9 Bloggers NOT in the Pet Space YOU Should Know About
Post by Yvonne DiVita, BlogPaws Co-founder
I’ve been doing this “blogging thing” for a long time. Yes, a long time. Maybe even more than 10 years. Okay, definitely more than 10 years. Over that span of time, I’ve come to know and know of some outstanding writers and bloggers and professionals that it would behoove all of you to know, also.
Let’s start at the beginning – and go on till we come to the end. Always a good way to go about things. Just ask Alice in Wonderland- or rather, ask the King.
In 2004, when I began blogging, there weren’t a lot of us out there serving the business market. Blogs were for techies. They were “weblogs” after all. Not meant for the business community. However, a few of us realized the conversational nature of blogging, its updated and fresh content format and the ability to share educational information with the masses made it a great tool for business use. We commenced to blogging. Full time. The work we did helped us achieve higher visibility online. We were asked to speak given the expertise we shared on our blogs. And we were recognized as thought leaders.
This was long before pet bloggers came along. In fact, it was long before blogging became segregated. There weren’t large groups of food bloggers back then. The lifestyle bloggers were called, oh horrors!, Mommy bloggers (I’ll get in trouble for that, I suppose, but I had to say it), and anyone writing a business blog wasn’t so much known for their “business blogging” as for their particular expertise. Our CoFounder, Tom, had a great blog back and I’ll share it below. It was focused on his work bringing “words and pictures” together.
The reason for sharing these Nine Bloggers NOT in the Pet Space, that YOU Should Know About Today is because too often we get caught up in our own community and forget that there is a big wide world out there. It’s a world full of people who love pets, but don’t necessarily blog about them. It’s a world that needs us, in the pet space, to connect with it – for the sake of animals everywhere. Without a concerted effort to bring outside eyeballs into our neighborhood – to allow them to see us at our best – and to allow them to share their thoughts with us – animals everywhere lose, because we…we pet bloggers…cannot save them by ourselves.
Now, let’s get to the Nine Bloggers Not in the Pet Space that You Should Know About Today!
- Tom Collins:: Okay, he’s in the pet space but he didn’t start out there. I think it’s worthwhile for everyone to have a chance to see what he used to write about in his Knowledge Aforethought blog. Back when he was a newbie, like some of you.
- Dave Pollard’s blog, How to Save the World, will entertain you and get your grey matter firing (as Hercule Poirot might say). Here’s how Dave, himself, describes his blog, “A trail of crumbs, runes and exclamations along my path in search of a better way to live and make a living, and a better understanding of how the world really works.”
- Susan Getgood’s blog, Marketing Roadmaps, is updated when she can do so, but as an executive at BlogHer, her time is limited for blogging. This girl relates, believe me! I share her blog because it has a wealth of great reading, it’s educational and it showcases her book, “Professional Blogging for Dummies.” You should check it out.
- My good friend, Toby Bloomberg, who is the original blogger from Diva Marketing, has a new focus these days and it’s one I think many of you would appreciate. This recent post about Whiskies of the World, is compelling, don’t you think? My experience with pet bloggers is that we’re not too interested in “booze” but we are interested in making friends, partying and hanging out with fun people. Some of those fun people enjoy their whiskey. For Toby’s purposes, the whiskey post is just part of her new Foodie content. And, her new site, Diva Foodies, has its own Chat schedule. Worth checking out, I say.
- The good writers at SheWrites are worth your time. Check out the link in this mention and learn more about NaNoWriMo. Funny, Pamela Slim mentioned NaNoWriMo just yesterday! As the article says, “The survey from Stop Procrastinating, however, provides insights and practical advice from the writers who made it and completed 50,000.” If your curiosity is piqued, check it out. Wait… just check it out. Even if you aren’t curious. Do it because I said so.
- Pamela Slim is another blogger you should know more about. I’ve known Pam for years, though I only met her IRL yesterday! I’ve watched her grow and teach and connect and we could all learn a thing or two from her. If you aren’t aware of her, you should be. She gets it. And, she gets it for us, too… “us” being pet people. I admire her outlook on life and work, and how she thinks of people first.
- If Pinterest is on your “to do” list, you need to be reading and following Beth Hayden, author of Pinfluence. Beth is from Boulder so you’d think I would know her well, but I just discovered her myself a few months ago. She’s a dynamic speaker and presenter. Plus, she knows her stuff. I was going to say something other than stuff, but at the last minute, my fingers hit the stuff keys. I think that’s for the best. Beth is a great resource for a number of things; Pinterest is just one. Discover her for yourself.
- If you aren’t following and reading Social Media Today, you’re missing out on a lot of educational content designed to help you grow and improve. The post linked here, “How To Write a Perfect Blog Post” is a study in…well, writing good blog posts. Read it. Study it. Learn from it. And bookmark the site.
- Want to learn from a published author? Want to learn how he wrote a book and then held a conference of his own? Jeff Goins is your guy. He’s talented. He’s smart. And he’s approachable. Plus, he shares a ton of great ideas and content on his blog. Tom and I met Jeff in person after the last BlogPaws. He even brought us a copy of his book The Art of Work. I can’t recommend it highly enough! You should all read it and soon. I love his narrative style and the way he pulls the reader into his story. If we could all write like that, we would all have published books! That’s what I’m saying! You should read Jeff. He’s worth at least a half hour of your day, twice a week.
And so, we come to the end of our list. It’s a fully vetted list but it is by no means a complete list. There are hundreds of bloggers in business and food and lifestyle, who are worth your time. The world is not made up of just pet bloggers. Embrace the concept of the whole world, and break out of the bubble you’re in… if all you ever do is read pet blogs.
Now, share some of your favorite non-pet blog writers. Go on… I’m watching.
