Successful Blog

Do You Know the Five Cornerstones of an Outstanding Business Blog?

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A Guest Post by David Hobart

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Blogging is a useful way to convey a discussion piece or news feeds on a specific subject. If you have a blog or are thinking about setting up a one, it’s a good idea to be aware of what makes a blog stand out and last and what makes an “also ran.” If you’re blogging for business it’s important to keep these in mind.

  • Time. Setting up and maintaining a blog, as with any web content, takes time and effort. One of the most common mistakes that bloggers make is to underestimate the amount of time it will take to set up a blog and add to it regularly. There will be a delay in attracting interest when first getting a blog off the ground, so a potential blogger not only has to make the initial commitment but must maintain the blog even when that interest is minimal. If you are seriously thinking about setting up a blog it is worth planning your blogging time around your daily routine. Aim to blog smaller items at regular intervals rather than write time consuming articles.
  • Content. People blog for many different reasons, but by far the most successful bloggers have powerful opinions that really show through in their writing. Avoid choosing a subject you are not passionate about. Your passion and interest in your chosen subject will make it easier for you to blog without it being a chore. It will also help stop you giving up in the early stages. Remember that your blog is a forum for you to tell the world how you feel, so pick a subject you feel strongly about.
  • Purpose. Once you have chosen your subject, be clear about what you want to convey. Do you want to be informative? Is there a particular demographic you want to target? How could your blog be useful to the reader? Bear these questions in mind when you blog. It will help with clarity of content. Do not make search engine optimization your priority. This may conflict with your writing and readers will pick up on this. The reader should always come first. Address your points quickly as this will help attract the immediate interest of the reader.
  • Personality. Your blog should be an extension of your personality. It should not be cold and lifeless. Another common mistake is writing your web content in the style of an article or lecture. The reader should be able to read your blog and imagine you talking to them. It should be engaging, warm and friendly. This can be difficult to master, but imagine you are in a coffee shop chatting to a friend about your chosen subject, and write accordingly.
  • Individuality. Some of the most annoying blogs are ones where the blogger is following the herd. Lack of originality is a no-no. A potential follower will switch off if they read opinions they have already heard a million times before. They may also assume that you copied your blog from someone else. Don’t be afraid of blogging about what you think and feel. Your views are just as valid as everyone else’s and this is your opportunity to write about them. Also, make sure the opinions you blog about belong to you and no one else.

These five cornerstones hold up an outstanding business blog. Have you incorporated all five into what you’re doing with yours?

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David Hobart is Managing Director at Pure Content.
You’ll find him on Twitter as @DaveHobart

Thanks, David!

–ME “Liz” Strauss

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Write For A Blog Reader And Not A Book Reader

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By Terez Howard

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When you sit down to read a book, you read from left to right, paragraph to paragraph, page one to page two. That’s how I read a book, anyways.

When you read a blog, how do read it? I scroll like I’m looking for something, even if I don’t know what I’m looking for or what I’m going to find. I go up and down like a yo-yo, deciding whether or not a post is worth my time to read it. I check out subheadings, bullet points, bold characters, italics, a discernable font, and I love short paragraphs.

Time for a new paragraph. That last one was getting too long for my eyes. Why should you care how people read blogs?

First impressions – the worst impressions?

Because if readers don’t like the way your blog looks, even if you’re a first-rate writer, they are not going to read what you write. I do it all the time. I discover a post with an interesting headline and excitedly click on that link. When I see huge clumps of text and yellow-colored, size 8 font on a black background, I’m done.

It doesn’t matter what that blogger wrote. I’ve made a judgment call. Slap my wrist and tell me that I’m wrong. I don’t care. I’ve decided that if that writer doesn’t know the basics about blogging, then he/she couldn’t possibly have anything worthwhile to say.

It’s not the nicest way to be. I wasn’t always like this, tough. I’ve stumbled upon poorly constructed blogs that I have attempted to decipher. A deeper dig reveals typos galore, poor English and terrible content again and again. So why waste my time trying to translate?

You never get a second chance to make a first impression

Make a good first impression on your readers. First and foremost, you need original, well-written content. That is the foundation of a great blog.

