5 Basic and Yet Essential Tips to Get You Started with Blogging

So you were inspired by the self-made successful bloggers that you read daily and you want to start a blogging career? The problem is you don’t know where to start.

Here are 5 simple, basic, bare and yet essential tips that will help you get started with your blogging adventure. [Read more]

5 Ways to Stand Out in Your Niche

We all know how saturated certain blog niches are, especially when you’re talking about technology, entertainment, and sports. Having a lot of competitors though doesn’t mean you can take the following steps to stand out and differentiate yourself from the rest of the field.

Focus on Geography

Everyone knows about Gizmodo and Engadget, but how many people realize that both blogs are mainly for US readers? I’ve found some degree of success with Technograph, a tech blog I created that’s all about Technology in the Philippines, where I’m currently based.

The US is still king when it comes to come to potential traffic and thus potential income. But concentrating on your region and provide updates more suited to your home audience is a great way to be unique.

First!

Some blogs become mainstream because they consistently broke news first, scooping your so-called mainstream media and online competitors. The irony is that as they become more mainstream, these blogs show less and less initiative, becoming part of the establishment that independent operators can trump.

This is a method that’s as old as news itself: be the first to break it, and you automatically stand out from the rest in your niche.

Thoughtful Reporting

Granted, it’s very hard to be first always, but it’s also possible to survey the entire situation once everyone has published their fast—and sometimes inaccurate or shallow—coverage.

In other words, by concentrating on providing quality content, thoughtfully reporting on an issue or an event and covering all perspectives, it’s possible to become an authoritative source. Being an authority in your niche is a powerful differentiator, as it establishes your blog as the site to visit for a topic.

Socialization

A lot of blog authors are content to just post the content and wait for it to bring in the traffic, not even bothering to reply to comments. This creates another opportunity to stand out, in the sense that you can interact with your readers, making them feel that they’re a real part of the (cliched) “conversation”. Readers feel more valued, and thus are more willing to return. Some of the more successful sites are those that get visitors talking with the author and others.

This approach does require a lot of time, as your formulate responses designed not only to address the reader’s questions or opinions, but to encourage further discussion as well. But experience has taught me that bloggers can derive a lot of useful content from what their readers say. It could be a perspective that no one else has thought of, or the lowest price you’ve ever seen for that gadget you were reporting on; sometimes those comments provide enough material for that next post.

Stop Looking Like a Blog

Many mainstream blogs have decidedly dropped the traditional blog format, so you’re probably wondering: how does this help my blog stand out? The answer is that, by going beyond the typical blog format—which limits what visitors can see on their first visit to your site—you’re paying attention to your readers’ experience.

Expert blog theme coders are surprisingly very affordable (take a look at wedomarkup.com) and you’ll see what I mean, so it’s relatively easy to convert your blog into something that—while not following the traditional blog format—creates more appeal for a potentially wider readership.

So how do you stand out in your niche? Feel free to hit the comments below.

7 Quick Blog Post Ideas

If you’re like me, you’ll run in to writers block from time to time. Coming up with a new blog post idea everyday can really be difficult, especially if your blog covers a very specific niche. So here’s a few quick ideas for your next blog post:

1. Build Off An Existing Post

One thing that I find really effective is writing a post that builds off of another one. It could be one of your old posts from your own archive or it could be a post someone else has written on a different blog. Basically, you start off where you (or they) left off and build from it.

2. Answer A Question

Nothing is more effective than answering a question. It could be something one of your readers left in a comment, something you found on Yahoo answers, or simply a general question that a lot of people ask. Not only will it make a good post but it will also help your readers.

3. Ask Your Readers A Question

If you don’t want to answer a question, you can also ask your readers a question. This helps generate comments since a lot of your readers will want to submit their answers.

4. Create A List Of Something

Of all the blog posts I’ve ever written on my personal blog, the majority of them were lists. Such as 10 ways to do this or 7 tools to make this easier. They make for really catchy titles and often spread like wildfire across the web.

5. Review A Product (Or A Blog)

If you’re in to software or gadgets, writing a review can be an easy way to come up with a new blog post. Don’t forget to look at the basic things like an application you may have downloaded. You can also write a review of your favorite blog. This not only gives the other blogger some recognition, but it also gives your readers a valuable resource.

