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During tomorrow night's Blog Mentoring event on Network Roulette, you're going to get the chance to interact with some of my absolute favorite bloggers. The #1 thing that helped me out when I first started blogging was advice and encouragement from these people.
In anticipation for tomorrow night, I've asked each of our blogging mentors to share their absolute best piece of advice for starting a blog. Their advice is all very different. Occasionally contradicting. That's because there's no one way to be a successful blogger, but there are a few common traits that all great bloggers have: Focus, Passion, Patience, Character, Inspiration and Networking Skills.
Focus
Dan Schawbel
I recommend that new bloggers have a focus area of what they want to cover in their blogs, instead of talk generally about a variety of topics. If you try and become known for everything, you won't become known for anything.
Website: Personal Branding Blog
Twitter: @danschawbel
Elisa Doucette
You can follow a ton of website that will tell you all about analytics and traffic and feedburners (I recommend Think Traffic, Problogger and BlogCast.fm personally) but they will not tell you "how to write a good blog". So do not worry about all that stuff at first!
Website: Ophelias Webb
Twitter: @opheliaswebb
Nick Cicero
Consistent Content is King. Try and maintain a schedule for your blog to keep your posts organized.
Website: Honkfish
Twitter: @nickcicero
Maggie McGary
Don't try to force yourself into someone else's definition of blogging success. If you want to blog because you love writing, do it--don't worry about SEO, perfect headlines, or editorial calendars. It's YOUR blog and the only person you have to please is you.
Website: mizz information
Twitter: @maggielmcg
Annabel Candy
Make sure you have a clear goal with your blog. You need to know exactly why you're blogging and who will read your blog so don't just dive in without thinking about that.
Website: Get In The Hot Spot
Twitter: @getinthehotspot
Vickie Elmer
Play to your strengths, your passions, and your goals. Write so you demonstrate your strengths and use the blog to achieve your goals, however modest or grand they may be.
Website: Working Kind
Twitter: @workingkind
Ben Donahower
Start writing now! Whether you have a blog or not, writing will help you find your voice, figure out if this is for you, build up some content, and end analysis paralysis.
Website: Campaign Trail Yard Signs
Twitter: @iapprovethismsg
Passion
Stephen Gibbons
Blog about what you love, if you do that you will win. Have HP&P. If you have Hustle, Patience, & Passion you will win. Head down and CRUSH IT today!
Website: Madden Bible
Twitter: @sgibs7
John Pham
Don't try to copy someone else, build a voice that uniquely your own. Stand out and don't be afraid to be different, quirky, weird, funny or serious. Let the words reflect who you truly are.
Website: .:: phampants
Twitter: @phampants
Vincent
Writing is meditative. Pushing your thoughts and passions into a mold won't produce writing worth reading or generate conversation.
Website: Cranial Gunk
Twitter: @cranialgunk
Patrick Pho
Don’t worry about writing a number of times a week, don’t worry about writing within a certain genre and niche, don’t worry about being perfect. Just write. Get it out there. The rest will come together once you get going.
Website: Life With Pho
Twitter: @dmbosstone
Patience
Ben Lang
Many people start blogging because they think it will be an easy and fast way to make money online. In reality though, it takes a great amount of dedication and time, if you're willing to be patient success will follow.
Website: EpicLaunch
Twitter: @entrepreneurpro
Jason Mollica
The worst thing you can do as a new or experienced blogger is to try too hard to write something. If what you want to write isn't coming together or even sounding right in your head... Stop, take a break, and come back.
Website: One Guy's Journey
Twitter: @jasmollica
Grace Boyle
Blogging takes time and effort. Building content, developing your style, creating blogger relationships and establishing a readership and community doesn't happen overnight.
Website: Small Hands, Big Ideas
Twitter: @gracekboyle
Character
Renee Powers
There is nothing more engaging than being human in your writing. Conversely, nothing that will make you lose readership more quickly than appearing fake or lacking goodwill.