Second, and this may seem ridiculous to say, but please make sure that people can read the size and style of your font. If you try to be too fancy, say with a script-type font, people will click away. If your words are too small for the average pair of eyes, people will click away. If the font is too big and overbearing, people will click away.

Either while you write or after you write and edit, you should try to include:

  • Subheadings. These break up text and summarize what readers can expect as well as build anticipation.
  • Bullet points/numbered lists. These are my favorites to read and write. They, too, break up text so well. I notice that if I read nothing from a blog post, I will read the list.
  • Bold, italics, underline, etc. Pepper your post with these font features when you want to stress something. But do not inundate a post with them. No need for the entire post to be bold.
  • Short paragraphs. Don’t write an entire blog post with just one paragraph. Staring at a computer screen with one long block of text is rough on the eyes. You can’t see anything. Experienced bloggers recommend three to four sentences per paragraph.

Use common sense

When you write for blog readers, don’t be a stickler to any rules. You’re thinking, And what’s the reason for this post if I can do whatever I want?

Well, of course you can do whatever you want. I’m saying that you don’t have to count the number of sentences per paragraph or include a bulleted list in every single post. Be natural. Think about your audience. Remember, write how you read.

A computer screen looks much differently than a book. Make it easy for people to read your blog.

How do you write for blog readers?

—
Terez Howard operates TheWriteBloggers, a professional blogging service which builds clients’ authority status and net visibility. She regularly blogs at Freelance Writing Mamas . You’ll find her on Twitter @thewriteblogger

Thanks, Terez!

–ME “Liz” Strauss
Work with Liz on your business!!

4 Headline Types that Grab Attention Immediately

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By Terez Howard

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One Blogging Secret That Everyone’s Telling You

I have something to tell you. You’ve heard it before. You know it’s beneficial to every blog. The great bloggers write about this regularly and practice what they preach.

Attention-grabbing headlines. There, I said it. Secret’s out. or it’s been out for years.

4 Headline Types that Grab Attention Immediately

When I worked for the newspaper, my editor told us that our headlines had to tell our readers something. Sounds simple enough, right? It is pretty straightforward.

I wrote the following story back in 2005: “Katrina victims in Chester tell their story of survival.” I could have written “Hurricane story.” My now five-year-old headline told readers what to expect from my story and why they would want to read it. My second, obviously bland headline example doesn’t tell you anything. It sounds like a fictional piece on a hurricane’s journey through an area.

Your headline needs a voice. While it doesn’t have to be a summary of your entire blog post, it should give your readers a taste of what to expect.

What kinds of headlines should you write? Here are four:

Raise a question

You can specifically ask a question, but your headline does not have to be a question. Rather, readers will ask themselves a question and want to know the answer.

For instance, my headline for today: “One Blogging Secret That Everyone’s Telling You.” What secret? Why’s it a secret if everyone’s telling me? Who’s telling me? These are the questions my headline raises, and I provide the answers in my blog.

So when you write a headline that raises a question, be sure to provide a satisfactory, thorough answer to your audience.

Include a list

“101 Blogging Topics That Will Keep Readers Coming Back In Hundreds”

Once again, readers know what to expect, that when they click on your post, they will see a numbered list, from 1 to 101. Why do lists make wonderful headlines? Bloggers will tell you how the search engines love numbers and how numbers are memorable to readers. These points are true, but not my focus.

From a blogger’s standpoint, lists are easy to write. As a writer, a list organizes my thoughts for me from 1 to whatever. From a reader’s standpoint, lists are easy to read. You expect a comprehensive, systematic piece of information.

Make a how to

People love a good how to. I love how-to’s. I followed a how to count calories and lose weight story and shed 10 pounds.

Tell your readers exactly what they will be able to do if they follow your how to. A how to headline does not have to be so basic, though. It could be a “How to not…” or a how to do something metaphorically, like “How to pop eyes with your headlines.”

Be compelling – Make it urgent

What makes you want to click on a blog post? It piques your interest. With the three aforementioned types of headlines, each and every one should be compelling. It kills me that bloggers spend their time writing a well-researched, thoroughly engaging post and don’t give any time to the headline. It’s an afterthought.

