Writing a blog that is focused on, primarily, one particular field of interest or topic gives the blogger the advantage of greatly limiting the field of possible topics to a very specific and narrow range of subject matter, making it easier to choose what to blog about.  The blogger never has to struggle to come up with a whole new area of interest because his or her posts will always relate to the basic topic or theme of the blog.  A candy blog will always have something to do with candy; a sports blog will always have something to do with some aspect of sports, a pet blog will concern itself with pets; and money making blogs will focus on how to make money with your blog and so on.

There are as many choices for a specialized blog as there are interests.  If you have a hobby you have a ready made interest that is a perfect blog theme.  Let’s say you have a collection of something; anything.  It can be baseball cards or comics, bottle caps or beer cans, keys, model cars, tools, dolls, books, fossils—whatever it is, you can write individual posts to discuss every item in your collection in terms of history, value, how you acquired it, why it’s valuable and so on.    Information about each item in your collection can be a post.  You can enhance each post with photos of the item, too. 

If you collect natural objects including, for example, wood samples, butterflies, marine shells and other similar items, you would write posts describing each individual species including the life history of each specimen, range, habitat and anything else which is pertinent to the specimen.  Again, photographs of the items in your collection will greatly enhance your presentations and stimulate interest.

A specialized blog is primarily informational.  It may be straightforward and didactic with a purely technical tone, or, taking a cue from the original weblogs, it can be in an informal, casual, conversational format stylized with your feelings and impressions about the topic.  I have noticed that many blogs today, though highly specialized, are written in an informal and very personal style.  bloggers are finding that their readers seem to prefer a more warmly personal tone so what is actually happening, in my view, is that the lines demarcating the traditional, informal “web-log” style blog from the more sophsticated and sometimes more technical, “specialized” blog are being blurred.  Perhaps this is a good thing because it permits more freedom of expression.  You can choose to write your blog anyway you want; whatever is comfortable for you.  You can experiment and see what works for you and what doesn’t.

The specialized blog is the perfect format to showcase your knowledge  and expertise about your hobby or interests.  You will always have an abundance of material readily available to write about and, moreover, you will really enjoy yourself because you are discussing your favorite thing and sharing it with the world.  That is what makes writing blog posts so enjoyable and so easy.  You are writing about your favorite subject.

Little children, in elementary school, often have a day set aside when the teacher allows them to bring in a favorite toy or object to show their classmates.  This so-called “Show and Tell” time is usually very popular with children.  I mention this because, in its simplest form, the Specialized Blog is “Show and Tell” for bloggers. 

So, there is no need to wait any longer.  Choose your favorite topic and tell the world about it.  Good luck with whatever sort of blog you choose.  I hope I will see you here in the blogosphere very soon.

Take Care and Happy Blogging,

–Wil

The Traditional/Journal style blog is the most “forgiving” of all blog formats because you can write exactly the way you talk and you can write about anything you want.  Even so, from the assorted blogs I have read, it seems that people naturally like to select a more definite field of specific topics to ruminate about.  There is, therefore, a tendency for bloggers to, move the blog “art-form” in the direction of the “specialized blog” ( which we will examine in the next post.)  People who prefer to ramble in desultory fashion, however, can keep their blogs very general and write about whatever is their obsession of the moment.

It is rather amazing to think that a blogger can start a monologue about whatever interests him or her and can discover, often to their great surprise, that they have quite a following; an audience who really appreciates them and waits to read about the blogger’s next experience, as eagerly as  some fans wait to see the next installment of their favorite “soap opera.”  This effect is a little like someone walking into a public square and erupting in a Mozart Aria or a familiar Beatle’s tune, attracting a large crowd of appreciative listeners delighted to be entertained.  That is the best way I can describe what  happens when you launch a new blog.  It apparently doesn’t matter whether you are reviewing the fundamentals of knitting or what you did on your recent vacation or holiday.  Whatever you are talking about will attract people who are interested in what you have to say, and in some cases, how you say it.  The same dynamics that work in the marketplace of the entertainment world, also apply to web sites to some degree.  Since the Internet is still, largely free and unregulated, anyone can access this medium and create a blog that is sought after.  So, choose whatever sort of blog style is is best suited to your purpose.  Choose what is comfortable for you.

If you are not accustomed to expressing yourself in the written word and are still perfecting your writing skills, choose the journal style and keep it informal.  As your writing skills improve and you feel more at ease with this kind of expression, you can always turn your blog into a more specialized blog with one or two topics.

If your writing skills are already good  you can choose a more specialized blog which can be presented in a more formal writing style.  In this case, the clearer and more precisely you can write, the more credibility you will have and your blogposts will be imbued with authority and panache.  We will discuss the specialized blog in more detail in the next post.

Whichever blog type you choose, go for it—-enjoy it—have fun with it—master it.  Everyone who wants one, can have a blog.  It is easy to get started and to set up.  Make sure it is what you want to do , because, while it is enjoyable ( if you like to write and inform people) it can be a little like a job in the sense that you are making a long term commitment to the public you are writing for; to the audience who makes your blog popular and ultimately helps your blog become a success.

Good Luck With This,

–Wil