Habits of Effective Bloggers

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ProBlogger.net's Darren Rowse decided he was going to write an article about the Habits of Highly Effective Bloggers. Then as it progressed he was

frustrated because he could easily see that  some successful bloggers did the things on his list while others totally - um - didn't.

And so Darren's 'Habits of Highly Effective Bloggers Group Writing Project' was born; reaching out to gather multiple opinions about things "that new bloggers wanting to grow in their ’success’ or ‘effectiveness’ might find useful."

It's not essential that you do everything on my list - these simply work for me.
They are straightforward and relatively easy to put into practice - but if you find any particularly helpful - or crazy - feel free to talk back, Conversations are what make the bloggosphere the wonderland it is.

1.)  Write as You Can Carve Out Time.

Be it five minutes or an hour. Jot ideas on your PDA and beam to the computer when you can. Phone-blog. Do it in bite sized morsels. Blog instead of watching TV - or while waiting for soccer practice to end.

Use the Type-Pad Quick Post from your Firefox toolbar when you see something that you want to talk about. It takes a minute - literally. Save as 'draft' and come back when you've time to flesh it out.

Use the time-tested mom's trick and lock yourself in the bathroom for some alone time to carve out your blogging niche.

In short - do whatever you need to do to get it done.  

2.)   Add Images

Giving the reader one more thing to catch his/her attention and stay on your blog a  minute longer just has to be a good thing.  

3.) Enjoy what you Blog about and it won't Feel Like Work. 

Have opinions about baseball? Then don't blog about football because you think that will be more popular.

Readers will be entertained by your passion for the game and your insights about why Cal Ripken became a Bal'mer insitution. With the help of  other bloggers the readers will find you

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4.) Make a Point to Read and Comment on Other Blogs.

Set aside a specific time for it if that's the only way you'll do it. - even if that means only fifteen minutes two nights a week. 

I don't mean reading just 'A listers' and not only blogs in your field.

Winning Idea Apply Across Fields is more than the title of a blog entry; it's very true in my case. I absolutely have learned more in six months with my LinkedIn Bloggers group  than I did from other artists and entrepreneurs in multiple groups over many years.

It doesn't matter if there's not one artists, or accountant's or lawyer's or hairdresser's blog among those you read. Interacting with other bloggers is a wonderful way to meet and share ideas with people who are serious about whatever they do, positive about networking. The openness to communicating through blogs is often all you need to have in common.

5.) Adopt an Authentic Voice.

Use words you use in daily life, things you'd say to best friend from  grade school, phrases you use in meetings, stuff you'd overhear in a restaurant. Write like real people talk.

For my money, Liz Strauss is one of the most 'human' writers in the Blogosphere. And I think it's because her tone is warm and conversational. I can tell if she''s laughing or serious by her use of words and I think others can too. She "sounds" genuine.

Don't get me wrong. I'm not saying you can't use skillfully crafted sentences or I couldn't be pointing towards Liz. And I'd be the last person to tell you that you can't use four syllable words - because if I did people would call me out for doing just that. But I write in my normal vocabulary, and my normal tone and  - ask my family - it sounds just like me.

6.) Take Responsibility for Bringing in Readers   

You'll find a short tutorial on ways to bring your site some traffic while increasing your search engine rating at the article and diagrams at this post. Try it - it works

7.) Learn Everything You Can about Comments and Trackbacks

Maybe you'll find helpful this short tutorial showing  how these inter-connectivity tools really do work and why it's worth learning about them 

8.) Pay Attention

Notice what you like and what you don't like while you're reading. Your own blog will benefit.

9.) Know Your 'Productivity Must Haves'

At one point I could have blogged from the patio while my three year old played in the wading pool. Twenty years later I know the limits of my concentration.

Today I blog best when alone with the ipod and laptop for company. If my husband is flicking channels or wondering why yahoo isn't remembering him it will take five times as long to create something to push the "publish" button on.

You've got your own issues and hopefully you know what they are. Whether your optimal time is at 7:30 AM before anyone is in the office; noon in the park; after you've had a full day to get your creative juices flowing - whatever it is for you  - figure it out and do it

10.) Don't Hesitate to Write in installments or series.

Don't just make excuses about not having the time, energy, or functional brain cells necessary to give a topic the kind of detailed treatment you'd like at this very moment.

Publish as a series of posts on a running theme, or just plain save what you've got now - without hitting the publish button. Come back to it later when more idea are popping or your eyes are not drooping or the boss is not looking perturbed.

You don't think this is all I have to say about the Habits of Highly Effective Bloggers Group Writing Project do you? 

Bingo.

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Give our self-esteem a shot in the arm by marking us as a technorati favorite Bookmark at +Del.icio.us and Click here to deliver a daily dose of Asylum  updates

 

Comments

[Karen]

Hi Susan
This is an excellent post. And thanks especially for the two tutorials. I had never heard of the Who's linking to you widget before. Much appreciated.

[Terry J. Snipes]

Very nice information. It amazes me to see so many bloggers taking this seriously and trying to grow. This is so big and lots of people who I know have no idea they can make money from blogs. I first started blogging because I wanted my voice to be heard. Anyway, nice read and I'll be checking back to see you entries.

Love, peace and empathy.

Terry J. Snipes
Writingup.com

[Hsien Lei]

Thanks for sharing, Susan. Your pics for this post are so quirky! :)