So “blogging” is on your 2014 New Year’s resolution. Good for you. My goal is to guide you well past the first 28-days and into habituation. Starting blogging is not going to be easy for you. You’ll be all hot and ready at first but you’ll probably never make it — at least not without my help. More people give up on blogging — and writing in general — than give up on going to the gym in order to lose weight and get fit. Blog wasn’t built in a day. Mark my words.A majority of my revenue is generated from blogger outreach, namely long-tail and deep-dive, outreach that extends all the way into the thousands of bloggers. As part of the client service work on behalf of my clients I have engaged with many thousands of bloggers over the last decade.
Let’s see if I can help you get through the first push-off.
1) What is your agenda for starting a blog? There is no right or wrong answer here. What do you want out of your new commitment (or re-commitment) to blogging? Are you blogging to get the job of your dreams? You can, you know. Are you blogging to ward off boredom as you raise someone from a Zygote? Do you have aspirations of getting free stuff in the mail that you’ll then review on your blog? Fair enough — completely possible, even probable if you can prove your mettle. Are you committed? Agencies don’t sent out Hermès Kelly Bags or let you borrow S-Class sedans to just anyone. You’ll really need to commit to making it into the A-list of your topic or category of choice before you’ll start being treated like royalty. When it comes to even receiving cheap swag or tchotchkes you’ll need to have blogged well and long enough to be a known entity with a passable reputation and Klout score.
Oftentimes, if your aspiration is to be a tech guy or fashionista, you’ll need to underwrite your own gadgets and gear yourself. At least until someone fancies you to be just the right person who has the reputation, voice, access, and reach that resonates with each unique promotion. Good news: once you’re on board, you’ll probably be a go-to guy for as long as you’re positive, responsive, and professional. It’s simple: commit to treating your blog much less than a journal or diary and more like a profession, a job.
Related Resources from B2C
» Free Webcast: Social Listening - Gateway to Innovation
That’s not to say you need to become square or reportedly. Objective is not what anyone wants. People want you, they need you. They should, down the road, know and enjoy your wit, your mind, your world, your experience, and even where you are in the world — with your family, kids, friends, city, state, personal passions, hobbies, and all of that. People want the whole package, and that package is you, Mr. or Ms. Blogger.
2) Only start a blog if you love writing and have something to say: Here’s secret number 1 about blogging: blogs don’t write themselves. Secret number 2: blogs, and the associated marketing, promoting, connecting, pitching, connecting, relating, commenting, and responding, and then blogging some more: short pieces, response pieces, shill pieces, longer pieces. Guess what: lots of writing. Don’t worry, passion-player: if you don’t like writing, maybe Video Blogging on YouTube is for you.
Ugly? Maybe SoundCloud or an audio podcast on Stitcher. Terrible, nasally, voice? Well, it’s OK. Nerdy, nasally, awful voices are the new black when it comes to podcasting. There are virtually zero velvety dulcet tones going on anywhere in Podcast-land. Still ugly? Well, maybe ugly means you’re more authentic — go ahead and give YouTube a try. Start a YouTube Channel today! But don’t worry. You can become as much — or more — of a sensation on YouTube as you can on a blog. YouTube is how Justin Beiber was discovered, right? And, YouTube is the second most popular search engine right under Google Search.
And, if you’re really committed, try out all the platforms in order to build your personal brands: YouTube, Soundcloud, Facebook, Google+, Twitter, Reddit, StumbleUpon, Digg, Tumblr, as well as your blog. It’s as much about you, Blogger, as it is about each particular, discrete, post you birth into the world-o-sphere.
3) Blogging is a lifetime commitment: Like immunosuppressant drugs after heart transplant surgery, once you start blogging you can never stop — or terrible things will happen. One will kill your body, the other will kill everything you’ve worked so hard to accomplish. To paraphrase the quote about Rome, your Blog wasn’t built in a day, but it burned in one. What takes you months — years — to build can go away in weeks.
4) Nothing’s really going to happen for the first six-months: Once you consummate your marriage (with your blog) you need to realize that not matter what you do, unless you already have a well-developed brand, a multinational company, or are between and A-C-list celebrity, then you’re going to have to work like a banshee and maybe — just maybe — you’ll start getting some SEO and popularity traction by month six. More likely, however, you’ll have your ups-and-downs over the course of a year based mostly on the quality, popularity, trendiness, and luck. If you start seeing more consistent readership and deeper popularity as manifest my consistently-increased social sharing (by people other than you and your best friends) then you’ll start seeing your metrics move more reliably.
