I recently passed the two-year mark as a blogger. So I felt this would be a good moment to help you, by explaining what I know now about being a successful blogger, that I wish I had known then.
Honestly, I figured it would be fairly easy to make the transition from writing for a newspaper to blogging, following 10 years as a journalist. The writing came fairly easy, but it took me two years to figure out all the unwritten rules I needed to know to be successful.
I’m always learning, but after several fits and starts, frustrations and lessons from experts, I’ve moved from novice level to intermediate. I recently wrote a blog post that went viral, and my last post here at PureDriven.com attracted hundreds of readers. Compared with serious bloggers, it’s still nothing, but it’s a significant step for me as a blogger, and it’s proof that PureDriven’s blogging effort is beginning to pick up steam, thanks to all my great readers like you.
Here is the post I wish I had read before I started down this blogging journey, detailing many of those unwritten rules.
It’s something I hope you all will take to heart – and add to – so you don’t have to spend quite as much time as I did in the wilderness of online word-smithing.
1. It’s not about you
You hear this all the time in life, but it’s especially true when it comes to blogging. It can be about stuff you love, and very personal stories, but you must write about what your audience wants to read. Typically this revolves around your expertise in something. This doesn’t mean if you’re a business that happens to make ball bearings you have to write a Hollywood gossip blog – please don’t actually. What I mean is you must make sure you’re reaching out and connecting with that slice of the gear head community who wants to read about ball bearings.
2. Be remarkable
If you think anyone will read your blog if all you do is talk about yourself and how great your business is, you’re doomed. So forget about reposting company press releases, or other self-serving nonsense. Avoid even a lot of company news, although the occasional announcement about a recent hire or new product or service is worth sharing. Just think about passing along your post to a customer. If you know that person would think your post isn’t worth reading, then don’t publish it.
3. Be a street performer
My teacher Jon Morrow (yes, I took a class to learn how to blog better, and it was worth every penny) reminded me recently that too many bloggers think they’re educators. But you don’t have a captive audience that has to by law sit in front of you and learn. You’re a street performer. People are scooting by quick. They’re busy people, probably already late to something important. They’re looking at their iPhones, sipping coffee, avoiding eye contact.
The the last thing they have time for is you.
So make sure you’re providing something rich, something worth chewing on, something that will make them stop for a few seconds and take a look. Make it useful and interesting enough that they want to tell their friends what they saw that morning. In order to really build an audience, you need to teach – because that’s how to sell yourself – yet you’ve got to make that teaching awesome, something people can’t pass up. Sure, some posts will be singles and doubles, not home runs, but if you’re going to do this regularly, you’ve got to bring your best stuff. Be awesome. No excuses.
4. Don’t botch the headline
People toss on a headline like it’s an afterthought. Wrong answer. You should spend half your time on the headline. Without it, your headline is dead on arrival. Remember, people are busy, you’ve got to hook them with a headline that they just can’t pass up. You earn their attention with a headline that rocks. You earn a regular reader with content that backs up those headlines.
5. Find a medium that fits you
I’ve always said I have the perfect face and voice for print. Go ahead and watch me on camera, and you’ll agree. I’ve always preferred writing. It’s less technical. You can do it from anywhere with a pen and scrap of paper, and readers don’t care how you dress (a fairly important prerequisite since I have a reputation for working at home in my Spiderman PJs, and I occasionally write for PR In Your Pajamas.) The PJs are true. The Spiderman part isn’t. I’m a Peanuts guy, just so you don’t get the wrong impression about me.
But all of what I’m saying in this post can be done with any medium. Find the one that works best for you, because blogging is normally a long range strategy if you’re doing it for business growth, or even if you just want to build a decent audience. You’ve really got to love blogging to stick with it, so find the medium that works best for you.
6. Commit
When starting out, try and post once a week. Anything less and I struggle to see how you’ll get traction. We still only publish weekly here at PureDriven, because that’s all the time I have. I try and put out one high quality post out per week. No, the sky won’t fall if you miss a week, but if you aren’t committed, don’t start.
A blog is like a puppy. You’ve either got to take care of a living animal, or give it to someone who will. Most of those millions of blogs out there aren’t competing with you, because people abandoned them. Starting a blog is easy. Sticking to it is hard. There’s room for you, if you stick with it.
7. Ship often, and give up on perfection
I love reading blog posts and marketing books from Seth Godin, and a big thing he always pushes is the need to ship, often. No excuses. Adopt that policy for your blog. Write it. Let is simmer overnight. Then read it the next day. Make some changes. Check the grammar. Check the spelling. Then let it go. Give yourself a deadline, and then send it out. It’s never going to be perfect. Heck, there might even be a tpyo or two in this post. Yeah, not the greatest image to leave. But we’re all human. It’s more important to ship than have flawless prose.
