4 Keys To Blogging Success

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Simply writing on a blog isn’t enough to drive business. If you do not pay attention to 4 key areas, then you are not on the right track. These are content, marketing, design, and action.

I would like to give you an easy checklist where you can easily follow whether you are on the right track or not. If you aren’t getting the kind of results you want from your blog, study each of these areas to find where you can improve and then make the necessary adjustments. In order to succeed in blogging, you have to work hard, and try many different strategies and tactics.

Spend your time on content creating, not for reading other blogs…

Without good content, you have no chance in this contest. There are already thousands of good quality bloggers in the Blogosphere. If your blog does not add value to other bloggers, no way out! I suggest you to write a blog on something you are passionate about. This can be pets, global warming, making money online, computers, bird watching, travel, etc. But before starting, you should think about the blog topic seriously. Even if you already started, and see that the outcome is not as good as you expected at the beginning, think about switching to another blog and topic. This is not the end of the road. You can learn from your mistakes.

You need to spend hours and hours every week to develop content for your blog. I suggest you not to read other blogs so much, rather spend your time for testing something and then sharing your observations with others. This can be an e-newsletter or a word processor. Don’t spend your time for reading others experiments, rather spend your time to try something. If you see positive results after using, then share it with other bloggers.

Marketing is your main responsibility, don’t expect them to find you…

Reaching out to other bloggers in your field is essential if you want to build readership for your own blog. This is a sorely neglected area for many business bloggers, especially those new to blogging.

Most business professionals who start a new blog are overly focused on what they have to say to their potential pool of global readers. They are thinking about broadcasting their messages. While this is important, those new to blogging will quickly realize that their audience is too small.

While blogs work as search engine magnets, and your blog posts will get indexed for all those juicy keywords, you can’t just blog and wait for readers to show up. You must stimulate traffic by visiting other blogs where readers are already reading.

Once you find other blogs you like, start commenting on their posts. When you leave helpful and meaningful comments that blog author may visit your blog or even write about you. Other readers and commenters may also come to you.

Leave effective comments, rather than crap…

Sometimes you just want to say “Right on!” and thank the blogger. Other times, you may point out a flaw in his logic, or a missing piece, or outright disagree. Here are some guidelines:

• Don’t market overtly by saying ‘visit my blog’ or ‘check me out’ or tell readers they can download your free report
• Include relevant links to other resources, to add to the conversation. When it’s your own, however, be careful. It’s probably more astute to say something like. “this site offers additional resources on this topic, as does my own.”
• Don’t spam, of course, by leaving irrelevant comments or self-serving references.
• Always be polite, especially when disagreeing. Respect alternative points of view, even when they appear to be idiotic and stupid. You may have read something wrong, and then you will appear to be the idiot.
• Be real, leave your real email address and name.
• Add something new to the conversation, something the author doesn’t know, or forgot, or remind him/her of historical information, etc. or a book, something valuable.
• Be careful when using humor – there are always people who misinterpret
• On the other hand, controversy stimulates the conversation and gets you attention. Don’t be afraid to state a strong opinion and stir things up; be prepared to back it up.

Find bloggers you like..

•  Technorati.com: set up a Watchlist: http://www.technorati.com/watchlist
•  Google: http://blogsearch.google.com/
•  Set up Google Alerts for your keywords: http://www.google.com/alerts
• The Blog Catalog: http://www.blogcatalog.com
• Stumble Upon: http://www.stumbleupon.com
• Sphere.com: http://www.sphere.com
• Blogs by women, http://blogsbywomen.org
• IceRocket: http://www.icerocket.com
• Globe of Blogs: http://www.globeofblogs.com

I recommend that you should develop a daily blogging habit: post 2-3 days a week on your own blog, and the other days, spend time reaching out and commenting on other blogs in your field.

Your readership will grow and you’ll start getting known in the Blogosphere. Now, please do me and yourself a favor, and subscribe to my RSS feed. Become my ally in the Search For Blogging.

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