Posted in Blogging Bunk How To
Advice for the novice blogger: Part 2
Today’s installment comes from rikc, a member of the two person blogging team behind Popcraft:
- Why are your ideas different? It sounds awfully generic, but deciding on your personal attitude and making sure you stick to it is important. Starting a blog means you feel like you have something valuable to say about something, and you should be able to figure out for yourself what that thing is so your writing is more focused in the future. For instance, instead of just saying “I want to start a movie blog,” think “I want to start a movie blog that ____________.” When you’re writing a new entry, focus on the second half of that statement. Movie blogs can be read anywhere, but your ideas can not.
- How professional is this? Who’s your target? Decide who your audience is and make sure you are writing for them. With my own writing, I attempt to talk casually about music to an audience that is equally casual with their interest. By contrast, Beeps and Boops takes on a more professional tone, as it is aimed at a more informed audience. Readers should be able to figure this out by reading any given entry. Obviously, the idea is that by striking the right tone for your audience, you have a better chance of securing their readership.
Here are some things I think you should avoid thinking about too much:
- Is your writing good enough? Yes. No. Who cares? Go read other blogs about the same subject you’re interested in writing about. The majority of them will be completely terrible and you will never be able to write anything so awful. At the same time, you are most likely not at your peak powers. You want to produce solid, good writing, but don’t be afraid of writing something that might be bad. You will be writing a lot, and a good amount of that writing will not be your best work, and that’s fine. You will only get better. It’s easy to worry yourself into a corner and just put off something until you feel “ready.” This is the worst thing you can do to yourself. Even the best blogs miss all the time, but you keep reading them because you know they’re going to hit soon.
- Don’t overplan. It’s really easy to sit there and figure out what you want to do with your blog over the next three months and lay out a bunch of short and long-term goals, all the while putting off actually writing. Don’t do this. 90% of ideas you have a month in advance will not end up materializing, so don’t waste your time. It’s important to try to build a routine and think up regular features, but it’s more important to update regularly whether you are on a strict schedule or not.
- Are people reading? No. They will, but be prepared to have your best writing be read by only a handful of people for a long time. Don’t get discouraged when you track your hits and they’re not going up. The good news? The people who are reading probably really like you, and you’re just improving your skills for when you finally do attract a larger reader base.
Here are some more specific, practical suggestions:
- Use media. Include a picture or video clip as often as you can. It sounds a little base, but people like having something to look at. Are you starting a movie blog? Throw up a movie still from the scene you’re talking about. Do you like sports? Show the play you’re analyzing so people know what you’re referring to.
- Yes, link all the time, everywhere. Even setting up a short RSS feed on social networking sites will start bringing people to your blog. If you wrote something you particularly like, post it on your Facebook wall. I got a message on another web site yesterday from a complete stranger who came across Popcraft from a feed I set up on my page. Everything helps. Don’t just link, tell people about it in person. No one is going to promote your blog for you, so don’t be afraid to talk about it.
- Get a partner. This is pretty circumstantial and really tricky, but having someone else to work with is a great way to keep each other motivated and make the effort easier to manage. In my case, Popcraft would have even happened without Michael’s involvement, and the writing has pretty noticeably improved since we both started updating regularly at the same time. If you have somebody who shares your ideas and you think can contribute, bounce the idea off of them.
- Design it well. I love Tumblr for personal blogging, but I couldn’t imagine it for anything “professional” where I want archives that are easy to navigate. Have a friend help you design something slick. Buy a domain name. Invest in your work, but at the same time don’t get so caught up in designing a site that you put off your writing.
Oh also, setting up a Twitter for your blog is a good idea, as well. Even your regular readers probably won’t check your site daily, but they do check Twitter. It’s a good way to announce new updates, and also talk with your reader base a bit. In popcraft’s case, we get as many hits from Twitter links as anything else.
