“Write your own blog post everyday, but spend twice as much time reading other people’s blogs — and comment,” That was just one of the valuable suggestions discussed by the Sleepy Blogger, aka Robyn Tippins, who visited my PR class at San Francisco State when we first started to learn about social media back in 2009.
Here are some of the quotes students remembered after her presentation:
“Once you get out there, people start to refer to you and this is how you become influential.”
“It’s important for your blog to create a niche so that the right people can read the right blogs and leave the right comments for the benefit of the overall conversation.”
“Word of mouth has a lot to do with success in the blogging world as it is for business in general.”
“Paid advertising on your blog can hurt you rather than help you because of all the clutter and distraction.”
“Research is essential — it makes you credible and relevant.”
“Key words and meta tags make it easier to find your blog.”
“Spend more time visiting other blogs than writing your own.”
“Get your ideas out there and personalize some of your posts to keep yourself real.”
What works for your blog?
Who are your favorite bloggers — and why?
[content taken from early post 5/2009 – but still very relevant today]
What brings success to different blogs are different but there some things which work almost on any blog. Writing each day keeps you active and you are able to think of new ideas each day.I agree that it is wise for any blogger to read other blogs and get new ides.I wonder why your blog does not accept my URLS? 🙂
Hi shari
Great blog.
Yes i agree with all the points.
If you belong to a tribe that give love and you give love back then people come back again and again 🙂 <3
Regards
Theuns
Hey Shari,
I think all of the points above a really good. I think it is important to keep up with the blogging as well as making sure you read and comment regularly also.
But If you don’t blog regularly, when people return the favor and you already out of date, it wont do much for your credibility.
Thanks for sharing,
Beth 🙂
Beth, believe me I know . . . and am unfortunately experiencing “life situations” that are keeping me from keeping to a regular blogging schedule. Every once in awhile, time allows the consistency I think is right for me, about three times a week. But too often, my blog is playing “fourth fiddle” to a slew of other responsibilities.
First time blogger here and these tip here help show what to blog about. I feel that blogging is a way to get yourself known. Also understanding the purpose of commenting on other people blog is valuable. I will try to read more blogs and get a feeling how a good way to attract people attention. I’m not much of a skillful blogger but I will try to post a good one that other can understand and relate too.
It is important to write unique posts for your blog to be popular. Dont repeat anything. That’s very hard today but possible.Research and reading other blogs help to trace out new tendencies and new developments in your field of interests.
Hi Shari,
I completely agree that you should spend twice the time reading other blogs and commenting than writing, though I’m not convinced you need to write a blog post everyday. Like Barbara (#5 comment) I have taken part in blog challenges and three times during the past year I’ve taken up writing a post every day. My mind just isn’t convinced that, at this point, I need to do that on a continual basis. Sometimes, I just don’t have anything all that great to say! LOL. But then, I’m not a full time, professional blogger, and I’m sure that makes a difference!
Hey, Deb, after a monthlong break from my own blog, I did do the post-a-day and actually saw a huge spike in readership/commenting. But, as you point out, this just isn’t “humanly” possible for me on a consistent basis. One of the main reasons is because I DON’T want to do what Karen [comment below] suggests that there are too many “slapped out” articles.
There are so many articles out there that have just been slapped onto the site for links, pretty hard to find something decent I reckon
Too True, Karen.
I hope my articles are of value
🙂
Hi Shari, I am in the online casino affiliate business and there is nothing new to encouraging your visitors by giving away incentives and bonuses is a normal practice. I love doing contests and giving stuff away.
Regards. Arthur
Hey, Arthur, what type of incentives work best? . . . or doesn’t it matter? Free is Free?
I just keep these things in mind when writing a blog post:
I just create a lot of drafts of blog posts and publish only 5% to 10% of them, and then flesh out the posts that will have an impact.
i write about things that get me excited.
I just make sure that each post focuses on just one idea.
Great ideas, John. Actually I use these tips for my English composition students, especially the one to write about subjects that excite them.
Shari, Great post, I agree word of mouth is so important for your blog as it is for offline business as well. I will be back to your blog. All the best Rosemary
Hey Barbara I must commend you for being able to post daily I can not keep up with that. But I do try to visit other site regularly.
That’s what I usually do. I try to write a good article every day, but I think i read too many blogs especially if the content interests me. I know it’s not a problem as long as it’s not keeping me too busy to do my work.
David, reading your comment reminds me of how I am currently involved in so many face-to-face networking activities that it is often difficult “to get my work done.”
Shari, I participated in a Webinar on blog design in March. It was sponsored by Judy Dunn whose blog is Cat’s Eye Writer and Carol Tice who writes the Make a Living Writing blog. I received enough feedback from them that I was able to give my blog an extreme makeover. I remain happy with the results.
In May I took part in the 2011 WordCount Blogathon sponsored by Michelle V. Rafter who blogs at WordCount. Nearly 200 bloggers accepted her challenge to write a blog post every day in May. I learned a lot about blogging from Michelle and the other participants.
So, Barbara, here’s another challenge . . .
🙂
How’d you like to write a Guest Post for me listing the Top Ten things you learned while writing a blog post every day in May.
I’ve given myself that challenge and have been publishing daily for a week now. And, yes, one can’t help but learn tons by practice, practice, practice.
THX for adding your comment.