What I Wish I Knew When I Started Blogging
Note: This is a guest post I wrote for How-to-Blog a new blog seeking to empower and inspire successful bloggers. Check them out on Twitter and you can read my original post here. Whether you’re a seasoned blogger or just getting started, How-to-Blog is a must read!
I have been blogging on and off since 2005, but never stuck with it until last year. In August 2008 I created my blog and jumped right in (without much planning). Yet, I often say, “If you’re going to cross the river, you’re going to have to get wet.”
Reflecting on my own blogging journey, these are my top blogging tips.
Set Clear Goals: Do you blog to make connections? Become a better writer? What do you want to blog about? Are you trying to grow your business? Increase page views? It helps to understand why you’re blogging. This can equate success and it’s important to note that everyone blogs for different reasons and that’s okay.
Patience – Give It Time: I can guarantee that my mother was my only reader for the first two months of blogging. That didn’t stop me. I kept posting because I didn’t want to give up. Expect a 2-3 month learning curve where you figure out your style and what does and doesn’t work for you. Do not become discouraged.
Post With Regularity: Establish a sense of uniformity with your blogging. My favorite bloggers are the ones I can expect blog posts from. Regularity establishes readership (over time). A good rule of thumb (in my book) is to blog anywhere from 2-4 times a week. Granted, we’re all busy and blogs have many different formats, so find what works for you. Find what’s comfortable. I always say, quality over quantity.
Darren Rowse of Problogger says, “Demonstrate to first time visitors that your blog is updated all the time so they feel that if they come back tomorrow they will likely find something new. This [new content] causes them to bookmark your site or subscribe to your feed.”
I also suggest creating an editorial calendar. I will print out a calendar each month and write in blog posts by date and topic for each day. This helps me manage my time and ensure I prepare for my blog posts.
Don’t Worry About What Others Think: You will not press the ‘publish’ button if you worry about what others think about your writing. Accepting as a blogger that your words are public is a big part of the battle. But remember the risk versus reward and the perpetual lesson you’re setting yourself up for. Blog to be you.
Listen To Your Readers/Community: Many blogs wouldn’t have found their success without the readership and community they created. This means: respond to reader comments, encourage conversation, invite guest posts or write for other blogs, state that you welcome feedback and offer your e-mail or a contact form as an open invitation for readers.
Blogging is a two-way flow, just like a conversation. You don’t want to hear one person talking the whole time, never asking questions, never including others and never listening.
Leverage Resources and Bloggers: I hear friends who are new to blogging lament about not knowing what to write about. I’ve written blog posts about conversations I’ve had or even overheard, a book or newspaper I’ve read, a funny moment I saw between two people in the park, or responding to a post from other bloggers. I love reading other blogs. When I first began blogging, I subscribed to a plethora of blogs to see whose writing and voice resonated with me. I reached out to many of them, some are now good friends and some I consider mentors. It’s important to keep me inspired and constantly learning. Yes, think for yourself and create your own ideas, but don’t discredit your blogging peers and what you can both learn from each other.
There Are No ‘Real’ Rules: This might seem backward as I just listed suggested blogging tips and now I say there aren’t any rules, but really, there are none. I compare the Internet to the Wild West. There are many ways to navigate and begin blogging. The boundaries are limitless, which can be daunting, but it’s exciting that you have this opportunity. The bottom line is to do what works for you. Write with passion. Don’t be afraid to make mistakes (I do quite frequently, but I’m always sure to learn from them), fail fast, ask questions and recreate your own rules.
Just remember, as Ralph Waldo Emerson said, “Do not be too timid and squeamish about your actions. All life is an experience.”
