Pick Up the Blogging Habit

How to Pick Up the Blogging Habit
Social Media    July 12, 2011    By Lisa Barone

As people, we’re creatures of habit. Whether you’re trying to lose weight, start a blog or train for your first marathon, to be successful in that goal, you must develop the habit of actually doing it. The habit of running, of eating, of finding that time to write and publish blog posts. And that takes practice.

I write a lot – for multiple blogs, multiple times a week. And in order for me to get that blogging done and still be able to run a business and take care of everything else that needs to get done, I’ve had to adopt the blogging habit. If you’re having trouble committing to blogging, here are some tips and tricks that have worked for me. I’d love it if you’d share what works (or even what doesn’t work) for you.

1. Schedule time: One of the most common sources of pushback when I encourage small business owners to start blogging is that they don’t have the time.  I understand that. But you have to schedule in the time, the same way you schedule in time to pay your vendors, to manage your online reviews or even to restock your inventory. Without scheduling those things, they probably wouldn’t get done either. But you do them because they’re important to your business.

Do the same with your blogging. Find an hour or two a week that you can dedicate to writing content. Maybe it’s in the morning before things get into full swing, maybe it’s on Sunday while you grab a coffee and catch up on the world. Schedule the time.

2. Keep an idea log: Get in the habit of recording ideas for blog posts, and you won’t believe how easily they come to you. Keep track of  bloggable questions (as I discuss in my post on Outspoken Media), the conversations you have with customers, the issue that got you really worked up, the new use for that old medium you’re considering, etc. When you’re immersed in your business, your brain is constantly thinking, evaluating and trying things out. Jot down those ideas and write about them later. It’s when you don’t catch these thoughts in the moment that they’re lost forever when you sit down to face a blank screen.

3. Put a blogging structure in place:: Whether you think you are a professional writer or a complete hack, you probably have a writing system. You think of your topic, you do your research, you store the links you want to mention, you craft your headline, etc. Use this system to help keep you on track with what you’re supposed to be doing. Don’t try to reinvent the wheel each time you sit down to write. Know what you need to do and how you need to do it; then, just get it done. Streamline the process as much as possible.

4. Write in batches: If you’re feeling inspired and the juices are flowing, don’t just write one post, write an entire week’s worth or two week’s worth. Not only does this help you to plan out your content and schedule posts ahead of time, but it also lets you take advantage of those natural moments when you have something to say. Don’t stop writing until you’ve gotten it all out.

5. Use one piece of content many ways: Before you write a piece of content, think of all the different ways you can recycle that content. Maybe you can expand on that blog post and turn it into an article series. Maybe you can turn it into a presentation to give at your local chamber of commerce event. Maybe you can build an interview series off it. If time is sacred (and when isn’t it?), make sure you’re getting as much mileage out of each piece as you can.

6. Keep doing it: To build a habit, you need to live the habit. Keep following the rules above until you don’t even realize you’re following them anymore. Once blogging begins to feel like a natural part of your business, you’ve adopted the blogging habit. Congrats.

Above are a few tips to help you pick up the blogging habit and get yourself on a path to creating authoritative content for both users and the engines. What’s worked for you?

MY THOUGHTS

A habit is something that you do often, frequently, regularly, constantly without even knowing that you're doing it.  I find these tips very useful.  I hope you would, too.

WHAT IS GRAVATAR?

What is Gravatar
By Susan Gunelius , About.com Guide

Definition: Gravatar is an acronym for Globally Recognized Avatar. A gravatar is an image that appears along with your name when you do things like comment or post on a blog that recognizes and publishes gravatars. Gravatars help to identify you across multiple online destinations and enable people to better recognize and remember you. You can create your own gravatar at www.gravatar.com.

Also Known As: Globally Recognized Avatar

MY THOUGHTS

Go ahead and try it.  If you haven't yet.

