I was thinking today about saturation points. Is there such a thing as too much blogging? Is the rise of the blog making this vehicle a little jaded? People from all over the globe are logging in and letting us now the everyday detritus of their lives, from relationship problems to how to raise hamsters effectively. Is there a point when society will kick back and reject the blog as an overused format?

As of 2007, there were over 112,000,000 blogs in operation online. While many people launch a blog and then let it slide, realizing that it takes time and commitment to make it work, many more people have realized that blogging is one of the most effective ways of promoting both your company and your brand. Blogging is cheap, accessible, and simple to commence. It makes sense that more and more people are jumping on the blog bandwagon to promote their services with minimal outlay and maximum benefits.

How blogging has evolved…

The very first blog was launched in 1997, and the name ‘blog’ was coined by Jorn Barger at this point. The word ‘blog’ is both a noun and a verb, meaning we can use the term interchangeably to describe the platform, and the action. Before blogs, the only interactive vehicle we had was comment forums, where threads of posts led from one subject to another, or IRC. Before blogging went mainstream, people referred to their blogs as online magazines, ezines, or comment forums.

Nowadays, blogging is as common in social media as email. Open Diary, Live Journal, WordPress and Blogger have made online journaling accessible, easy and free.

Why does everyone have the urge to blog?

Even people who don’t have a product to promote or a service to sell still relish the prospect of blogging. Before the humble blog was born, the only way people had to express their opinions was through publishing. Vanity publishing has always been popular, as writers expressed their views within a text and paid for it to be distributed. As the publishing industry became more difficult to permeate, people were stuck without a platform to air their views. The launch of blogging provided a free, easy and ultimately satisfying service for people who needed a place to sound off and attempt notoriety.

Humans like to express opinions. We spend the majority of our time formulating views and then sharing them with people. The onset of blogging made people feel confident enough to express their views, with no risk of censorship. From political blogging in troubled countries right through to the bored househusband looking to liven up their day, the world has embraced the media of blogging.

Is there such a thing as too much?

As with any popular platform, there is always a risk that too many people will jump on the bandwagon and flood the media market. As an advocate of blogging, I am always in favor of people expressing themselves through blogs. I think the trick is, when navigating your way through the myriad blogs out there, is to search carefully for subjects which interest you, and find like-minded individuals to follow. With so much choice out there, we are able to cherry-pick the best writing out there, and be selective when it comes to spending our time reading other people’s blogs.

Read the full post: Are People Getting Sick Of Blogs?

Keeping your blog as a positive thing on your task list

Try associating writing your blog with a pleasurable part of your day, maybe you have a cup of your favorite coffee and a couple of biscuits while you write. By a pleasant association you are more likely to enjoy the experience every day. If sitting down and writing becomes connected with a negative experience or feeling you are less likely to want to form that habit. If writing it feels like a chore then you aren’t going to want to sit down and write it!

Build it into your routine. Choose a time of day to write your blog that best suits you and your finest creative brain. Some people work well early in the morning, some in the evening. They don’t take long to update, try allowing yourself some time in your life to write uninterrupted; by allowing yourself some time it does become an integral part of your day. I find the first light of day an inspiration and love listening to the silence of the day before the hustle and bustle starts properly.

Making your environment work for your blogging

It’s also a good idea to make sure working conditions are good for you. Let your friends and family know this is the time that you will be writing your posts and you’d appreciate it if they gave you some peace and quiet for a while. It’s impossible to think when the kids want you to sort out an argument, you’re wanted on the phone or one of the other many reasons our lives are never our own. Shut the door; give yourself some space to think.

Forming the habit of writing it is going to take time, it’s not going to happen overnight, just as a good following won’t. Psychologists recommend doing an activity everyday for 30 days for something to become a habit.

…And that is good advice for a blogger. In order for a blog to work it needs to be updated regularly, every day to start with. Your followers are looking for good and original posts from you regularly. Although you shouldn’t post things just for the sake of a post, that kind of content is less likely to wow than one you actually have something to say in.

