10 Blogging Tips
Briefly, some tips:
- Write to be helpful.
- Be brief.
- Tell a story.
- Connect others, if appropriate.
- Share. Often.
- Don’t overthink it. (It’s a blog, not a dissertation.)
- But be thoughtful.
- Don’t be mean.
- Publish often enough to build a relationship.
- But be mindful of your audience’s time.
What else would you say? What if you were telling someone at Disney or Starbucks or the Woman’s Society for Advanced Cancer Research about blogging? Share your blogging tips?
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Comments
Chris,
I like these. #8 is a nice touch. But in my experience it’s not something that would occur to folks at Disney or Starbucks. What’s hardest for the corporates is dropping corporate-speak. Also, not thinking of the blog as an outlet for “messaging.” I spend a lot of time showing them how to re-cast what they want to say in bloggy, conversational style.
Long way of saying that I suggest adding: #11 No corporate-speak
hey now, just because you have to read 9 million blogs a day doesn’t mean the rest of us have to!!
Be brief? why? because YOU don’t have time to read it? ha!
It has to be annoying to see 8 million of those bloggers writing about the same exact thing, I bet you cringe on ‘Apple product rumor release day’ as you know a hell of a lot of people are going to jump on the blogwagon and write a review so that they can get traffic, am I wrong?
helpful? why? why not blog to randomly inspire or to make one person feel special?
I think your post should read “what I, CB, look for in a blog” not general blogging tips.
My favorite on your is #8. I think too often people want to write something deep and meaningful and over think writing instead of just saying what’s fresh on their mind. I would also add LISTEN to your list, especially for a corporation. A blog is a great way to listen and create a true feedback loop for companies who really care about what their customers think.
@Daz - you know, that’s a good point. These are my kind of general tips that relate to the space as I see it. A blog is a tool. You can do whatever you want with it. Don’t listen to me. I’m only one perspective.
Chris,
How funny! We just did this in response to a new reader, asking to “pick my brain,” yesterday. I asked my wonderful readers to contribute their own ideas. My favorite out of all the comments was from Janice Cartier who wrote,
“Darlin’, make friends. Just like home. Bring something tasty to the party and be polite. There’s tons of room.”
Your #6 is wonderful. Don’t overthink it, indeed. Great advice.
Regards,
Kelly
I wish more bloggers followed that advice, particularly not being mean. This culture of meanness on the internet is really starting to make me hate some of the blogs I’ve read for a long time.
Chris, I love your list. If I were to make one it would be:
1) be honest with yourself;
2) be open about yourself;
3) be true to yourself;
4) be right but not rightous;
5) enjoy the reaction; it means someone cares.
micah
The key to blogging is to write something from YOUR perspective no matter how inexperienced or un-informed you might be, it’s your blog which means your opinion.
If your blog post simply defers to someone else as having a ‘better’ opinion than you then you are missing the point in my opinion.
How many blog posts lead off with a link to someone else’s blog or site? Yes, some people break a story and have important info, but when you, in your blog, are too afraid to write your opinion and just redirect people to the other site you are missing the point of blogging in my opinion.
Your blog is your place to say what you think, not to say that someone else is saying what you think.
You might get some google rank, maybe, by being a middleman or blog-caddy or brownnose-blogger but if you can’t write your opinion, whether it be popular or not, then you are missing the point of having your own blog. You would be better suited to just commenting on existing blogs!
[…] some ideas I got from searching around. I won’t post all of them because one of the tips from 10 Blogging Tips suggested making it […]
Hi Chris,
I would add something that goes along with #5: Link to helpful resources that your readers would find to be of value.
Great list. These apply to video as well and I need to be mindful of them. I think I will print them and put them above my desk. Thanks Chris.
Be real, transparent and authentic. It is time big business folk let the guard down and be themselves. It really is ok :-)
Third comment of the day for me Chris, thanks for the challenge. Other two here http://tinyurl.com/4ymue9 and http://tinyurl.com/5g84zd
I did see this as ten tips, not ten commandments. If I were going to squeeze one in, it would be: be yourself.
For me, of course, that means I don’t always manage to be brief. I agree that (usually) it’s a blog, not a dissertation; on the other hand, your own interests and passions will come across.
Another tip: not everything you can count, counts. In other words, don’t get in a tizzy about Technorati or Google rank. The higher a blog appears in such places, the more it’s a sign of of other people pointing to it — not necessarily of its meriting that pointing.
And there’s the advice from the pre-computer blogger, Hillel the Elder: If not for myself, who is for me? If for myself alone, who am I? And if not now, when?
Awesome all the way around.
Might I also add “You can be personal without getting too personal”? It bugs me when folks spill their guts out on their blogs then complain because someone else calls them out for “being too personal”. In my opinion, if you don’t want someone to know something - don’t blog about it. It’s odd how some people can’t seem to figure that out.
My website is my professional website, but I do often post up personal news - but what personal news and when is left up to my discretion. I don’t let anyone else bully me into posting things I don’t find fit for public consumption.
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Personality. Be sure to inject personality into your writing so it sounds like the post is written by a human and not a machine.
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I like this one - Don’t overthink it. (It’s a blog, not a dissertation.)
Can I add?: be yourself.
I like blogs by all kinds of people and companies but love those most where the person’s personality also comes through. Even if it’s a company it’s nice to have a little humour or perhaps strong opinions.