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10 Things You Don't Know About Working From Home

10 Things You Don't Know About Working From Home

1. You'll suddenly realize that housewives are totally busy people -with hardly any breaks.
2. You'll be challenged not to work because your cute baby is staring at you, saying "play!".
3. You'll be asked constantly, "What do you want to eat today" by your spouse.
4. If you're not careful, that DVD collection will be your #1 distraction from work.
5. You don't remember when was the last time you took a bath/shaved.
6. You're suddenly more interested in nice looking shorts and pajamas in the mall.
7. Your cellphone isn't getting much use unlike before.
8. When you walk to the neighborhood park, pool, all you see are yayas and their wards.
9. When it rains, you're happy you're indoors and won't be going anywhere!
10. In the hot months, you're happy that you can afford an aircon for your room!

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USE TWITTER IN BLOGGING

10 Ways Bloggers Can Use Twitter
Promote Your Blog by Microblogging with Twitter

By Susan Gunelius, About.com Guide

Twitter is a fun and useful way to promote your blog and drive traffic to it. While it might seem that micro-blogging through Twitter might just be a fun thing to do, you can actually use Twitter to grow your blog. Remember, building relationships is a key part of growing your blog, and Twitter is an excellent tool for building relationships.

Take a look at the suggestions below for how you can use Twitter to drive traffic to your blog.

1. Drive Traffic
Twitter has a viral marketing effect to it wherein your tweets could spread quickly across the Twitter community if they are interesting. For example, if you're hosting a blog contest or launching a new feature on your blog, send a tweet to let your followers know. Chances are they'll spread the word as well. As word gets out, more and more people will visit your blog to check out what all the hype is about.

2. Network with Like-Minded People

Twitter is set up inherently to act as a networking tool. People "follow" users whose tweets they enjoy or interest them. As such, you'll be able to connect with like-minded people by using Twitter which could lead to more traffic to your blog and much more.

3. Make Business Contacts

Just as Twitter is a great networking tool for finding like-minded people, it's also very effective with connecting users with business contacts. Whether you're looking to hire someone to help you with your blog or business (or both), looking for a new job, or just looking to bounce ideas off your business peers, Twitter can help.

4. Establish Yourself as an Expert

Twitter can help support your efforts to establish yourself as an expert in your field or blogging niche to the online community. By communicating through tweets about subject-matter you're knowledgeable in, answering questions via tweets, and searching out new contacts, your efforts to be viewed as an expert (which gives your blog greater credibility and appeal) will grow.

5. Get Ideas for Blog Posts

If you're having a dry spell in terms of coming up with post ideas, Twitter can help get your creative juices flowing. Read and send some tweets and see what people are talking about. Something you read is apt to spark a post idea or two to get you through a temporary state of blogger's block.

6. Ask Questions

Just as you might use Twitter to establish yourself as an expert in your field, other people use it for the same reason. Don't be afraid to ask questions. You just might learn something new and find new bloggers and users to connect with!

7. Provide Live Coverage
If you're attending a conference or meeting that you'd like to share, you can send multiple tweets real-time to share the information you learn then expound on your tweets with blog posts.

8. Ask for Diggs, Stumbles and Other Promotional Help

Twitter is a great place to ask your followers to Digg or Stumble your blog posts. You could also ask other users to blog about your post with a link back to it or spread the word to their own Twitter followers to drive more traffic to your blog.

MY THOUGHTS

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10 Posts You Should Write in Your Blog

10 Posts You Should Write for Your Company Blog
By Jon Gelberg | April 20, 2011

So you’ve decided you need to blog. As the owner of the business, you want to put a human face on the brand and become a source of valuable information for customers. Good for you!

The big question now is, what the heck are you going to write about? And, more importantly, will anyone read it?

Obviously you’re going to have to get a feel for what your target audience wants to read. That will come with time. Right now you just need to start writing. To give you a jump start on your blogging efforts, I’ve come up with 10 specific post ideas that I’ve found work well with most any audience.

Once you get into the rhythm of writing, it will become second nature — even fun — and you’ll figure out quickly what your readers want.

1. The “why I’m passionate about what I do” blog post

If you’re an owner, especially in a service industry, you should be passionate about what you do and be able to convey that passion to readers. Use your blog to tell the story of how and why you started your business. Talk about turning points in your career and mentors you may have had along the way. Provide real life anecdotes to demonstrate your passion.

