WHY ARE WEBSITES OR BLOGS IMPORTANT?
Hey Readers,
Well, I've been running this website and blog for about five/six months now. When I started this journey towards finding the proper host site, domain and how I would eventually design and arrange my stuff, I jumped through different portfolio sites and some free basic template host sites which helped me figure out that I needed more, something simple but elegant, something that people would want to look at now and again, something that they would advice their friends to look at. And so I decided to spend some money to purchase a hosting plan from squarespace.com. As a student, spending money on something that in one way or another has no monetary benefit to you can be a bit scary and sometimes you even wonder if you should even spend money on it. But as my interest grew, seeing other filmmakers do the same I trusted my judgment and I now see the essence in it.
But one of my greatest advisors asked me a very significant question as I was showing her the redesign of my website: "What are your expectations from the website?" it translates to lots of essential questions like 'Why do I need a website?' 'What do I expect to give and what do I expect in return?' 'What is the sole purpose of the website?'. Well, why does an artist need a website/blog in our modern times?
There are lots of purposes of having a website or blog as an artist, whether you are a filmmaker, photographer, painter, animator, fashionist, so on and so forth. I would categorize this into two major reasons: The first being for the artist and the second being for the audience.
As an artist, you need somewhere to organize and showcase your work, a place to write down your advice, experiences or anything of your liking pertaining to your art in a certain type of blog where people can read and give comments, you want to be able to have an online portfolio as the world now runs more digital and technology is on the tips of our fingers, you want to be easily accessible through out the globe so people can admire your work and even hire you for what you do best. As an artist you want a place to give your identity and share your art to the world.
But art might be an individual thing, and some people don't even bother to show their art to other people. But when it reaches a time whereby what is your hobby is to become your career, people need to see to recognize you and know your work. A website or blog is one of the most efficient ways to do this, because by just one click anyone around the world can access your work online. You have to create an audience base for word to go around the corner pertaining you and your art. Is it easy? No, I can't tell you how many times I've thought to myself why I even bother, but the belief that everything starts with a small step keeps me going. When I see other filmmakers achieve this, I also do believe that I can do it. My portfolio just started with one view per day or week and sometimes it might be my own view, but as time went and the need to deliver work to the people grew, people started to notice and even pop one or two comments on my posts. It's still not that great, not even 50 views per day. But as time goes on I believe the effort will pay and I believe anyone with the devotion can do it as well. You'll start with 1 person, then a few hundred, thousands and even millions. Just keep going.
Challenges
Having a website is important but as I noted above it isn't an easy to task. For me here are some challenges I have faced or still face whilst running my blog and website:
1. Keeping my content up-to-date. You wouldn't want your website to have the same content as it had one year back :| It is very essential you update your blog and portfolio every now and then to keep your audience interested and engaged.
2. Speaking of interest, another challenge I face is looking for interesting topics and content so that I wouldn't bore my readers just after the first line. Yes, my content isn't for everyone, because people have different interests, but I would like to interest those who share the same passion with my content. But always try to keep true to myself.
3. Time. Well this is a huge factor for everyone. As a student, most time is based on your education and so sometimes you might forget that the blog needs updating. And sometimes finding the right time where you have the inspiration and content to write might be really tough.
4. Criticism. Well, whatever you do remember it's not everyone's cup of tea. Some people don't like what you do and even think what you do is non-sense. They end up criticizing you with statements like 'That is a wastage of time and talent' or 'That's just rubbish' but remember as long as it keeps you happy, do it. But also remember to take positive criticism from fans or professionals at heart for that helps you grow individually and professionally.
5. Keeping yourself motivated. Usually the speed, motivation and force at the beginning is really at the highest level, but as time goes on that fire in you starts to extinguish. It's a great challenge to keep going, so one has to find constant inspiration from around him and keep doing his art so that he/she can share it with the people. But the most important thing is staying true to oneself.
6. Having the perfect look that would keep the eyes of your audience wanting to see your website or blog over and over and over again.
Well, these are my views on why blogs/websites are important to filmmakers, photographers and other artists as well. So, what do you think, share your views on personal blogs and websites, tell me your story behind your blog if you have one. I would love to here it from you. Tchao!