Maybe you can’t get to your PC to write sometimes. We all end up with other overriding commitments sometimes. If this happens, try taking a notebook or a voice recorder with you so you can brainstorm at convenient times, when inspiration strikes. Lots of us have this facility on our phones these days – I find both methods useful when I’m out and about, to record ideas that pop into my head.

Keeping the blogging habit alive and well

When it comes to blogging commitments, focus on the positive, not the negative. Rather than dwelling on the posts you forgot to publish, concentrate on tomorrow’s post and make sure that gets done. In order for something to become a habit, you need to think of it in a positive light. If you start concentrating on the negative you will condition your brain to associate blogging with stress, performance anxiety and boredom. Remember we do this for the pleasure, not because it causes us pain!

All habits take a while to form, so give yourself time to get used to your new routine. Keep light-hearted about your blog, and use it as a platform to promote you and your business without feeling overwhelmed by the obligations which regular blogging brings.

Read the full post: Getting Yourself Into The Blogging Habit

With this in mind, here are some of my favorite stress-busting techniques, that can come in handy for us poor overworked bloggers…

Manage your time properly

When we run our own business, sometimes it can feel as if you have a never-ending list of things to do. No sooner do you get one job out of the way, than another three sneak on to the bottom of the list. If we’re not careful, we run the risk of becoming completely out of our depth and fire-fighting all hours of the day and evening just to keep our heads above water.

Managing your time is critical. Look at your things to do list and prioritize it well. Is it really so important that you comment on ten blogs this morning, or can you leave that until you’ve sorted out your affiliate program and answered all of your outstanding emails? By reassessing your list of tasks, the chances are you’ll be able to move things around and buy yourself some much-needed time.

Be kind to yourself

One of the main issues people who run their own business encounter is learning when to stop. In truth, there will never be an end to the things you can do to promote your business. Whether you are getting up early to network, optimizing your blog or polishing your products, you’ll know that there will never be enough hours in the day to do everything that is outstanding.

This is where being kind to yourself comes in. Have you noticed that most people go to work in the morning, do seven or eight hours, and then come home? They don’t lug their desk back home with them and carry on writing and working in to the small hours. Why should you? The whole point of being our own boss is surely to bring us some freedom. Don’t forget to enjoy yours! Whether you choose to have one afternoon off a week for doing nice stuff like walking, going out or simply snoozing, make sure you limit the time you spend working and remember to be a good parent, spouse or friend to the people around you!

Relax – It’s just a business!

Most of us forget to take things steady when we set up on our own. It’s really important to stand back sometimes and see just how much you’ve achieved. The chances are you have come a long, long way since you started out, and you need to take a moment to acknowledge that to yourself.
Remember that as long as you have enough cash to pay your bills, and enough time to spend with the people you care about, you’re doing well.

What is your experience of working for yourself – is it better or worse for you than the corporate world? What have you learned? Let me know your experiences!

Read the full post: The Wider Picture Of Blogging

We know that blogging can work, in terms of generating revenue and working hard to promote your business and services. We also know that blogging is not an overnight money-maker, and we’re probably not going to change the world with our blog, no matter how fantastic it is.

I’ve been thinking about blogging as a way to promote your business, and there are a number of advantages and disadvantages to it. It’s up to each one of us, personally, to decide whether it’s the right vehicle for us and our business. Here are my thoughts on the highs and lows of blogging…

The highs…

One of the main advantages of blogging, to my mind, is the fun factor. Setting up, choosing your theme and finding images and add-ons is a great experience. It’s good to know you are creating your own space online, and you have complete control of how it looks and all its functionality.

Blogs are one of the few front-line ways of communicating. They provide visible and tangible ways of monitoring your traffic, and technology today means we can update our blogs from just about anywhere. The fact that I can lie on the beach and upload a post from my sun lounger while sipping a margarita is marketing heaven. Not that I like margaritas, or for that matter, beaches…

Unlike other types of advertising and promotion, blogs are completely controllable. We decide what comments we want to publish, what subjects we choose to write about, when posts go live and when they don’t. We can make mistakes, knowing that with just a few clicks we can put them right again.
If we run a personal blog, it provides a great platform for venting emotion, journaling (if that’s a word) our lives and keeping in touch with people. Business blogs let us share what we learn, promote our expertize and maintain impetus by making regular updates.

