Blogging as a Duet: Part 2
January 19, 2013 in Uncategorized
Welcome to week 2 of Blogging as a Duet!
After last week’s introductory post, we are diving straight in today with these topics:
Defining the idea or concept
You have a great idea for a blog or website and you have found the perfect ‘partner in crime’ (to use a phrase we are fond of!) to tackle it with you, do you really need to ‘define’ the idea or concept?
Yes. Yes. Yes!
The key to blogging as a duet is to write everything down and keep the communication open. Nothing should be assumed.
When we first ran with the idea for Shop Me Chic, the concept came to us quite quickly: a one stop website to showcase the latest and greatest in beauty, fashion and lifestyle and where all of those items could be purchased online.
What do you want to write about (including categories)?
Take your basic concept and define it further. What categories will you include for your readers? What are your initial post ideas?
From day one, we knew we wanted to write about beauty, children’s products, women’s fashion, lifestyle and homewares, however we narrowed it down to just three initially (children, fashion and beauty) and worked on just those while we settled into Shop Me Chic.
Don’t be afraid to keep some of your initial ideas in your ‘ideas piggy bank’ for a later day!
Coming up with a name
Deciding on a name for your new project is exciting – but as part of a duet, what floats your creative boat might sink your partner’s.
The best place to start is for each of you to make a small list of potential names and then compare them. Are there any similar names that you can blend together? Tweak them and narrow it down until you have a shortlist. Again, honesty really is the best policy. If you don’t like a name, say something now or forever hold your (blogging) peace!
Just for fun, here are a few potential names that we touched on for Shop Me Chic: Stylespiration, Gaining Glamour, Shop It To Me and Shop Me Happy! Do you see now how Shop Me Chic was the right name for us?
Allocating jobs to each team member
As with defining the idea or concept, don’t leave anything assumed otherwise tasks or jobs could be overlooked and unattended too.
What are your strengths (and weaknesses)? Which tasks are easier for you to complete each day and which tasks are more suited to your blogging partner? How many blog posts per week will you each write? Do you need to allocate certain days?
We help each other out wherever we can but generally Sonia handles Facebook while Melinda handles Twitter. Melinda (who is glued to her phone!) will usually respond to emails as Sonia is at work throughout the day. Sonia is great at editing so all important documents are overseen by her. We both pitch in for Instagram and Pinterest whenever we can and on Shop Me Chic itself, we each post twice a week. Occasionally we work on posts together and each month Shop Her Chic (formerly known as Get Her Chic) is put together by one or both of us, depending on what we are up to on ‘the outside world’!
You might not get the balance right the first time and that’s OK. Start with a plan and play around with it as you go along. Again, if someone is feeling overwhelmed or feels they could attend to a different task better than one they have been given – speak up! From our experience, honesty is the best tool in a creative, working relationship.
If you are a blogger, how did you come up with the idea, categories and name for your blog? Are there any other tips you would add to this post?
Stay Chic,
Melinda & Sonia
I’m loving this new series. I think working in a team is a great way to get your blog rolling. To answer your question: I thought about topics I’m passionate about because it’s the easiest way to get content. I’m an advocate for everything relating to ‘working women’ and just went from there.
I think picking something you’re passionate or interested about is the best way to go, if you have passion you will always have that drive to create content! x