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Written by Mike Wayne
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Thursday, 14 May 2009 16:36 |
Most of my friends and family that want to start blogging always ask you for the "magic formula" for a successful blog. They want to know how to start it, how to make money from it, and how to get hits. They also usually ask me what to write about. I always tell them its not as complicated as they make it seem, but there are some key tools they'll need in their toolbox to succeed. They are Outposts, Networking, Shareable content and a Newsletter (a List!).
I've written a few articles in the past about how to start a blog, so I won't cover the tech of that here. Domains, Hosting and CMS sofware can all be easily aqquired. I want to discuss the common denominators of successful bloggers. I'll call it the blogger tool kit - yes i'm coining that term ;p The first component of the toolkit is creating shareable content.
Shareable Content
Shareable content is basically content that is easy for your users to share with social networks and friends. Email to a friend, Tweet This, and Digg buttons are all example of Tools that make your content shareable. If you want your content to reach as wide an audience as possible, you need to provide your readers with a way to spread it for you. Sharethis is an excellent service to use to make your content shareable; Tweet This is another.
Social Media Outposts
Just like the physical world, it's all about location, location, location! You need traffic sources to get people to your blog - and those people have to come from somewhere! The more traffic sources, the better. Twitter brings me a good 50-100 unqiue visitors to my blog per day alone - with only one or two article promotions a day. Creating profiles on Facebook, mySpace, Twitter, LinkedIn, Digg and the other networks is what will help you start generating traffic to your blog. Join the networks, create your "outposts" and start communicating with people from your niche - and carefully promote your targeted content to them. If done tastefully, and if your content is helpful or entertaining, you should start to see your traffic grow.
Networking
There's a reason why the phrases "it's not what you know, it's who you know" is popular - because its true! You can't blog in a vacuum. You need to put yourself out there and network with other bloggers in your niche. I know you may be shy, but if you want to succeed your going to have to push yourself! Commenting on other Blogs, Tweeting other Bloggers, and sending genuine email to bloggers about their work can only help you. Ever wonder why some talented people fail while their less talented counterparts don't - it's due to NETWORKING.
Site Newsletter (The Almighty LIST)
A list is almost as important as the blog itself. Having a "captive" audience that you can reach out to at the drop of a dime is EXTREMELY IMPORTANT. You have to see the traffic spikes you get after sending out a newsletter, or RSS Update Newsletter. Creating and building a list should be on your list of priorities if you want to succeed. Sign up for a professional newsletter management service like AWeber, Constant Contact, or MailChimp and start working on creating exclusive content for your subscribers. You can improve your chances of people subscribing by offering a free item, such as an ebook. Whatever method or service you use, you need to start working on your list!
How is your blog experience going? getting traffic or getting crickets:( Tried my suggestions yet? Leave a comment and let me know what's up!
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