Common Mistakes A Blogger Makes
These are some areas that can have an impact on you and your Blogging experience. No matter who you are and what you do for a living, if you decide to start Blogging, here's a few suggestions that might help make your Blogging experience more enjoyable and successful. These following suggestions are NOT intended to isolate any one individual, network, or community. In fact, these suggestions come from an entirely different perspective which you'll discover at the end of this post.
Finish What you Start
Some folks simply don't finish what they start. They become inconsistent and give up too soon to experience the results and rewards that can and will come from their Blogging efforts. Don't give up. Stay the course. You will only get out of it what you put into it. A quitter never wins, and a winner never quits.
Be Creative With Original Ideas
Don't try to imitate other people. Be Yourself and don't be afraid of who you are and what you choose to share. You are unique and bring something of value to the table no matter who you are. Finding your own voice is really nothing more than using the same voice you talk to others with on the phone and in person everyday. You are original, now just be creative and share your originality.
Have a Purpose and Be Professional
Networking and Blogging require some time, direction, and focus. Avoid the pitfalls of being hurried, sloppy, and unprofessional. Your Blog and content are a direct reflection of who and what you are. Autograph your work with a signature of "quality!" Always be professional, ethical, moral, and kind towards others.
Mix it Up With a Variety of Content
Only posting charts, statistics, and marketing reports etc. will make your Blog seem like a marketing machine. Add a little color and flavor by creating a variety of personal, business, and hyper-local posts. You'll find that offering a variety of content on your Blog will bring you a variety of readers and visitors.
Know Your Topics and Share Your Experience
Not being informed about subject matter can be a "Bloggers Nightmare!" There's nothing worse than getting sucked into questions you can't answer. The research and time it takes you to find out about a topic or subject matter and get answers can be consuming and discourage you from Blogging again. Better to share what you do know and your experience, than to claim you're the expert at something you're not.
Engage Your Readers
Writing with no substance can be harmful or even fatal to your Blog. Writing content that draws the reader in and makes them want to come back for more should be the goal. Often, Bloggers will post articles that share only their view point and they aren't open for discussion.
Use Visuals To Make Posts Appealing
Try not to always write articles that are just a "Wall Of Words" No visuals or photos, or even worse... bad photos can do more harm than good. Having posts that are cosmetically pleasing to the eye will help to draw readers in and bring your topics to life.c
Be Careful Overselling - Everyone's a Buyer
Purely self-promoting blogging can come across to others as not giving anything of value, even though your product or service is the greatest on the planet. Remember that everyone wants to buy, but no one wants to be sold. This in my opinion is one of the key differences between WEB 1.0, and the new WEB 2.0 world.
Protect Your Reputation
You can't please all the people all of the time, but coming across in writing like you are scolding the reader, whether in a post or a comment, can lead to frustration and discouragement to both author and reader. Sharing your opinion just as I am here is better than creating deliberate conflict. Always treat others online as you would offline and in person.
Be A Blogger, Not Just A Visitor
Not enough content or consistency will slow down your traffic and returning visitors. Try to not be repetitive or let your Blog become stale. Finding the proper balance of how many times to post each week is up to you. I suggest a minimum of 2-3 times per week. Your readers will come back as often as you post. Whatever works for you, just be consistent.
Interacting, Conversing, Dialog and Threads
Being unresponsive to the readers and their comments will have a negative impact on your Blog. If you just "post & go" never returning to engage or converse with others, then the value of a good thread or conversation will be lost. Many Bloggers create posts where the greatest value actually comes from the dialog in the comments.
What's In A Title
Everything. Not just for SEO either. Having a catchy title can make the difference of whether someone wants to read your post or not. Taking a bit more time to come up with a good title that is relevant is worth the extra effort. Don't take title's for granted, and be careful using a catchy title that has nothing to do with your subject matter or topic.
Be Part of the Solution and NOT the Problem
Complaining, writing with negativity, and using a blog to attack others may be attractive to a certain audience, the question you have to ask yourself in this case is, "Is this the audience I wish to attract?" When sharing your opinions and experiences where there is a negative or questionable subject matter, try to find the roses and not the thorns, something that will help and benefit your readers.
Write With Transparency
Some Bloggers like to cut and paste from pre-written content that may not even be their own. Not being transparent can easily be detected in ones writing. Somehow that little 10pt font has a way of revealing more than you think. Be yourself, be sincere, be honest, and just be you. Don't plagiarize! As simple as this sounds, it is difficult for some, but must be overcome if you want to be a successful Blogger.
Participate - Read, Write, and Comment
This is a big and common mistake. Taking time to read will only help you learn and grow. Taking time to write will only better your Blog post quality and increase your traffic, visitors, and business. Taking the time to comment on others posts will only build your reciprocating visitors and traffic and will do miracles for building new and exciting relationships.
I share these thoughts, common mistakes, and suggestions with you today not because of what YOU are doing wrong, but because these are many of the things I have done wrong. I've had to learn much over the past couple years of Blogging. Call it trial and error, but most of what I have learned about Blogging was learned here, and by doing it wrong. At times, I do see others doing the same things. Sharing my own experiences and shortcomings might help you save some time and frustration as you press onward toward your own Blogging aspirations and goals. Making mistakes is how we all learn and grow.
If I'm away from this Blog for any length of time, it's possible you might find me over on one of these other sites, I make my rounds every so often because I know that if you're not here, you're probably over there too! :-)
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