Big-time Blogging And Lessons Learned

Posted by Lea

November 16, 2007

It seems my blogging is starting to pay off in further ways and about time too! It’s no secret what a big fan of blogging I am - but recently, I have been inspired to take this to new heights…

A few weeks ago, I was featured on Web Worker Daily for their series of “From The Field”.

Today, Leo Babauta of Zen Habits has written a useful post about being location independent - he not only mentions me by name a couple of times, but also plugs the book and links to the LIP blog.

In a week or so, I have a guest post coming up on Darren Rowse’s Problogger and also with a bit of luck, another interview will be posted on Freelance Switch.

It’s all fantastic exposure and boy am I glad that I’ve really got my act together with the LIP blog (new custom-designed t-shirts and everything!!) and it’s looking just as I want it.

But above all, the whole blogging thing has been an interesting learning curve…and my writing has quite noticeably improved recently even if I do say so myself. Here is what I’ve learned about blogging…

A coherent and logical structure is vital.
Rambling posts just don’t cut it and will lose you readers faster than you can say “blog” (which is very fast). Each post must have a beginning, a middle and an end. Some of my favourite structures are “list” posts such as this one and “process” posts such as “here’s a step-by-step guide to…”.
Self-indulgence is not a good thing.
At least not for professional or semi-professional blogs which are also designed to help promote and market what you do. I’m very guilty of this on this blog, but then I now view this as more of a personal blog than a professional one, so it’s my prerogative to do what I want ;-)
Add value, add value and then when you’re done, add some more.
Aaagh, a phrase from my old consulting days - “So how exactly does that add value?” - I never thought I’d hear myself saying it again but it’s just so true. The best blog posts are ones that add as much value to the reader as possible. Fear of giving too much information away is something that often holds people back from doing this but in my experience it is one of the most effective ways of keeping your readers happy.
Cut out the waffle.
Again, something I’m guilty of but I’m trying hard to tighten up my own editing in posts and have recently found myself cutting out huge swathes of text because, on 2nd glance, it simply hasn’t added any value to the post.
It’s not all about the money.
Despite saying in the last post, that next year is the “year of money”, I am not completely money-motivated (although I don’t think that’s necessarily a bad thing - whatever works for you). This is the approach I’ve taken on most of my blogs. I’ve only ever half-heartedly attempted to monetise any of my blogs using adsense, affiliate schemes and other ad revenue generators. Personally, I don’t believe ads on a blog make for the best user experience on a blog (which for me is really all about connecting with people and stimulating conversation) and making money from a blog was never the reason behind any of my blogs.
But you can earn money from a blog without adsense & paid links.
Instead of monetising my blogs by littering them with adsense and affiliate banners, I’ve chosen a slightly different route and focused first on building up a community, off of which I can then promote and sell my own stuff. Things like my book, my custom-designed t-shirts and recommended tools for LIPs.
What goes on off your blog is just as important as what happens on it.
Whilst a pre-requisite for blogging success is great content, what happens off your blog is almost as important as what’s on it. Simply sitting at your desk and writing great posts is unlikely (at least in the short term) to get your blog noticed or generate much traffic. To do this, you have to be an active blogger off your blog too. Using a full range of social media tools, it is possible to drive swathes of traffic to your own site without having to pay for it using adwords or the like. There’s nothing like knowing your words are being read for motivating you to carry on…so get active off your blog as well as on it. Need help? My even more blatant plug for the day is this >>>

Am I aiming to become a “big time” blogger? Yes, I guess I am. I would like to have lost more subscribers on my LIP blog (not this one, it’s far too personal!) and I would like for it to be a really active community. For that to happen though, I still have a lot of work to do…

On Blogging