Possibly the best advantage to blogging is the way that we get to ‘meet’ people online and build up a really great social network. I know for a fact that I would never have had the opportunity to meet some of the people I communicate with every day, had it not been for my blog. Blogs keep us in touch with people, and for those of us who work from home that interaction is really valuable.

And the lows…

OK. Here are some of the disadvantages.

• Blogging is not a quick fix, and it won’t make us overnight millionaires.
• Blogs are like children – they need ongoing nurturing to prevent neglect, and to help them grow in to decent and thriving ‘beings’.
• Blogging is frustrating. Wondering why some posts work and others don’t, or why you aren’t getting noticed for your writing can be incredibly annoying for the newbie blogger. Of all the jobs in the world, running a blog has to be one of the most emotional! If things go well, you’re elated. If they go badly, you’re despondent. You can’t rely on your blog to put you in a good mood!
• Writing your blog can be a total bind. If you’ve just come home after a long day of networking or meetings, and had a row with your other half, and there’s a great game on TV, the last thing you want to do is pick up your laptop and write a witty and interesting post. At times like this, you wonder why you bothered.

Having said all that, I know from personal experience that I will always be a big advocate of the blogging platform. Looking back at this post, I realize that the advantages far outweigh the disadvantages. Take a look at the list and decide for yourself whether this is the right industry for you. It really isn’t for everyone, but can be wonderful if it is for you.

Read the full post: The Highs And Lows Of Blogging

If you’re new to the world of blogging, let’s get the basics out of the way first. At first look, a blog is an online space where you can write about what interests you, in the hope of it also being interesting to other people. You probably already follow and admire some great blogs, so you understand just how powerful it can be to generate a following through your writing.

The problem is, when you first think about starting a new blog, it can be daunting. What the heck do you write about? What if no-one is interested? What if you can’t commit much time to updating your posts? Let’s answer some of these questions.

What should you write about?

There is no one answer to this. There’s no way I can find to determine what works and what doesn’t for a potential blog. While we understand that some of the top blogs out there deal with subjects such as celebrity gossip or technology, we also know that people who simply sit and journal their day-to-day lives are doing pretty well too.

In order to make a blog work well, you really have to think more about what you are interested in, than what other people may be interested in. This may sound strange, but think about it. If you identify a gap in the blogging market for financial service advice, but you hate figures, your blog is going to come across as flat, false and fake.

However, if you have a secret passion for keeping chickens, you can write with a huge amount of passion. Passion invites passion. The chances are, your chicken-keeping tips and funny stories will attract two sorts of visitor. The first is the ardent chicken-keeping enthusiast. The second is the visitor who comes along to you by mistake, and likes reading your posts because you are passionate.
So. The first rule? Write what you love. Don’t try and create a blog just because you think it will work, but also do some keyword (phrase) research!

What if I don’t have time to update my blog?

There’s a simple answer to this one. If you don’t have time to write your blog, don’t start a blog. Unless you have enough spare capital to pay someone else to do it for you. That was easy – on to the next question!

What if no-one reads my blog?

There are a few reasons why you may not attract traffic to your blog. It could be poorly written. It could be hidden away in a dark corner of the net, and need bringing out in to the light. It could be boring! Or you could be in a non-profitable niche.

If this happens, change the way you operate. Follow a great blogging guide that teaches you the right way to do things (you know where that link will take you!). Enhance your writing skills to make it more readable. Publicize your blog by being a busy guest blogger and commenter on other peoples’ sites. I’ve not met a dedicated blogger yet who can’t get their ‘baby’ noticed through hard work and effort.

Convinced yet? Get out there and get blogging! You’ll be glad you did.

