Blogging is my hobby. It is the thing I do when I feel like writing about what I’ve been up to, when I want to share a few photographs, when I have something on my mind that I want to share. It’s what I spend my down time doing, I created this little corner of the Internet because I enjoy filling it with stuff. The fact that you read it is a bit of a bonus, to be honest.
But even though this is my hobby, I like to feel organised and have some sort of structure to what I’m doing. I might write informally and use photos I’ve taken on my phone, but I do take Splodz Blogz seriously. I want what I do here to be good and useful, and I put a lot of effort to try and live up to that. I might only have an hour or two to spend blogging a week, and I certainly don’t make any kind of living from it, but I still consider myself a blogger.
My new business cards. With phone number removed. I’m not quite ready to share that with the whole world just yet!
One thing that makes me feel organised and like a “proper” blogger (I nearly used the word “normal” there, but let’s face it, I’m quite clearly not normal…), is having business cards. I think that makes perfect sense, but let me explain with an example in case this isn’t what everyone thinks!
Last weekend I headed over to Derbyshire to go for a guided walk with HF Holidays (blog post coming soon). I received an email from the company inviting me to attend the free walk and I thought it looked interesting so I headed over to the Meet Up website and signed up. There was no contract or agreement, I was simply attending the free walk like everyone else, but naturally I knew there would be a blog post in it if I had a good time and got some decent photos. When I arrived and signed in with the walk leader, he said “ah, you’re the blogger”… er, well yes I am. And then later during the morning, while we were all stood in the rain along our route, he introduced me to everyone else as “the blogger”. Not a problem at all, I was quite flattered as I then had several conversations with people who love walking about my blog, what I write about, my bucket list, and that kind of thing (hiya if any of you are reading!). To anyone who asked for my blog URL I was able to say “oh I’ll give you my business card”, which made me feel kinda good and relaxed about the networking. Having the business card in my wallet meant I didn’t feel like a fraud when telling people about my hobby blog, it felt real, and hopefully it meant that those who took a card actually found my blog rather than struggling to remember the name when they got home (on a side note I’ve been wondering about my blog name because it isn’t very descriptive, any thoughts?). As an introvert, having something ready to hand over to someone else who shows a teeny bit of interest in my online space makes sharing what I do a whole load easier. Oh the psychology of a simple little bit of card.
I think we can describe the packaging as “over the top”…!
My business cards are very simple. I designed them myself using the Z logo I use everywhere and sent the files over to Colour Graphics who printed them up on 400gsm unlaminated stock. I laughed a lot when they arrived as the little packet of 50 cards arrived via UPS in the biggest cardboard box, completely unnecessary as they would have fitted through the letterbox if they had been in a padded envelope. Packaging aside, the cards look great, they have been printed up really well, and I’m very pleased with them. If I designed them again (perhaps not so late at night) I might add the social media logos rather than using letters, but other than that I’m happy with them. They are professional looking and hopefully will help me make 50 more contacts I wouldn’t have made without them.
What helps you take your hobby seriously and talk about it with strangers?
Thank you to Colour Graphics who gifted me 50 business cards to help make my blog feel real when I’m out and about.