6.  Interview Someone

Nothing gains credibility faster than interviewing someone in your niche. If you’re a writer, seek out to find an author you can interview. If you run a local blog, find someone in your area that will sit down and answer some of your questions.

7. Tell A Story

While it’s true that not everyone likes reading your stories, they can sometimes be very useful for your readers. Especially if you write about a struggle you had or an obstacle that you’ve overcome. This will help your readers avoid the problems you’ve run in to.

Have any more ideas? Feel free to share them below!

Don’t Forget To Respond To Your Readers

If you currently run a blog, my guess is that you allow comments on your blog posts. If you dont, you should! Not only does it give your readers an easy way to leave feedback, but it also allows you to build a community around your blog.

However, many bloggers forget (or don’t take the time) to respond to the comments people leave. This is not a good way to build your blogs readership. There’s nothing worst from a readers standpoint than leaving a comment, specifically a question, that never gets a response. I’ve personally left a few questions in the past that never got answered, which gave me the impression that the blogger did not want to take the time to respond.

Make It A Habit

So from now on, make it a goal to always respond to your readers. Not only will it build up your blogs comment section, but it will also let your readers know you care. Depending on the amount of comments you get, it may only take a few minutes every day to go in and respond to any open comments.

Once you implement this strategy, you will start to see more readers leaving comments because they are reassured that they will get a response back. Plus it’s a great way to build up the trust from your daily readers.

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5 Ways to Make Your Blog Timeless

Blogging is immediate, particularly for niches that rely on breaking news realtime. Thus it’s easy to forget that readers will visit your blog and read posts months, years, and even decades after they were written. Here are five ways to keep visitors engaged with your content, and prevent them from bouncing after they scratch their heads in confusion over your outdated blog posts. [Read more]

5 Things Your News Posts Should Cover

A couple of weeks ago, I came across a post detailing what every news article should cover. I unfortunately can’t seem to remember where I encountered it (if you know what I’m talking about feel free to leave a link in the comments), but the tips shared there make a useful foundation for writing news posts that are very useful for your readers—regardless of topic or niche.

In order of importance, here’s what I think every news post should include:

What Happened

Reporting on what happened is a given in any kind of news reporting, whether formal or not. In fact, the point of the source article was how all news articles cover this, but not the following.

Who Was Involved

Another given: no event is free from the influence of personalities or entities, nor are people or companies totally free from its influence. Yet with tight deadlines and lack of pertinent details, it’s easy to overlook this crucial requirement. Many events are significant enough to overshadow those who are involved, or those with the potential to be affected, but forgetting to include the who may leave readers wondering why the news you report is relevant to them.

How it Happened

Amazingly, most news reporting is content with fleshing out only the what and who, failing to mention how things happened in detail. The easiest way to cover this base is to zero in on a significant cause, and discuss how that led to a significant effect. Again, this is another way of making the news relevant to your readers, ultimately making it more relevant. People have an easier time relating to events when they understand how things happened.

How You Found Out About It

The source article said that journalists usually leave this out, based on the possibility that revealing their methods and research will diminish their “institutional authority”. Yet detailing how you found out about the news not only adds flavor to your post, it also helps convince readers of its accuracy. What would you believe more, a post based solely on the opinions and perceptions of the writer, or a compilation of perspectives and insights from various sources?

Background

It’s easy for a blogger to assume that readers automatically know everything about a given event or topic, especially if a blog enjoys a large regular readership. Yet detailing the background—the history and long-term implications—makes it easier for the reader to understand the news and put it into context. This also provides opportunities to link back to previous posts covering a particular topic or event. That’s always a good way to attract the traffic that authoritative sources enjoy, as the links lead visitors back to older posts.

It’s necessary to include all of the above when sharing news with your readers, if you want to establish your blog as an authority that people can rely on for detailed and updated news. The best part? Only your creativity limits how you can present these. Got any tips on how to represent current events to your readers? Hit the comments below.

How Important is the Design of Your Blog?