Read the full post: Making The Jump To Writing Your First Blog

It can be hard enough coming up with original content for your own site, so the idea of writing for someone else on top of your usual routine probably fills you with dread. The thing is, there are a number of advantages to lending your services out as a guest blogger. Here’s the lowdown…

Gain exposure on the web

This one is a bit of a no-brainer. The more you put yourself out there on sites and blogs, the more publicity you get to showcase yourself and your services. By taking some time to write for another person, you get the opportunity to introduce yourself to new people and potentially increase your own customer base and contact lists if they like what you have written.

Get subscribers to your own site

Without subscribers to your blog, your site will end up being a lonely and ignored affair, which makes you feel as if you are posting up messages in to the ether. Having a broad range of loyal readers is the equivalent of going to a party and knowing everyone there – it makes you feel as if you are doing something really worthwhile, and your blog is well liked. By posting up quality content as a guest blogger, you enhance your prospects of gaining a wider readership for your work.

Generate more links

Hyperlinks are the friendly and helpful powerhouse of the internet. To enhance your ranking on Google and other engines, you need links. They help you to be recognised as an expert in your field, direct traffic to your site, and increase your visibility on the web. Guest blogging helps you to quickly and easily develop custom anchor-text and back links to your blog. It’s a free and highly effective way of driving your marketing strategy forward.

Direct valuable traffic to your site

We are all ultimately in competition for our readers. If we don’t stay ahead of our game, people will leave our site and look elsewhere for their information. High traffic means high recognition, and high awareness – invaluable if you are selling products through your blog. Sharing your blogging services enables you to generate more traffic. Which enables you to generate more sales. Simple!

Guest blogging is a great way of helping other people, and gaining from it in return. Blog owners gain free content for their site, and you benefit by generating traffic, links and subscribers for your own blog.

If you write quality content that is completely original, use images and research your platform, you will be able to write effective articles which really enhance your personal brand. If you’re lucky, you’ll get asked back to post. You could also ask people to post on your site, and take the day off from writing! Remember that as a guest blogger, this is your chance to showcase your knowledge and encourage people to support you.

If you write good content for other sites, you’ll get all the benefits that guest posting has to offer. If, however, you produce poor-quality writing, you run the risk of doing more harm than good for your own business.

To learn more about guest posting check out Chris Garrett’s Guest Posting eBook ($10).

Read the full post: Why Bother Guest Posting?

What can prove to be a little more difficult is getting people to stick around. We’ve all visited new blogs and checked them out, and then clicked away from them, never to return again.

So. What is the ’stickiness’ factor, and how do you make sure you have it on your blog? Here are a few ideas…

The soap opera technique

Do you ever watch soap operas? Some people live by them. They have an ongoing story to tell, and they retain maximum ’stickiness’ in a number of ways. These include:

• Running plot lines that don’t ever truly conclude (ever watched Lost?!).
• Leaving you hanging with unanswered questions.
• Dealing with relevant topics that people can identify with.
• Letting you get to know the characters, so you care about how they’re getting on.

All these factors can apply equally well to blogging, and you can take inspiration from soap techniques for your own writing. By using open writing styles, you can make sure that people come back to your blog regularly to see how you’re getting on, and develop relationships with people that mean they are eager to get your next installment!

Keep abreast of leading-edge developments in your field

If you can tap in to news as it breaks in your industry, you stand a good chance of retaining your readership for good. Make your blog the first port of call for updates and information, and people will come back again and again, using you as a primary resource for finding things out. The best way to do this is to look online for relevant RSS feeds and subscribe to them, then comment on useful or interesting things which apply to your field of expertise.

Try providing useful widgets

If you make your blog useful, the likelihood is people will come back to the site as a matter of course, as part of their daily routine. Widgets such as weather updates, news items on a particular subject, or essential information such as share prices, promotions or offers (depending upon your area of industry) can be a great – and easy – way of making your blog site indispensable to your readers. Make it easy for people to bookmark you, and then make them want to visit you time and again.

