I blog. You blog. We all blog.
It’s an undeniable fact: Web logs (to use the old-fashioned term) are now as relevant as major newspapers and magazines, supplying millions of readers worldwide with news, updates, and random pieces of information.
When it comes to developing a project – whether it’s a film, a commercial, a viral video or a TV show – a blog can actually serve your process. It can help you to identify your audience and give them the opportunity to talk back (through comment feeds). Blogging about your project and the different stages it’s going through opens what I like to call the Door to Collaboration, a dynamic give-and-receive process that can help shape your idea into the Best Possible Product. If you have investors involved it’s a great way to maintain their excitement. A blog can keep them up to date on how the project is moving and offer them reassurance that their money is being used wisely. A blog can also stir up some buzz, create more awareness of your product and potentially generate more support.
For writers, blogs can showcase their wit, style, and chops, and act as a kind of cyber calling card. A great blog can also show that you are a serious, professional scribe taking pride in your craft and not just a weekend hobbyist jotting down grammatically-incorrect, incoherent rants (Blogger’s note: if you wish to be taken seriously, be your own editor, proofread what you self-publish, and write as if you’re on assignment for a revered magazine or newspaper).
Blogs even have a way of evolving, taking on lives of their own, and with this evolution comes opportunity. If your blog begins to attract significant traffic and garners enough attention due to the quality of its content, its potential profitability could increase. To see if your blog draws a sizable number of subscribers, take advantage of traffic-measuring tools like Google Analytics and Blogads, and then you’ll be able determine what rates you could offer advertisers when they approach you about appearing on your site.
And it doesn’t just stop with blogging. Take advantage of all available online technology and social media. Create a Twitter account to acquire more followers. Link related sites to yours, and have them do the same for you (“You link my back, I’ll link yours”). Create photo albums and post your entries on a Facebook page that’s dedicated to your project. Join FourSquare, a great app that allows followers to read mini reviews of places you scout or visit.
All in all, you’ll be creating a culture around your show, your film, your commercial, your one-of-a-kind product.