Blogs have adapted over the years into effective marketing tools used by companies, businesses, and entrepreneurs. However, blogs remain a fun and satisfying way to explore and share your hobbies or interests with others. Our next featured dotblogger is blonded.blog. This is a fan-driven blog dedicated to all things Frank Ocean, one of the defining artists of our time.

Who are the bloggers?

Blonded.blog is a group effort run by three Frank Ocean fans who have each taken on a different role within the blog. They are listed on the website as:

• curb: Web Master / Designer / Editor in Chief
• Mónaco Sheikh: Research / Archivist / Social
• Mayday: Historian / Archivist

In addition, the bloggers encourage and invite other Frank Ocean fans to contribute their own pieces of content about the artist and his work.

If you’re unfamiliar with him, Frank Ocean is a singer, songwriter, record producer, rapper, photographer, and visual artist. He got his start by writing songs for artists like Beyoncé before becoming wildly successful on his own. He is known for his ability to cover deep topics with a fresh new perspective that keeps his fans always wanting more. 

Who is the blog for and what’s it about?

This blog is an unofficial site about Frank Ocean. It’s not connected to any of his official sites. The purpose of the blog is to share and preserve the works of Frank Ocean as a singer, songwriter, record producer, rapper, photographer, and visual artist.

Blonded.blog acts as an archive of all Frank Ocean’s work, which makes it easy for fans to follow along while learning more about his life’s work. In addition, the blog lists all upcoming shows once they have been announced.

The blog also reshares information about and from Frank Ocean. This includes bits and pieces such as his Instagram updates. The section of the blog titled 365 provides a space for contributors to share opinion articles about his work and finished pieces. 

What makes it special?

One reason this blog stands out is the contribution of multiple individuals working together behind the scenes. This blog was originally created from a series of Frank Ocean preservation projects which began on several separate blogs. Blonded.blog combined all of the individual efforts into one platform, allowing it to expand into something greater.

Blonded.blog has brought fans together in more ways than one. While the blog itself is a space for fans to come together over their shared passion and interest in Frank Ocean, the process of creating the blog has provided the same benefit to the contributing bloggers. 

What can we learn? 

Frank Ocean’s work is diverse. There are many different ways in which you can enjoy what he has created from music to jewelry. Blogs are also designed to embrace variety. They can cover any number of different topics and reach a wide audience. 

Blonded.blog shows that you don’t have to be an expert in all areas to run a blog. This blog exists thanks to the collective effort of multiple people helping to keep things running. If you’ve been feeling overwhelmed at the thought of all the tasks involved with running and growing a blog, consider working on a team together. 

At their core, blogs connect people. They create a place where like-minded people can communicate around shared interests. Our next featured dotblogger draws on her vast academic experience to help arm Research Higher Degree students with tools for success through researchinsiders.blog.

Who is the blogger?

The Research Degree Insiders blog is written by Dr. Katherine Firth, an award-winning and innovative researcher, educator, and author with over 15 years experience of working with emerging researchers around the world. She is currently the Academic Coordinator at International House, the University of Melbourne, where she manages the academic program including academic advising, teaching, the library, and graduate student academic development.

She also teaches writing workshops as a consultant and has written several books on the academic writing process. 

Who is the blog for and what’s it about?

Research Degree Insiders is written to provide an inside look into how others have succeeded at earning their research higher degrees. The blog is geared toward anyone pursuing a research-based higher degree, such as a Ph.D., or wanting to build or improve on their academic writing skills.

Dr. Firth has gained an incredible amount of knowledge throughout her studies and career in the world of academia and research. She has gathered together the resources, tools, tips, and tricks she has learned along the way to share on the blog.

She wants to help people thrive in the academic world so they will be more productive in their research. From her own experience, she understands first-hand how hard and overwhelming the process can be when you’re just getting started.

How researchinsiders.blog succeeds with a very specific niche

Blogging about a specific niche is a common topic discussed among bloggers as an effective strategy for growing an audience. Targeting a particular segment of the audience makes it easy for readers to identify if the blog is for them and also helps build a community of like-minded individuals. But, choosing a specific niche for a blog does not mean only focusing on one topic. There can be many topics that fall within each niche. 

