How to get People to Read Your Blog

Have any of you ever googled how to improve your blog and attract more regular followers? I read a few interesting articles today (Why most artists’ blogs fail - GapingVoid), and realized that if I want to attract more readers to my blog, and hopefully increase interest in my products, there's a lot more I could be doing.

Some of the tips they (along with other articles) gave were to have a unique voice, extremely focused/narrow topic for your entire blog, be a leader or expert in your field, and most importantly INSPIRE. People will keep coming back because you inspire them - they want to be inspired by you, your life, and your creativity. The artwork you create comes second to that, no matter how gorgeous it is. 

So then I got to thinking - what is my unique voice? What is my narrowed down super duper specific blog topic? How can I show I'm an expert in my field? Do I inspire others? If not, how can I inspire them? 

As a writer I think I come off as laid back and informed, and very analytical. My blog topic has changed a bit over the years, but I have narrowed it down to being an art blog focused on girly fantasy illustration and fine art, as well as my crafts. I wonder if that's specific enough? As for showing my expertise as an artist an self-promoter, I've thought about sharing some of my learning experiences and tips/advice. I may not be where I want to be (selling art full time), but I'm sure I have some good tips and experiences I can pass on to others. 

The hardest part for me to really figure out is how to inspire others with my artwork and me as an artist, aside from sharing the artwork I've created. Art videos are hard to make because I am in a sort of awkward position for the camera to capture me painting (which makes it hard for me to get into the flow of painting), and editing the video footage is an absolute pain in the arse. But the videos do seem to get a lot of views and comments, so maybe I should concentrate on doing more of those. I do like that I get to narrate a bit, and share my process verbally with others. It seems a lot more intimate than writing text on a blog. 

For my fellow artists and bloggers out there, what do you do to attract blog readers? Is there any advic you  have for me, or anything you'd like me to do differently or add to my blog? 

Last but not least, here is Birdy, a piece I did for the Femme Thou Art Collective's Moth's and Melancholy art auction a couple of months ago. The piece is still available for purchase. 

I really do adore this piece. I love the sepia toned lines, which I did using a sepia Micron pen, as well as the simple colour pallet. She was inspired by the Art Nouveau greats, like Mucha, and the Age of Golden Illustration (think Arthur Rackham). I hope to create some larger pieces like this, and perhaps make posters in the future. 

I hope you're all having a lovely weekend and that the sun is shining wherever you are! :)