8. It is and isn’t about numbers
Set goals for your blog that matter to you. Our goals are lead generation, thought leadership, optimizing our website for search, helping people, and building a tribe of supporters we can travel through the online world with. As long as I’m meeting those goals, the actual number of subscribers isn’t that critical. But it’s hard to generate leads without people. So an audience of people who connect with us through the blog is what I’m aiming for. If we have a giant audience, but no one called to actually buy what we sell, then in my mind the blog would not be successful, no matter the audience size.
You need people to sell to, and therefore numbers do matter, just make sure you aim for the right goals, not jut eyeballs for your ego.
9. Market your posts
Without a doubt, our blog would have zero readers if it weren’t for my guest post on Copyblogger, linked to above. These days you can write excellent posts, but if you don’t work to guest post on blogs of bigger audiences and spread news of your posts, it is far harder to get people to notice your brilliance.
Every day people are getting inundated with more and more great, free content. So you’ve got to get in front of them with yours. Think of it like being the opening act for a big name band. Each time you perform, a certain amount of the existing audience is going to become your fans as well. If by the way you’re interested in guest posting for this blog, the one I mentioned above, For Bloggers By Bloggers or Workshifting let me know, and I can hook you up. For the place to find blogs in and around your niche, visit Alltop.com.
The good news is, if you have something to say, there are plenty of places that will allow you to guest post. Once your post runs, be sure to spread the headline and link around on Facebook, Twitter and Linkedin, or wherever you find relevant audiences for your post topic. It also helps if you’re building a network of other bloggers who will post to their networks what you’ve written. If you’re interested in the subject of guest blogging and getting your content to spread, I highly recommend Jon Morrow’s Guest Blogging Course.
10. What would you add?
What’s the one thing you wish you’d have known when you got started? Or if you haven’t yet, what’s stopping you? What lingering issue have you been wondering about, when it comes to blogging?
I’m sitting in Northern Minnesota waiting to learn from you.
Don’t let me down friends,
Patrick
You can find me on Twitter @garmoe
Photo Credit: The honor goes to Annie Mole
#4 is a great one. When I’m totally misled by a headline, I leave. When I read weak headlines, I re-think clicking. The headline sells the click. It’s that simple.
Thanks Pamela. You got it. Headlines need to be awesome, yet accurate.
I can’t believe how much I got out of this…I should, it explains so much. Thank you, thank you, thank you, for caring enough to give back. This came to me at the perfect time and I will take it to heart. Cheers, KAFE style…you deserve it!
Thanks ccrlygrl123,
Glad it meant so much to you. I sort of feel bad when I write a post like this, only because I couldn’t spend even more time going deeper. I’m always amazed when someone finds something I write useful. It just never gets old, and it spurs me on to keep up the fight. Thanks SO much.
Great article consistency really matters in blogging
Thanks for the helpful post! #3 is a helpful reminder to think about how I interact with new blogs or web content and keep my readers in mind as I develop content.
Thanks Lindsay. Yes, performing is a critical component, and will only become more important in the future.
Great Post! I am sometimes in big trouble with #7 … it´s sometimes hard to let go…Thanks for the inspiration
No problem Mr. Schmitt, yes, letting go is terribly difficult, but critical. You can’t succeed if the post doesn’t leave your computer.
Very useful post. I have a personal blog that I use to dominate my name in Google, but there really is no direction. However, I will be working on some more focused projects in the near future. This post gave me a lot of ideas. Thanks.
Just out of curiosity, did you intend to misspell typo?
Thanks Blake. Yeah, there may be other inadvertent typos in the piece. But that one was planned.
Excellent post, thank you! After a couple of fits and starts I’ve decided it’s time I commit to starting a blog simply so I have public voice that demonstrates my ability to think and write intelligently. My biggest challenge has been to figure out what niche to write about. I specialize in marketing, communication and social media so it’s difficult to imagine that I’ll have anything to say that hasn’t been said 1,000 times already. Do you have any suggestions for how to overcome this hurdle?
