Last week I blogged about terms that bloggers should know. Now I'll touch on tips for building a successful blog.
- Find a niche and stick to it. Most successful blogs focus on a single topic. Some rely on the blogger's unique voice and charismatic personality to unify otherwise unrelated posts, but this is hard to do. Whether you're blogging about writing or relationships or something else, it's must easier to find an audience once you tap into that community.
- Put your personal spin on the topic. I've found that what works well for me is to cover an aspect of writing (maybe it's dealing with editors or brainstorming for ideas) and work in personal anecdotes. I try not to dwell too much on the specifics of my situation and include takeaway points that readers can apply to their own writing careers. People usually read blogs because of the blogger's personality, so let yours shine through.
- Commit to posting regularly. Like training for a marathon or practising a musical intrument, blogging gets easier the more you do it. You'll develop a writing style, get into a schedule, and pretty soon the ideas will be flowing out of you at 1 o'clock in the morning (or maybe that's just me). Bonus: readers will keep coming back for more if they see that you update regularly.
- Link to other like-minded (or unlike-minded) bloggers. This is a good way to get the conversation going and show that you're a good citizen of the blogosphere. When you're stumped for a post idea, you can find an interesting post written by someone else in your niche, link to them, and write about why you agree or disagree with their opinion. Voila!
- Get your own domain name. As previously discussed, it looks more professional to have your own URL without wordpress.org or blogspot.com attached to the end. When I bought my own Blogger domain, the transition was pretty seamless, but it isn't always that way. Save yourself a giant headache and buy a domain now. That way you won't lose traffic or incoming links later.
- Do a "soft" blog launch. In other words, wait until you have at least a handful of posts and you've worked out the blogging software before you announce your blog to the world. I made the mistake of sending out the URL to a couple of editors, then deciding to change the name so that the original URL didn't work. Once you've been blogging for a few weeks, then you can add your blog to your email signature, Facebook profile, LinkedIn page, and so on.
- Invite more experienced bloggers to contribute. You can invite them to guest blog or do it Q & A-style. I used to do this with a nifty little feature called 5 Q's (check out the archives). The incentive to the other person is that they get to promote their book, blog, or other projects, so be sure to give them some link love. Often they will return the favor by plugging the post or interview on their own site. It's also a good way to pick the brains of people you admire.
- Set realistic expectations for your blogging success. Realize that you probably won't become the next Dooce or Wonkette overnight. Though you may not land a six figure book deal or generate millions of page views right away, you can connect with cool people and open up new opportunities by starting a blog. Be patient.
- Keep a few posts in your drafts folder. At any given time, I probably have five or six ideas percolating. Blogger's drafts feature is a beautiful thing, because it allows me to start writing a post and go back to it later. Some posts come to me in a burst of inspiration, but others (like this one) require me to write a little and come back to them later. Plus, having a few drafts ready to go gives me something to publish even when I'm too busy to write something from scratch.
- Realize that you can't read everything. When you're just starting out, it's tempting to want to read the archives and sign up for the feed of every single blog in your topic area. This is admirable, but it's just not realistic. Choose a few blogs that are well-respected and that you enjoy reading. Sign up for their feed, but devote the bulk of your time to developing your own blog instead of following the pack.
What advice do you have for aspiring bloggers? Would you agree or disagree with this advice?