Remind people through other means to visit your blog

Sometimes, we forget about even the best things in life. Have you ever discovered a great new recipe for a meal, only to kind of forget about it again? Blogs can be like that. Even the best ones can slip the net if people aren’t given a reminder to go back and check in with them. Keep your blog at the forefront of your readers’ minds, by linking to it from your other resources. Make it a prominent part of your company web site, and try sending out monthly e-mail newsletters that link people straight back to your blog. Make it even easier for people to return, by offering a prompt to add your blog to their ‘Favorites’ list.

Harness the power of storytelling

Storytelling is a skill which every single person responds to. Structure your blog posts with a clear beginning, a great middle and a decisive ending. These techniques tap in to our inherent response to stories which has been developed in us since we were children. By making your posts clear, well-structured and readable, you’ll give people a sense of ease when they read your posts, and encourage them to return to your site for another dose of storytelling, every day. As busy adults, we don’t often get the chance to take time out and lose ourselves in a great story. Your blog can be one of the places where people pop in to tune out for a while!

Build up long-term online relationships

This is the most simple, and most effective, way of building your readership and making your blog stickier than a fly caught in treacle (mmmm…). If people who visit feel that they are getting to know you, and you are reliable when it comes to providing help and support, they’ll come to view you as a valued colleague and friend. This is achieved by:

• Making regular (and I mean REGULAR) updates on your blog.
• Answering all comments and queries quickly and efficiently.
• Being helpful, supportive and proactive when it comes to dealing with comments.
• Visiting other blogs, and offering them the readership that you yourself are seeking to gain.

…Simple!

If you have a ’sticky’ blog, get in touch in the comments and share your expertise with me!

Read the full post: Improving Your Blog Stickiness

So why do we do it?

We all know that a successful blog depends on a number of factors. For a site to succeed it needs to be informative, engaging, and most importantly, updated regularly. There’s nothing worse than going to a blog you like, only to discover there’s been no activity for a few weeks. It makes us feel let down, as if the person behind the blog has given up on it and can’t find the interest to maintain it. We leave, and don’t bother going back.

It’s all very well knowing this, but the fact remains that updating your blog can be a trial sometimes. After a hard day at work the last thing we sometimes feel like doing is posting up a sparkly message. It’s easy to allow a blog to get stale, but this is fatal for business.

So, how do we find the motivation to keep going? Here are a few ideas…

Think of your audience

It can really help the blogging process if you take some time to consider who you are writing for. Somewhere, someone right now is reading your blog. What do you want to do for them? Whether your goal is to inspire, teach, share or just talk to your online audience, it’s worth remembering that your blog is actually being read, and enjoyed, by people. Don’t let your fans down by forgetting to update!

Encourage feedback and open up communications channels
Nothing creates motivation for the humble blogger like being acknowledged. Whether you are getting praise or criticism, either form of feedback will provide you with motivation to carry on. Just knowing that your words are having an impact will give you a kick start to update more regularly. Invite people to comment on what you’ve said, and engage in dialogue with them – it’s one of the most rewarding things we can do as bloggers.

Blog on subjects close to your heart
What really gets you going? What are you passionate about? Are there any subjects which you really enjoy learning about, and sharing what you have learned? Keep your blogging lively and enthusiastic by choosing subjects you care about. Your passion will shine through in your words.

Keep remembering why you started blogging in the first place
If things are becoming a little stale on your blog, it’s worth going back to the beginning and remembering what prompted you to start writing in the first place. Was it to promote your business? Speak passionately about something that interests you? Help people? Whatever your initial motivation was, it won’t be hard to get it back once you start thinking about what your objectives are. Sometimes, we just need a reminder about what we want to achieve, before we can find the motivation to get out there and do it.

Build blogging in to your daily routine
Blogging can be a bit like cleaning your teeth and making the bed – you don’t always feel like doing it, but it always gets done. Because it has to. Instead of thinking of writing updates as a chore, it’s worth incorporating it in to your daily schedule, alongside all the other things you usually do. If you can look after yourself and your home, you can look after your blog in exactly the same way.

