Inspired Blogging
What separates the elite bloggers from the mediocre ones? It’s not the number of readers, or the time spent promoting the blog (although, that helps). The difference is in the quality of the posts. The A-listers are publishing posts that really resonate with their readers.
To be fair, a lot of the big bloggers make a living from blogging; their whole job is to create awesome blog posts. That makes it a little harder to get the same results, especially if you’re blogging on a very limited schedule. Don’t throw in the towel quite yet, though; there are a few tricks for better blogging that anyone can find time for.
Read. Read everything. Don’t just focus on the top two or three blogs in your niche. Seek out new blogs, and not just ones related to your topic. Follow blogs about technology, news, blogging, websites, and anything else that interests you. Inspiration can come from anywhere, and you can learn a lot about style and form by reading the work of other bloggers.
Focus on being helpful. Whatever you’re blogging about, the people who are reading along are doing so because they want to either a) be entertained or b) learn something. Probably both, but many people will overlook a dull writing style if they can learn a lot from a blogger. Write to solve a problem your readers are facing, and people will happily read along.
Keep it light and personable. Your writing is important, yes, but you’re not writing a grad school dissertation. Inject a little style and personality into your posts. Have fun with your writing; if you’re bored writing them, people are going to be bored reading them. Get enthusiastic and let that shine through.
Tell a story. Why does this topic matter to you right now? Inspired blogging is more than just laying out the facts; you have to be able to explain why those facts matter and then relay them in a way that makes people care.
Build a community. Reply to comments, and encourage others to do the same. Get a discussion going. Also, feature some of your commenters in blog posts; ask other bloggers to do a guest post or feature them in an interview. Making your readers feel like they are part of the site encourages them to share your work and makes blogging more rewarding.
Publish often. There are a couple reasons for this. One, publishing regular posts gets people to keep coming back to your site. It builds a relationship and trust. Two, regular blogging means regular writing practice. The more you blog, the better you get. If you want to work your way up to being a major name in the blogging world for your niche, regular posts are the best way to get there.
Inspired blogging isn’t just a matter of coming across a great idea; its something that takes a lot of work and discipline. The very best bloggers have put years of work into refining their blogging skills. These tips for better blogging will improve your writing much faster than just aimlessly writing and publishing blog posts. Blog with purpose and with your audience in mind, and you’ll eventually be writing blog posts with as much resonance and power as the ones written by the pros.