Research Degree Insiders does well at covering multiple topics while staying within the niche of individuals interested in academic writing and research degrees. One of the reasons the blog is successful is that Dr. Firth covers a broad range of topics that are relevant to her audience. Her content is not solely devoted to research, but also covers academic writing, editing, time management, and similar areas of interest.

In addition, because Dr. Firth is writing from her own experience; she’s able to connect on a more personal level with the audience. She understands the challenges they face and the emotions they are feeling as they work toward their higher degree. 

What can you learn from researchinsiders.blog?

If you’re pursuing a research-based higher degree, you can learn valuable tips to help you throughout the process. You can also find support and encouragement for your academic journey. 

If you’re interested in starting a blog, researchinsiders.blog offers a good example of how you can connect with a niche audience of your own. What are you interested in blogging about? Grab your .blog domain today because your readers are waiting!

This week we’re featuring a blog you’re going to want to see. It’s the leica-camera.blog. The blog produced by Leica, the camera manufacturer beloved by photographers everywhere, is full of stunning images, and showcases photography using Leica cameras. Just like you would imagine, the blog is a treasure trove of brilliant photography.

A little about Leica Camera

Leica Camera is a German company known for reliable high-end cameras. One of the first to use 35mm film, Leica has been making cameras since 1925.

How Leica uses the blog

Leica-camera.blog is a gallery of artists’ work using Leica cameras and products. Many of the posts are accompanied by interviews and stories by the photographer.

For businesses, the Leica blog is a creative example of how you can “sell” your product without really “selling” it. The blog posts are not focused on why you should buy their cameras. Instead, they show the quality that the cameras produce. It’s a creative way to encourage and inspire photographers to want to buy their products.

The blog is a place where fans of Leica can come to see how the cameras are being used. They can visually see the results being achieved. Visitors can browse work created with different camera models and use the navigation menu to explore the blog by camera model or by subject.

What we love about the blog

We love the way the blog highlights photographers and their work. This blog is not about Leica Camera trying to tell the story of their company or why their products are great. That story is being quietly weaved throughout the beautiful work on display.

Keeping with the theme of blogs and sharing, the Leica-camera.blog is a resource for photographers. They share tips and inspiration. As photographers browse the images they are shown what is possible while also seeing through the eyes of a fellow photographer. Even if you’re not interested in taking photos, you can find inspiration in the stories that are shared.

Tell a story

They say a picture is worth a thousand words and we love how leica-camera.blog shows this to be true. The images throughout the blog are stunning. But we also love that there is more to discover than just the images. The blog posts build out the story around the images and provide details that other photographers are interested in learning. 

Next up in our featured dotblogger series is github.blog. Github, “the largest and most advanced development platform”, is designed around collaboration and sharing. Github.blog blog plays a key role in how the company communicates with their vast community.

Who is GitHub

GitHub is the most popular git repository platform in the world. What’s that mean for non-techies? Let’s break it down.

Git is software that coders use when working on open-source programming projects. Open source is when a developer creates code for software and then allows anyone to change the code and use it as they want.

Git tracks the changes that are made, which allows coders to restore previous versions of coding as well. It’s a helpful resource when starting projects because you can find what’s already been created and build upon it instead of having to start from scratch.

GitHub is used by 65+ million developers, 3+ million organizations including big brand names including Ford, Etsy, Pinterest, and Home Depot, 200+ million repositories, and 72% of Fortune 50 companies.  

Community and collaboration are a large part of why people use the platform and the blog is one way they keep everyone connected and informed.

What’s on the blog

The GitHub blog shares product innovations and updates with their community. For example, a recent post notified users of an update in security features and new color modes. Posts like this can garner excitement for updates that users may not know about otherwise.

The blog is also used to promote messages and lessons shared by the GitHub Education Stream Team. They utilize GitHub Campus TV through Twitch to share lessons to help everyone from newbie to experienced coders. This is a great way to show expertise within the industry and gain the trust of their audience.

