Today is Day 1 for me of Pro Blogger’s 31 Days to Build a Better Blog Challenge. I’m participating in this along with members of the SITS community, and The BlogFrog Community, as well.
The topic for today is to “Write an elevator pitch for your blog”.
According to Wikipedia, “An elevator pitch is an overview of an idea for a product, service, or project. The name reflects the fact that an elevator pitch can be delivered in the time span of an elevator ride (for example, thirty seconds or 100-150 words) seconds or 100–150 words).”
I think that this is a good start for the challenge. It helps define your blog. I can’t tell you how many times that someone has asked me, “What is your blog about?” Mostly of the time, I ramble something like, “I work full-time, married, one kid, and live in Orange County.” But then I shake my head and think, Julie, you sound like an idiot. You are letting these few things define you. I am more than a full-time working mom who lives in Orange County.
But alas, it is ok to have two types of elevator pitches, and each type can be used for different situations.
The Short Version:
“Angry Julie Monday is about the life of a working mom in Orange County, Ca.”
This short version covers a few key points about me, who I am, and where I live. I’m Julie, I work full-time, I am a mom, and I live in Orange County, Ca. But as I pointed out above, this short little phrase does not define me, but really helps to summarize what this site is all about.
Did you see that I used the word “site”? I don’t always use the word “blog” when talking to people about what I do here. I often refer to Angry Julie Monday as my personal website. I think it is important to know your audience when talking about your blog. If someone knows the terms of social media, they will understand terminology such as blog or weblog. For much of mainstream society, “website” is sometimes a better fit.
The Long Version:
“Angry Julie Monday is an online diary consisting of stories involving my family, friends, fashion and photography. I illustrate the tales of my daily life with my Macbook and my Nikon camera. Whether it be my latest dress, reality television, tales of childhood, or trips to Disneyland, I document it. I try and portray what daily life is like being a wife, mother, full-time employee, in Orange County, and attempting to not lose my mind.”
Gee, I actually wrote a paragraph without talking about caffeine, ADD, or Twitter. Seriously, that is quite an accomplishment. I did get a tad wordy, and there were lots of commas in there. I need to work on that, way too many commas in my posts.
Did completing this task change your blog, or change the way you think about your blog?
I think my short version was conceived from my tagline mostly. I’ve had this tagline for three years, and it is a good fit. My long version is more or less many of the roles than I maintain in my life. In between all of these basic roles, I try to fill my life with personality, whether it be my passions (or obsessions), photography, and my randomess.
I think this task helped me realize that my blog is what I want it to be. My blog has had peaks and valleys in the past few years. It all depends on what is going on in my life at that time. At the end of the day, I am a hobbyist, and this blog is my hobby.
