Blogging

Google blog writing and voila-all your questions will be answered. The main thing is to write about what you know. then cover the usual: Who, what, where, why?

Tips? yeah, use WordPress. In short order you will figure out how to use it.

Get a digital camera and figure out how to get photos onto the blog. Then take a lot of pics so you have something to choose from when it's posting time.

When you post to the blog, inform and educate - the reader needs to get something useful.

At the same time, tell your story and share yourself. If you do, then your blog will serve as a screen that will filter the customers you want to you: they know you are the guys for them because they got to know you on your blog.

Most of the time it will feel like you are talking to yourself; and most of the time you probably will be. I have found though, that when people do get to your blog and read it they are very impressed and see it as a valuable resource. That's been my experience anyway.

Lastly, if there are any stories that you tell over and over and over again in your work, put those stories on your blog. Then you can refer people to the blog and may be able to tell the story a little less often.

I have been thinking about your question for a day now, and I just figured out what was bugging me...

I think you might be putting the cart before the horse. Yes, technology is compelling and easy (blogger, tumblr, wordpress) and can be a lot of fun. But the thing that will get people to come to your blog again and again will be the content.

My suggestion is that you write up 5 or 10 blog posts just as text documents on your computer. Refine them, let a couple other people review them in hard copy, and make them really good.

Then get your blog set up, and post maybe two a week.

This will give you some time and experience writing in a blog format. It will give you time to take in the feedback from your readers, and it will train them to keep coming back and reading your blog.

By the time you have worked through the first 10 blog posts, you should have an engaged reader base, experience writing in that format, and you will have already made time in your schedule to do the writing/editing/posting of your content.

Worrying about which blog tool to use is like wanting to find the perfect hammer to build your house... but not having any blueprints yet!

So my suggestion is to think Content First, and Delivery Mechanism later.

Brian,

I'm taking from your question that this is about content, not the technical side of actually finding a platform and setting your blog up.

Dennis and Christian have given you good advice here. You are wise to think about how to develop rich, valuable content because it's the difference between a so-so blog and an outstanding one. Christian made that point very well.

My characteristics of an outstanding blog are:

1. It's useful. (Show your reader how to solve a problem, how to do something faster or better.

2. It's engaging. (Provide content in a a way that motivates your reader to interact with you.)

3. It's entertaining. ( Readers love advice and opinion that also makes them laugh or evokes some other kind of emotion. Like Dennis said, tell stories.)

And finding post ideas? Try:

• mind-mapping
• listening to your customers' problems
• reading other blogs in your industry
• reading comments on other industry-related forums
• keeping an idea notebook

Once you start, you'll get ideas for new posts from the comments your readers leave and questions they ask.

One more thing. I invite you to join our biznik Savvy Bloggers group. It's a place to share resources and questions about blogging and to celebrate our successes.

Hope this helps. If you'd like to take a look, here is my blog on marketing.

Hi highly recommend that you visit these two sites to learn about blogging effectively:

www.problogger.net www.blogmastermind.com

Darren Rouse and Yaro Starak have exceptional reputations for guiding others to successfully monetize their blogs, and their own blogs and free reports offer abundant lessons to guide you successfully.

These are extraordinary resources.

Good luck!

Nancy Juetten

Hi,

See what other people are writing about in your fields of expertise by googling them. If you disagree or even agree, but have a different take on what they are saying, write about that. I agree with the others...focus on generating content first, then get involved with the tech.

Taylor Ellwood http://www.imagineyourreality.com/

Hi Brian,

Sounds like you're well on your way to setting up your blog, but I thought I would throw in a bit of advice as well.

Be sure to establish your target audience right away and to stay consistent with your content. If you're writing to your customers, be sure to post information relevant and useful for them. Same goes if you're writing to position yourself as an expert amongst professionals in your field.

Good luck with your blog!

Angela Ferraro-Fanning http://www.13thirtyone.com

Hey Brian, just a few tips or things to consider.

What is the purpose of your blog? If money is a goal or even a consideration, be forewarned that you need to post consistently several times a week to even begin seeing the type of traffic you'll need to be profitable.

Also, what is your strategy for continuing to produce content? 5-10 articles is a good start, but that won't be anywhere near enough articles to make a successful blog. Writing content is a long and painstaking process and you really need to love your subject to be able to go into any depth on it. It also really helps to have others who are willing to contribute. You may even want to find writing partners before you begin.

A few things about launching: don't enable comments right away, comment-less articles appear empty and lacking in a authority. Wait until you have steady traffic of 250-500 uniques a day before enabling comments. Also, start with a good number of articles, open with some of your best articles, and keep some in reserve. It's really easy to fall behind schedule-wise.

Be aware that you will need to promote your blog and that takes time. Write-and-they-will-come doesn't work. Look for niche social bookmarking sites and communities as well as some of the more general sites. Don't just promote, participate - otherwise you run the risk of falling into spamming.

The biggest piece of advice is to remain consistent in your posting. If you start missing, you start losing audience. Hope this helps you. Good luck on your blog!

In my opinion, you should start writing 5-10 quality articles that will be useful and provide value for your readers before you actually launch a blog.

Most of the time, new bloggers start publishing multiple blog posts a day when they start and the frequency starts to die down after that. Pick your own posting frequency and stick to it.

Apart from the frequency, it is also advisable if you are able to schedule the topics that you are going to publish on your blog. For example, Saturdays are for weekly recaps on events that are relevant to your topics by other blogs, Wednesdays are for quality informational content and Mondays are for entertainment style blog posts.

Apart from a content creation plan, you need to have a marketing plan in place as well. Find out where your likely readers are hanging out. These places can be establishing blogs, forums, social media or even social networking sites like Biznik. Participate in these communities and people will eventually check out your blog, even if you don't spam your links all over the place.