rare that I actually write anything as I like to leave the pictures with an air of mystery (unless someone asks about them, then I'll research). I'm not really sure who reads it - car guys I guess. Although with 13.3K followers I guess someone is. From comments and messages, mainly U.S. it seems. The only thing it costs (me) is time, and again like dbizzle, I used to post daily but now I just don't get the time. How hard is it? I suppose that depends on which platform you're using. I used to use Google blogger for a short while (until I lost thousands of pics on a database upgrade) so I moved over to Tumblr. They're all fairly simple to be fair but Tumblr is simplicity defined (that's why I prefer it, lol) I also started a FB group to run alongside it which is much more fast moving as submissions are allowed but moderated (luckily I've got mods in the U.S. and Australia so it's monitored 24 hours a day) This one is also a little busier as although it's 'mainly' auto related, we do allow some non-auto related pics as long as they're cool or atmospheric. If you're just starting out I'd recommend trying the Tumblr to get a feel of it - it's free and easy to use with lots of different 'skins' to choose from. stiffspeed.co.uk/ www.facebook.com/groups/stiffspeed/ |
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Adam
Kinda New
Posts: 3 
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Jun 15, 2017 19:47:42 GMT
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Mine is really why I mainly lurk on here, otherwise I'd have a thread in readers rides. It's purely about my B and the work I do on it and I started it to make sure I documented what I did to the car and so I could remember it later. incayellow.com/ |
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Jun 15, 2017 20:41:56 GMT
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One word of advice though; make sure you have a good spam filter if you enable comments. I'm getting hundreds(!) of spam comments every day. Blogger seem to have increased the ferocity of their spam filters recently. It used to be a nightmare posting anything about an Escort... |
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Jun 15, 2017 22:25:19 GMT
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Thanks for the advise guys, i think i'll have a browse at all of your bloggs over the next week or so while i think about whether i want to try and create one for myself, and if i do, what the heck shall i write about.
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Dr.AK
Part of things
Posts: 426
Club RR Member Number: 62
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Copying chasr's way of formatting for this... So bloggers tell me about your blog, tell me why have you started bloggingI started back in 2011 as a way to have all my car shows in one place. I was inspired by Speedhunters and Stanceworks mainly. My blog's located at www.tiefundbreit.comWhat do you write about?I cover car culture from Germany and occasionally Europe. I started as a one man team back in 2011 but I've had a few contributors helping me along the way and now I've got a good friend as a steady contributor. He's currently in Sweden covering Gatebil for me. Who reads it?As for who reads it - well, honestly I'm not too sure. It's aimed at an international audience, but page views seem to be largely from Germany. I do post new articles on Facebook, Instagram and various forums and that often gives me a nice boost in views for a few days. What are the benefits over say having a thread on here?I'm not making any money from it. The benefits over a thread for me are that I've got everything located in one place for easy reach. Oh, and also it allows me to apply for media access at events, that's a big benefit over a forum post, heh. Lastly, does it cost much, and how hard is it to do?I pay for my own hosting, I think it's about 30€ a year... As for how hard it is, if you can operate a forum, you can operate a basic blog. It does take quite a lot of time and I am often way too lazy to be bothered with it, so my update time can be slow. |
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Last Edit: Jun 16, 2017 6:08:38 GMT by Dr.AK
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I'm too lazy for all that nonsense these days. However, Not Two Grand is always worth a gander. Mostly our sort of rubbish cars, and written with Mr Pollit's usual amusing style. www.not2grand.co.uk/category/blog/ |
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There is nothing more expensive than a cheap Mercedes
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Jun 16, 2017 18:17:56 GMT
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I'm a serial blog starter, but have given up each one by the time one year is up! Music, cars, technology - been there, done that.
Unless it's something that you really think adds to the world, then do it, otherwise, don't bother is my humble opinion ;->
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Sept 20, 2017 16:16:08 GMT
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Thanks for the advice chaps. Well after looking at all of yours and a bit of thought I figured that I'd claim a little bit of the internet for myself, and started pointlessly rambling on like I do. I really don't know what I'm doing, but as that hasn't stopped me before I'm guessing it won't stop me now either!
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Sept 20, 2017 16:29:29 GMT
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My threads range. Between builds and blog I guess ??
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Sept 21, 2017 10:26:27 GMT
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So bloggers tell me about your blog, tell me why have you started bloggingLong ago, I had a personal blog, which is no longer maintained. Later, I wanted another blog to write about my (and my gf's) cars and motorbikes. outrage.antville.org/It's German, so I don't know if it's interesting for most of you, but hey, look - pictures! What do you write about?I write about our cars, the repairs and improvements (and bodges) I do. Who reads it?
I don't know. Judging by the number of comments: not very much people. What are the benefits over say having a thread on here? It' s in German, while my threads here are in English... My idea is: If someone in a forum asks "How do I..." I can link to my blog and say "look, been there, t-shirt, you know". Didn't happen up to now, but maybe some day... Here, it's a matter of hours, until an entry disappears from the front page, at my blog it's a matter of weeks. Lastly, does it cost much, and how hard is it to do?I have my own web space for image hosting, sets me back around 30€ a year. The blog itself is free. Setting up first included a certain time and head scratching, but now it's running and new entries are easily made.
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autojumbled
Club Retro Rides Member
Posts: 226
Club RR Member Number: 106
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Sept 21, 2017 14:16:12 GMT
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I have a personal blog which, in a similar vein to others here, it's purpose is to document the jobs i've got up to on various cars. I used to run a WordPress site but have recently migrated to the blogging platform Ghost. Reason for this was WordPress just became this large sprawling mess of plugins and coding etc. With Ghost is much more streamlined (and lacks features) meaning I am much more likely to simply slap some words and pictures together and post. www.autojumbled.co.ukDuring the migration i removed a couple of articles as after reading back through them they were either super wordy or just cringeworthy in their content! I'm starting to get back into it a bit more again now and planning to post progress of my Celica project. The idea being that each article focuses on a single job, like flaring brake pipes or swapping out a radiator. Very short and succinct how-to's, or rather an accompaniment to other how-to's as you can pretty much guarantee someone has already written about it. Some of my articles are prompted by or will be prompted by the knowledge base I maintain online to track the jobs in progress and any research/web links/suppliers/etc that I collect for the project. For this I'm using a free version of FogBugz (developers and IT people may know of this). Is a tool for creating and tracking issue tickets for helpdesk-type stuff. Looks like this:  Helpful for logging ideas for content etc.... |
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