Beware of the Blog? Nah. Writers Share Tips for Writing Online

When I was in the fourth grade, my mother gave me a diary. It was a beautiful thing, with a brocade cover and a ribbon attached to mark my place. I wrote in it almost every day, even if my jottings only amounted to a paragraph or two. I continued the diary habit off and on through college, by which time a paragraph or two turned into pages and pages of angsty ramblings that make me cringe today.

Even though I always knew my diary was for my eyes only, I remember feeling self-conscious about it; like I had better write well, because someday someone might read my diary.

Perhaps I always knew I’d end up writing for an audience. I am now a journalist.

Today we have the blog, which some people use like a diary—albeit one that has a self-conscious element. Themes and subject matter range from the minutiae of daily life, hobbies, oddities and endless slideshows of one’s children. Other bloggers use the medium as an extension of their professional lives or a way to advertise their company, product or services. There are endless permutations and combinations.

I have dabbled in blogging, but I can’t say I am religious about it. I have a WordPress site, where I write about journalism and writing. As a journalism professor at the University of Missouri (2006 to 2010), I used a blog to share information and my own insights about journalism with my students and required them to blog as part of their grade.

So how do you instruct or teach someone how to blog? I think we know good blogs when we see them. Some bloggers keep us coming back for more with a combination of great writing, useful information and wit. Other bloggers may not be particularly erudite, funny or insightful but have unique voices and a flair for storytelling.

Show me the blog

, has her own popular blog, The Cubicle Chick, and founded Show Me the Blog St. Louis, a resource for blogger training and networking. I thought she would be a great person to set the tone for this column and asked her several questions in my favorite format, the email interview.

Do you have a personal philosophy about blogging? In other words, what drives you and what to try to achieve with your posts?

My personal philosophy in blogging is: If at first you don’t succeed, keep going. Most bloggers aren’t overnight successes---it takes time to become a professional blogger and gain a following. Stay focused, engage your readers, and your blog will grow. Also, find your passion and blog about it. If you have to struggle to blog or create a blog post, then you most likely aren’t blogging about something you are passionate about.

If you could start your blog over again, would you do anything differently?

I would focus on the content first and then building relationships second. When I first started, I was all about trying to get to know the right people, and it stagnated me a bit.

What's the key to keeping your blog current and relevant?

I listen to feedback from my readers and try to implement it to keep my blog fresh and new. I also keep learning new tools and new ways to engage readers and not just rely on my “following.”

To what degree does feedback from your audience drive your blog posts?

Feedback is very important. As I mentioned in the last answer, it has been key to my growth as a professional blogger. I also have a “think tank” that consists of two other bloggers who keep me on my toes and gives me real feedback about my site and its direction.

Can you share your favorite online tools and resources for bloggers?

ProBlogger.com by Darren Rowse is a great resource. His books and website have been very helpful with my blogging goals. XDWebSolutions.com also have great information on blogging and marketing your blog.

More on the blogging life from Clayton-Richmond Heights Patch

Name: Angela Atkinson
Blogs: WM Freelance Writers Connection, In Pursuit of Fulfillment, WM Parenting Connection, WM Review Connection and a few others
Launched: The oldest one, In Pursuit of Fulfillment, was launched in April of 2006.
Themes & Subject Areas: Each has a specific niche, including freelance writing, parenting, pets, reviews of products/media/services, and personal development/law of attraction/living well. I generally don’t write for the review blog or the pets blog, and only occasionally for the parenting blog. (I am the co-founder of a blogging network, so we have other bloggers who focus on those topics.) The personal development blog was my first one, and it is not part of the WM Network.
Bloggers You Like: In addition to my wonderful WM Network bloggers, I’m a fan of many really great bloggers. I read too many to list, but some of my favorites include Leo Babauta, Zen Habits; Carol Tice, Make a Living Writing; Darren Rowse, Problogger; Brian Clark, Copyblogger; Chris Brogan, ChrisBrogan.com; Mary Jaksch, Goodlife Zen.

Why do you blog?

That’s a complicated question, but I’ll do the best I can to answer it completely. When I started blogging back in 2006, I just wanted a way to sort of express myself to the world. As the blog grew and I learned more and more about the benefits of blogging, my reasons became clearer. These days, I blog for several reasons.

First, I like the freedom that comes with blogging. I can write about what I want and I can write in a more casual tone—blogging is fun.

Second, blogging helps to establish me as an expert in my chosen niche(s), which benefits me when it comes to getting new clients.

Finally, for me, blogging is a way to sort of “pay it forward” and connect with people. For example, at The WM Freelance Writers Connection, we share tips and advice and provide resources to help our fellow freelance writers advance in their careers. I am also a fan of inviting other bloggers to guest post on my sites, which helps to strengthen connections and allows us to share readers. One newbie writer I especially liked guest posted on The WM Freelance Writers Connection and ended up with a literary agent as a direct result of her guest post. I love that!

How do you define "success" as a blogger?

