Believe it or not, being successful as a blogger does not mean blogging is somehow easy. Sometimes it can be fun, while other times it can feel like a daunting chore.
The truth is that we often focus obsessively on failure, but don’t realize that success has its own cons as well.
Curious to know how it feels to be a successful blogger? Read on. Continue reading “A Glimpse Behind the Scenes of a Successful Blog”
Let’s say you’ve managed to set up your blog, decided on a niche, and now it’s time to write.
So… how long should your blog posts be?
Do you write long posts that cover pretty much an entire aspect of your niche, with lots of tips and tricks, or do you write lots of smaller posts?
Do you write the ultimate beginner’s guide? Or break it down into several guides on different aspects of your topic?
Hmm…
Admit it: this is something you’ve thought about. And you’d like to know, from a reader’s perspective, which kind of blog post is better.
Well, read on to find out.
In case you do not have the time to read this entire post, then you should know that people usually work for years and years before becoming an overnight success.
And you must too.
That’s it.
Now, for the rest of this article.
There’s this exercise I keep recommending in my posts about networking, gaining an audience, and becoming better as a blogger.
And it’s quite simple: Continue reading “Who’s Your Competition?”
There are hundreds, perhaps thousands, of writing guides out there. But in my opinion, none surpass the simple, direct advice of The Elements of Style by William Strunk, Jr. and E.B.White.
This classic serves up much good advice, especially in the last 20 pages in a section titled “An Approach to Style.” Nowhere have I seen more helpful advice in so few words and with such precision.
If (for shame) you don’t already have this reference in your library, I will leave it to you to explore it in depth. But I would like to provide you with eight important writing tips as they apply to blogging. Continue reading “The (Very Short) Ultimate Guide to Blogging”
Write what you want.
The advice that all successful writers/bloggers so generously offer.
The most important rule of content writing.
Write what you want. What sets your soul on fire. Write your heart out. When you want, how you want. Ignore the critic within, the haters, the naysayers.
Write with passion.
The rules are more like guidelines. Write what makes you happy. Write as if these were the last words you’d ever write.
To tell you a little secret: if you were to go on my blog, you’d stumble upon about 1000 or so blog posts that ignore most of the rules I teach here. Bad headlines, a quote for an intro, and just me writing with passion about life, death, and everything else in between.
And the newbie goes on and writes with passion and conviction until they stumble upon a new rule:
Write what your reader wants to read
Now, the newbie wants to be read.
Who doesn’t? But how do you balance these two rules, how to write what the reader wants to read without feeling like selling your soul? Continue reading “The “Write What You Want” Paradox”
Who are you? What defines you? What is it that sets you apart?
Why should anyone read your blog? What exactly do you bring to the table?
Do you write generic content filled with SEO-friendly keywords?
What about your personality? Your fears? Expectations? Desires?
What about what really grinds your gears?
I am asking you all these questions because whenever you write a blog post and release it into the world wide web, you are “selling yourself.”
If you do not know, care, or are aware of this, then no one else will know you, trust you, or be willing to interact with you.
Here are a few things to work hard at in order to build your personal brand:
Tell me. What is your blog all about? Can you define that in a simple sentence? Why are you blogging? Can you offer a six word answer to that?
Why do you write what you write?
What is your blog’s purpose?
How often do you blog? Do you stick to the same days, hours for publishing new content? Do you invest the same amount of time, day in and day out?
I am asking you all these questions because you need to plan. You need to write down lists of the topics you will write about.
You need clarity of purpose.
You need to know what you what, what you are doing, why you are doing it, and what are you going to get out of it.
If not, you’ll feel lost and confused, and you’ll be easily disappointed and defeated by the many obstacles that will inevitably come your way.
Why do you blog?
Simple question, right?
But…
What you choose to answer determines how successful a blogger you’ll be. And rather than reporting news, or covering a certain topic or two, or attempting to make money, sell products, I am going to tell you that you should focus on making your readers better at what they do, whether that skill is blogging, marketing, or gardening.
Believe it or not, blogging is all about adding value to other people’s lives, and in this post I am going to explain how powerful this model truly is. Continue reading “Blogging is All About Adding Value to People’s Lives”
Have you ever struggled to find the right words? As if you knew in your heart what you wanted to write, but just couldn’t translate all that you felt into words? As if something always got lost between your head and your fingers?
And this is even more frustrating because how you write determines what your readers understand.
If you ever struggled to find just the right words, arrange them in the right order, and get your point across to your readers, here are a few tips for producing great content even when it feels like your brain is against you. Continue reading “How to Find The Right Words”
