Introducing: The Push-Up Bra Approach to Blogging

Hello you.

Do you have a blog?

Do you wish you had the time or inspiration to blog more often?

Do you keep promising yourself you'll blog more regularly?

Do you wish you could blog as confidently as some of the bloggers you admire?

Well ... allow me to introduce something which might just help you out ... The Push-Up Bra Approach to Blogging:

It's my brand new blog series aimed at giving a pushed-up and padded boost to those of you who like the idea of blogging ... but who, from time to time, feel a little, well ... flat.

 

Now, seeing as you've already seen it in its bra, I really ought to help you get better acquainted with the series by pre-empting some of your questions. Here goes:

Q: Is it free to access?

• Yes. 100% cash free.
• However ... if you read it and enjoy it then:
• I'd be so grateful if you would consider making a donation to Save the Children via my Just Giving page. There'll be a link  over in my sidebar >>> right throughout the series.
• And, the same goes for you if you've enjoyed any of my previous free blog series ... if you can, please consider a small donation to a worthwhile cause.
• I've set the target at £500 which, while it sounds like a lot, I'm pretty sure we can reach if we all just throw in a small amount each. Thank you in advance .. now back to the series ...

Q: Where did the idea come from?
Almost 2 years ago now I delivered a free 8 part series called Tips for the Design Team-curious which,  as you might well have guessed from the name, consisted of tips for anyone wanting to try-out for a role on a creative design team.

If you read the series at the time [or if you manage to catch up with it now here - it's all still available] you may have detected that, while the series undoubtedly does what it says on the tin - offer tips to how you get on a design team - it wasn't my one and only purpose for putting it together.

Much of the content [including ideas on improving your photography skills, raising your confidence and experimenting creatively] was really meant to be taken on board to help you boost your work first ...

... and if getting on a design team came as an added bonus afterwards, then good for you! But it wasn't my only focus.

No, the main thing I was encouraging you to promote with that series ... was you.

So much so in fact that I concluded with the idea of you becoming your own design team, of putting all the creative energy you would spend working for someone else's blog ... into your own.

And it's precisely that idea which led me to createThe Push-Up Bra Approach to Blogging which is aimed at anyone who wants to both put more into and get more out of their own blog.
 
Q: Will it cover setting up or tinkering with the look of a blog?

• No.
• It's not an exhaustive How To series [which doesn't mean I haven't been occasionally exhausted writing it!]
• It won't go into how to set up a blog or how to use coding or anything technical. [However, hundreds of tutorials covering all those things are only an internet search away if that's what you need.]

To continue with the bra-themed metaphor you should think of it this way ...

• I'm not going to be teaching you how to make a bra ... just how to wear one to your best advantage!

The majority of the content will be about ... content.

I will share tips on what kinds of things you could blog about and how to pad it out without having to radically change your offline lifestyle.

• In short ... it's about how to make the most of what you've already got!

Q: Will it only be useful for crafty-bloggers?

• No, I think it will have a wider appeal ... however ...
• as I blog a lot of crafting projects myself ... then some of my advice will inevitably be based around those experiences.
• But, wherever possible I will be offering alternatives for those who don't make a lot of things ... if anything.

Q: Who are you to tell me how to blog?
Firstly, wow, why so hostile? Weren't you ever taught about what to do if you can't say anything nice?

And secondly ...

• I'm a big believer that most advice is autobiographical ... and that's where this series finds its focus.
• I'm not going to claim any wider, higher or more scientific basis for my tips other than ... they're mine. From my point of view.
• While from time to time I’ll probably dabble in grand suggestions and highfalutin ideas ... in the main I’ll be talking about practical ways of working that have helped me blog regularly for the last 4+ years.
• Ultimately I’ll be relying on knowing what works for me … which certainly may not work for you. And that's OK. For both of us!

Q: Why should I aspire to blog more often? Some people have a life y'know?
Seriously ... have you thought about getting those hostility levels checked? I'm getting worried about you. Maybe it's an allergy?

But ...

• I really won't be evangelising about how you all MUST blog more often, but if that is what you want to do ...
• ... then there'll certainly be enough material there to assist you do just that.
• And 'more often' doesn't have to equal 'a lot' or 'every week day' or 'a serious blogging addiction'.
• If you usually blog once a month and then after following the series you end up blogging twice a month ... then that still counts as more often!!
• Much of the content will cover creating a pipeline, a work flow, a form of structure and organisation around your blogging life - which YOU decide how to put to use and how frequently.

Q: I couldn't care less about blogging and don't like the sound of any of this. Can we still be friends?

• Aw, go on then. I won't hold a grudge. [And if you go put the kettle on that'll sweeten the deal].
• It will stretch across the coming month or two.
• But, I'll be blogging some of my usual content in between these posts - it won't take over completely.

And, honestly ...

• If you don’t think that these posts are going to be useful to you or that it’s not something you’re interested in ... then you're probably right.
• You know you better than I do.
• I won't be trying to convert anyone who doesn't want to be converted.

It's all a 'pick n mix' thing: take what you need. Spit out the rest. [Like when you find the coffee-flavoured one in a pack of Revels. Or the liquorice Jelly Bean].

Q: Will there be nudity?

• No!
• In fact, other than the one in the logo there won't even be any bras.
• No ... hang on ... just because there won't be any bras ... it does not mean there'll be any flesh on show. [And if you can't find those sort of images elsewhere then you're using the internet wrong.]
• p.s: is that really all you wanted to ask?

Q: Will I need to crack open a brand new notebook in order to make notes and keep track of all my favourite tips?

• Absolutely!
• Do not hesitate to do so.
• In fact ... why are you still here? Go! find a fabulous notebook NOW! [You've probably got one on that shelf over there haven't you?]

And finally ...

Q: When does the pushing-up commence?

• Well, we've already begun haven't we? I'm continuing to write the posts and you're off looking for that notebook ...
• But later this week I'll post the first of our alternative, practical approaches to getting more from your blog ... and watch-out ... because it's starting very close to home ....

See you there my lovely push-up-bra bloggers!

Julie :-)