Website: Belle Renee
Twitter: @bellerenee
Erica O'Grady
Tell Stories That Matter. At the end of the day, what people really want is to be inspired. With story you can inspire them to make more money, step outside their comfort zone and try something new, donate $10.00 and help change the world. Whatever your end goal is, stories will help you get your readers there faster.
Website: ReinventingErica.com
Twitter: @ericaogrady
Jamie Nacht Farrell
Write about things that matter TO YOU. DO not write for other people. If your content is YOURS, your niche will find you. Keep it real.
Website: Bizrelationship's Blog
Twitter: @EducationNut
Page Huyette
Write like a loyal, idiosyncratic friend and readers will keep coming back for your point of view if it resonates as the real deal.
Website: With Design in Mind
Jenny Blake
Think about the posts you most like to read -- oftentimes the blogger is sharing something deep: fears, failures or feelings. Hitting "publish" on these posts can sometimes feel like we're streaking naked across the Internet, but it pays huge dividends in terms of community-building and support. Experiment with vulnerability and see how it goes! It's an evolution, not a destination.
Website: Life After College
Twitter: @jenny_blake
Marquis Parker
Many people have concerns about putting too much of themselves into what they post on the internet, but, in my opinion, it is difficult for one to gain the trust of his potential reader base without being willing to show a little trust himself.
Website: MarquisParker.com
Twitter: @marquis930
David Stehle
The posts you are most scared to write and push publish on are the ones that resonate most with readers! They are the ones that always get the most feedback and the ones that will help you grow as a writer and as a person.
Website: The Rest Is Still Unwritten
Twitter: @davidstehle
Finding Inspiration
Tiffany Monhollon
Getting started blogging can be daunting, and there are so many questions you'll have: What to write about, how to make your posts unique, how to keep your momentum going. You can address so many of these questions by finding and sharing inspiration around you, like rewriting headlines from magazines you read or introducing a post by sharing a real-life story that relates.
Website: Personal PR
Twitter: @tmonhollon
Alison Garwood-Jones
Try not to bury yourself in technology. Learn it, use it then abandon it every day in favour of hunting and gathering the old fashioned way.
Website: Society Pages
Twitter: @AlisonGJ
Doniree Walker
Keep writing. Don't second guess your writing or your unique, personal style. Let the early stages of your blog be about not only discovering your voice, but getting comfortable in that voice, and owning it.
Website: doniree.com
Twitter: @doniree
Networking
Cathy Reisenwitz
Your best hope is to get the attention and affection of the bloggers who already have the audience you want. A word from them will mean more to your success than a thousand words from you.
Website: Birmingham SEO Blog
Twitter: @cathyreisenwitz
Olga Garcia
Find yourself a blogging mentor before you start blogging. You can look to that person for advice on your blogging strategy. Secondly, you are building skin in the blogging game by being accountable to someone you look up to. That will prevent you from committing to blogging and flaking on it, two months down the line.
Website: Being Olga
Twitter: @olgaLG
Elysa Rice
Blogging is not an island. So many people start out blogging trying to reinvent the wheel. There are so many great networks of people, including Brazen Careerist, that are happy to help answer basic "how to get started" questions.
Website: GenPink
Twitter: @elysa
What did we miss? Think about the following questions and leave some of your own ideas in the comments section below.
- Which piece of blogging advice do you totally agree with?
- Which piece of blogging advice do you totally disagree with?
- What's missing? Share your own blogging advice with the community.
Don't forget to sign up for tomorrow night's blog mentoring event and get one hour of free advice from our expert bloggers. Sign up >>
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Comments
02.07.11
Awesome tips and advice! This is a great community of bloggers you put together, Ryan.
What really helped me out in the beginning was finding someone who would hold me accountable to publishing consistently and with focus. Blogging is an entrepreneurial endeavor, and if you are not used to completely flying solo, it can be very hard to cultivate the discipline necessary to keep at it.
