How long should a blog last? It's a question, I guess, that more and more bloggers will be asking themselves over the next year or so. This one has lasted just over 21 months which isn't bad but I feel its time has come.The online world has changed a lot in the past couple of years. When I started in January 2008, with the specific purpose of recording my progress writing The Frugal Cook book, there weren't nearly as many blogs as there are now. But the big change has been Twitter which has in some ways made blogging superfluous - especially if you already have a website. I know you can't tweet a recipe but you can tweet ideas with an immediacy and an effectiveness it's hard to match in a blog.
It's also true that you can get to a stage of casting round for things to write about, particularly if your remit is as narrow as frugal cooking. I do write about other aspects of food and drink which I'd like to explore more. I don't want to get to the stage of repeating myself.
Of course I won't give up writing about frugal eating altogether - after all I've always cooked frugally - but you'll now find my recipes and tips on my student and budget eating website Beyond Baked Beans.
The biggest wrench is the very personal interaction I've had with those of you who have followed this blog and contributed so many useful tips and comments. I hope I won't lose touch with you. Please sign up to the Beyond Baked Beans fan page on Facebook and/or follow me on Twitter where I now 'tweet' as food_writer. Fellow cheeseaholics may also like to know that I have - for the moment - a cheese blog called The Cheeselover (so you can see why I had to give something up!)
Anyway thank you all for visiting, for reading and for sharing. This blog has been richer for it.
15 comments:
Dear Fiona, I have followed your blog for the last year or so and greatly enjoyed it too. Good Luck! I shall endeavour to keep up with you on your student website. I'm 39 but much of it is still relevant. Happy Eating!!
I've enjoyed your blog. So sad it's ending but it's better to go out with a bang than fading away. Thank you and goodbye to the frugal cook...
I'm sad to see your blog go, as it was one of the first blogs I ever read and was partly responsible for making me start my own (so it's *your* fault!)
Thanks for all the frugal recipes and tips, and especially for the book you sent to me. Very best wishes in your new ventures.
Sorry to see you go...
But always better to make the change before the change makes you!
Good luck.
Thanks for the ideas, and we made have lost your blog, but we'll always have the book!
This is the first blog I read regularly that has officially closed--it makes me feel a little sad. But I'll still be following you on Twitter. Best of luck with your next endeavors!
Parting is such sweet sorrow.
Of course - this depends on what you use the blog for....
See what you mean about twitter though - it's amazing how easy it is to link in with a much wider, and more relevant group. Twitter search is too good to be true. And if anyone still questions the power of twitter you just have to look at the recent Jan Moir article or the Guardian gagging events.
Thank you all so much for your kind comments. Like I said, it would be nice to keep in touch. Don't hesitate to email me at fibeckett@live.com
I'm sad to read that you'll no longer be blogging. I've very much enjoyed reading about what you're cooking (and what your husband has been buying!), so you will be missed! Good luck with your future plans - I shall continue to read the student site and your great book.
Fiona,
I totally understand where you're coming from - in a blog with a specific and somewhat narrow remit, you don't want to get to the point of repeating yourself or posting for the sake of posting.
Your blog remains a great resource for frugal cooking ideas.
Best of luck for what comes next,
Kavey
Aw Fiona, I'll miss reading your blog, but I am on FB so I'll hop over there now and find you to be a fan! All the best and oh by the way, your Beyond Baked Beans and Baked beans green books are kick starting my brother and his girlfriend into the world of cooking!
It's a shame to see the Frugal Cook go - it was such a good name for a blog, and I'm sure it helped a lot of people through some tough financial times recently.
Perhaps you could redo the site one day as an informational website rather than a blog (or when you get tired of Twitter...)
I fully understand why anyone would want to escape the tyranny of the blog - having to make regular posts even if you don't feel you've got anything new to say that day.
I also bet that the recession isn't as over as people think it is - you only have to look at how much money the Bank of England is "printing" to try and stimulate demand to realise that we're by no means out of the woods yet (even if you had doubts about whether where we were before we went into the woods was a good place to be.)
I reckon the "Frugal Cook" will sound a lot more topical again before the next couple of years are out.
Well Fiona I am very sorry to see The Frugal Cook go. I've really enjoyed reading your posts and learnt a lot from your highly practical tips and thoughts.
But of course, if blogging at The Frugal Cook is no longer suiting you, then it is definitely time to move on. Best of luck.
interesting thoughts re twitter and blogging...will check out your cheese blog
Dear Fiona, I have followed your blog
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