Ten Rules for Food Blogging
Today, Amateur Gourmet wrote an interesting piece (including the picture above) on The Ten Rules for Food Blogging:
1. Have a hook. That hook might be cooking your way through a cookbook, deriding disastrous cakes, or advising fellow workers on where to eat in midtown.
2. If you don’t have a hook, have a name. Like this guy or this guy, both of whom made a name for themselves in the food world before starting a food blog.
3. If you don’t have a name, have a singular, stand-out voice that’s unlike any other voice out there.
4. If you don’t have a singular, stand-out voice, take beautiful pictures of beautiful food and include recipes.
5. Update frequently, at least three times a week. Even if you’re not a great photographer, include pictures in your posts; preferably, a lead picture at the top and several illustrative pictures studded throughout. (Edit these pictures in Photoshop, for maximum effect.)
6. Spend time on the design of your blog. If you’re not a design person, pay a designer to make it look great. It’s a worthwhile investment.
7. Interact with your readers. Prompt them for comments, acknowledge their comments in your later posts.
8. Offer your readers various ways to read your blog: syndicate your blog through RSS, send it out over e-mail, if you’re techno savvy (and I’m not) create an iPhone app.
9. Tweet. Nowadays, a great way to call attention to your blog and what you’re blogging about is Twitter. Build up a large Twitter following and then link to your posts when you write them.
10. Be exuberant. No one wants to read a shoulder-shrugging blogger. If you’re passionate, you’ll get a passionate response.
I think Adam fails at realizing the central aspect of blogging, which is to have fun doing it. Some of us (myself included) are not aiming at having a blog viewed by hundreds of readers. My blog is mostly (ha, who am I kidding) friends and family who want to check in on my life. My blog is mostly about me proving to the world that I no longer eat Whole Foods Sesame tofu 7 days a week.
Regardless, I think the article is great for self-reflection and identifying how to make your blog better if you want to elevate it to that “next level.” I do realize that I need to learn how to take better pictures of my food and have been meaning to take pictures of the whole process… I hope to start tonight! :o)
