Ok, lets learn together. It says here that during the summit, Robert and his wife Maryam gave a presentation titled "10 Ways To A Killer Blog" which while reading some of the websites featuring this reports, I can't stop myself from browsing for other reports because there were no 10 ways to a killer blog. They're actually 15! Why did they have it titled 10? Is it some kind of a blog-gimmick, to use typical or simplified digits? I'm already confused even before beginning to read.
Anyway, here's the list I have compiled from 2 most very entertaining reports that I've found and they're from from Andru Edwards and Janet Lee Johnson .
- Blog because you want to. (and include sex in your headlines -to grab attention). A story
without love is not worth telling. Maryam talks about how Robert kept pushing her to blog for four years. Then one day, she started to blog. As soon as she started, she was blogging about Robert and he tried to get her to stop talking about him on her blog.
If you are blogging about something you don’t really care about because you think it’s profitable, you won’t have passion to go long-term.
- Read other blogs. If you want to be a blogger, you've got to read other blogs. If you want to be a thoughtful leader, read what others are thinking.
Maryam started blogging because she was going to a lot of conferences, but people told her they had no way of linking to her. It brings out community and a bond that she hadn’t experienced before. Through blogging she has gotten a much better job and has made a lot more friends. She loves it.
- Pick a niche you can own - be different. There are two kinds of bloggers - ones that want to make things, and shake things. Others just want to talk to their friends and use their blogs to post baby pictures, talk about books they read, etc. Either way, each group should have a common set of values. Non-technical people (Robert calls as geeks) interact with the world through a search engine. If you believe that people negotiate the internet through a search engine, you need to come up on search terms. People who focus content on a single niche gathers a much bigger audience than a large or defocused audience. And, by the way, Robert says there are 100,000 blogospheres, so you can find a niche more easily than you might think you could.
There was a niche blogger in London who talks about the London Underground transportation system. After the London bombing, everyone hit her site, and now she is popular. Of course, we don’t want to have a terrorist act happen to make us famous, but you get the point.
- Link to other blogs. When Robert started at Microsoft, he linked to a bunch of people who hated Microsoft - it made them know that Microsoft listened to them. And it diffused issues. You can also see who links to you easily - and it’s human behavior to want to know what others are saying about you. You should go over and comment on those posts, and get more link love.
- Admit mistakes. Maryam was afraid to start blogging because she read Robert’s comments and saw the personal attacks. But she loved how Robert admitted mistakes - it gained him credibility in the blogosphere.
- Write good headlines. The world is moving from feeds to keyword searches, in order to find information about very specific information. Think of how people scan lists to find information. Great headlines make you stand out.
- Use other media. Most bloggers use only text. Use things like graphics (logos, screen captures). Even better, have an audio podcast or video podcast. Mix media so that you can share your knowledge with the world in multiple ways.
- Have a voice. Having your own personal voice and persona that allows people to see you as a human rather than as text makes people want to connect with you more. Robert tries to type what he would say to you face to face rather than focusing on trying to be a good writer.
- Get outside the blogosphere. Hit places outside the blogs. Conferences, meetups, and go out and meet people. That makes the connections deeper and more meaningful. You'll gain relationships that can turn into power structures later. And something that you can blog about. That is how the A-List is built - people connecting and building strong relationships. PR companies need to learn this - set up a blog, go and meet people at conferences. That works better than sending a pitchy email.
- Market yourself. Some bloggers put their URL on their business cards. It’s little things like that which will encourage readership. Just basic marketing like that can make a difference.
- Write well. Spell check. Check grammar. See if you get your point across. Check your state of mind, Maryam says, before you post emotionally. If you are upset, wait a little bit before publishing so that you don’t go overboard or say something that you don’t mean. Write short paragraphs because they are easier to scan.
- Expose yourself. Corporate types are normally very reserved in their writing style. No one wants to read a press release, but the point here is to engage readers. Put in a bit of yourself into your posts, and let people see that you are a real human being. Use anecdotes, and be personal, if even a little.
- Help other people blog. Share and build community. Bring new voices into the blogosphere.
- Engage with commenters. Robert recommends commenting on others’ blogs in order to get them to realize you have something to say, and they may link back to you. To participate in the conversation, leave interesting and thoughtful comments.
- Keep your integrity. You are what you appear to be, and if you’re taking advertising or are taking free product, disclose it. Never try to hide what you are or who you are, or when people find out you don’t have integrity, they will ‘out you’ to the world. Robert publishes his cell phone on his blog so people can do fact checking before they publish information that he’s commented on.
So, how about that? Feel free to read more here :Paul Cheney
Denise Wakeman
Barry Hurd
Dustin Luther
Note : These cool cartoon illustrations are from Hugh Mcleod
Thank you for the nice call out! I enjoyed blogging that session. It was pretty hilarious. Although you can't believe the spam I've been getting, since including "sex" in the headline.
ReplyDeleteKeep on blogging....