What I learnt from Blogging Heroes: Top Blogging Tips PART 2

Best Blogging Tips

As the original post was getting a tad too long, I decided to split into two parts. For the first 4 tips on blogging, check out part 1.

5. Respect your readers

Don’t blog about anything you can’t say to a person’s face. Scott McNulty of The unofficial Apple weblog

Accept criticism with open attitude and see what you can learn from it.

Think about others’ feelings before you post. Your blog is not a license for rudeness.

6. Gain experience from your personal blog

Blogging means different things to different people. Peter Rojas; Engadget. Figure out what are you blogging for.

Before starting a blog, make sure you have more than one thing to say. Make a list of half-dozen or more ideas. Rebecca Lieb. ClickZ

Blogging for free, on your own, may win the attention of paying blogs. Victor Agreda Jr. DIY life

Experience with a personal blog can prepare you for blogging for pay. Deidre Woollard. Luxist.

A personal blog is a better platform for being yourself and communicating honestly, rather than a blog you are paid to write. You admit to your biases rather than hide it. Mary Jo Foley of All about Microsoft.

A blog can support and extend the life of a book. Brad Hill. Weblogs, Inc

The strength of successful blogs is their authenticity. Content and personality are both important.

Blog from your heart. Deborah Peterson of Life in the Fast Lane.

7. Blogging is a learning process

Says Gary Lee of An internet Marketing Website.

Blogging is an ongoing learning experience. Gina Trapani of Lifehacker. It can help you learn more about a particular subject.

8. Increase your readership over time

Be passionate about what you write, it shows.

Write original, thoughtful, well written content and readers will come.

If you want people to come to your blog, you must offer them something of value. Steve Rubel. MicroPersuasion.

Respond to your comments, your readership counts.

Look for opportunities to self promote your blog.

Comment on blogs of high-profile bloggers in your niche area to draw traffic. Kristin Darguzas. ParentDish

Growth does not happen quickly. John Neff. Autoblog.

Learn about SEO (Search Engine Optimization)

Link to other blogs where appropriate. They might link back. Joel Comm. JoelComm.com

Links from other blogs are more important than SEO, because those links give you the effect of SEO. Robert Scoble. Scobleizer.

Avoid begging for links. Mike Masnick. Techdirt.

Rather than focusing on bringing in traffic, let content guide your blog. Philipp Lenssen Google Blogoscoped

Setting up titles that appeal to both search engines and humans is all the SEO that most blogs read. Brad Hill. Weblogs, Inc

       So, anytips for having a successful blog? More importantly, what is your definition of a successful blog?

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What I learnt from Blogging Heroes: Top Blogging Tips PART 1

Blogging Heroes on how to have a successful blog

I have just finished reading ‘Blogging heroes: Interviews with 30 of the World’s Top Bloggers’, and I must say  that Michael A Banks is a GENIUS. I simply could not get enough of it. 

Being relatively new to the blogging scene, naturally I was interested in picking the brains of the best of the best - how they started and made it big. Although the book mostly covers the major players in technology, news, politics and lifestyle – and my blog doesn’t have anything to do with any of it-  it really is a must read for every new blogger who is dead serious about it.

At the end of each interview, Banks summarizes advice for newbies these veterans have churned out. Here I compile my own list of bits I especially loved from these world-class bloggers.

How to have a successful blog, for new bloggers

1. You don’t have to write everyday

Write when you are inspired and and set up extra material to post at later dates. That way your readers know when to expect your new posts. Dave taylor of The Intuitive Life Business Blog.

It does help to post regularly, this way people are likely to return. Frank Warren of PostSecret.

Readers expect fresh content every time they visit a blog.

2. Go to other blogs

.. and engage in discussions to bring readers to your blog.

Don’t write quickie comments as an excuse to leave your url, its annoying. Add your comment if you genuinely have something to say. Don’t spam other blogs with link to your blog.

Keep up with other blogs. Almost all bloggers admitted to subscribing to 200 or so blogs on average.

3. Find a niche

Chris Anderson of The Long Tail advises to focus on specific interests. You don’t have to appeal to an overly diverse audience. Focused blogs are self selecting…

‘A specific focus or mission is necessary to sustain a blog’. Ina Steiner, AuctionBytes.

4. Cultivate Good Writing

Don’t worry about reporting on new things, find a fresh and exciting perspective instead.

Write descriptive headlines to your posts, especially important for people who subscribe to your feeds. Mark Frauenfelder of Boingboing.net.