Starting out is not about getting it perfect. It's just about starting something and continually learning. You'll never reach "the end" - that's not what blogging is about.
If I had to pick one learning resource, I'd go with http://www.CopyBlogger.com. Huge database of excellent articles!
02.07.11
This is all fundamental advice. I'm surprised, however, no one mentioned keyword research. Whether your goal is to make money, establish your reputation, or otherwise, understanding the competition will help you differentiate your blog from the others and build your audience.
02.07.11
All of the advice given above resonates with me, but Maggie McGary's guidance of "It's YOUR blog and the only person you have to please is you" was stellar!
I can't even count the number of times that people used to knock me for some of my posts, but I kept on going because I was happy with the end product of every entry. Blogging is all about expressing yourself...don't forget that.
02.07.11
Just jumped in and started blogging at http://johnbarberblog.com. This is a great gathering of useful advice, Ryan. Perfectly timed for me, too.
02.07.11
I think Maggie and Doniree hit the nail on the head. Blogging is first and foremost for yourself. If you don't love to write, don't do it. Once you've reached a level of success, however you might define it, it's easy to feel pressure to maintain it and to feel like you've failed when you deviate from it.
It IS YOUR blog and the only person you have to please is YOU.
02.07.11
Check out http://problogger.net as well. It's focus is on monetizing blogs but there's loads of inspiration to be found there. Also check out http://copyblogger.com.
02.07.11
There IS a divide between personal bloggers and entrepreneurs who blog, with some notable exceptions. Some advice can go either way but new bloggers don't need to heed ALL of the advice above!
02.07.11
This is great advice it really is, but what about the actual writing part?
As a reader if your writing is "bad," it is immaterial how much passion you have, or how patient you are, or what your character is. If the writing is bad, does the rest matter?
02.07.11
Lots of great advice here! But I think the best advice is combining what Jamie and Doniree said...
From Jamie: Writing on things that matter to YOU and not for other people - letting your niche find you.
From Doniree: Not second guessing your writing. Letting the early stages of your blog be about not only discovering your voice, but getting comfortable in that voice, and owning it.
I say: Be real. Be vulnerable. Be yourself. Write like no one is reading.
02.07.11
@Michael That's a great question! Honestly, I'm not sure how to answer it. I want to say that if you're having fun and writing for the sake of enjoyment, continue doing. The only way you can improve is by continued practice. But if you're writing from a professional angle, while passion and determination are great, you're now representing yourself (and possibly a brand) in a different light. If you're that passionate, then taking the necessary steps to bettering your skill shouldn't be a problem.
02.07.11
The advices are perfect but if you want a superior advice try to get questions answered by Annabel Candy, I love her Blog.
02.07.11
@Jennifer, that is a good point, I guess, I never thought of it that way. It just seemed ironic that a post with such a title has very little about the technical aspect of it.
I guess at the end of the day it depends why a person decides to blog. If it is for their personal use, the level of writing is not as important and whatever is acceptable. However, if they are writing for an audience it does matter. A key component of writing is to communicate ideas.
Perhaps it is assumed, but I think it is important to think about why you have decided to blog.
And yes, I realize my writing is not perfect.
02.07.11
@Michael I think it's important to pay attention to how you represent yourself online regardless of the setting. You never know who's reading. Taking the time to proofread or putting a bit more effort into clearly communicating a point shows that you're proud of your work. I'm not a perfect writer by any means and I think the blogosphere is very forgiving for the most part -- unless you mess up their/they're/there. Typos do happen though. But everyone has their own writing pet peeves.
I'm definitely interested in hearing from others about what they think about the technical aspects of writing. But I'm afraid to dive too deep because I'd hate to tell people "if you don't do this, then that will never happen..."
02.07.11
I agree with Ben, keyword research is important, along with tagging and of course sharing throughout various social networks.
