Blogging and me!

Darren Rowse over at ProBlogger.net started a community writing project this week. He’s asking people what they think are the essentials of successful blogging.

I’m very new at this (my disclaimer), but here are my impressions so far:

Content is king. Posts should be:

•  Valuable – meaningful and useful to your audience
•  Concise - 350-400 words maximum. If you’re posts are longer, you might need a good round of editing. You might also be trying to cover too many ideas at once. Split the content into more posts and give each idea the spotlight.
• Consistent – stay on topic and write regularly. People need to know what to expect.
• Candid – there’s no substitute for honesty!
• Passionate – write about something you love. People can tell the difference.

Material is key. Get your ideas from:

•  Other blogs - blogs like yours and ones that are not like yours. Find different perspectives.
•  Reading - news, journals, newsletters, books, advertisements – anything and everything; online and in print!
•  Observation - what seems odd to you? Where do you see opportunities for topics?
• Exercise – stay in shape, clear your mind, take walks and when something hits you write it down or record it immediately!

Attitude is critical. Exercise:

•  Courtesy– be considerate of your audience. Encourage and support people who comment (positive or negative).
•  Humility – no matter how much you know about a topic, there is more knowledge to be gained - and it can come from anywhere!
•  Commitment – everyone’s interests have peaks and valleys. Experiment and see what works for you.
•  Confidence – don’t be afraid to say what’s on your mind. But be confidence enough to listen and don’t feel threatened when someone disagrees with you. Admit when you are wrong!

Collaboration is the whole point!

For me, this is my primary reason for blogging. I love to read other blogs, comment when something strikes me, and link to as many interesting places as I can!

I believe that if we all work to make the blogging “industry” successful and healthy, we will ultimately grow our own opportunities as well!

 

Comments

[Mike Sansone]

A great review! I also noticed quite a few folks saying be open to change.

[OutsiderArtist]

It's funny, because i was just thinking about the subject last night. And the thing that struck me was..responsability,

sometimes marketing and art get too mixed up.

marketing of a blog shoud be in service of the 'art', the writing. Not just for marketing sake

[Henrietta]

Thank you for the great insight about splitting lengthy contents into multiple posts. I love reading what others talk about in their blogs. I'll definitely visit again.