Your blog is the best. Do you wonder why?
If you are reading this and you are a blogger you know it. Your blog is the best. You know so, because you are putting a lot of work in it to make it the ‘perfect blog’. You spend hours and hours working on it. And because you are a blogger you are doing everything yourself, from finding the perfect subject to blog about until that almost magical moment when you click the ‘publish’ button in your favorite blogging tool.
How does this process work?
I know we all have our quirks and ‘special ways’ to get the most out of our blogging efforts. If you are blogging for fun, or small business, this way might work for you. Or you might enlighten us with your secret tips tricks and sources.
READ Darnit!
That’s one thing you need to do. I don’t mean ‘Fifty shades
of Gray’. Or maybe yes, depending on what you are willing to share. Any reading
is good reading as long as it is inspiring to you and fits the niche you are
writing for. As always Mrs. Google (I call her Mrs. because she always has the
answers to everything…) is your best friend. Find out what’s trending on the
internet. My favorite tools to get inspiration are (in not so random order):
● Twitter – Try to check not only what’s trending World Wide, but of countries that your readers come from.
● Twitter – Try to check not only what’s trending World Wide, but of countries that your readers come from.
● Google+ - Works wonders when you have a lot of
Google Business pages in your circles. Check CNN, Local papers, not so local
papers, anything that might give of that spark of inspiration.
● StumbleUpon – Literary stumble upon inspiring
stuff, Trust me, it could be anything!
Once again, that inspiration moment could come from anywhere. Could even be this typiing error.
Write your stuff down.
Trust me. Write your ideas down on a piece of paper, a memo in your phone, a mail to yourself, anything. If you are like me you bound to forget that brilliant idea. Just do it. Alzheimer might kick in before you know it.
Now it's time to actually write your blog post. I like to work with a scheme that goes kinda like this - most of the time.
● Start with a 'compressed' version of your post, making clear in a few words what the post is about. Today's average time someone spends at a blog post if they have never been to that site is just a few seconds. Hook them, reel them in. Tell them what you have to say.
● After that, work out the content of your post.
● End your post with something 'attractive' for the reader. This could be a question about what they have just read, to get the convo going.
● Start with a 'compressed' version of your post, making clear in a few words what the post is about. Today's average time someone spends at a blog post if they have never been to that site is just a few seconds. Hook them, reel them in. Tell them what you have to say.
● After that, work out the content of your post.
● End your post with something 'attractive' for the reader. This could be a question about what they have just read, to get the convo going.
Promote your stuff!
This part is more trickier than you might expect. Just spam the whole World Wide Web with the fruits of your thoughts? I don't think so. Users of Social Networks like Twitter and Facebook (Almost forgot that one...) get a serious case of the 'IThinkIsawASpammer' fever. Over - promotion can backfire, big time.
Use it sparsely, you may have to use 'odd' hours sometimes to reach people living on the other side of the world sometimes. In that case I believe it's ok to use scheduled posts for that.
In all other cases keep it close and personal. One reason is the fact that you will be able to react faster to comments, remarks and bitching. ;)
It's important to know what you;re writing about. If you are offering help on anything and you don't know enough to follow through, or defend the views on certain subject, stay away from those subjects.
Last but not least
Quality. Did I really say that? Listen closely. I do not always post the best quality posts, but you do. But there is always room for improvement. Always. Because the success of your blog is only there, because Mrs. Google (and some 'minor' other search engines. heh) let you. Quality blog posts will get your blog better. In your readers view too. And that's important. Google is a bitch. There... I said it.
About Guest Author
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Jan Bierens from JanBierens.com is a Blogger since May 2011. Working in the ICT business since December 1997. Curious. Google and Social Media Adept. Owner, Editor, Janitor, Pizzaman and Author of The JanBierens dot Com. Doing my thing to the max in the Blogosphere, trying to entertain, question, baffle people. *This* is your daily dose of cereal with nuts! "In Heaven all interesting people are missing".