That doesn’t mean you can’t write your headline last. That’s a fine idea and preferable to many bloggers. I tend to write my headline first and tweak it as I write make it fit the entire post. Do what works for you, just so you give time to your headline.

Your headline is your appetizer. It prepares your audience’s appetite to the main course. Does your headline induce hunger? Hey, sounds like a headline!

What do you do to write an attention-grabbing headline?

 

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Author’s Bio:
Terez Howard operates TheWriteBloggers, a professional blogging service which builds clients’ authority status and net visibility. She regularly blogs at Freelance Writing Mamas. You’ll find her on Twitter @thewriteblogger

 

Thanks, Terez!
–ME “Liz” Strauss

7 Real Ways a Blog Raises Influence and Increases Expertise

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How to blog series

140 Ch Can’t Say It All Intelligently from the Heart

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Every day I greet the Internet with my coffee and a clear purpose and I find lots of opportunity — information, ideas, and input — offering itself. Never a question about finding that.

If I’m not focused my head is filled with thoughts and energy sparking and flaring in directions that look something like this …

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Unfortunately without focus so much can stay dispersed in that beautiful, but disintegrating way. I can end up responding to and considering bits of data like swatting gnats. Not much progress is made in a world of randomness.

Twitter, in particular, offers ideas I can encounter and pass along, but if I do that, most of what I think vanishes into past thoughts considered and soon forgot as unconnected bits.

If we want folks to know us we also need longer conversations in stronger venues. Telephones help. Personal conversations at meetings are great. If only we could stretch and scale our resources to share that way. So we write.

It’s why I keep my blog. In fact, that fact makes me passionate about why I write every day. But it’s not just the connections that keep me writing.

7 Real Ways a Blog Raises Influence and Increases Expertise

Writing is one way to share our thoughts with more folks more efficiently. Publishing makes the connection more natural and accessible. The words stay present and available through time for anyone who wants to access them. We get visibility and benefit others when we write, but we benefit ourselves as well. By recording our thoughts we make them more in so many ways.

  1. Writing gets us to clarify our thoughts. We have to find words to communicate ideas. We think the ideas through for ourselves. In that process we make them more concrete.
  2. Writing teaches how to see what we think. We have to find words to articulate what’s on our mind. We think the ideas through for ourselves. In that process we make our ideas more concrete, more transportable, and more memorable.
  3. Writing teaches us how words communicate meaning. Every time we write we choose the words we need to express a thought or idea. The more we practice the more we learn how to make choices that help people connect to what we mean.
  4. Writing helps us develop a voice that is natural and consistent, strong and confident. Even when we write for ourselves, we go back to read, listening to what we wrote. We question. We consider. We critique our choices.
  5. Writing teaches to manage our internal editor — to value our own thoughts and to be quiet until feedback is useful. Too often when we just think ideas we can shut them down before we’ve fully considered their possibilities. Trying to put them into words keeps us going to a longer process.
  6. Writing is an opportunity to share our expertise. Everything we write has an audience. Every time someone shares something that we write they add value to our ideas — when they change them and when they don’t.
  7. Writing makes us more thoughtful readers and responders. We bring the insights and appreciation of a writer to what we read. It gives us a venue to ask questions and solve problems with help from the world.

As efficient as Twitter is for conversation, it’s not enough for working out ideas. 140 characters can’t express a full-on deep thought. A soundbyte might get attention, but it doesn’t show depth of knowledge.

Writing is clear thinking made visible. — Bill Wheeler

 

I heard that quote a long time ago and I hold it close every day on the Internet. It keep as a reminder that writing raises my game.

We meet more people in print than we can ever possibly meet face to face. Many people will know our written voice as well as they know our names. Writing is a huge opportunity in a noisy world to teach what we know and to learn from the best of the people we meet.

What sort of thinking have you shared today?

Be irresistible.
–ME “Liz” Strauss
Work with Liz on your business!!

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A 12-Step Strategy to Fit Your Blog into the Social Web

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How Does a Blog Fit into All of This?

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Once upon a blogosphere, people on the web connected and talked through text, audio, and video, linking from blog to blog. That linking made a community of people who were related by content and conversations on those same blogs.