Please remember, however, that blogging is primarily about connecting with your goals. If your goals are to attract the attention of an employer or a brand or agency, then metrics aren’t everything; however, if your goal is to make a living through advertising and affiliate marketing, then yes, you’ll surely need to care about traffic and numbers: the more the better. But don’t let raw numbers drive your concept of your success or failure. Remember, all you need to do is attract the attention of employers, colleagues, reporters, agency reps, and brands.
5) Writing is only a quarter of what it takes to be a blogger: Writing takes a lot of work. And you’ll need to do a lot of it. But the blogging is only a quarter of the time you’ll need to put in. In addition to that work, you’ll need to maintain your blog website, you’ll need to sort out site moderation, become somewhat of an expert in WordPress, Drupal, Xoomla, Movable Type, Typepad, Tumblr, Squarespace, Blogger, or whatever you choose (choose WordPress).
You need to jump in, feet-first, into social media, including your own personal Facebook, Twitter, or Google+ profile. Quite possible a Facebook, Twitter, and Google+ professional brand profile page. Maybe Pinterest, even. Quite a few bloggers also maintain newsletters, email lists, and email subscription lists.
Then, you’ll need to meet all the other people in your blogging space. You’ll need to keep track of social media mentions about your blog posts, you’ll need to monitor comments and respond in a timely manner. You’ll need to delete spam and moderate abusive comments.
I am sure I have just scratched the surface. Domain name registration, email monitoring (for that fateful email that’ll get you that Mercedes Benz S550 test drive or your very own Kelly Bag), and all sorts of other technical issues you’ve never though of: down time, a broken template, a corrupted database. You will have become an entrepreneur, publisher, reporter, media-mogul, and technologist all in one fell swoop.
CONNECT with the AUTHOR
Chris Abraham is a leading expert in digital: social media marketing, Internet privacy, online reputation management (ORM), and digital PR with a focus on blogger outreach, blogger engagement, and Internet crisis response. Chris is a social media and digital PR consultant and founder of Gerris digital. A pioneer...
Read more at http://www.business2community.com/blogging/fulfill-resolution-blog-11-steps-0733852#XkKOLYPm57fJlLpf.99
So
“blogging” is on your 2014 New Year’s resolution. Good for you. My goal
is to guide you well past the first 28-days and into habituation.
Starting blogging is not going to be easy for you. You’ll be all hot and
ready at first but you’ll probably never make it — at least not without
my help. More people give up on blogging — and writing in general —
than give up on going to the gym in order to lose weight and get fit. Blog wasn’t built in a day. Mark my words.
A majority of my revenue is generated from blogger outreach, namely long-tail and deep-dive, outreach that extends all the way into the thousands of bloggers. As part of the client service work on behalf of my clients I have engaged with many thousands of bloggers over the last decade.
Let’s see if I can help you get through the first push-off.
1) What is your agenda for starting a blog? There is no right or wrong answer here. What do you want out of your new commitment (or re-commitment) to blogging? Are you blogging to get the job of your dreams? You can, you know. Are you blogging to ward off boredom as you raise someone from a Zygote? Do you have aspirations of getting free stuff in the mail that you’ll then review on your blog? Fair enough — completely possible, even probable if you can prove your mettle. Are you committed? Agencies don’t sent out Hermès Kelly Bags or let you borrow S-Class sedans to just anyone. You’ll really need to commit to making it into the A-list of your topic or category of choice before you’ll start being treated like royalty. When it comes to even receiving cheap swag or tchotchkes you’ll need to have blogged well and long enough to be a known entity with a passable reputation and Klout score.
Oftentimes, if your aspiration is to be a tech guy or fashionista, you’ll need to underwrite your own gadgets and gear yourself. At least until someone fancies you to be just the right person who has the reputation, voice, access, and reach that resonates with each unique promotion. Good news: once you’re on board, you’ll probably be a go-to guy for as long as you’re positive, responsive, and professional. It’s simple: commit to treating your blog much less than a journal or diary and more like a profession, a job.
2) Only start a blog if you love writing and have something to say: Here’s secret number 1 about blogging: blogs don’t write themselves. Secret number 2: blogs, and the associated marketing, promoting, connecting, pitching, connecting, relating, commenting, and responding, and then blogging some more: short pieces, response pieces, shill pieces, longer pieces. Guess what: lots of writing. Don’t worry, passion-player: if you don’t like writing, maybe Video Blogging on YouTube is for you.
Ugly? Maybe SoundCloud or an audio podcast on Stitcher. Terrible, nasally, voice? Well, it’s OK. Nerdy, nasally, awful voices are the new black when it comes to podcasting. There are virtually zero velvety dulcet tones going on anywhere in Podcast-land. Still ugly? Well, maybe ugly means you’re more authentic — go ahead and give YouTube a try. Start a YouTube Channel today! But don’t worry. You can become as much — or more — of a sensation on YouTube as you can on a blog. YouTube is how Justin Beiber was discovered, right? And, YouTube is the second most popular search engine right under Google Search.
