A better editorial calendar & blogging flow for family history bloggers.
When I previously introduced an editorial calendar for those blogging about genealogy, it was aimed towards those who are blogging for genealogy-related businesses reasons, for those who were blogging for genealogical societies, and for those who were blogging their family history {specifically Cousin Hunters}.
And that's a broad spectrum.
Too broad.
Now that I've refocused Blogging Genealogy.com on cousin hunting bloggers {or family history researchers}, it's time for a more specific editorial calendar and blogging workflow.
When I previously introduced an editorial calendar for those blogging about genealogy, it was aimed towards those who are blogging for genealogy-related businesses reasons, for those who were blogging for genealogical societies, and for those who were blogging their family history {specifically Cousin Hunters}.
And that's a broad spectrum.
Too broad.
Now that I've refocused Blogging Genealogy.com on cousin hunting bloggers {or family history researchers}, it's time for a more specific editorial calendar and blogging workflow.
Is the dog wagging the tail, or is the tail wagging the dog?
Blogging prompts can be helpful when we're stumped on what to blog about on our family history blog.
But?
Are we bloggers first or are we researchers first?
Genealogy and family history blogging should be a natural extension, or flow, of what we are researching. {And this statement does not specifically include genealogy professionals, genealogy businesses, or genealogical societies, but the concept could certainly be adapted for their marketing purposes.}
And every time we stop researching to figure out what we are "supposed" to be blogging about based on the day of the week, we interrupt that natural flow from researching to blogging.
For instance, research-wise, I'm currently working on my Daughters of the American Revolution {DAR} app and my United Empire Loyalists {UEL} app at the same time. {When I'm able to get to personal research, that is.}
And let's say when Tuesday rolls around, I realize I need to find and slap a photo of a tombstone on my blog because that's the blog meme for the day.
But?
I don't have a pic of an appropriate tombstone for the research I'm doing right now. In fact, I'm not working on any deaths at this very moment, and I may not even need a picture of the tombstones for my application when I get to the deaths. {I mean, I do eventually want them, but they might not be needed for this current research project.}
Well, "What to do, what to do," I ask myself.
I could slap another one up there that's completely unrelated to my current research project.
But who? And where is the photograph filed {online or offline}? And the story behind the tombstone? And...and...and…
Who's running this blog?
The blog prompt or my research? And how much research time have I wasted?
Or?
I could stop and reflect on what I'm currently researching in order to come up with some blogging ideas. And I could stop and extract a small story or a couple of small stories from what I'm working on and share them.
And it's great for researching and cousin hunting because:
So what's the editorial calendar? Well, the ideas come from us, but generally speaking, we're usually looking at a Pedigree Chart and wondering about the holes we need to fill. You know, the information we need to find that leads us to family stories. Thus, the Pedigree Chart tends to be the initial editorial calendar, or pre-editorial calendar, for our family history blogs. Sure, I might have a project like my DAR application that's motivating me, but I'm constantly looking at my Pedigree Chart to see what else I need to do.
A Better Blogging Flow
You ~> Pedigree Chart ~> Research Project ~> Blogging
And, of course, we can do whatever we want on our blog whenever we want. It's our blog. However, we need to ask ourselves this, "Is it supporting my overall goals in the most efficient way or is it being disruptive?" {Remember, we do have goals for our research as we purposefully blog.}
'Cause the thing about disruption? We tend to avoid stuff that disrupts our routine, which means we tend to get blogging paralysis, or research paralysis, or {heaven forbid} both. Why? Because we're family history researchers first and bloggers second.
~Caroline
Blogging prompts can be helpful when we're stumped on what to blog about on our family history blog.
But?
Are we bloggers first or are we researchers first?
Genealogy and family history blogging should be a natural extension, or flow, of what we are researching. {And this statement does not specifically include genealogy professionals, genealogy businesses, or genealogical societies, but the concept could certainly be adapted for their marketing purposes.}
And every time we stop researching to figure out what we are "supposed" to be blogging about based on the day of the week, we interrupt that natural flow from researching to blogging.
For instance, research-wise, I'm currently working on my Daughters of the American Revolution {DAR} app and my United Empire Loyalists {UEL} app at the same time. {When I'm able to get to personal research, that is.}
And let's say when Tuesday rolls around, I realize I need to find and slap a photo of a tombstone on my blog because that's the blog meme for the day.
But?
I don't have a pic of an appropriate tombstone for the research I'm doing right now. In fact, I'm not working on any deaths at this very moment, and I may not even need a picture of the tombstones for my application when I get to the deaths. {I mean, I do eventually want them, but they might not be needed for this current research project.}
Well, "What to do, what to do," I ask myself.
I could slap another one up there that's completely unrelated to my current research project.
But who? And where is the photograph filed {online or offline}? And the story behind the tombstone? And...and...and…
Who's running this blog?
The blog prompt or my research? And how much research time have I wasted?
Or?
I could stop and reflect on what I'm currently researching in order to come up with some blogging ideas. And I could stop and extract a small story or a couple of small stories from what I'm working on and share them.
And it's great for researching and cousin hunting because:
- It's relevant to what I'm working on right now and it's what I'm passionate about right now. It gets my creative juices flowing.
- It can help me work out a current research problem because sometimes just speaking or writing about it helps. {Note: I always read my blog posts out loud several times. I really do want to sound like we're sitting together in a diner some where drinking coffee and talking about blogging family history or trading family stories.}
- It gets more detail out there about my family history so that when someone is Googling, they'll find my blog posts easily. {Hopefully.}
- It doesn't interrupt my research flow. In fact, it tends to help it.
So what's the editorial calendar? Well, the ideas come from us, but generally speaking, we're usually looking at a Pedigree Chart and wondering about the holes we need to fill. You know, the information we need to find that leads us to family stories. Thus, the Pedigree Chart tends to be the initial editorial calendar, or pre-editorial calendar, for our family history blogs. Sure, I might have a project like my DAR application that's motivating me, but I'm constantly looking at my Pedigree Chart to see what else I need to do.
A Better Blogging Flow
You ~> Pedigree Chart ~> Research Project ~> Blogging
And, of course, we can do whatever we want on our blog whenever we want. It's our blog. However, we need to ask ourselves this, "Is it supporting my overall goals in the most efficient way or is it being disruptive?" {Remember, we do have goals for our research as we purposefully blog.}
'Cause the thing about disruption? We tend to avoid stuff that disrupts our routine, which means we tend to get blogging paralysis, or research paralysis, or {heaven forbid} both. Why? Because we're family history researchers first and bloggers second.
~Caroline