GitHub shares blog posts from the company introducing new hires, sustainability efforts, and are transparent about the culture they’re building within the company. The blog also shares open source projects and updates. 

There is a lot of information to discover in this blog, but it is easy to navigate. The design is clean and simple. This helps keep the focus on the information being shared. And the categories menu allows readers to go directly to the topic they need.

Building community

GitHub.blog is a way for Github to share information with their community. GitHub users can visit the blog to read posts from decision makers, developers and users alike. The wealth of information they share creates trust while providing the latest news and updates.

In our latest featured blog, creativity meets art and literature meets the sea. Beachbooks.blog is a unique blog that exists to showcase and support the Sea Library. The one-of-a-kind library nestled in the blogger’s home on the Latvian coast is a curated collection of “sea” themed books. The library is open for all, near and far, to come and browse through the books and appreciate the art while relaxing in the tranquil setting. It’s a destination you can’t help but want to visit. 

About the Sea Library

Anna Iltnere is the artist and dotblogger behind beachbooks.blog. She was formerly a journalist who covered the art scene in Russia, Scandinavia, and the Baltic Region. But in 2018, she traded it all in to follow her heart and be near the sea.

She now resides near the sea on the Latvian coast. Her house is home to both her family and her passion – the Sea Library. It’s her dream turned reality and it transcends “real life”, joining the digital world through beachbooks.blog.

The Sea Library is the space in her home dedicated to sea-related books and art. It sits on the perfect piece of land between a river and the sea.

Books and art with a connection to the sea have been sourced or donated from across the globe. Beachbooks.blog adds another dimension to the Sea Library, allowing people from all countries to learn more about it’s books. And the doors of the library are open to all. You can come and peek around while taking in the sights and sounds of the sea. Or, you can borrow a book and return it when you’re through.

What’s on the Beach Books blog

The Beach Books blog is a beautiful representation of the physical space that is the Sea Library. And you can see and feel the passion that Anna has for the library and the sea through her collection of images.

The content is made up of book reviews, interviews with authors, and announcements of upcoming books. She uses dropdown lists on her menu to help people easily navigate to the type of book they’re interested in.

You’ll notice throughout the blog, the blogger chooses words and phrases that add to the sea theme. This includes phrases like, “Sea books, soon to be washed ashore” as her description of the books that are coming soon. This careful consideration of word choice adds to the personal feel of the blog.

Product sales on the blog

Anna also uses the blog to sell handmade woven bookmarks and postcards. The revenue she earns from her products goes to support the library. Anna explains that she weaves as a way to maintain the library, her true passion. Yet the products appear in the background of the blog which allows the library to remain as the focal point.

The blog does an incredible job of capturing Anna’s different passions: The sea. Love of books. Beautiful art. Creativity.

Blogs provide a creative space for individuals to share what they’re working on with the world. Anna uses beachbooks.blog to share all the work she’s doing at her Sea Library. She gives you such an inviting sneak peek into what you can expect to find if you visit, that she leaves you wanting to plan a trip to see it. 

What unique interest would you love to explore with others who share your interest?

Blogs are a great way to bring attention to a topic you’re passionate about. This week’s featured dotblogger is breakingbreadpodcastuk.blog. The blog focuses on the local food scene in Birmingham, England and supplements the Breaking Bread Podcast through articles, photos, and recipes.

The Breaking Bread bloggers

Liam and Carl are the podcasters behind the blog. They live in Birmingham and are passionate about their city. They believe the local people and food scene are special, leading them to create the Breaking Bread Podcast to showcase their activities.

The podcast has two parts. The first is made up of interviews with locals including chefs, restaurant owners, food producers, and other foodies. Their goal is to tell some of the stories behind what makes the Birmingham food scene what it is.

They aim to provide insight and details that you won’t learn simply from just eating at a local restaurant.

The second part of the podcast is the Breaking Bread Podcast Big Review Show. This is where Liam and Carl provide their own unique reviews of local eateries. They share thoughts about the food, atmosphere, and what stands out at each location.

