What are the best habits to form when starting a blog?
I'm about to start a blog and am nervous I won't keep up with it. What are tricks to make sure I consistently post great content?
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Mar 19, 2014
When starting out, find something that you are passionate about. If you are passionate and consistent, you will stick with it. Don't just blog about something because it is popular or worked for someone else. Because it is basically self-employment, you really need to be your own boss. Set a weekly schedule for yourself. Schedule work time, and time off. Another great way to stay on top of blogging, is to set goals for yourself. That way you are constantly having something to work towards.
Mar 14, 2014
Hi Caitlin
Congratulations on your decide to start a blog. You will keep up with it… because you care and i know you care because you are nervous and you are investing time to learn.
Lots of great feedback already provided. I would echo Dave's comments and add the following for your thoughts:
1. Grab the readers' attention immediately – Everyone is pressed for time , so start of your post off strong.
2. Breakup your text with bullets and numbered lists – Everyone loves a list. This makes it easier for readers to skim over your post and get a general idea of what the blog is about before they decide if they want to read it in full.
3. Keywords matter – For the sake of search engine optimization (SEO), the keywords and phrases you use matter significantly, especially in the title of your blog post.
4. Write about what you know – Everyone's an expert in something — what are your areas of strength? Write about what you know, what you are passionate about, or what you feel most compelled to tell others.
5. Refer to other blog posts and articles – Mentioning other people's content can not only create a "starting point" for your own blogs but it is also a great social media practice and a way to get other authors' attention.
7. Ask questions - Encourage interaction! Write something that will get people enthusiastic about commenting.
8. Share – Whether you share by email, Twitter, Facebook or Linkedin, it's a great way to get your content out there and in front of others.
Best of luck. If there is anything I can do to help you, please reach out.
Kind regards,
Velma
Velma M. Knowles, MBA
Knowles Consulting Services, LLC
"Build YOUR Relevance"
Mar 13, 2014
Quick Tips to not get time sucked into daily blogging and not get writers block.
Once you have an idea of what you will be blogging about. Brainstorm different ideas on the topic. Organize them and breakthem down by subtopic. Then when you can come up with at least 14-21 titles, then start to write.
A lot of people fail at blogging because of inconsistency and writers block.
Having an ample supply of keyword to write about and even doing them in one or two sittings will drastically help with that.
Hope that helps.
Mar 6, 2014
Hi Caitlin,
Let me share some blogging tips with you.
1 - read other blogs in your niche everyday
2 - follow influencers in your niche
3- Great value
4- forget about money for now
5- read, read, read,. the more you read, the more knowledge you have and the better blogger you become.
Mar 6, 2014
There is a tremendous amount of clutter out there. Be news worthy. Give valuable information so the reader wants more not less. Be sure you understand segmentation, targeting and position (STP) in the nine P's of Marketing, under "People, " at nineps.com
Mar 6, 2014
My blog is based on topics from my book for the most part. Each chapter has several sub topics and I use them to expand my blog posts. I also do not post more than twice a week so that the information stay current and in line with current topics. Many people I know that blog post once or more times a day which I think is too much. Find a subject line and stick with it.
Mar 6, 2014
Great advice from everyone! I think consistency and utilizing your existing social media as well cross promoting with other writers, is the best way. Just ask me for some more advice in the future!
Mar 6, 2014
Identify two or three personas to whom you are directing your message.
Identify you keywords that you want to include one of in every post,
Provide information of value on a consistent basis and strive to engage in a dialog with subscribers and people who provide comments or feedback.
As others have suggested: have fun, write what you know about and remember the more you give the more you get.
Mar 6, 2014
Regularity, consistency and bravery are for me your 3 key ingredients.
Regularity - Blog hard and blog often. Nobody consistently returns to a blog that doesn't update. A side benefit of this is that Google looks for regularity as one of the ranking factors.
Consistency - Write in a consistent manner, if you're inconsistent, your engagement will drop, people can think you're outsourcing or copy/pasting.
Bravery - People subscribe to bloggers who push the boundaries, those who question the norm. It takes bravery to get outside your comfort zone and write what people want to hear rather than what you want to say.
Added to that, you'll need good technology, blogging is all about engagement so find or create scripts that will help you engage, social plugins, comments sections, a forum etc, they will all help you to get people to return consistently.
Why am I going over the fundamentals when all you asked was how to ensure you keep writing great content? If you engage your visitors, they in turn engage you. It's thousands of times more enjoyable writing for people who want to read than it is if there are no readers. The way you engage them will facilitate your own engagement.
Keep it interesting.
Great tips Dave.