Is your blog Tweetworthy?

After the Design Bloggers 2012 Conference recently, it got me looking at and thinking a lot about, well, blogs. What really makes or breaks a blog? Color? Style? Content? All the above? Here are my thoughts.

I usually just post about color and really don't stray too far from that but this post is going to be a little different. Since I spend quite a bit of time on Twitter and reading blogs, I was wondering - “Is Your Blog Tweetworthy?”

I think I just invented a word - Tweetworthy. To me, it means someone that has tweeted something that caught my eye enough to go read your blog and then to re-tweet it. Now this tweet can be directed to a website, newspaper, Facebook page - really anywhere at all. Which brings me to the subject of blogs.

Do you have a list of your favorite blogs? Of course you do! It's your blog roll, your “go to blogs” based on your hobbies, likes, work or just good reads. Today, since I spent probably a little too much time reading, I would like to talk about blogs - the good, the bad and the Tweetworthy.

I had a taken the day off today to catch up with some office work and was looking at some blogs that I usually frequent. I noticed a pattern - even though I have a blog roll, which I love all the blogs there, I still have just a few that I read when I have some time to do so.

Like anything else, some blogs are a plethora of information, advice, tips and just great writing that would make me want to either continue reading or bookmark it to save when I have more time.

Over the past few months, I have reorganized, refined and fine-tuned both my social media contacts, tweeple, Facebook friends and all the other platforms of social media. I have done the same with blogs. There are a handful of ones that I personally make sure I read either daily or just frequently. Doesn't everyone?

So without further adieu, I'm going to start off with some of my blog peeves then list some of my all time favorite blogs.

BLOG PEEVES … 

TOO MANY ADS!

The blogs that I skip over are the blogs that have ads on them. Do we really need more advertisements in our lives? I know you get money from them but honestly, I don't want to see them. I'm there to read YOUR content not to see what specials Netflix has. My blog is by far from perfect but at least if your looking to read about Color for your home, you'll find it there.  No ads, just information. Pass.

ZZZZZZZZZ

Blogs that are fluff and no stuff. They are filled with pretty pictures and nothing more than that.  Particularly the blogs that have gorgeous Pinterest photos with a line or two under it saying “love the mirror” or “isn't that a pretty wall color?” I can just go to Pinterest and bypass your blog. Pass.

POOR DESIGN

Blogs that have black backgrounds. Can't read them - they hurt my eyes. Oddly enough, one of the local marketing companies in my town has a blog with a black background and it's really hard to read. Why would I hire you if your blog isn't the perfect representation of what I need in marketing? Something to think about. Pass.

ALL ABOUT THE PARTY

Blogs that have too much going on. This is really not to fair of me because I know there are blogs out there who are all about fun and games which is fine, but I just don't like to read about the garage sales, link ups and giveaways.  I know it brings in tons of viewers but it's just not for me. To me blogs should be like a good book. You want to be entrained but not to distracted. Pass.

After reading and enjoying some of the “top best blogs in cyber space” for a good year or so (look at my blog roll - if you you're in the design field, consider them to be on your roll to) I've come to the conclusion that there are very few really, really good blogs that I would want to follow. Don't get me wrong, I enjoy reading dozens of blogs of all kinds, all subjects and all levels of knowing but time is not on my side to indulge in hours of enjoyment to catch up on all of them. So, I have just a few of my go to blogs that I would like to share with you, that I think are great reads, engaging, original and informative. 

Here are just a few of my favorite blogs and I bet you are already reading them to!

Beryn Hammil of Design Tech Tonics. I am so technology challenged it's not funny so that is just one reason I need to read Beryn's blog - often. I love her conversational style of writing, her very current topics of discussion and her blog is visually neat and easy to read. I also love our phone conversations which sometimes inspires a topic of discussion for her blog - and why not?

Amber Avines of Words Done Write. She'll probably be surprised that I have her listed as second on my list because we only have the occasional “hey, how are you doing?” but keep in mind, you never know who's reading your blog. Amber seems to be on the leading edge of social media, advertising, marketing and just knows how to write a good blog while getting to her point. Is her blog super beautiful? No - sorry Amber - but that is not important for her blog. I love her eye catching titles, how she engages her readers and I must say, I love the Scrabble tiles in her logo. She a good read!

Wendy Richards of Keller Williams Realty. Now this is rather strange because Wendy Richards has no idea I even exist. Her website and blog have been one of the more recent additions to my “going local” gig. Her website has to be THEE best real-estate web page I have seen since I've been scouring the Internet. Why real estate? Real estate - homes - color - color specialist - you see where I'm going? This site is … I can't even describe it in 100 words or less. You have to go look at it. I love to just look at the pictures of the homes and sometimes when I refer to a particular room in a home, that's where I get it from. Besides, her website encompasses nearly my entire client demographic in Charlotte.

Last but not least, Maria Killam of Colour Me Happy. If you haven't heard of Maria then you can just shut off your computer now and go read a book. Maria recently transformed her blog from the Blogger platform to something more … well colorful! I was attracted to Maria's first blog because it was, just to me at least, the perfect blog. She of course is an expert in her field so her advice and style of writing was and still is, very spellbinding. She has an innocence to her writing yet the gal knows her stuff - you can't fake that kind of knowledge. Anyway, if you don't know of her, I would read all her archives and learn something if you're in the Interior Design field - and buy her ebook to get the heads up on color!

So there you have it. Some of the blogs that I feel are very Tweetworthy. Am I tweet crazy with them on Twitter - no, not at all however, these are the blogs that are worth retweeting so keep an eye out for them! They will have good things to tweet! Look them up and add them to your repertoire.