When you first start blogging you think the world is your bivalve, that you are going to conquer the bloggerverse and make your fortune. Hell, it works for Darren Rowse, David Risley and all those other A listers you have been reading so why not you? Sooner or later the reality of blogging hits you – it’s damned hard work – and you hit that bleak place, a sort of limbo inhabited by blogging zombies and there’s that brick wall you just cannot break through.
I have been there and so, I suspect, has every one who has ever taken up blogging and if people tell you otherwise they are either very, very lucky or telling lies. The mindset that you need when starting blogging is pragmatism, a realistic view on how you are going to progress from raw beginner to taking the L Plates off as you grow in confidence and stature. You will find when you start blogging that there is a wealth of advice out there, much of it totally irrelevant but you have to sort out the wheat from the chaff, and take on board what feels right to you. Here is my two cent’s worth, three blogging tips that I wish I’d known about when I started.
3 Blogging Tips
1: Pace yourself.
When I began my blog I wanted to get a post up every day and I was trying so hard that I tripped over my own feet. Having a day job and a family life it became obvious that I could not research and write the 750 words a post that I was averaging, but I still wanted something up there every day.
What I did was dedicate three days to what I call heavyweight articles, that sorted out Monday, Wednesday and Friday. I then decided that the four remaining days would be catered for by short but interesting topics that wouldn’t take too long to create. On Tuesdays I run a Tuesday Tip post which is generally something very short about a cloud based service or social media package. Thursday’s are filled up with the Thursday Thought spot, again something quick and easy to knock together. Saturday I dedicate to a chill out and learn video tutorials which I get from trawling YouTube for cloud computing or social media services. Sunday rounds the week off with the Deva Vu and More post which takes a blog from the very early days of the site which newer visitors may not have seen.
This works for me, but you can adapt and adjust to suit your own business and personal life. Remember that if you force yourself to blog you run the risk of publishing some sub standard crap just to hit that post a day target. It might well be that your readers don’t expect a post every day – ask them and adjust your schedule accordingly.
It’s also worth reading this post by my friend Robert Bravery who discovered that posting fewer blogs did not affect traffic to his site.
2: Seek help with your blogging
Don’t be afraid at thinking you might look like a total idiot because if something is puzzling you it’s a sure bet that it has or will puzzle someone else and answers need to be forthcoming. One important factor is be a giver rather than a taker. Communicate and participate without expecting too much for yourself and you will find your online presence takes one heck of a boost. I now it all sounds very mystical and Kung Fu-ish but believe me, Grasshopper, it really works!
3: Ignore the A Listers.
I have a lot of admiration for some A List bloggers like Darren Rowse and David Risley but signing up to them is a double edged sword. There is a breed of A Lister – and I don’t include Darren or David here – who sells their “secrets” for a small fortune on a site that shows him making money while swimming with whales in some exotic location and there’s this hidden agenda, that little barb that pricks the skin and says “this could be you.”
Well, it might be but I’d probably make more money betting it won’t than I would by signing up.
This is not about sour grapes, jealousy nor the blogging equivalent of penis envy but I believe that a lot of these deals are just there to reel in the wannabes. If you have the talent, determination and drive you will make it. Maybe a little slower but you will get there. If someone doesn’t have those three attitudes above no matter how much money they throw at A Lister courses they are flushing money down the toilet.
I’m old school enough to believe that you will learn more by making mistakes than by following someone else's “magic formula” by rote, but hey that could be my big mistake as I still need the day job and I’m not sitting on a sun kissed tropical isle sipping a chilled beer!
What are your blogging tips?
But, more importantly, what do you think? Let me know what you think about these blogging tips and if you have found this helpful you can buy me a virtual beer in a virtual bar and that will do for me!