Then about 4 years ago, the blogosphere got interested in social media tools. Microblogs and social networks were new ways to reach out, connect, and talk. The blogosphere was evolving …

  1. As the blogosphere grew up, some members stood out. They were fluent, proficient, had abilities as practitioners and teachers. Their subscriber lists grew faster. Their voices were heard first and sounded louder. People started looking up to them. Smaller groups formed around what they said.
  2. As the blogosphere grew out, some members built new tools, new sites, and new communities. The businesses offered new things to do, new places to meet, to ways to interact. People looked out for others who even more like themselves. We had new choices. The larger community split off into more like-minded groups.

The effect has been that the community has diversified into smaller groups and spread out. The conversation is bigger, but it’s no longer concentrated on our blogs. The new sites and communities, the speed, mobility, and breadth of the tools attracted even more people to the check out this social web community.

Some of these folks found that they could be a part without having a blog.

Millions of people are spending their time on the social sites. They will out their many profiles with a to Facebook or LinkedIn. The commitment is lower and requires less editing.

How does a blog fit into all of this?
Having a blog was a having a home in that community — a place people could visit, get to know you, engage with you and your ideas.

It still does.

In fact, a blog is even more foundational. Have you noticed how noisy the Internet is? When people visit our blogs they can come in from the huge noise of the larger conversation stream. A blog can offer a respite. They get room to breathe and a chance to share a larger thought. But it’s time to step back, think strategically, and adapt to how people act now. Habits have changed.

According to PostRank study from 2007 to 2009 which followed 1000 of the most engaging feeds, they found:

  • 30% more people are engaging in the social web
  • less than 50% of that engagement is happening on blogs … it’s moved to social sites.
  • trackbacks linking blogs have dropped from 19% to 3%
  • Twitter, Friendfeed, and Facebook and other social sites have gone up from less than 1% to over 29%
  • Blog posts have a longer life-span. In 2007, 98% of the engagement occurred in the first HOUR. In 2009, only 36% of the engagement takes place in the first DAY.

Unless you’ve just started blogging, you’ve probably noticed some of that — fewer visitors than last year, how the conversation has moved away from the comment box to the social sites. But you might have missed how quickly more people are coming or that our post are lasting longer and reaching farther.

That calls for a serious new strategy as the Blogosphere evolves into the Social Web.

A 12-Step Strategy to Fit Your Blog into the Social Web

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Your blog numbers might be down, but the engagement in what you do and think could be growing exponentially. The bloggers and blogs that do well offer outstanding and meaningful content that is in tune with where folks engage naturally and easy to read and share with their friends.

Here are 12 Steps to consider to refit your blog to the Social Web.

  1. Mark your place … Find the tools you need to measure where your blog is today. Some include: Google Analytics, Woopra, Quantcast.com, Alexa.com, Technorati.com PostRankAnalytics,and Compete.com Identify and track information so that you have a historical marker.
  2. Do Reconnaissance … Use the tools and study conditions to find where your main audience spends their time. Look beyond Twitter, Facebook, and LinkedIn. Find the niches. Learn their habits. Starter tools include: Google Alerts, Search.twitter.com, addictomatic.com, and topsy.com Internet’s Largest Twitter Tools Resource List.
  3. Watch, Listen, and Make Alliances … Be constantly aware of what other people are doing. Ask for help. Turn great conversations into content. Invite savvy bloggers to write guest posts on topics they know more about.
  4. Clarify Your Identity / Message … Who are you and what do you talk about? In this fast-paced trust economy, people want to instantly who you are. Design and content need to say who you are. Does your design look like everyone else’s? Content is the main context of your web identity. It establishes your authority and your expertise. Google loves new content to index. People love new ideas.
  5. Define a Consistent Workable Plan … Identify 4-8 key niche topics you’ll write about and 4-8 types of blog posts you favor. You might make a blank monthly grid with the types across the top and the topics down the side. Even a loose plan — one that allows you to respond to new ideas and unexpected events in your area of expertise — will make the blogging work more predictable to you and more accessible to your readers.
  6. Use Best Practices … Save time by brainstorming several ideas first and later writing several drafts at one time. Then, you’ll have “almost ready” blog posts captured when you need them. Link out, cite, and promote others at least 6 times more than you promote your own work. Understand when sharing your work is passing on value and when it’s being a pain.
  7. Test Constantly … When and where will you publish? How often? Which days? Which time of day works for your audience? Should it be more or less than one a day?
  8. Mind the Details … Write outstanding headlines over outstanding content. Take more time than ever before making sure your ideas are sound and attractive. Target them to your niche. Loyal fans will see, read, and share.
  9. Network and Connect … Plan time at social sites and commenting on other blogs. Divide that time between people who do what you do and your ideal customers. Start conversations online and off. Be interested and interesting. Look for reasons to offer a hand.
  10. Innovate New Forms … Try a “Twitter trackback.” When you reply to a reader’s comment, take the link back to him or her. A quick tweet saying, @ReaderX I answered your great comment [link] promotes the reader as well as your reply.
  11. Feed the Content Community … Write content and answer questions wherever your readers are. Engage people where they are. Don’t hide all of your ideas and expertise on your blog. As Google starts indexing more social sites, this can only work better and better.
  12. Invite People Home … Constantly add resources and repackage content to readers to explore your archives again. When it’s appropriate, invite people back to see other things you’ve written or to make sure they don’t miss something they’ve said they need.

