In the movie “Julie and Julia,” Julie Powell considered herself a failure because a book she attempted didn’t quite work out the way she had hoped. To redeem herself, she set out to cook all of the recipes from Julia Childs’s book, “Mastering the Art of French Cooking.” Powell’s husband encouraged her to blog about her recipes and experiences. What started out as a daily cooking commitment also turned into a daily blogging commitment. Following are five blogging lessons I learned from this movie.
Lesson 1: Blog with a Plan and Purpose
Powell set a goal to cook the 524 recipes from Julia Childs’s book within 365 days and blog about them. She had 524 reasons to stay focused and absolutely no reason to run out of content.
Know what you are going to blog about and be sure you are passionate about that topic. Purpose and passion will keep you going through periods of bloggers block and doubt.
Lesson 2: Blog for Your Audience
When Powell first started blogging, she wanted to prove to herself that she was not a loser. As she started to get readers and followers, blogging was no longer about her; she had an audience waiting to hear from her.
Since your audience will ultimately determine the success or failure of your site, always put them first as you write.
Lesson 3: Your Blog Will Not Become Popular Overnight
Powell’s blog did not become popular right away and neither will yours – unless you already have a dedicated following interested in you or your topic. Blogging is not a “build it and they will come” venture. Just like any other business, you have to market it and provide value to gain popularity.
Lesson 4: Consistency Leads to Success
Apparently, Powell had a history of not completing things she started. She really wanted to finish her project. She cooked and blogged every day, sometimes several times a day. That was pretty ambitious.
You don’t have to be that extreme. Develop a schedule that you can realistically maintain. If you can only blog once a month, do that. Just be consistent so your readers will know when to expect your next post.
Lesson 5: Do Not Blog about Your Job on Your Personal Blog
Powell had mentioned that she was going to be off of work on her blog. Her supervisor read the post and brought it to her attention upon her return.
Do not discuss your job on your personal blog and do not discuss personal topics on your business blog. If you just have to cross that line, proceed with caution.
The five blogging lessons above are just a few lessons I learned from “Julie and Julia.” Powell achieved her blogging goals because she had a plan; she was consistent; and her audience was her priority. You can reach your goals by following Powell’s lead. To be truly successful, though, you have to be committed and possess an attitude of success.
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Love it Marcie. I loved this movie and I loved the book even more. Did you know that the archives of her original blog are still online? You can find it here: http://juliepowellbooks.com/blog.html
Danielle, I was not aware of the archives. Thanks for sharing. I'm going to check it out.
Great post! I haven't seen the film, but I will have to rent it now. I see so many blog entries that are just a couple of lines long, or written as a sponsored post…so I agree with your point that it's essential to love what you're writing about and have something to say.
Thanks for stopping through and reading my post. Be sure to get it. Some parts were a little slow for me but overall I was intrigued by Julie's commitment and purpose.
I loved that movie. great tips. I've never thought of actually learning from the movie though. Thanks.
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Tanya, I'm a bit strange. I find ways to write about anything. I actually wrote a story at the Universoul Circus on what entrepreneurs can learn from circus performers. It hasn't been posted but it's quite interesting. I'm going to check out your post. Thanks for reading.
Well done Marcie! Great post. I think all of us saw ourselves in Julia's struggle to blog and cope with the deadlines. What touched me most of all was the dedication and will she showed with her daily posting according to her plan how she stuck to her plan.
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Thanks Steven. I think one of the biggest challenges for most bloggers is staying commited when life gets busy. And I loved Julie's stick-with-it-ness. It was something she HAD to do to prove that she was not a failure. And she did it. Just left a message about your review.
Good pointers and good parallels, Marcie! Thanks for sharing this.
Hi there Marcie. Your post is very practical and informative. I totally agree with you about making a solid plan first before engaging into online blogging. I saw some blog sites that have posts dated months ago and the comments are not timely. I dont think these blog sites are popular in the long run.
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We can rock if we follow. A big thanks and lot of praise to you for such useful tips on blog.
Meryl Streep was outstanding in this movie and yes, so true, we cannot be successful without making a plan. Running a blog specially is not about working randomly. Since I like reading blog posts I frequently visit my favorite blogs and I’ve noticed that bloggers work a lot, they don’t take risks. Blogging needs dedication, patience and proper planning.