Comments on: 8 Reasons Why You Probably Shouldn’t Start a Design Blog

By: coco

coco — Tue, 31 Jan 2012 08:07:55 +0000

You made really good points but the headings are just too negative especially for people who just needs a boost to writing, sharing or expressing their interest and passion.

By: chithara

chithara — Sat, 16 Jul 2011 14:28:26 +0000

A meaningful post. I started a new blog recently. Most of your points are valid. It made be a better thinker related to blogging. Thanks for this post.

By: Hayavadhan

Hayavadhan — Thu, 19 Aug 2010 09:54:36 +0000

Superb!!

By: Sergei Tatarinov

Sergei Tatarinov — Wed, 23 Jun 2010 20:46:02 +0000

This is good, Matt. Great article, as usual.

“Personally, I would say that design has to be with you at all times. You have to notice it everywhere – think about it, analyze it, start trying to figure out how it was done or how you could do it better. I’m not suggesting anyone become obsessive, but it has to be more than a job. It needs to be one of your life’s passions.” – this can be applied to me, totally

“..you’re ready to present meaningful, interesting or useful content..” – MAN you should see my notepad notes and other stuff I store on my HDD.. I’m sure it’ll find its audience, *fingers crossed* :)

“You Don’t like to Write” – oh I do, so freaking much! My writing skills and my formal English may not be perfect and fluid but I’ll master it quickly while writing my posts.

“Meaningful content takes time to research, write, edit, re-write, and edit again. Generally speaking, I figure that any good post should take at least an hour to write, and most will probably take more than that.”
– I like doing research and writing articles. Now, even without a blog I usually spend half of the day in researching/collecting/organizing stuff which I’ll use later (and I really enjoy the process).

“You Can’t Think of Seven Great Post Ideas in Five Minutes” – Frankly speaking, I can’t. However, ideas come to my mind constantly during the day, then I search if any of them have already come to life. The funniest fact about me and ideas is that they come to me a lot faster while I’m taking shower – water makes miracles :)

“You Can’t Commit to at Least Two Posts a Week” – So far, I’ve got about 18 of them; not all of them are finished but it won’t take me too long to fix that. Then I plan to post at least 4 times a week, each time for its own category of content.

“You’re Not Willing to Interact with your Readers” – I am! I’m eager to read/respond to comments, emails, etc. I have a nice community of friends and fellow designers on the web, on twitter in particular, and plan to be super active on social arena.

“You See Other Designers as Rivals Rather than Peers” – definitely not. Those who see other people from same niche as rivals are doomed to fail and be left alone. Hence, no success will ever come for such type of beginners.

“You’re Planning on Talking About Yourself” – Oh, let me just put a link to my portfolio site somewhere ^_^

Cheers Matt! Keep on writing such deep and interesting articles!

Regards,
@sammographer from twitter.

By: clippingimages

clippingimages — Wed, 16 Jun 2010 14:42:23 +0000

very well written indeed…a quality writing indeed…thanks for sharing …

By: sickdesigner

sickdesigner — Fri, 09 Apr 2010 22:31:00 +0000

Very nice post, Matt, as usual!
I agree with all your points of view, apart from the one about how often one should post. But not because of the fact that readership goes down if one doesn’t post twice a week or more but because it sometimes implies that one HAS to do it. And more often than not I see blogs that post very good content, every now and then, that shooting blanks about once every other day. It gets a bit frustrating from a reader’s perspective to have to guess which post is interesting and which is just a filler to keep traffic going.
I stand by the opinion that quality posts should always be more important than quantity of posts.
Now, I’m not tootin’ my own horn here, as one might be inclined to believe, but I support this kind of blogging behavior on my own blog. So I might have three, four ideas every day but I’ll only post about the ones that I feel are interesting to the community, even if that means one or maybe two posts a week.
And then there’s the added factor of who your target audience is. I think far too many blogs write for the masses instead of focusing on a niche and being the best at it, or at least trying.
Take your blog, for example, Matt: the way I see it, your target audience is the kind of designer that has evolved beyond simple Photoshop tutorials, has the basics and medium knowledge of design already figured out and is trying to develop and evolve in a rational, sensible manner on the web. Sure, it’s a subjective opinion and I invite anyone to say what they think your audience is about. I really am curious how people perceive themselves in regard to a design blog. In this case your own, Matt.
Cheers!

By: TheAL

TheAL — Sun, 21 Feb 2010 12:36:37 +0000

I actually could commit to all of the mentioned criteria. I just think there are far too many blogs already. I think finding one for which I could write, and maybe get paid, would be a better idea. No need to over-saturate the web with clones.

By: LEah

LEah — Thu, 07 Jan 2010 05:24:30 +0000

Thanks for the great post. One thing that I think could be explored further is the business side of blogs – whether you can make a living off blogging – and how much time it takes to get ads, if you need to be a salesy person to pull off the advertising piece of it, if you need to spend time uploading and switching ads, etc.. I guess I really don’t know what it takes in that regard, but I assume many people are doing it to make money….
When I look at some of these design blogs I wonder if they are such knowledgable designers how they have time to sit and create intricate tutorials, etc for their blo – all the while keeping up with technology trends. Do I have it all wrong? Are these people making a living on the blog alone? Maybe you could shed some light on how the business side of this works…. Thanks.

By: Victor Velazquez

Victor Velazquez — Thu, 17 Dec 2009 14:57:04 +0000

Nice article, I agree that design must be something that your really interested in.

By: Andy

Andy — Sun, 06 Dec 2009 00:21:35 +0000

In reply to a poster, I really don’t think there are “too many” design blogs out there. I for one like to have a choice when I Google for a particular tutorial, and like to have a number of options to choose from even to get a similar effect.

I am in a situation where I am finishing my design degree this year, and plan on becoming a design blogger. I have learned a lot over the last 4 years and wish to share my knowledge, albeit limited compared to a lot of you, with the design community. I don’t plan to have it down to a tee straight away but am willing to learn through trial and error and user feedback.

I do think that you raised a number of very important points, however I just hope it doesn’t put people off starting up and following their passion.

For me it has just inspired me further, but has definitely prepared me for the tough road ahead, so thank you Matt :)