2. The “biggest mistake I ever made in business and what I learned from it” blog post

Nobody’s perfect. That’s what makes us human. While everyone screws up in life and in business, the ones that succeed learn from their mistakes. By providing concrete examples of your failures and then demonstrating what you took away from them, you give your audience something to relate to. Think of how Domino’s pizza took a bunch of negative reviews and turned them into a positive advertising campaign.

3. The “favorite customer feedback” blog post

Every business owner deals with customer feedback on a daily basis. Some of it is positive, often it can be negative. Either way, a discussion of how you dealt with the feedback and how you resolved the issue can go a long way to developing customer loyalty and trust. If you have gotten fan mail from your customers, share it. You can even have a feature like “customer email of the week.”

4. The “featured employee” blog post

Every business has employees worth showing off and employees who have interesting personal stories. These stories can be about their work, their hobbies, or even tales of overcoming adversity.

This type of post serves two purposes. On the one hand, it is another way to put a human face on the company; from an internal point of view, it’s great for employee morale to get their names, faces, and stories into the company blog.

5. The “what I did on my summer vacation” blog post

When you take a break from work, give your readers a break from a “work” post. Talk about your destination, your family, even how it felt to be away from your office. If you are a workaholic and couldn’t get your mind off of business while on vacation, then tell your readers about that. It’s something that everyone can identify with.

6. The “10 things you didn’t know about our company” blog post

This is a perfect vehicle for giving your customers a behind-the-scenes look.  You can cover a wide range of topics including company culture, trivia, philanthropy, the company bowling team, etc. To get more mileage out of this idea, turn each thing no one knows about your company into an individual post.

7. The “new product or service” blog post

When introducing a new product or service, be sure to write a blog post specific to that product or service. Unlike an advertisement, a blog post gives you the opportunity to tell the story behind the product/service and allows you to convey your enthusiasm to your audience. It also gives you an opportunity to make a special offer to your readers.

8. The “I know my readers and I’m going to give them interesting info” blog post

This is really a no-brainer. By providing useful information to your readers, you create customer loyalty and provide them with a service.

If you are a sporting goods store, blog about workout techniques, sporting events, or the latest innovations in equipment. If you are a cardiologist, blog about the latest studies and breakthroughs in medicine. If you are an accountant, provide the “10 deductions people forget to take.”

9. The “company history lesson” blog post

If your company has been around for many years, then a blog post is a perfect place to talk about the origins. Here’s where old photographs, advertisements, and quotes from founders in the early days can be put to great use. This is an excellent way to talk about company values, employee loyalty, and hint about plans for the future.

10. The “I’ve got a blog and I’m going to use it to get something off my chest” blog post

This is the most dangerous kind of blog post, but it can be the most fun. You may be a business owner, but you are also a person with opinions on a variety of subjects. If you feel strongly about certain topics and want the world to know how you feel, then the blog can be your broadcast outlet.

On the positive side, it gives you an outlet to vent your feelings and influence your target audience.

On the negative side, there is always the potential that you will turn off current and potential clients and customers who don’t share your views.

The more you write, the easier it gets. If you’re going to blog, remember these 3 quick tips:

    Blog regularly: Fresh content keeps visitors coming back to your site. A neglected blog sheds a negative light on your business.
    Write well: Blogging isn’t for everyone. If you are not a naturally talented writer, then find someone at your company to help you out. If there’s no one at the company, work with a professional copywriter.
    Have fun: Remember, a blog is just a conversation with your clients and customers. Think of what you’d talk about at a cocktail party. Be entertaining, interesting and even amusing, and they’ll keep coming back for more.

Jon Gelberg is Chief Content Officer at Blue Fountain Media.

Flickr photo courtesy of aless&ro, CC 2.0

MY THOUGHTS

If you can write, I'm sure you're excited to start blogging. If you can't write that well (but wants to), then blogging is a good way to hone whatever writing skills you already have.  If you can't write at all, start reading-blogs, books articles.  Writing starts with reading.  So, read and you're well on your way to blogging.