During the pandemic when restaurants were closed, they started sharing recipes and insider tips for cooking restaurant-style meals at home.

What makes the blog stand out

Breakingbreadpodcastuk.blog stands out from the crowd of food bloggers by narrowing the focus  to a specific niche. They concentrate solely on the local Birmingham food scene. This makes it easy for blog readers to quickly determine if the content is relevant to them. Their collaboration with other local people and businesses has an added advantage of being a way of helping them grow the traffic to their blog. When you interview individuals on a blog or podcast, they’re likely to want to share your content with people in their circle as well. This is an effective way to continue growing a blog audience.

Liam and Carl also stay active on social media to help drive traffic to the blog and podcast. This is an additional way to find and engage with readers while pointing them back to the blog.

The podcast-blog connection

Breakingbreadpodcastuk.blog stands out by combining multiple forms of content on their site. In 2021, diversifying the type of content on a blog can play an important role in helping it grow in visibility.

This blog doesn’t rely solely on written articles to attract people and connect with them. The content of their blog is based on their podcast. However, they’re not relying solely on a podcast to grow their audience either.

They combine their efforts on the blog by highlighting their podcast episodes and food photography as well. Each podcast has detailed show notes, which give a behind-the-scenes feel. This includes highlights from the episode as well as unique images that help tell the story.

In addition, being able to hear their voices helps to further humanize their brand. It makes it easier for their audience to connect with them and feel they know them. Even if you don’t have a podcast, embedding video into your blog can help accomplish this as well.

Blogs can be used to reach people across the globe. But they’re also a great tool to connect with and celebrate the people in your local area. Their impact can be reinforced by including multiple forms of content and media.

The Breaking Bread Podcast blog does a fantastic job of utilizing written, audio, and visual content to engage their audience. It’s just one more example of the diversity of blogging. 

Next up in our featured dotblogger series is omnitalk.blog. Run by two experienced professionals in the retail industry, this blog has quickly become one of the fastest growing retail blogs. It’s the perfect example of the versatility of blogging in 2021.

Like popular blogs, HuffPost and TechCrunch, Omnitalk.blog is an online news publication. The founders describe the blog as “the retail blog for retailers, written by retailers.”

About the OmniTalk blog and bloggers

The OmniTalk blog was founded by Chris Walton and Anne Mezzenga in 2017. They each bring unique professional experience and education to the table.

Chris has around 20 years of success in the retail industry with experience in retail tech. Before co-founding the company Third Haus, he worked at Target in a variety of different roles including, District Manager, VP of Merchandising for Home Furnishings on Target.com, and VP of the project Store of the Future.

Anne is an experienced Marketing Executive and also a co-founder of Third Haus, with previous experience on Target’s Store of the Future project, as Head of Marketing and Partnerships. Additionally, she held roles as producer and reporter for different ad and news agencies earlier in her career.

OmniTalk is all about sharing authentic experiences and thoughts on the past and future of retail. As well as reporting on industry news and trends, it shares opinions and asks questions.

What is featured on the blog?

Omnitalk.blog hosts a wealth of information for “retail junkies”. This information is delivered through podcasts, videos, news content aggregated from related industry publications, and blog posts. The blog covers the latest stories and trends coming out of the world of retail.

The content is varied and interactive, with a special series called “Ask an Expert” as well as guest posts from industry experts.

Chris and Amy are readily available to connect and collaborate with other retail professionals.  The “Book a Speaking Engagement” page makes it simple for corporations and industry events to book Chris as a keynote speaker. They also feature an advertising page, complete with a media kit.

Other key features of the blog

There is a lot of information on the blog but it is easy to navigate and access. Different sections of the blog are well-linked and interconnected with a main menu, sidebar menu, and links in the footer.

Secondly, they consistently publish new content. The blog is kept fresh and relevant because there are multiple posts going live each day. This makes it a great one-stop-shop for those wanting to keep their finger on the pulse in the retail industry.