02.07.11
Also, I love Dan S's tip...don't try and do everything! It's good to have an overall focus for your blog. It has a brand just like you!
02.07.11
Also, I love Dan S's tip...don't try and do everything! It's good to have an overall focus for your blog. It has a brand just like you!
02.07.11
Great to read all these fab tips and see what's worrying the brazen bloggers in the comments. It's brilliant to see people recommending Problogger and Copyblogger as I've written for both of them.
Remember we couldn't detail everything here in just one or two sentences but this is a great starting point. There are endless details on SEO, techie issues etc to delve into but the real key for beginners is just to get started and keep at it. If you start thinking about the details too soon you'll get overwhelmed and give up!
@Michael - Writing skills are super important for blogging, especially headlines and formatting. I've written a series called Blog Writing Magic with some guidelines that will help you: http://www.getinthehotspot.com/blog-writing-magic-series-5-essential-posts/
@Armin - Thanks for recommending me. I'm really looking forward to this event and hope we get to chat:)
@Ryan - Thanks for asking me to be invloved with this, it's a pleasure to be part of the Brazen team.
02.07.11
Great question. I just recapped a bunch of mistakes I made over the past couple years to help others coming behind me. If you check out http://educlaytion.com/2011/01/24/why-wont-anyone-read-my-blog/ you can also see a few of the top gurus in internet awesomeness.
02.07.11
Hi Clayton, great you're learning from those mistakes and sticking with it.
I recommend constraining the column width on your blog. It's way too long for easy reading right now - 85 characters of less per line is recommended for easy on screen reading. I know it probably means changing your theme. I wish all WP theme designers would learn a bit about screen legibility before they came up with their designs! Just wanted to let you know:)
02.07.11
@Nick if you don't want to shout into the wind forever, keyword research is definitely important!
@Michael hate to go back to my recommendation, but just like any skill, you get better at writing by writing! i know that my writing isn't near as strong as many bloggers, but i do know that i've gotten better by first, writing more and second, by reading copyblogger and other similar blogs in that order.
one section to definitely check out on copyblogger though is the headlines section: http://www.copyblogger.com/magnetic-headlines. no sense in reinventing the wheel here. adept proven headline formats to your post's message.
02.07.11
Hi Annabel. The entire thing is flawed as a wordpress.com template I picked up when I started a couple years ago. I had no idea what I was doing and no one to work with.
After stumbling around for a while I'm excited because my brand new version is coming in the next week or so after months of waiting. I'm finally getting on .org and getting a real site going.
I appreciate the suggestion for sure.
02.07.11
@clay enjoyed your post! depending upon your personality you either have the community part locked up or the seo. i've been a lot stronger on the seo side than the community building, responding to comments, going to their blogs, etc. always a good reminder to have a well-rounded strategy.
ps. i meant to write 'adapt' not 'adept' in my last comment. as noted, i'm not the greatest writer in the world but getting better every day!
02.07.11
Just started blogging a month or so ago and it's been fantastic. Looking forward to this, this is a great idea Ryan.
02.07.11
@Ben Thanks for checking it out. I am digging into the copyblogger site you left. And very true what you say about writing. The only way to get better is by doing it. That's where you figure out style, find voice, and build creative momentum.
As for me, the biggest area I'm behind in is SEO but will be remedying much of that in coming days with a new version of the site launching and continuing to tighten focus.
02.08.11
Thanks for this post — I only found out about the Network Roulette event about a half hour ago, and I'm excited to attend! At the beginning of this year, I started dedicating my time to a daily blog on self-improvement, and I take a lot of these tips to heart to try and better the way I go about it.
Hopefully I'll learn even more tomorrow, since I definitely recognize that it's a long road involving lots of hard work and dedication!
02.08.11
Many thanks for the mentions, specially for Annabel. Found you in Twitter, hope we can catch there.
02.08.11
@Annabel and Ben thanks for the links, I will definitely check them out.
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