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From Online to Print: The Soshal Network gives advice to aspiring bloggers
It is every blogger’s dream to get published on print—and that dream came true for The Soshal Network (TSN). Last December 2016, TSN published its debut book entitled, “The Soshal Network’s Etiquette for Soshal Climbers.”
From Blogspot to Wordpress to its very domain name, TSN has been making its rounds on social media with humorous articles that document the lives of Camille Buhain (Provinciated), Faye Condez (Sophisticated) and Vivian Dela Cruz (Domesticated). Having been classmates at the University of the Philippines (UP) College of Law, the trio has been inseparable ever since. Now that they are lawyers in their respective fields, it is amazing that they still find time to manage a popular blog.
“We started the TSN blog in 2012. During that time, we only wrote one article per week. But after a while, the demand for our articles went up. Sometimes, our Blogspot site would crash because of web traffic,” Vivian says.
“Our first articles were actually written in transcript form. TSN in lawyer language means Transcript of Stenographic Notes,” Faye explains. “But no one would read a transcript, so we decided to write about being ‘fashown’ bloggers. Not the ‘fashion’ type. We made use of what we had—a Good Morning towel and a daster, for starters,” she laughs.
Getting their online articles on print was a fascinating story. “Apparently, TSN articles reached Tita Tessa Prieto-Valdez and she even told her friends about us. We were surprised that our articles were being read by the elites,” Camille said. “Our articles were also read by Lisa Gokongwei, owner of Summit Media Publishing, who asked us to submit a book to her publishing company.”
Asked about what TSN wants to say to aspiring bloggers, the trio gives five useful blogging tips.
1. Be unique
“There are so many lifestyle bloggers online. Most of them have expensive houses and nice clothes; basically, their lives are perfect. The TSN Lifestyle is not like that,” Vivian notes. The TSN Lifestyle encourages readers to use what they have while putting a bit of ‘bongga’ in the presentation. This avant-garde blogging concept makes the TSN unique.
“As long as you have something unique to offer, you can share it on your blog,” Vivian says.
2. Find your niche
Maintaining a blog entails a lot of experimental writing. “When you start, you don’t know what category to specialize in. But eventually, you’ll find your niche,” Camille says. When you find the niche that suits your personality, it won’t be hard to produce content.
“If we were ‘fashion’ bloggers, we would have a hard time. Every week, we’d have to keep buying expensive clothes, and spending money. But since we’re interested in the topics we write about, we find it easier to produce them,” Camille quips.
3. Know your readership
“Aspire to write about things that people observe but don’t talk about. Sometimes, we write about topics that people are embarassed to talk about,” Vivian says. TSN articles such as how to organize the perfect flatlay, how to look thin in photos and how to wear a daster, aim to elicit an “Oo nga” reaction from its readers.
4. Collaborate with your role model
Camille, Faye and Vivian all look up to the fabulous Tessa Prieto-Valdez, who invited them to her house. Prieto-Valdez was also featured in Etiquette for Soshal Climbers, and even wrote the foreword of the book.
“When we grow older, we want to be like Tita Tessa. She’s very casual and funny. We even made her wear a daster, but we sewed beads on it to make it look soshal” Camille said.
5. Speak from the heart
Faye believes that all good writers should write about what they’re most interested about. If a blogger decides to write about something he/she does not like, the readers will sense his/her disinterest in the topic.
“I think people love to read our articles because we speak from the heart. At TSN, we speak how we really are,” Faye says. — AT, GMA News
