What I Blog About When I Blog About Blogging
Practice is an amazing thing. At first, you start of really bad – actually worse than that…absolutely bloody awful.
Weeks, months or years later you end up a lot better at that craft/element/skill and wonder how it was all so hard.
Lately I’ve been asked by a few friends to help with their blog which has somewhat surprised and perplexed me. Mainly because blogging can be really hard in the beginning and takes up vast amount of time and it’s often done we are very tired, especially if we have a day job. I am certainly no expert but I’m betting better. So I thought I’d share my advice.
Write around what you’re passionate about
An Editor of a magazine that I did some freelance work for told my his favourite pieces that I wrote for them were when I was angry. The best pieces represented what I was passionate about. If you’re commissioned to write something that isn’t your first love then make sure you inject your personality into your writing. Do you have a defined style, agenda and voice behind your work.
Do it regularly
Blogging really does need to be done regularly. When you’re first starting out and it’s taking a lot of time for you to put your content together and use WordPress for example, it can be really hard. Seriously though, the more you practice, the easier and quicker it gets. I blog once a week as part of supplying high-quality free content for people who we also see as potential customers. Some people blog more than once a week, others once a month but once a week is the minimum advised.
Use high-quality photographs
You don’t necessarily need to spend a lot of money on photographs but they do need to be good graphics. My favourite site for free, arty photos is www.unsplash.com which is a fantastic resource.
Post on more than one medium
So, you have a WordPress side or similar and you share your post via Facebook and Twitter? Not enough. Don’t forget insta (though you’ll have to use the ‘see link in bio’ line) and don’t forget to publish them on Medium too.
Include a mini-biography & photo
I didn’t twig on to the mini-bio tip until late on in the game. You probably want to use the blog partly to drive traffic to your site/page but people also want to know who you are, what you’re passionate about and what you can offer them…and what you look like.
Don’t forget your call to action
What do you want people to click onto next – where is going to be the place that they are absolutely going to go to next? Make sure you use professional looking graphics and text – we love Canva.
Use guest bloggers occasionally
Having guest bloggers can be a great way of creating interest for your blog. You might have some friends and/or contacts who are willing to share content for free and you might need to pay some people. Watch out for people who try to fleece you because they are self proclaimed experts and want paying as such but can’t write a proper blog.
Use facts & figures – and reference them
I’m pretty bad at that but I’m getting better. if you are referencing research make sure it’s current and factual.
Use hyperlinks properly
Don’t just throw them in. Make sure they work i.e aren’t broken and keep the actual address embedded within the text.
Use hashtags and categories
Otherwise, how are people going to find your awesome content?
Blog about current affairs (that you’re interested in)
This relates to point one. Check out what hashtags are trending on twitter and what people are talking about on Facebook, Instagram and of course, the news.