Blog, Inc. Book Review

I know there are plenty of bloggers who both write for and read FancyLittleThings.com so I decided to review a recently released book by expert blogger Joy Cho about the ins and outs of blogging.

But before I delve into my review, I have a few announcements of my own.  We will be starting the No Stress Book Club, a FancyLittleThings.com gal group this coming January.  The first book we will read and discuss is Unglued: Making Wise Choices in the Midst of Raw Emotions by Lysa TerKeurst.  Here is a fun teaser video of the book:

This is a stress-free book club so I’ll post the discussion questions at the beginning of each week.  Feel free to comment and chime in any time after the questions are posted.  If you miss a section, no problem, just skip ahead to the next one and join in that discussion or go back to the week you missed and chime in.  If you’d love to join in the fun, grab a copy of Unglued.  We’ll discuss the first chapter on January 3rd!

Now, on to the review of Blog, Inc.: Blogging for Passion, Profit, and to Create Communityby Joy Cho.

I’ve been blogging for about a year and I couldn’t wait to read this book, in fact, I pre-ordered it!  In Blog, Inc., Joy Cho, of the award-winning Oh Joy! blog and brand, offers expert advice on starting and growing a blog, from design and finance to overcoming blogger’s block and attracting readers.  I read through the entire book, highlighter in hand.

The bottom line?  I think this is a great book for bloggers who are starting out as well as more experienced bloggers and here’s why:

• The author, Joy, tells story after story of bloggers from different genres, in their own words.  My favorite questions she asks of other bloggers is what kind of career opportunities have resulted from your blog?  Some of the answers will astound and inspire you.  Some bloggers have made sales of their handmade goods and others have gotten gigs from the likes of kate spade new york and Forever 21.
• Beginning bloggers should read this book ASAP.  While it does not (and cannot) answer every question you have, it walks one through the stages of setting up a blog like picking out a name, registering a domain and gaining followers.
• The book provides plenty of tips for seasoned bloggers.  For example, I learned the best way to label photos that I upload, something I had no idea about before I read this book!
• The legal and business section alone makes the book worth buying.  Now that I’m in Hawaii, I’m kind of lost as to how to get the business and income side of my blog rolling.  I am going to use this section as a checklist to get my affairs in order.  It also talks about expenses for tax time, something I think many bloggers probably aren’t taking advantage of.
• The layout of the book is beautiful and makes sense.  It starts off with inspirational ideas via stories from bloggers about why and how they started blogging.  It then progresses to the topics of setting up a blog, blogging etiquette and all of the nuts and bolts of making an income blogging.

If you purchase this book, I definitely recommend keeping a journal or notebook open to record your to-do list and ideas that the stories in this book will inspire.  The book is somewhat pricey but if you blog regularly, blog professionally or want to start making money, the ideas in this book will certainly help you meet your goals!

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