And, if you’re really committed, try out all the platforms in order to build your personal brands: YouTube, Soundcloud, Facebook, Google+, Twitter, Reddit, StumbleUpon, Digg, Tumblr, as well as your blog. It’s as much about you, Blogger, as it is about each particular, discrete, post you birth into the world-o-sphere.
3) Blogging is a lifetime commitment: Like immunosuppressant drugs after heart transplant surgery, once you start blogging you can never stop — or terrible things will happen. One will kill your body, the other will kill everything you’ve worked so hard to accomplish. To paraphrase the quote about Rome, your Blog wasn’t built in a day, but it burned in one. What takes you months — years — to build can go away in weeks.
4) Nothing’s really going to happen for the first six-months: Once you consummate your marriage (with your blog) you need to realize that not matter what you do, unless you already have a well-developed brand, a multinational company, or are between and A-C-list celebrity, then you’re going to have to work like a banshee and maybe — just maybe — you’ll start getting some SEO and popularity traction by month six. More likely, however, you’ll have your ups-and-downs over the course of a year based mostly on the quality, popularity, trendiness, and luck. If you start seeing more consistent readership and deeper popularity as manifest my consistently-increased social sharing (by people other than you and your best friends) then you’ll start seeing your metrics move more reliably.
Please remember, however, that blogging is primarily about connecting with your goals. If your goals are to attract the attention of an employer or a brand or agency, then metrics aren’t everything; however, if your goal is to make a living through advertising and affiliate marketing, then yes, you’ll surely need to care about traffic and numbers: the more the better. But don’t let raw numbers drive your concept of your success or failure. Remember, all you need to do is attract the attention of employers, colleagues, reporters, agency reps, and brands.
5) Writing is only a quarter of what it takes to be a blogger: Writing takes a lot of work. And you’ll need to do a lot of it. But the blogging is only a quarter of the time you’ll need to put in. In addition to that work, you’ll need to maintain your blog website, you’ll need to sort out site moderation, become somewhat of an expert in WordPress, Drupal, Xoomla, Movable Type, Typepad, Tumblr, Squarespace, Blogger, or whatever you choose (choose WordPress).
You need to jump in, feet-first, into social media, including your own personal Facebook, Twitter, or Google+ profile. Quite possible a Facebook, Twitter, and Google+ professional brand profile page. Maybe Pinterest, even. Quite a few bloggers also maintain newsletters, email lists, and email subscription lists.
Then, you’ll need to meet all the other people in your blogging space. You’ll need to keep track of social media mentions about your blog posts, you’ll need to monitor comments and respond in a timely manner. You’ll need to delete spam and moderate abusive comments.
I am sure I have just scratched the surface. Domain name registration, email monitoring (for that fateful email that’ll get you that Mercedes Benz S550 test drive or your very own Kelly Bag), and all sorts of other technical issues you’ve never though of: down time, a broken template, a corrupted database. You will have become an entrepreneur, publisher, reporter, media-mogul, and technologist all in one fell swoop.
Read more at http://www.business2community.com/blogging/fulfill-resolution-blog-11-steps-0733852#XkKOLYPm57fJlLpf.99
A majority of my revenue is generated from blogger outreach, namely long-tail and deep-dive, outreach that extends all the way into the thousands of bloggers. As part of the client service work on behalf of my clients I have engaged with many thousands of bloggers over the last decade.
Let’s see if I can help you get through the first push-off.
1) What is your agenda for starting a blog? There is no right or wrong answer here. What do you want out of your new commitment (or re-commitment) to blogging? Are you blogging to get the job of your dreams? You can, you know. Are you blogging to ward off boredom as you raise someone from a Zygote? Do you have aspirations of getting free stuff in the mail that you’ll then review on your blog? Fair enough — completely possible, even probable if you can prove your mettle. Are you committed? Agencies don’t sent out Hermès Kelly Bags or let you borrow S-Class sedans to just anyone. You’ll really need to commit to making it into the A-list of your topic or category of choice before you’ll start being treated like royalty. When it comes to even receiving cheap swag or tchotchkes you’ll need to have blogged well and long enough to be a known entity with a passable reputation and Klout score.
Oftentimes, if your aspiration is to be a tech guy or fashionista, you’ll need to underwrite your own gadgets and gear yourself. At least until someone fancies you to be just the right person who has the reputation, voice, access, and reach that resonates with each unique promotion. Good news: once you’re on board, you’ll probably be a go-to guy for as long as you’re positive, responsive, and professional. It’s simple: commit to treating your blog much less than a journal or diary and more like a profession, a job.