Hi Lindsay. I’m in a similar boat. I’m a writer, and I’ve learned marketing and communications on the fly. Congratulations to you for jumping in and getting going. For me, a blog is also a great way to help me think. What I think and know about a subject becomes crystal clear when I have to write it down on paper. Remember that it doesn’t matter how many people write about a certain topic. People are going to listen to you because you’re building a bond with them, and you’re showing them day in and day out that you’re the expert. Sure, it would be easier if there weren’t as many voices. But like with anything else, people buy from certain places because they like and trust the store staff, not because they can’t get the advice or items elsewhere. And the more people in the space, the more important connecting with readers and buyers becomes. Nothing anyone really says is “new,” if you look back through history. Your particular twist on the topic is what makes you unique. I’d recommend writing for a while, and see what you find most interesting, and what connects with people. Also, do some keyword research. Certain keyword phrases are searched for far more often in your industry, and that can give you a sense of what people might be more interested in reading. So it’s a mixture of finding out what people want to read, merged with a certain niche you love to write about. Let me know if I can help further.
Thanks so much for the encouraging reply, Patrick! I really appreciate the thoughtful response. I guess I just have to dive in for now and see where my conversations lead me. I will definitely do some keyword research to help guide my topics.
Visit Copyblogger for help on keyword research. They have great tutorials. Yes, classes and books are great, but just getting your words on the web is the best teacher.
Great list, thought inducing for sure.
I’d say the single most effective change I’ve made is to understand that my writing is not for everyone, nor should I try to target the entire world.
Those who align will follow. It’s not worth the ridiculous rumination about the fact that a crap load of people don’t align with you.
Focus on those who do.
Great advice Ryan. There’s a natural urge to want a lot of eyeballs. It feeds the ego. And it’s always a fight to keep important goals at the forefront.
Sure is, Patrick. Thanks for replying.
Hi Patrick–
Just flew in from Twitter, and so glad I happed upon this very honest, and beneficial post. Wow–#3 is certainly eye-opening…not that I don’t get that people skim, but what a great analogy.
I’ve just passed the one year mark, and I think the only thing I’d add is that blogging is such hard work–on so many levels. You spoke of all the unwritten rules that one must learn, and a steadfast rule book doesn’t exist. There are wonderful guides and mentors, to be sure, but you really have to put yourself out there and experience the overwhelm of it all to have a frame of reference.
Thanks for so many great reminders:).
Thanks Linda. You’re definitely spot on. It’s hard work, but worth it. There are few things more enjoyable in my life than seeing that something I said made a difference in someone’s life. And yes, as with anything, there are lots of unwritten rules. And it doesn’t matter how many books you read or classes you take or conferences you attend, there’s no teacher like experience. I’m sure my class with Jon shaved years off the learning curve. But every day I’m learning something new. Thanks for reading and commenting. I sincerely appreciate it.
I love your advice (from seth g)…ship it! Sometimes it’s so easy to pontificate about what we *think* the readership wants to read…when they’ve already skimmed through and passed! Great advice. Thanks.
Thanks Patrick….great content and much to think about. I agree wholeheartedly with you about headlines…I have agonized over some of mine because they have to be as intriguing as possible.
Hey Patrick,
Great read. I’m just starting out and have posted a few articles. I think the issue I have is that I’m all over the map on what my niche is. Is it possible to be a no niche blogger? Basically, I want to work for myself and live a fun and exciting life that my family can enjoy. You see, my vague train wreck of a description haunts me.
Life is good, Live it up!
Hello Brad,
I sincerely appreciate your comment.
For not having a defined niche, you sure do have a nice blog. Very professional. I think you can write about living a fulfilling life, living an untraditional life, pursuing your dreams, living a zen life, and all of those would be niches an audience could gather around. Look at websites like http://www.zenhabits.com and http://everydaybright.com/ for examples. The key though, is to make the posts about how you can help others. No one is interested in reading about what you or I think. What they’re interested in is how what you think can help them. Visit http://www.chrisbrogan.com for an example of a guy who writes about his life all the time, but it’s always focused around how something he learns could help a business grow. It takes some trial and error to find that niche as well. We’re still trying to figure it out here at PureDriven, although the niche I’m aiming for is helping businesses navigate the often confusing and fast-changing world of online marketing.
What a brilliant post, I am very new to blogging and writing in general and found this so very useful.
I have my niche, I own a lingerie shop and spend my days bra fitting and passing on this knowledge but putting it down and paper and finding that right headline is a real struggle without it sounding the same again and again.
So much to learn !
Appreciate the comment Rosanne.
