More than ever, pet owners have taken to the Web to share their love of animals. If you have a pet and a Facebook or Flickr account, you’ve likely posted more than a few pictures of your beloved furry friend. You may have used the Internet to share a funny story or two about Fido or Fluffy, but some people have taken it to the next level, and pet blogging has become a large cottage industry with entire communities dedicated to furthering the art.
Pet bloggers sniff each other out
Once a year, BlogPaws, an Internet resource for pet writers, hosts an annual conference for its followers and members. The fourth BlogPaws Pet Blogging and Social Media Conference took place in Salt Lake City, Utah this past June. Speakers included Petfinder.com co-founder Betsy Saul, and veterinarian Dr. Daniel Aja, Director of Professional Affairs for Hill’s Pet Nutrition. The three-day event also provided bloggers with sessions on monetizing, social media, WordPress, YouTube, live streaming, analytics and more. If you’d like to check it out for yourself, early bird registration is already open for the 2013 conference, which will be held in Tysons Corner, VA.
Best Bark and Best Meow blogs
The tightly-knit pet blogging community has no shortage of awards to recognize the best and brightest stars in the business. BlogPaws hosts their own Nose-to-Nose Pet Blogging and Social Media Awards, which culminates with a red carpet ceremony at their annual conference. During the 2012 ceremony, Dogtipper was named best bark blog and Glogirly took the honor for best meow blog. If funny is more your style, comic-based blog Cat Versus Human was the prize-winner in the best humor blog category.
Then there’s DogTime Media’s award show, the Petties, which will be broadcast live on the web on September 7, 2012. Categories cover everything from best overall pet blog to best cause-related blog. Winners get to decide which animal shelters will receive a share of $30,000 in donations. Last year, The Conscious Cat took home the grand prize, named the best pet blog of 2011, and the site is up for the same honor again this year.
How to start your own pet blog
If you’re looking to break into the pet blogging biz – or just want to add some new material to your reading list – you can check out collaborative sites like Pet Blogs United, which helps bloggers promote their work by creating a network between writers.
There are also directory sites like Dogs with Blogs and the Dogster’s and Catster’s Pet Blog Directory, which provide lots of wonderful reading material. For pet-lovers, this means there is no shortage of entertaining and informative material out there on the Internet – and, of course, those cat photos really are adorable, so keep ’em coming.