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| Find Me: Twitter | Facebook | Google+ | Technorati | ||
Hi Jan,
You know, it feels inside if we really devote ourselves for our blog and always seeking ways to entertain our readers with awesomeness of our posts. Sometimes though we feels our topics would be really great for readers and publish 'em hoping more user interaction. But bad timing, poor promotion and lack of relationships may affect on it.
Great idea ~ Writing down ideas. I always write 'em in a text document or in mobile. Some ideas never easy to recall if you never have it written down. Isn't it Jan? ;) I haven't thought about tips you mentioned about Twitter, Google+ and SyumbleUpon. Yeah, there's always room for improvements.
Social media spamming... Hmm... It's true. It may not meant to spam but to reach more users in different time zones. But appears to be spamming. I don't like the fact that spamming same content over and over too.
Thank you very much for contributing to Mayura4Ever Jan :) I'm really glad to have you here with your views on aspect of blogging and I really think your tips will impress my readers. They will help 'em to be more effective in blogging and being socializing :)
Cheers...
What a great post Jan that we can really relate to. We do spend a lot of time with our blogs. I love your reminder to write ideas down because so many pop into our head and then we forget. Nice to see you at Mayura's place.
Great to see ya Jan!! Talking about notes, I am usually inspired early am, during my shower. I have a ton of blank post it notes on my HUGE bathroom mirror. When I get out of my shower and write down my blog ideas on these post its and then stash em for blog time! Blogging can take a lot of time, thus me cutting back to 3x/week. Awesome post as always Jan!
Well said! Spent hours daily for customizing blog or making contents, it is gonna be one of the best blogs (call me bias but we do love our blogs :p). I'm currently using Twitter, Facebook and Google+ but I'm not good at promoting. Guess it takes time and more quality blog contents.
Awesome post Jan.
You have covered the "perfect balance" of blogging. Write good content, don't be spammy and most of all, promoting your stuff sparsely.
I often use Mrs. Google myself to keep abreast of what is going on. I use Google Alerts. All I need to do is plug in my "interests" and I receive emails whenever a good article or latest news comes up. Not only does it keep me posted on what is going on. It saves me time searching and does give me come ideas for content on my blog.
Thanks for the article,
Donna
First of all I want to thank Mayura for giving me the opportunity to do my first *ever* guest blog post. When he asked me I was a little bit reluctant about it, but he arm-wrestled me in in saying yes. Well, that's my version of the story and I am sticking with it... ;)
I have learned to know Mayura as a good guy, willing to help everybody when asked to lend a hand. He KNOWS his stuff and is willing to live by the rule "Sharing is caring" in more than one way. Mayura, thanks again!
There is a thin line between spamming 'a little' and 'to much'. I like to do it in bursts other than 'once every ten minutes'. That way people seem to not mind it as much.
Reviving 'older posts' helps a little to. Bottom line is, don't overdo it.
StumbleUpon? Getting bigger and bigger in getting viewers to my neck of the woods I call my blog...
Hi Lisa!
I'm happy to be here as a guest blogger to. If I'm staying longer I might need to leave a pair of comfortable slippers here... ;)
Writing stuff down lets you 'play' with ideas. It works really well for me and I think it looks cooler than screaming your ideas in a memo - recorder...
Hi Brenda!
Ok, so we need to find another way to make notes in the shower... Let me see. Write it on the bathroom mirrored? No seriously. Blogging is fun (most of the time anyways). We're only partly obsessed! Thanks!
Hi, Mok, nice to meet you.
We all love our blogs. Nothing wrong with that. Promoting your blog is a whole different chapter in the book. There is so much to tell about it.
One thing I can say is "Stay true to your subject(s) or niche". Making a name for yourself is a long process and is hard work, believe you me!
Hi Donna, nce to meet you on Mayura's blog.