Don’t forget other blogs as sources of information and always credit by linking to them.

Use a relaxed and personable style rather than a news style. Ken Fisher of Arts Technica.

Take time away from your blog to get fresh ideas. Credentials are not necessarily indicative of quality of blog posts.

    The final 3 tips on blogging are posted here. These also talk about how to build readership – the million dollar question.

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He said, She said – My Virtual Interview with World’s Best Bloggers

Imagine going through minds of professional bloggers (and thinkers). What would we find? Let’s have a bit of fun, shall we?

 

What does ‘blogging’ mean to you?

• I believe the term “blog” means more than an online journal. I believe a blog is a conversation. People go to blogs to read AND write, not just consume. Michael Arrington
• Blogging is using a new medium for what it is good for – connecting and interacting. George Siemens
• Yes, blogging is entertainment. It is performance. Each blog post a show, sometimes an opera, sometimes a 30 second commercial. Like a show, it may start with a bang, lead you along from song to song, have a great climatic moment, then leave the audience wanting more. Lorelle Van Fossen
• A blog is merely a tool that lets you do anything from change the world to share your shopping list.  Unknown
• Blogs are whatever we make them. Defining “Blog” is a fool’s errand. Michael Conniff 

What’s a single important decision to make when you are thinking of starting a blog?

• The first thing you need to decide when you build your blog is what you want to accomplish with it, and what it can do if successful. ~  Ron Dawson 

What can you write in your blog?

• Your blog is what you say when there is nobody standing over your shoulder telling you what to do. Lorelle V Fossen
• The personal nature of the blog is what they find appealing. Ethan G. Salwen
• Your blog is your unedited version of yourself. Lorelle V Fossen
• The casual conversational tone of a blog is what makes it particularly dangerous. Daniel B. Beaulieu 

My blogging club

 Why do readers subscribe to blogs? What makes a blog ‘successful’?

• Bottom line of a successful blog is what else but solid contents. Partha Bhattacharya
• Readers subscribe to blogs when they provide an informational or entertainment value so great that it would be a loss to not subscribe to it. Maki
• Not only are bloggers suckers for the remarkable, so are the people who read blogs. Seth Godin
• Don’t focus on having a great blog. Focus on producing a blog that’s great for your readers. Brian Clark 

How important is to establish any relationship with your readers?  

• A blog is in many ways a continuing conversation. Andrew Sullivan
• As I have repeatedly written in one form or other, blogging is not about writing posts. Heck, that’s the least of your challenges. No, blogging is about cultivating a mutually beneficial relationships with an ever-growing online readership, and that’s hard work. Alister Cameron
• Blogging is a conversation not a code. Mike Butcher

Is linking to other blogs important?

• Link to your enemies. Link to your competitors. Link to everyone. Instead of being sticky, be linky. Robert Scoble
• The heart of blogging is linking…linking and commenting. Connecting and communicating – the purpose of the Internet. George Siemens 
• Unless you restrict your reading habits to a really small segment of the blogging population, or you are a blogging machine like Robert Scoble, a feed reader is only going to give you a small window of what is happening in the blogosphere. Andy Beard

Happy bloggers. My community. Join?

How can we become better bloggers? Any tips?

• Blogging is best learned by blogging…and by reading other bloggers. George Siemens 
• Blogging is an art, same as any other method of self-expression. Some are better at it than others. Hugh Macleod

Why do writers in particular enjoy blogging so much?

• I think the pleasure of completed work is what makes blogging so popular. You have to believe most bloggers have few if any actual readers. The writers are in it for other reasons. Blogging is like work, but without coworkers thwarting you at every turn. All you get is the pleasure of a completed task. Scott Adams
• And it occurred to me that there is no such thing as blogging. There is no such thing as a blogger. Blogging is just writing — writing using a particularly efficient type of publishing technology. Simon Dumenco.
• I realised that blogging is in itself another form of creative writing. Unknown

What can blogging do for you – professionally speaking?

• Blogging is good for your career. A well-executed blog sets you apart as an expert in your field. Penelope Trunk

Why do some people say blogging is hard work?

• Blogging is hard because of the grind required to stay interesting and relevant. Sufia Tippu 
• Blogging is not rocket science, it’s about being yourself, and putting what you have into it. Unknown

What is the most important lesson you have learnt while blogging? I am happy to learn from the best. If you want to join me, subscribe to my blog. All are welcome! :)

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