Visit other people for inspiration
One of the principal motivators for writers is seeing the way other people approach it. Have you ever watched a good film, and been inspired to be creative, or read a book that got you to thinking how you could do something similar? Reading other bloggers can provide you with new ideas and get the creative juices flowing. Who knows – you may be inspiring someone with your writing, right now!

What techniques do you use to keep your blog up to date? Let me know!

Read the full post: How To Keep Motivated To Write Your Blog

Admit it, it’s a bit mind-boggling to try and keep ahead of all the things you have to do when you first start blogging. I’ve been thinking about this a lot, and working out how best to approach the daunting task of keeping up to date with everything. There are so many things to consider – designing your blog, keeping it current, adding plug-ins, commenting, and driving traffic to it from other areas.

I’ve had some ideas…

Think about running a successful blog in the same way as maintaining a garden. This might seem a weird analogy, but the principles are the same. The successful gardener doesn’t jump in and plant everything all at once – they step back and consider how to keep the space current all year round, and work accordingly. So, using this analogy, here’s how to prioritize your workload and keep your blog fresh and current…

Landscaping

You can save time and effort in the long run by planning the design of your blog carefully. Scope out what you want to achieve with it. Think about things like who your readers are likely to be, what they might want to see, and what will prove to be eye-catching and interesting to your potential audience. Just like a landscape designer, you need to keep the purpose of your blog in mind throughout the planning process. By establishing these simple elements from the outset, you can reduce time and effort later as your blog takes shape.

Planting seeds

Just like gardening, blogging takes careful preparation. Ideas that you sow early on may take time to flourish and ‘take root’. Sowing seeds such as customer engagement, good communication and great service may seem fruitless initially, but these are the cornerstones of great blogging. The work you put in at the beginning will reap rewards in the end. Don’t forget these softer elements when it comes to running your blog.

Manage your time, manage your workload

Like a gardener has a diary, so you need a set routine to commit to blogging well. Think about the times of day you are most creative, and when you produce your best work. Keep this time separate, dedicated to your posts. From there, you can work out a schedule that suits you. For example, set down half an hour a day for posting comments to other sites, half an hour for networking and driving traffic to your blog, and half an hour for design and optimization. If you were working in a garden, you’d pick afternoons for easier tasks, and tackle the more onerous jobs first. Blogging is the same – you know your own work rhythm, and can work around this to make the most of your time.

Bring in the experts

The online world is full of brilliant people who know more than you do about specific parts of your new business. Just as a gardener outsources some elements of their work (such as bricklaying, design and architecture), so a blogger needn’t be afraid of leaning on other people.

If you’re not keen on writing, get a reputable person or company to undertake that part for you. If the thought of doing technical enhancements makes you run for cover, bring in an expert to do it for you. You’re not expected to be brilliant at everything in the blogging mix – so, be brilliant at delegating, instead!

Have you found anything that helps you to stay ahead of the competition, and use your time wisely? Let me know!

Read the full post: How To “Grow” Your Blog

What really blew my mind was that when looking for batteries, there are nearly 1,000 reviews of a rechargeable AA battery. Yes, not nearly 100, but nearly 1,000 reviews! Of a battery. One you’ve probably never even heard of. These batteries to be precise.

Who would have thought that 10, 5 or even a couple of years ago that people, for no reward, would willing write a review of batteries for someone else’s website? Not me, probably not even Amazon.

My mind is boggled!

So what lessons can you learn from that? A few ideas:

• People love to give their opinion.
• Make it easy for people to leave their thoughts and comments (see my blog comment systems post).
• Actively solicit opinions, and respond to them. Make them feel valued.
• Being perceived as an expert is important to a lot of people. Check out the different battery tests people have written about in the battery reviews!
• People can surprise you and do something you may have not thought they would.
• Predicting the future based on what people do today is not the best idea.

What other lessons can be learned from this? Any ideas?

Read the full post: What Can Bloggers Learn From Amazon?