Video Killed the Vocational Star

Blog trends that have caught the most speed in the last few years have quickly taught normal everyday readers “How-To” become the masters of their hobby of choice. The abundance of instructional, educational blogs and videos are easily the replacement and, or change in demand of many specialty jobs.  In order to be the best wedding planner in the year of 2011,  you should run on every social network and Skype with clients around the country.  There are many benefits to the changes these networks have brought, but the bar has been raised and will never be lowered. What came first, the downfall of the economy or the increase of free knowledge on the blogosphere? Are these two things directly related?

There are many niche blogs in the overflowing blogosphere. You can easily find blogs on the art of crochet, the art of Cheese, and even the art of Smoking Cigars.  Over the past few years, I have noticed that some of the most influential blogs in their communities are within the niche of Interior Design, Personal Training, Gardening, and Wedding Planning. Let’s take a look at these niche areas and dissect the top blogs in the topic to learn what would need to be done in order to start a career in one of these fields in the year 2011.

Interior Design

• Design Sponge: A modern blog  with main writers and guest writers that offer DIY projects, new styles, product guides, podcasts, gift guides, scholarships from product companies, and advice for designing your home on a budget. Obviously it is a given that you can follow this blog on Twitter for quick tips, “Like” this blog on Facebook to engage with the other aspiring Interior Designers, and subscribe to the podcast feeds.
• Fresh Home: This blog is actually based on the popular magazine.  It breaks down the content into buckets that make it simple for the reader to chose content per room or section of their home that they are designing.  This blog is full of beautiful images that make it fun to scroll around and of course is “Social Friendly”, giving the user an option to join their community on other social networks.
• Atticmag: Like the other interior design blog, the blog offers a slew of beautiful images that make you want to redesign your home and click on all the affiliate links that are on the page to make it look like the pictures. There are design tips per room, videos, partners, and recommendations that you can follow on the blog or on one of their social networks.
• Inhabitat: Popular Green design blog that offers contests for readers, tech design, kids ideas, and fashion ideas to match your home.  This blog has changed over time to become more of a lifestyle blog.  It has featured authors, areas to participate in causes, ways to entirely engage with the blog on social media, and (since being bought by Federated Media) tons of advertisements and links to products discussed in the posts.

Personal Training

• Fatfightertv: This blog offers videos of workouts, recipes for healthy meals, and success stories. You can shop for fitness supplies and subscribe for daily doses of motivation.  And if you don’t have enough motivation to visit the website everyday, you can subscribe to the newsletter, rss feed, “like” them on Facebook, and follow them of Twitter.  You have no excuse to not Fight Fat.
• Livin the Fit Life: This blog looks like a great one to follow for day to day tips on staying fit and getting into gear.  You can sign up for the newsletter, watch instructional videos, learn how to improve your diet, and get tips on how to start “livin’ the fit life”.  Although the name of the blog is not what I would search for if I wanted to search for the getting fit, and the URL is different than the title, but it only ranks #2 for “Living the Fit Life.” Let me get back to the point. This is not an SEO blog post.
• Freaking Fitness: This is a simple personal blog done by a woman who is a huge fitness enthusiast. She is not for hire as a personal trainer but she is an affiliate for some Fitness companies. The posts are inspiring and helpful in order to learn how to live better. I would like to see more video posts but overall really like the holistic feeling of this blog.

Gardening

• You Grow Girl: This blog is perfect. It offers so many option for the aspiring gardener. You can watch videos, shop for products, talk to the author, learn about seasonal differences, and discover plant species you might never know existed. It is an all over learning experience. With the social component complete, this makes for an all around helpful blog, blooming with knowledge.
• A Way to Garden: “The source for Garden information and inspiration” is what this blog acclaims. There are many facets of information and links here. You can read anything from “How-To’s” to Garden Humor. The author has a book for sale, offers many images in a slideshow, a way to connect to every possible social network, and a way to sign up to a newsletter.
• Dirt du Jour : This blog is specifically written for Californians but surely can be read by anyone interested in gardening. They offer news, what to do in the kitchen with fresh grown fruit, and gardening couture. The simple and pretty layout make it a quick read and easy to follow.

Wedding Planning

• Polka Dot Bride: If you don’t know much about planning a wedding, this a great place to start. It offers information about colors, creative styles, vendor lists, inspiration boards, and expert advice. Being that planning a wedding is a long term commitment, (something the reader should probably get used to) you can subscribe to the rss feed, “like” the blog on Facebook, and follow them on Twitter.
• Wedding Bee: This blog has turned into a Wedding Resource center over the years. There are the staples of every wedding blog, classifieds, inspiration boards, vendor reviews, and photo galleries. It is a one-stop shop for planning a wedding. You can even buy wedding invitations and favors created by the bloggers. It is an interactive experience in planning your wedding and would definitely make any beginner into a novice. Just in case this is only the first time you are getting married.
• DIY Bride: This blog has all the essentials you need in order to plan your wedding. Read up on budget friendly wedding tips, look at pictures from Real Weddings, browse the inspiration boards, or buy DIY Bride invitations and favors. This blog include many ads on the right side where you can click recommended vendors. Like all other blogs, you can follow it just about everywhere socially to keep up with the newest trends in Marital events.

With the over saturation of the blogosphere only getting worse, you might ask yourself what to prepare for.  It is a given now that to specialize in a certain field (and to make a living at it), you must be very visible everywhere online. In any niche of blogs there are common themes. With Gardening blogs we can see that using images, slide shows and tips are without doubt the best way to show off your skill.  Personal Training blogs all have videos of workouts and success stories. When researching your niche make sure to create this checklist of things you must do, but also create something that will make you stand out from the rest. It is not only about adapting to what is new but creating a space for yourself to grow and continue to be special at whatever it is you do.

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