I’ve been thinking a lot about blog design because in the last couple of days, I’ve gotten some compliments out of blue on one of my blog’s designs.  This was surprising because I don’t think the design is exceptional.  The design is based on a popular premium theme, which I modified with my limited coding skills.  I changed the colors, resized the columns, and moved and deleted some of the visual elements.  Also, I hired a designer to create a custom header.  These changes made my design look very different from the original look.

Make It Unique

One key is standing out from the crowd.  No one will talk about your blog design or even take note of it if it looks too similar to other blogs.

Many of the blogs in my niche were using popular free Wordpress themes, so they looked like other blogs.   While there are many great free Wordpress themes, if you use them, you’ll often find many blogs that look just like yours.  Therefore, you’re not standing out from the crowd and your design doesn’t make a lasting impression.

Takeaway: If you do use a popular Wordpress theme (whether free or paid), make sure to modify it enough so it has a fresh look and doesn’t remind your readers of other blogs with the same theme.

Cut Out The Clutter

My design may not win any awards, but one thing I kept hearing in the compliments was the simplicity of the design.  A clean, uncluttered design goes a long way to improving the usability of your blog.

Many blogs have too much going on.  Whether it’s five different ads above the fold or ten widgets on the sidebar, a cluttered design can frustrate and confuse your readers.

Takeaway: If you give your readers too many things to look at, they may miss out on the most important part of your blog, your posts.  Keep your design simple and you’ll highlight your content.

Content Vs. Design

One of the blogs in my niche has uses the Wordpress default theme so the blog feels very boring and bland.  However, I look forward to visiting the blog because it’s regularly updated and has high quality content.  The blog has grown quickly and is starting to become one of the most popular blogs in my niche.

This just goes to prove that content is by far more important than design.  Still, that blog could get a big boost from a fresh design.  A custom design will cause it to stand out even more from other blogs.  It will make the reading experience more enjoyable, generate buzz within the industry, and improve the blog’s brand.

Takeaway: Focus first on the quality and quantity of your content, but once you’ve got that down, a custom design will take your blog to the next level.

Performancing offers custom blog designs with our blog launch service.

5 Ways to Remain Focused on Your Blog

Even bloggers who profess a quality-over-quantity focus stress the need for regular posting, if only to keep the blog visible within a niche. The question is, how can a blogger retain focus for what’s admittedly a repetitive task? Here are five ways that have proven useful for yours truly. [Read more]

Blogging Fear: Just Start Writing

Recently, I was consulting with a business owner about starting her own blog. Darren Rowse, Problogger, referred her to me, and so I was excited to get started. One of my biggest passions is to teach, and there is nothing I love more than to see a business jumping into the blogging world.

She was very hesitant though. She had looked at many blogs and was awestruck by their high quality content, amazing editing, striking use of images, and she felt like competing would be hard. Then I told her that the blogs she was comparing herself to were years old. Both bloggers had already done hundreds of posts, and had refined their writing style, use of images, and editing over that period of time.

She was just starting out and like anything, blogging requires time, effort and practice to do amazingly. She begrudgingly started writing a post, and saved it as a draft for me to look over. Other than a few stylistic things like making some text bold and italics, the post looked great. She looked it over again and was finally ready to publish it. Nervously, she wanted to take it back.

We all have those doubts, those questions. “What if others think it is horrible? What if it doesn’t make sense to them?” In the end though, while the blogging is about helping build her business and brand, it is also an archive of her life as a businesswoman and should cater to her own desires first.

Quickly, the “bug” of publishing content online grew, and she was always thinking about what to put on the blog next.

This whole experience made me wonder if the issue with blogging is that too many people expect to be experts on day one. When you had your first day of school, did you know everything in the text books? When you started your first real job, were you the number one expert in your field? No! So why should blogging be any different? Be it as a hobby, career, or a promotional tool, blogging is like any other task from riding a bike, to building a business: it takes practice to do well.

Don’t let your fear stop you from producing content. Even if it doesn’t appeal to everyone, I highly doubt that with over six billion people living on the planet, that you won’t make a connection with at least one of them, and if you are really shy about your content, don’t promote your blog, just post what interests you. Use your blog as a tool to express yourself, and let come what may. It is your island, you control the design, content, comments, and more. Fear nothing, and get blogging!