Cho Joy Deangdeelert - Blog Inc. : blogging for passion, profit, and to create community

Blog INC.

BLOGGING FOR PASSION, PROFIT, AND TO CREATE COMMUNITY

Joy Deangdeelert Cho

Edited by Meg Mateo Ilasco
Foreword by Grace Bonney

Text copyright 2012 by Joy Deangdeelert Cho.

Foreword text copyright 2012 by Grace Bonney.

Illustrations copyright 2012 by Lab Partners.

All rights reserved. No part of this book may be reproduced in any form without written permission from the publisher.

Designed by Meg Mateo Ilasco

Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data is available.

ISBN 978-1-4521-2049-2

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Whether youve been reading since the beginning or just today, thank you for your dedication, encouragement, and for following along on this journey. Youve given me a world of support and community I never knew existed.

IN 2010, I PITCHED THE IDEA OF A BLOGGING ETHICS PANEL TO A POPULAR DESIGN CONFERENCE. When I told some of my friends, who were bloggers like me, they seemed to think I was crazy. No one will want to hear about that and boring! were common responses. Since I had been blogging for over six years and had learned so much about good (and bad) blogging practices, I wanted to have a serious discussion with members of our blogging community about the ethical issues we faced. My goal was to create an open dialogue where we could learn, improve our relationships with each other, and inspire collaboration. I was nervous about attendance, but a year later at the conference, our room was packed with more than 150 people. I looked at my panel mates, who included Joy Cho, with a huge smile. The ensuing discussion was far from boring, and my fellow bloggers once again surprised and impressed me with their excitement about a subject that allowed us to learn from and grow with each other.

However, this wasnt always the case. Back in 2004 when I started blogging, the phrase Wild West was used to describe our community on a regular basis. Those of us who were blogging about design knew little about what were considered good blogging practices, and tended to have a fly by the seat of our pants mentality when it came to content, promotion, and turning our sites into real businesses. I distinctly remember other design bloggers asking me what the rules were and thinking, Wow, I dont know if there are any. Thankfully, the blogging community has grown by leaps and bounds since then, and weve started to pay more attention to how we can be a more responsible form of media as well as build successful blogs and relationships with each other.

while everyone wants to know the secret to blogging success, the common denominator is to have a genuine and passionate voice that readers can connect with.

I never dreamed that I could start a site that would become my full-time job, and Im so excited to see that being a full-time blogger is now an option for a new generation of writers, artists, and makers. When I started, I was happy just to have a place to share my thoughts, but in todays blogging world, the sky is the limit. Ive been overjoyed to watch some of my blogging colleagues go on to open stores, write books, and host television programs based on the success of their Web sites. And while everyone wants to know the secret to blogging success, the common denominator is to have a genuine and passionate voice that readers can connect with.