Related Resources from B2C
» Free Webcast: Social Listening - Gateway to Innovation
That’s not to say you need to become square or reporterly. Objective
is not what anyone wants. People want you, they need you. They should,
down the road, know and enjoy your wit, your mind, your world, your
experience, and even where you are in the world — with your family,
kids, friends, city, state, personal passions, hobbies, and all of that.
People want the whole package, and that package is you, Mr. or Ms.
Blogger.» Free Webcast: Social Listening - Gateway to Innovation
2) Only start a blog if you love writing and have something to say: Here’s secret number 1 about blogging: blogs don’t write themselves. Secret number 2: blogs, and the associated marketing, promoting, connecting, pitching, connecting, relating, commenting, and responding, and then blogging some more: short pieces, response pieces, shill pieces, longer pieces. Guess what: lots of writing. Don’t worry, passion-player: if you don’t like writing, maybe Video Blogging on YouTube is for you.
Ugly? Maybe SoundCloud or an audio podcast on Stitcher. Terrible, nasally, voice? Well, it’s OK. Nerdy, nasally, awful voices are the new black when it comes to podcasting. There are virtually zero velvety dulcet tones going on anywhere in Podcast-land. Still ugly? Well, maybe ugly means you’re more authentic — go ahead and give YouTube a try. Start a YouTube Channel today! But don’t worry. You can become as much — or more — of a sensation on YouTube as you can on a blog. YouTube is how Justin Beiber was discovered, right? And, YouTube is the second most popular search engine right under Google Search.
And, if you’re really committed, try out all the platforms in order to build your personal brands: YouTube, Soundcloud, Facebook, Google+, Twitter, Reddit, StumbleUpon, Digg, Tumblr, as well as your blog. It’s as much about you, Blogger, as it is about each particular, discrete, post you birth into the world-o-sphere.
3) Blogging is a lifetime commitment: Like immunosuppressant drugs after heart transplant surgery, once you start blogging you can never stop — or terrible things will happen. One will kill your body, the other will kill everything you’ve worked so hard to accomplish. To paraphrase the quote about Rome, your Blog wasn’t built in a day, but it burned in one. What takes you months — years — to build can go away in weeks.
4) Nothing’s really going to happen for the first six-months: Once you consummate your marriage (with your blog) you need to realize that not matter what you do, unless you already have a well-developed brand, a multinational company, or are between and A-C-list celebrity, then you’re going to have to work like a banshee and maybe — just maybe — you’ll start getting some SEO and popularity traction by month six. More likely, however, you’ll have your ups-and-downs over the course of a year based mostly on the quality, popularity, trendiness, and luck. If you start seeing more consistent readership and deeper popularity as manifest my consistently-increased social sharing (by people other than you and your best friends) then you’ll start seeing your metrics move more reliably.
Please remember, however, that blogging is primarily about connecting with your goals. If your goals are to attract the attention of an employer or a brand or agency, then metrics aren’t everything; however, if your goal is to make a living through advertising and affiliate marketing, then yes, you’ll surely need to care about traffic and numbers: the more the better. But don’t let raw numbers drive your concept of your success or failure. Remember, all you need to do is attract the attention of employers, colleagues, reporters, agency reps, and brands.
5) Writing is only a quarter of what it takes to be a blogger: Writing takes a lot of work. And you’ll need to do a lot of it. But the blogging is only a quarter of the time you’ll need to put in. In addition to that work, you’ll need to maintain your blog website, you’ll need to sort out site moderation, become somewhat of an expert in WordPress, Drupal, Xoomla, Movable Type, Typepad, Tumblr, Squarespace, Blogger, or whatever you choose (choose WordPress).
You need to jump in, feet-first, into social media, including your own personal Facebook, Twitter, or Google+ profile. Quite possible a Facebook, Twitter, and Google+ professional brand profile page. Maybe Pinterest, even. Quite a few bloggers also maintain newsletters, email lists, and email subscription lists.
Then, you’ll need to meet all the other people in your blogging space. You’ll need to keep track of social media mentions about your blog posts, you’ll need to monitor comments and respond in a timely manner. You’ll need to delete spam and moderate abusive comments.
I am sure I have just scratched the surface. Domain name registration, email monitoring (for that fateful email that’ll get you that Mercedes Benz S550 test drive or your very own Kelly Bag), and all sorts of other technical issues you’ve never though of: down time, a broken template, a corrupted database. You will have become an entrepreneur, publisher, reporter, media-mogul, and technologist all in one fell swoop.
Read more at http://www.business2community.com/blogging/fulfill-resolution-blog-11-steps-0733852#XkKOLYPm57fJlLpf.99