In other words, what makes a good blog? A good blog is one that is easy to navigate, well-written and regularly updated. It’s important that it stays on topic, because when a blogger is all over the map with topic focus, readers don’t know what to expect. It should be easy to subscribe via email and RSS, because not everyone will come and check your blog every day—but if an interesting post pops up in their inboxes or RSS readers, they are very likely to click through.

Great headlines are important. A great headline is enticing but also transparent—you need to let the reader know what to expect. So, for example, if you’re writing about how to use SEO on your blog, an effective title would be something like “5 Easy Ways to Improve Your Blog With SEO” or “Simple SEO Tricks to Improve Your Blog.” (I could write a whole post on how to write a great headline, by the way—this is just a tiny peek at how it works!).

A successful blogger connects with her audience by sharing common experiences, and by freely sharing useful information. A successful post will keep readers engaged till the end, and ideally, get the reader’s mind working and make them want to think. Controversy and strong opinions can do this, as can humor, new information and brutal honesty, among other things.

But ultimately, a successful blogger is one who gets and keeps the attention of a large audience, and if desired, makes money through the blog. Also, a successful blogger is active in social media and often finds one’s work being shared by others.  

Do you make money from your blog? How does someone get started on monetizing his or her blog?

There are countless ways to monetize your blog, and I’ll try to cover a few of the most popular here. I have paid advertisers on a couple of my blogs, but in general, I don’t monetize as much as I could. Part of my reason for this is that I don’t want to clutter the blogs with excessive ads, and I don’t want to charge my readers for content (back to that whole “paying it forward” thing). Still, blogs are a great place to promote products, services and books.

Some bloggers use affiliate marketing systems to make money—and some of these work very well, but without proper traffic, you won’t make much. That’s why the first step to monetizing a blog is to focus on building your audience and making your site easy to navigate. Another way to profit from your blog is to pick up a corporate sponsorship, which means that a particular company (or companies) would pay you to blog and feature prominent ads on your site and in your feeds. You can also sign up with services like Blogsvertise, which will connect you with sponsors. These sponsors will sponsor individual posts on your blog. They will ask you to link to particular sites and may even ask you to blog on a particular subject. If you choose to go this route, though, be careful to disclose as necessary. Many bloggers are also moving toward charging readers for premium content these days, but again, that’s not my style.

A word of warning: Be careful how many ads you place in your posts and on your blogs. Readers tend to be distrustful if they think you’re only blogging for the money because they wonder whether your information is genuine or if you were “paid to say that.”

What doors has blogging opened for you, professionally and personally?

As I said earlier, blogging is a great way to establish yourself as an expert in your niche or field, and I have done just that through my blogs. Besides the amazing professional networking opportunities and connections that have come up as a result of blogging, I have picked up new clients and gigs as a direct result of my blog posts. I have also been invited to speak at several events and have been featured in various articles and even a couple of e-books as a result of my work. I find myself quoted fairly often in other blogs and articles as well, which is mostly flattering, but also usually provides a mention and/or a link back to my blog.

Personally, I have made friends through blogging, and have often used it as a form of self-therapy (especially with the personal development site.) Researching and writing about an issue I’m having is a great way to help myself as well as others who are in similar situations.

One piece of advice for beginning bloggers?

Focus first on building your audience by providing high quality and interesting posts. Don’t think that just because you’re a blogger, you don’t need to proofread your work—excessive typos and grammar errors discredit you, no matter how valuable the information. Don’t clutter up your site and make it easy to navigate, so that your readers can find what they want easily. Include an “about” page and a “contact page.” Read and comment on other blogs often, as it will not only help make connections, but it will also help bring traffic to your own blog. Post regularly—whether that’s every day or once a week—stick to the posting schedule as often as possible. The more you post, the more often your site is indexed by the search engines—the more traffic you’ll have. Short paragraphs are better than long ones, and subtitles are your friend. Most Internet readers scan the post rather than reading every word, so make the information easy to absorb for best results. A long, blocky post will scare most readers away. (Oh, right, you said just one—I’ll stop there, but I could go on and on!)

OTHER NOTES

If you are blogging or thinking of blogging, there’s an opportunity to get some hands-on training and refresh your skills coming soon. On June 18 Show Me the Blog St. Louis is holding a bootcamp at Nebula Coworking in St. Louis. At a cost of $40 for a six-hour immersion into blogging, it sounds like a great deal. Little said she founded Show Me the Blog St. Louis to bring resources closer to home.

“As a professional blogger who is always looking to network, attending conferences is key,” she said in our email interview. “I noticed that all of the major blogging and social media conferences were always in other states and are really expensive. I wanted something that was affordable for people in this area to experience and offer an interactive conference environment which allows attendees to learn, grow, and connect.”

In October, Show Me the Blog St. Louis is holding its annual conference at the Lumiere Place Hotel and Casino. Again, it’s a bargain at $50 for two days of sessions on social media and blogging.