Finally, OmniTalk focuses on a very specific audience niche. It’s very clearly a place for those in the industry or those who are interested in an insider’s perspective

Conclusion

Just as OmniTalk covers the ins and outs of omnichannel retail, the blog itself takes an omnichannel approach as well. The audience is able to connect through blogs, video, and the podcast. They make it easy for their audience to engage, connect, and collaborate with them.

This dotblogger reminds us that blogs are not limited to an individual sharing their personal, everyday life stories. They can also be used as a platform for sharing industry information. OmniTalk shows us a different way to use a .blog domain.

After being stuck close to home for over a year, something is refreshing about hearing of far-off destinations and travel. Our next featured dotblogger is comefromaway.blog. It’s more than your traditional travel blog. It shares the personal experiences of one family who took the opportunity to move to a new country.

The story behind comefromaway.blog

The blogger behind the comefromaway.blog is a wife and mother to three kids. She and her husband relocated their family of five from Canada to Chile for an adventure. The blog shares their experiences, tips, and travel destinations for others to learn from. We weren’t able to find the name of this adventurer but the author calls herself mamashinetravel, so we will too.

Although Chile may be a new destination to explore, the family is not new to travel. This blogger has lived in 15 different countries.

You feel you get to know mamashinetravel and her family through her blog even though she blogs somewhat anonymously. Very rarely will you find the names of the blogger or her family on the blog. But mamashinetravel’s images and shared experiences create a nice personal touch.

The first blog post shares the meaning behind the phrase “come from away”. It is “a uniquely eastern expression for someone who has recently moved to the east coast of Canada, but it essentially means you are a visitor. It doesn’t matter if you have been there for a month or years — sometimes you are always a Come From Away.”

What’s different about the blog

There are a lot of travel blogs. But comefromaway.blog is different from many because it’s an account of family adventures from a very personal perspective. Not just Top 10 destination lists or must-see local attractions, comefromaway.blog shares the logistical and family-related details of travel, as well an appreciation of all they experience in Chile.

On a multi-day trip, mamashinetravel doesn’t just share where they went on each day. She also describes details like what they ate along the way or how they lost their matches when hiking. It has a personal feel that makes it relatable.

The blog focuses entirely on Chile and the posts cover destinations and cultural experiences such as the festival, Cuasimodo which is celebrated in Santiago. 

But something that makes this travel blog even more unique is that two of the family’s three children are special needs. Comefromaway.blog offers  helpful tips for anyone traveling or moving to a new country with young children, and particularly, those traveling or moving around internationally with children with special needs.

 This is the story of a family sharing their lived experience of moving to a foreign country. This allows them to see the world around them from a unique perspective. They have unique tips to share and they have a fresh take not being from Chile.

They provide valuable local tips despite not being true locals. They’re “come from aways”.

Conclusion

There is much knowledge gained from first-hand experience. It cannot be mimicked. And the Comefromaway.blog shares unique experiences, travel destinations, and tips for others to learn from. What they share could not be shared in the same way by anyone else. This is the beauty of blogging.

What topic are you passionate about sharing your unique experience and perspective? Maybe it’s time to snag your .blog domain and start telling your story to the world.

If you’re tired of popular social media platforms, this week’s featured dotblogger is for you. Micro.blog creates an easy way for microbloggers to share and connect. We featured this blog back in 2017 and it’s great to see how much it’s grown.  

It’s also the perfect example of the benefits of using a premium domain name. Micro.blog clearly communicates exactly what the website is—a space for microblogging. It’s a highly intuitive URL. 

What is microblogging?

To understand the significance of this dotblogger site, you need to know about microblogging.

Much like they sound, microblogs are quick and short blogs. They consist of short sentences, images, or video links. And they’re extremely popular among individuals who feel the blogosphere is verbose. They’re also popular among individuals who don’t consider themselves “bloggers”.

Many people use microblogging platforms every day without knowing it. Posting on popular social media platforms like Twitter, Instagram, Facebook, and LinkedIn are examples of microblogging. Reddit is another popular platform.

What is micro.blog? 