Well we do what we have to do. What can I say. Mrs. Google *is* my best friend. You would be amazed what you can find using advanced search queries.
If you are using Google Alerts and you are using Chrome as your browser you might want to take a look at NewsSquares. I could post a link here, but I won't, because that would look spammy. ;)
Thanks for your input, it's much appreciated!
These are good tips. I never really check to see what is trending on twitter. I think I'll have to start.
If you want to stay on top of things, Twitter is a good place to start. Even if you don't have a blog and use Twitter for your social media activities, it's THE place to be!
Thanks for your input!
Hi Jan,
Is StumbleUpon back in action? I rarely hear about it lately. Well, there's something I gotta think about :)
Cheers...
Hey Jan,
You know, sometimes we push back but then courage comes and play. You made it Jan. You are more courageous than I do :) I know it. I really love the way you address and how you embed your creative writing skills in it. And, you see, here's wonderful tips for bloggers. The honor is mine :)
Thanks for your compliments mate :) I do believe in being a giver than a taker. But here I just wanted to bring you in front of my readers 'cause I know you are an awesome blogger that others should get to know.
Cheers...
First of all, congratulations Jan on your first guest post. You chose a good blog to share your content on.
Now I will agree with you, my blog is the best! Hey, I'm prejudice but like you said... They belong to us and we spend a lot of time there so we're kind of partial to our own. But in all honesty, I think we all really take pride in what we've accomplished and it's so much fun to watch our blogs grow. I for one enjoy the relationships I've been building along the way.
Now for writing posts, I do not plan at all. I know, I'm horrible I admit. I'm also guilty of editing the darn thing before I'm even half way through so I know I do all the wrong things. If some thoughts come across my mind that I do want to write about I'll create a draft post to remind myself but I don't go into a lot of detail. I'm strange, I admit...
Great tips here though and again, thanks for sharing this with us here at Mayura's blog. Lovely to see you.
~Adrienne
Thanks, Adrienne.
At first it felt a little bit 'weird' in the sense that I would be writing *for* someone else and I was trying a bit to hard to get into the 'what would Mayura like me to write'.. When I decided to just be my normal me things went better. That says something, huh?
I agree, your blog is the best, like Mayura's or Jon Doe's or Jane's. There is absolutely nothing wrong with that. Take pride in what you are doing is very important.
No matter how, or even if you plan posts it's all about what works best for you. Organized chaos is very inspiring.
One thing you have to talk about, though, is blog discovery. I don't want to spam my site or anything by dropping a link, but I can say that it is kinda hard to get your site out there for other people to see. It is also one thing to get one person to visit your site, but it is another ball game to get them to come back on their own.
Can you make a post on that?
Hi Michael,
I could, but the bottom line is, that promoting your blog is just plain manual labor. Participate in social networking, comment on people's blog posts and above all be a good blogger.
Nowadays just putting the right meta keywords in your blog posts is not enough any more.
Post great content posts and stick to your approach in blogging. Be like a terrier and don't give up.
People won't visit your blog because they trust you on your pretty blue eyes, if you know what I main...
OMG I die. Jan you are always on the money pal! Sadly, that Mrs. Google, she doesn't always have all the answers. I went through 20 pages of search results the other day trying to find a how-to and no luck. A blogging friend said Hey, why don't you just search Yahoo. I laughed. I laughed and did it anyway. And my gawd I found what I needed on page 3. I like this compressed idea Jan. Will definitely start using it for how-to posts of my own. And great seeing you here! Mayura I'm loving this blog even more every time I drop by.
Hey Van,
Jan the man with plan, eh? ;) He has given some awesome points up here for ones think that their blog not doing well. Anyway I'll leave it up to Jan to reply and discuss with you here Van. Well, you gotta wait some time as he's having an awesome time out of his country.
Thanks for coming over and adding your thoughts on this post dear ;) Ha ha... Thanks for your compliments too Van.
Have a wonderful weekend over there dear ;)
Cheers...