You’ve got a great start, because ou already know your niche. There’s a report coming out on Copyblogger.com either this month or next, dedicated to writing great headlines. So keep an eye out for it. I shouldn’t divulge the name just yet. But that should help with the headlines. The only advice I can give you on the writing, is simply to commit to writing for half an hour every day, at a set time. After a few weeks, it will become second nature. My friend Missy at http://www.marketingmama.com/ about a year ago was talking about bra fittings, and called a local department store. I think she contacted JC Penny’s, but I could be wrong. The store agreed to host a bra fitting party/wine tasting for her readers (for free). That was an interesting way to connect an important issue with an offline event. You may want to check out her blog for ideas, and how she covered that topic.
As I was coming to the end of writing my first book I heard Jack Canfield says that 10 percent of your effort is in writing your book, the other 90 percent is in marketing. Sounds like blogging and guest posting is the same. Thanks for get information Patrick.
Thank you Kevin. Yes, odd as it sounds, 10 percent is the initial writing, and 90 percent is what you do after you write it. That’s why I like to distinguish between “best writing” authors, and “best selling” authors, because often the group isn’t the same. But obviously stuff written well tends to get more attention in general. And definitely, the online world works in a very similar way to the offline world.
As I was coming to the end of writing my first book I heard Jack Canfield says that 10 percent of your effort is in writing your book, the other 90 percent is in marketing. Sounds like blogging and guest posting is the same. Thanks for get information Patrick.
Hi Patrick – thanks for this post. It sounds a lot like the steadfast Dale Carnegie Strategies! I haven’t made my blog live yet, but you’re quite inspiring.
Yes Suzettemac, I’m a big Dale Carnegie fan. You’ll find all blogs are pretty much putting new spins on great ideas like his. Looking forward to seeing your blog. Please tweet your link to me when you launch your new blog, and I’ll RT it.
Great read! The only thing I would add is: Have someone else PROOFREAD! I absolutely abhor reading something supposedly written by a professional riddled with numerous grammatical errors. Writers, because they know what they are thinking, tend to read over their work and miss common mistakes.
Definitely TJ! There’s nothing worse than spending two or three hours on something only to find a typo a day after you published it. Thanks for stopping by the blog.
Great post Patrick. I’ve only recently started blogging but another tip I read somewhere is to read your post then try to slash 30% as people tend to read less on the internet so smaller posts are more digestible. Would you agree?
Thanks for the note Simone. Yes, although I’d say slash whatever doesn’t propel the core idea forward, whether it’s 5 percent or 80 percent. One trick I use, is printing out the post and/or reading it out loud. You’d be amazed what you notice simply by printing it out, or reading it out loud. There’s a lot of this post I’m sure I would have changed, had I taken the time to do that. And yes, small, digestible chunks really rule. I know people who won’t even read posts when they just see a lot of text. Even if the post is long, it needs to be chopped up with sub-headlines, bullets and numbers. Readability is critical.
You’re becoming a rock star before my eyes! And to think I knew you way back when.
Another great post, as usual Patrick. I always find something useful in your blogs. Seriously — every time.
Thanks. – Gardner
Thanks Gardner. I really appreciate the kind words!
Thanks for this thought provoking article and all the comments. I have been blogging for almost 3 months. Trying to tweet, blog, read other’s blogs and tweets and trying to find my own niche is more than a full time job. I find myself in front the computer almost all day and night.
My original mission was to share life experiences and have others share their’s back to help people know there are other’s out there going through the same thing. I also wanted to start to sell original products that are unique and home made.
So now after 6 hours in front of the computer, my mind is mush, and I still do not know what to focus on. Also, is there really a way to make money from this as I need to do that to survive right now.
You are so fabulous with all of this. I am following you on two sites and I have no idea where else you are but please let me know as you are great. Thanks for all your wonderful advice.
Ginny ThePennyFriends.colm
Hi Ginny, thanks for the compliment. I truly appreciate it. This may sound crazy, but if you are in need of money right now, I’d recommend you post once a week, don’t worry about Twitter, and find some temporary job to pay the bills. I was laid off from a job where I made $21 an hour. And four months later I took a temporary job where I made $7 an hour. Humbling? Yes. But you need to take a small step forward, and expecting your blog to quickly take off and serve as your primary income is misguided. I strongly recommend just getting a job for now, because blogging isn’t something you start today and it pays off tomorrow. Even really popular blogs took years before they gained a large audience. Your general idea is right, to write posts, build an audience, and then sell products. But it’s something that will likely take years to perfect before you can even consider doing it full-time. You don’t want to be dependent on the blog for money for a long time to come. I don’t mean to sound harsh. I just don’t want you to devote too many hours to this endeavor, believing the money is about to role in.
Please let me know via Twitter and my e-mail patrick.garmoe at puredriven.com how you’re doing. I’d be happy to help further.