As a blogging advocate and a non-stop blogging dork, I get asked a lot of questions from peers and other folks about what it means to be a good blogger….
Smart ass that I am, I am usually tempted to reply “good spelling and an endless amount of opinions,” but I usually refrain… usually. Sure, there’s a hair of truth to the comment, as we all have seen, but there really is a lot more to it.
This is a topic covered frequently here, so none of my comments can really shed any new light on the subject. However, as somebody who likes to hear himself talk, I’m gonna give my own Masiguy’s Top Five Blogging Guidelines…
Know your topic; too often, I come across blogs that are really poorly informed, no matter how well-written they may be. It doesn’t matter how great your command of the language, 2 + 2 will always equal 4, no matter how badly you believe it should equal 5. Sorry, the facts are the facts.
Know your audience; if your readers are not tech-heads, don’t beat them over the head with your tech-laden ideas. Conversely, if your audience is waiting for you to give them the details of your latest and greatest technology, don’t talk about what you had for lunch. If your readers are asking you for information on a topic, via your comment section or otherwise, give’em what they ask for. If you notice that your site visitors climb sharply when you talk tech and vanish when you talk about the pastrami on rye you had for lunch on Thursday… skip the pastrami story. Tasty, yes… good blog material, maybe not.
Read other blogs and leave comments on them; good bloggers are a part of the community of blogs. Mack recently talked about this. The lesson is that building a community or increasing traffic to your blog means being out there in the greater community.
I know a lot of bloggers who just kind of create a blog, post on it and sit back waiting for people to discover their genius. Ummm… unless you really are the next Faulkner, you’re gonna need to go out and find like-minded bloggers to talk to. They’ll help you spread your ideas a lot faster than you can all alone in your genius tower.
Follow the links; if you’re tracking your links in Technorati or some other source, follow them back to their point of origin. Once there, drop’em a note of thanks — you’d be surprised how far that goes. Heck, even if they are linking to you because they think you’re an idiot, you need to know what is being said. Maybe you can win them over with a few comments or explanations. You’ll never get the chance if you don’t go looking. I’ve been able to find out a lot of neat things about my readers by simply following the links. In the end, it’s another tool to create a vibrant and healthy community.
Say thanks; I’m a big fan of saying thank you to people. It goes a long way, in my mind. I try to periodically remember to thank the readers of my blogs for taking the time to visit- especially during those times when I am posting infrequently or posting too often about my lunch because I’m too busy to post about more significant things.
Your readers like to know that you are aware they are there. Really, they are reading you because they are developing a relationship with you. Just like any other meaningful relationship, saying “I love you” is important. There have been many times when I’ve either been too busy to post new content or have been too busy to post meaningful thoughts, that I’ve simply posted a “thank you for your patience”. Amazingly, readership traffic has stayed healthy during those lean times. Remember who loves you…
So there you have it. That’s the best advice I can offer. It ain’t earth-shattering, by any standard, but it has worked well for me. If it makes you feel better, I’ll let you mail me a check for changing your blogging life. Just shoot me an email and I’ll give you an address.
Tim,
You’ve got it! The check is in the mail.
Tim – Two other suggestions.
1. If you are citing someone else’s post or article,don’t just cut and paste the article and say “this is interesting”. By all means quote from it, link to it, summarize it – but also remember: we want to hear what the blogger has to say about the topic.
2. One of the great things about Marketing Profs, is that I can visit with confidence that there’ll be “fresh produce daily”. If you don’t update your blog daily (or thereabouts), you might want to post a list of the days you do blog. That way readers won’t be disappointed if they stop by and there’s nothing new.
Lose the bike helmet, it makes you look like a rube.
As much as it is important to write for your audience, and believe me, I know it is, it’s most important to write for yourself. Not to say you should disregard your audience, but I think it’s best to just write what you want to write, not what you think you should write. It’s that authenticity that your readers want most, and that continuing passion will make those relationships more sustainable.
Jeesh, sorry it took me so long to get to this today- was on the road visitng with a big parts supplier of mine. (Very cool day actually… I love new stuff.)
Lewis- Thanks. Every penny counts- I have two kids to eventually put through college.
Maureen- I agree with both of your points. Proper “link love” goes a long way towards fostering good blogger relationships. Fresh content helps to keep people visiting routinely. The only problem with that, is that the concept tens to scare away some potential bloggers who feel they couldn’t possibly provide constant content. Your idea of making it clear that posts maynot be fresh is a good suggestion. I try to do that by telling people the posts will be few or limited when I know I will be very busy or traveling.
Helmet Head- I thought the photo gave me credibility as a cycling industry wanker. Helmet hair and goofy tan lines are sort of the badge of honor. Along with the shaved legs, broken collar bone “bump” and scars from hip to ankle. (I have all of the above- for the record.)
Paul- I’m with you man, I’m with you. BUT… for a business/ corporate blogger, we do need to have a little focus in our writing. That said, I frequently write specifically for my self… as if you can’t already tell that.
Thanks all for the conversation.
Great article.
Excellent post. As a professional blogger myself I think one of the things most bloggers froget is to set goal (whether they are traffic, comment, lead or backlink goals) for each post. Have a goal, a plan to achieve that goal (i.e. start a blog war, emotionally engage readers, call readers to action, etc)and then measure your results. Blogging is just like every other marketing strategy- you have to plan and track your results.
Tim,
I looked for your email address and could not find it. Just wanted to let you know you have a typo in the entry:
“Know your topic; too often, I come across blogs that are really poorly informed, now matter how well-written they may be.”
I think you meant to say “no matter how well-written…”
Thanks, Valeria… duly fixed.
Valeria- Argh! As a “word nerd”, that always drives me nuts. Now I have to go hide my head in shame…
Isn’t that what my “editor” is supposed to keep me from doing? Ann?
Thanks for your pointers. I will be a better blogger, and send my appreciation to blogs I like.
Great points Tim, and well written!
One other point I’ve seen before about blogging well is bringing controversy to your blog.
What are your thoughts about that? Specifically for business blogs..
I stay pretty far away from offending anyone, but I can’t help being a nice non-confrontational person!
Nestor- Thank you for your visit and comment- see, you’re already well on your way.
Kelly- I don’t think controversy is bad, but courting it for the purpose of increasing traffic is stupid to me. The momentary spike in traffic might lead to slightly better longterm traffic, but eventually readers will be able to tell when you are pandering to their bloodlust. Sooner or later, they’ll turn away and the rest of the blogosphere will know what you are up to as well… that whole self-policing thing again. AND… thank you for the compliment on the post.
OMG, all of these five are so true. Glad somebody spell these top 5 out! I especially like the #2 point. I know my audience just need a quick fix, but sometimes I want to elaborare more on the technical side.
Hoctro- Thank you for stopping by and commenting. Since you have a far greater understanding of technical aspects than most and the content of your site is so technical, you would be forgiven in many cases for getting technical in your posts. However, knowing when to “back off” the tech speak could be a good thing.
Thank you again for adding to the conversation.
Thanks for this great article. As I poke around, trying to find ideas to make my blog succeed, I find input like this very helpful. I feel as if my blog has plateaued and I’m looking forward to starting the next climb. Thanks.
Opinions are good, but facts are more important. Opinions on facts are great!
Of course there are times when ‘facts’ are obscure..
Example,
I had a guy reveal the whole Chemtrail situation to me a few months ago. Honestly, I thought he was a bit over the edge. So eventually, I begain researching it before I opened my mouth (not bad advice). I must admit, I am amazed and wonder what is going on…
Blogging is great of opening minds and awareness issues for sure.
Thanks for the post by the way.