Part two in a four-part series, continued from Better Blogging
Lesson Two:
Bad
Blogging
What makes for an unsuccessful blog? First of all, determine what “success”
means for your blog. Is it money? Is it a large readership? Is it quantifiable
action done by those whom you have reached? Then, make some goals and
objectives as to how you will achieve such success.
The root cause of the lack of success may be many reasons:
- A niche already dominated by
other superior sites or blogs. - A lack of consistency with
too many posts varying from topic to topic, with no clear focus. - Laziness or an inability to
stay consistent. - Not enough knowledge or
experience from which to draw from to produce content that people love.
Let’s tackle the first bullet point. This is why you need to take some time
and really develop your theme. What is your blog really about, and who is your
audience? On what subject will your main content focus? Then, after tallying
your own passions and skills, find something in which you can invest and not
grow weary, but don’t walk the same path as countless others and think you will
bring something new to the table. Find a niche.
The second reason for unsuccessful blogging can also be included in this
point. Once you choose a theme, stay consistent with it. This is not to wall
you in and destroy your creativity; conversely, such structure will help your
creativity flourish. The point is that in writing, you want to give yourself
something to work with. Otherwise you’re writing about nothing, and there can
only be one Seinfeld.
The third point calls us to be honest with ourselves – sometimes we fail
because we don’t work hard enough. If you want a successful blog, you are going
to have to work for it. Most assuredly, it will not just happen. You will not
coincidentally get thousands of daily readers without some real effort put into
your blog. This is where many people simply don’t try. They narrow-mindedly limit
the use of their blog to some kind of online journal where they can express
their inner feelings… with an audience. They miss out on the power and
influence they can have, if they were to utilize the resources their readers
offer.
Although there are blogging entrepreneurs out there who actually make a
steady income off of their blogs that may not be your calling. What I mean by
“resources” is not only cash flow, but the chance to reach a large
group of people. You can call them to social action or global awareness. You
can start a charity fund-raising campaign with your readers as supporters. You
can share information with massive amounts of people and ask them to do the
same with their networks. You have the world at your fingertips; do
something with it outside of feeding your own ego.
The final point goes with my last post. Do you have something worth saying?
Have you enough knowledge or experience in your writing subject? If not,
perhaps it’s time to choose another theme, or pick up a book. There’s nothing
wrong with discovering things along with the reader. Such an exploration, if
pursued in humility, might actually make for a compelling blog.
If you don’t know a lot about your
subject, don’t try to pass yourself off as an expert. If you’re new to blogging
and/or to your subject matter, the best thing you can do is good research. Make
lots of references to other articles, blogs, and websites. This will get you
out of a potential blogging rut.
