{Have you checked out the free 7-day Start Your Blog Challenge? Sign up here.
It’s Day 4, which means you’re now an official blogger!
Did you get your blogger tattoo yet? Because although I support you 100% with your decision, I’d recommend you keep reading before you finalize that ink.
Today’s the day where we talk about something that is the opposite of a dirty word.
And that word is CONTENT.
Content is so much the opposite of a dirty word that it’s probably the most important word any blogger needs to know, and the one word that you maybe should consider if you are going the whole tattoo route.
It turns out that blogs without good content suck.
Given this, it is your most important goal to create great content, and to do so on a regular basis.
A couple days ago, I asked you WHY you wanted to blog in the first place.
There are millions of reasons why you might want to start a blog, and here were a few I suggested:
- Do you want to provide your mother with more frequent pictures of her tiny grandchild as he learns to throw spaghetti on your walls?
- Do you want to share your dog training business with the world?
- Are you going on a trip and want to chronicle the journey?
- Do you love social media and think that blogging might be a way to expand on what you’re posting in other places?
- Do you want to create an online diary of your first year in college/in the police force/living in a treehouse?
If any of these resonate with you, huzzah! That said, odds are your particular reasons for blogging are different than the few listed above. And that’s even more awesome.
No matter what your reason is for blogging, there are few key rules to content that can help guide you to ensure that you are creating great content.
You Do You
Being You is the most important rule to content, and it’s a critical one. Whether that means writing dog training tips that adhere to your sassy style, or ensuring that the spaghetti wall photos have the picture perfect lighting you love to best show their splatter, being you is about not being anyone else. This may sound basic, but honestly if you stick with this blogging thing, and start reading more blogs and meeting more bloggers around the internet, you may feel the urge to compare yourself, or to try and emulate what others are doing. Some of that is OK – as learning from others is always great in life – but remember that the reason people will start to like your blog as you move forward will be your style, your words, and your content. YOU DO YOU!
Do it on the Regular
Good bloggers know that a great blog adheres to regularity. Making sure that your readers know that you haven’t forgotten about them, and ARE dedicated to continuing to deliver content, is important to building a following. But that doesn’t mean there is one set schedule you have to follow. Seth Godin might blog every day, but your favorite cooking blog might do one post a month, the guitar junkies blog you love posts once a week, and that Real Housewives blog you can’t put down has content several times a day (because them housewives be crazy)! The point is that you follow those blogs and keep coming back because you know that something new WILL be coming – on whatever schedule they are on. And, keep in mind, that “schedule” doesn’t have to be a rigid “post every Tuesday”. It can also mean, “post a couple times a month” — on the days that best strike you.
Do it Pretty
Now, I almost hesitate to mention this one because there ARE blogs on the interwebs that don’t adhere to this rule and still have wildly successful followings. That said, the idea behind this rule is that the majority of great blogs out there have images. And so I’d encourage you to think about using images (or video) as a way to help bring your content to life. Remember, also, that “pretty” is a general term. Pretty might be a gorgeous sunset, a sad looking selfie, or something in between. It’s just a way to bring your blog further to life – beyond the words.
Your challenge for today?
Brainstorm three potential blog posts. As you think about their content, their timing, and their potential multimedia component, follow these three rules. When you put up a post, leave a comment here and I’ll come visit!
Claire, thank you for your 7-day challenge. I appreciate all you do for others including this stumbling, fumbling blogger.
Yay! A bit less stumbling, fumbling these days I hope? 😉