Micro.blog seeks to provide a platform to those who want to share. And so they have created their own, removing much of what people dislike about mainstream social media platforms.

The platform enforces strong community guidelines. It’s not a place for fake news, hate comments, or advertisements. It’s a community of independent microbloggers. Here’s why that matters.

When blogging first grew in popularity, many people had their own websites where they shared their thoughts and opinions. As the web grew and expanded, there was a big shift to using social networking sites instead of personal websites. But with that transition, bloggers gave up some of their freedom.

By sharing on social networking sites you lose a degree of control over your content. Your post or even your account could be deleted. Ultimately, if the platform closes, you may lose access to all of your past posts. In a world where many people are storing their personal images and stories on these platforms, there’s a lot at risk.

How micro.blog works

Micro.blog has a different approach. It allows you to connect your personal blog through their free plan and receive a username. There are also several paid plans that provide you with additional benefits. For example, there are affordable plans that include hosting if you don’t already have a blog up and running.

You can also choose from different plans that allow for cross-posting to other platforms, meaning you can post once and have it appear on Twitter, Medium, Tumblr, LinkedIn, and Mastodon automatically. This gives you the advantage of being active across the platforms while allowing you to keep your content, images, and videos on your own site.

Overall, micro.blog makes it easier to blog and share varying post sizes, videos, and podcasts with the world. You maintain full control of your content, with the advantage of using a platform to easily connect with others.

Check out this video from their site describing how it works.

Conclusion

Blogging comes in a variety of styles. Micro.blog has created a place to bring microbloggers together and offers an alternative to social media platforms.

If you’re ready to start sharing your content or you’re tired of popular social networking sites, a micro.blog account might be the right fit for you.

Next up in our Featured Bloggers series is mgs.blog. In our last blog article, we covered why premium domain names matter. This is a great example of a blogger with a short, memorable, and easy to type premium domain. The domain consists of the blogger’s initials. He is an influential leader in the tech space with many followers, who has chosen to aggregate his writing, thoughts, and content using a .blog domain name.

The writer behind mgs.blog

M.G. Siegler is a self-proclaimed “writer turned investor turned investor who writes”.

His career began in front-end web development. But it was his hobby that propelled him forward. While working as a developer, he dove into the world of blogging. Eventually he was hired to blog for VentureBeat and eventually TechCrunch.

In time, he became a General Partner at CrunchFund before becoming a General Partner at Google Ventures, now known as GV. As an investor, he’s worked with big brands like Airbnb, Square, Uber, and Vine.

He also invested in content and social media startups like Medium and Secret. The app Secret was designed to allow people to share secrets anonymously with their phone connections. It was an original idea meant to help normalize and level social media interactions. And while it did not last, Medium took off.

Siegler has also continued writing. He has a Medium blog called 500ish Words. He believes online content is “too verbose” so he keeps posts close to just 500 words.

What’s different about mgs.blog

What truly makes mgs.blog stand out is the way in which it’s written. When you’re blogging purely to share and express thoughts, you don’t have to worry about those guidelines. For example, long-form blog posts tend to out-perform shorter blogs for SEO. But Siegler keeps his posts short because he’s not writing for search engines. He’s writing as a way to think and share ideas.

Another thing that stands out about mgs.blog is it’s a collection of writings. This is not the only place where Siegler writes. He includes links to articles he has written elsewhere. If you’re interested in following him, it’s an easy way to do so.

He also has well over 200K followers that engage with his blog posts. His posts tend to read more like social media updates and the engagement follows. The short posts with personal flair are refreshing. He’s not writing to please anyone. He’s writing to express himself.

mgs.blog takes us back to the beginning

Blogs started as a way for people to share thoughts and information online. They’ve grown into effective marketing tools for businesses and a source of income for individuals. And while this is good, it’s not the only way that blogs can or should be used.

mgs.blog takes us back to where we started. It shows how a blog can be a useful and fun way to ponder, reflect, and share thoughts and opinions.

If you’re looking for a way to reflect and share your thoughts, becoming a dotblogger is a great option.