How to Make Your Blog ROCK!

I’m asked nearly everyday questions about blogging.  So, I thought I would just cut to the chase and provide what I have found that really works in blogging and will make your blog Rock!

Stop the BLAH-BLAH-BLAH  

It is good to change up what you write about from time to time.  Show your viewers more of who you are and what you have done. Of course you want to have focus on what interests you.  There is no need in posting a blog on NASCAR when you are into playing Golf.

To hold readers’ interest you will need to diversify your content. Use an blog editorial calendar to keep track of your subjects and frequency.

1. Offer a variety of topics. Frequently give your readers your views on related subjects.
2. Provide viewers different formats. Alternate your blogging styles, offer different article formats. Always include straight reporting, how-to’s that teach or give instructions, editorials or opinion pieces, interviews, and round ups that link to articles from around the Internet.
3. Use different media formats. Use a variety of different social media content formats such as photos, videos, presentations, video-blogs and podcasts to add diversity to your blog.

Bring in Guest Bloggers

Invite others in to provide a different perspectives to your blog and broaden its appeal.

1. Team blog. This is useful since it relieves the pressure to constantly create content. It’s particularly good for business blogs since it spreads the workload across a few team members.
2. Invite guest bloggers. Having guest bloggers is a great way to attract new readers and get a respite from your writing deadlines. It’s a win-win for the guest writer and the blog owner.
3. If you like to live dangerously, add a Twitter stream. Keep your blog up-to-date with your tweets or those for a special (#)hashtag.
4. Always ask viewers to comment. Get readers to participate in the conversation by asking them to use your comment section. Conclude your post with a related question to get them thinking about what you wrote about.

Make Your Blog Shareable

Gather a broader audience to your blog by offering different ways to get and share the content you posted.

1. Make sharing easy. Opt for more prominent buttons at the top and bottom of your posts so readers don’t need to think about where to go to share your post.
2. Distribute content to social media sites. Ensure your social media friends see your posts. Syndicate your blog feed to your organization’s Facebook page and LinkedIn profile.
3. Offer RSS feeds. Promote your RSS feeds. Remember some readers like them!
4. Gather email. Gathering emails supports building a house file of email addresses for future use.
5. Leave comments on other blogs. Participate in the conversation on other’s blog to raise attention to your profile and show that you’re active and aware. Don’t just say…“Great post” or “Read my blog”.  Read the complete article and add relevant comments. Add value to someone else’ blog and they usually will pay your back..or they should.
6. Be a guest blogger for other blogs. Expose more potential readers to your point of view. Ask them to visit your blog. Get a short bio and link back to your blog adjacent to the post. Also, get involved in the conversation related to your post and respond to comments there.
7. Write an e-Books to share with your perspective audience. E-Books attract attention to your blog by giving away valuable information.
8. Produce a podcast.  Produce a podcast to distribute via iTunes. Or, participate in someone else’s podcast.

Get Out and About

In order to get your online content read you have GOT to do as much offline networking you can.  This will broaden your blog’s audience.

1. Public Speaking. You don’t have to be the keynote speaker at a conference. Give a talk at an event or function that is relevant to your subject. Incorporate information from your blog in the presentation. Make sure to mention or footnote your blog URL on everything. Include a link to your presentation or add a slide show to your important addresses for attendees.
2. Attend conferences, events and meetups. You Have to attend Meet ups and interact with REAL people.  Promote your blog on your business cards along with all your social networks you are a member.
3. Present webinars. Use content from your blog in a webinar and cite your blog as a source. Also, mention it in your bio.
4. Publish print articles. Write guest columns and articles for old-fashioned print publications to expand your reach.

When it comes to blogging it’s important to attract a broad audience.  You do this by offering a variety of posts and media formats on your blog.

If you are blogging from a website always allow your blog content to extend beyond the borders of your website both online and offline. Take every opportunity that comes available to expand your blog’s reach.  If you do all this before long you will be a blogging Rockstar.  The key is to be patient.  Blog what you do well and keep blogging.  It will pay off.

Let me know how I can help.