Blogging is a great way to promote a business or inform people about a cause. However, blogging can and should be fun as well. The keys to successful blogging are to post often and to make those posts interesting. You won’t do either if you don’t have enthusiasm for your blog’s subject matter.
Since a blog can be about anything, you should choose a topic that makes you happy, one that will attract people who share the same interest. The ideal is to pick a popular blogging topic, but address it in a way that has not been done before. For example, if you blog about books, which is a popular blogging topic, try to do something that isn’t all about book reviews, or “what I read this week”.
Try to find your Niche, however blogging about a subject that no others will find interesting is probably condemning your blog to failure before you start.
Once you have your topic and are dedicated to posting regularly, at least once a week is recommended, you can establish a readership. To do this, you have to get people’s attention. There are social networking sites that allow people to view and rate your website. Submitting your blog to Digg, Reddit, Twitter and especially Stumbleupon are good ways to generate traffic.
Keep in mind that these sites do not allow you to use them exclusively for self promotion. You have to be an active member or your account could be stopped.
In the case of Stumbleupon, it’s important that you always provide something original and thought-provoking. You should ask yourself “would I stumble this?” Fifteen minutes a day on Stumbleupon or Digg, thumbing up or digging other interesting sites, can help you build friends and traffic to your own site.
Join blog rings with topics similar to yours. It’s a good way to gain a following. Keep track of how many followers, page views and stumbles you get. Listen to criticism if you receive it. If it’s valid, it might help you become a better blogger.
Making friends with other bloggers is also important. Read a lot of blogs and put your favourites on your links page or BlogRoll. The more attention you draw to other people’s blogs, the more attention you draw to your own.
Contests are a good way to get people to pay attention to your blog. Giveaways generate excitement and interest.
Getting the most out of blogging is entirely up to you. For those willing to dedicate time and some consistent effort the rewards can be phenomenal.
If you are having fun with your Blog and seeing the successes this can bring, please share your experiences in the comments section below.
Dear Harvey,
I am in a band and would like to promote the bands events via a blog. I have lots of content but am a little unsure how to get started. Do you have any advise you can offer me? What typical software I could use maybe to create my blog? I am a complete novice so I really need some help to get this going. We have a pretty decent following so I am sure our blog will become very popular quickly.
Lana