Having a blog is even more important now that the blogosphere is evolving into the Social Web. Blogs still offer the place where we can “go deep,” expressing thoughts with clarity and conviction, where we can talk and engage under our own terms of service. A power strategy can leverage your blog to grow your web presence, your business, and your brand.

What other strategies are you using to fit your blog into the Social Web?

–ME “Liz” Strauss
Work with Liz on your business!!

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Blogging Your Way Into The Real World

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Todays guest post is from David Spinks.

David Spinks is the Community Manager for Scribnia, where the world’s bloggers and columnists are reviewed by their readers. He also blogs at The Spinks Blog about business, young professionals and social media.”

Starting a blog takes a lot of guts. Making that leap into the public eye isn’t easy! Even after you get started, maintaining a blog that doesn’t get much traffic or comments right away can be discouraging.

It was right here on Liz Strauss’ blog where I got my first dose of confidence in my blogging career. Back in January when I was still a senior at SUNY Genseo, I had become friends with Kathryn Jennex through twitter and my blog, and she was kind enough to include me in one of her posts on this blog.

I’ll never forget that post. It was my first reassurance that maintaining my blog was a good idea…and now here I am again almost a full year later. I now work full time doing something that I absolutely love.

Every young professional or professionally aspiring student has a great deal to gain from starting a blog. The time and commitment that you have to put into maintaining a blog is greatly outweighed by the value that you get out of it.

I started my blog at the beginning of the second semester of my senior year. While I didn’t plan it this way originally, looking back, I think this is a perfect time for students to start a blog. It’s right around the time when most college students start taking their career seriously. They see graduation day fast approaching, and worry about what they’re future will look like.

Here are some reasons why starting a blog in your senior year is a perfect transition from college into the real world:

  1. Best of both worlds. To this point, you’ve probably only learned from teachers, looking in from the outside. Reading blogs, and starting your own blog will allow you to put one foot into the real world, while keeping the other foot in school. You can learn what the industry is really like, in a setting outside of the classroom.
  2. Start to make connections. For networking, there are few methods that are better than blogging. Not only because people read your work, but also because you’ll be reading others’ work and commenting there. You can tie your blogging conversations to conversations on twitter and make connections there too. You can go to 100 job fairs in your senior year, but all you need is the right connection at the right time, and you’ll find a job.
  3. Catch up on trends. Most college courses have one major downside, they talk about the past. Very few professional courses will teach you the newest and most innovative methods that are being used today. Blogging tends to take place at the cutting edge. If there’s a new trend or tool, the blogosphere has it covered.
  4. Make yourself an attractive candidate. You’d be amazed how highly regarded bloggers are in the professional world. They’re considered thought leaders, innovators and leaders. Your blog displays your knowledge, your commitment and your ability to write/communicate. It will be a huge differentiator when you’re competing for job openings.

It’s been an amazing experience for me and has proven that the time put in truly pays off. I meet amazing people like Kathryn and Liz every day. Without blogging, none of it would have been possible.

So what are you waiting for? Start reading and writing some blog posts. Inspire yourself to inspire others.