Over the years I’ve been blogging there have been many things I’ve learnt along the way. Some things however are timeless and even at this stage in my blogging career I return to what I’ve compiled below and strive to do it better.
I’m always trying to learn new ways I can improve my blog and blogging practice. Similarly to Darren from ProBlogger I’m considering compiling my knowledge and the PowerPoint presentations I use for teaching into e-books that will be available to download on Lady Melbourne.
Here is a little taster to get you started!
1. Formatting
Writing for the web is not the same as writing for print because people read differently on the internet. One of the impediments to online reading is physical: It’s harder to read on a screen than it is to read on paper.
Generally speaking—shorter is better. One of the handiest tools for online content creation is the word-processor’s word-count function. If you’re consistently writing paragraphs with more than 50 words, you should probably lighten up.
2. Consistency
If you update your blog frequently, more people will return on a regular basis to read it. Establishing a reader base will motivate you to write more and in turn more people will read your posts.
If you’d like to include regular features such as look of the day, must-have item of the week etc, choose a particular day you’ll include these features, and stay consistent. Plan a time of day people can expect to see your latest offerings. Do you want to reveal your masterpieces in the morning, in the afternoon? Make the most of automatic or scheduled post features that is inherent to most blogging platforms.
3. Original content
If you can create content from scratch then you are more likely to be able to sustain your blogging habits. Seeing the same press release, pictures and YouTube video time and time again can be boring for your readers so get creative and do it yourself.
4. Tools
Life is easier as a blogger if you have great tools at your fingertips. It has taken me years to build up what I use every day because lets face it: money doesn’t grow on trees. If you want to make blogging your full time job then you will need to invest in the following:
- A computer/PC/laptop with powerful processing capability
- Photoshop or Lightbox software
- A DSLR camera
- Tripods
- A smart phone
- Social media platforms
- Video recording device- smart phone, Flip camera, DSLR, camcorder
5. Use Social Media
Fan pages hadn’t been invented and twitter had only been around for 6 months when I started blogging. These days there are quite literally hundreds of social sharing sites to get your blog noticed, share your message and crowd source.
Just remember:
- Branding and messaging needs to be consistent
- Be transparent: trust and relationship must be earned
- Give up control and drop the ego
- Your content must have value
- Ask the audience
- These principals apply whether you are a business or an individual
I’ve got plenty of content, tips and educational material so let me know what you’d like to see in an e-Book. Lady loves you!
7 comments
This is great Phoebe! I’ve even read your interview here http://firstsiteguide.com/guides/fashion-blog/ and that’s it! I’ve downloaded this guide, I have the advices from pro, I have everything! You’ve conviced me! I’m starting my own blog NOW! I
Fingers cross I’ll be good in this Phoebe, at least as half as you are!
Love you!
Andrijana
xoxo
I would love to hear more about our blogging experiences- bring it on!
x
Michelle
http://www.michellesstylefile.blogspot.com
ooo! you’re writing an e-book? that’s the best news i’ve heard all day!
love the tips, but i don’t necessarily agree with the DSLR suggestion….
personally i think the first step is to learn to use the camera you have, whether that’s an iphone, a little digital camera, or even film. you’d be surprised how many bloggers with amazing photos don’t use a fancy camera, but know exactly how to get the best out of what they’ve got.
Love that you included this: “Branding and messaging needs to be consistent.”
I couldn’t agree more! For me, if you’re blogging for business, this (and consistency) are amongst the most important things to consider.
Oh, and don’t chase your customers, let them come to you. By consistently writing helpful, relevant content that they’ll want to share. If your content is overly self-promotional, you sound desperate and that’s never a good thing.
I would love to see the e book. Your blog never fails to inspire me! thank you.
Hi.
Girl posts like these are only one of the reasons I always read your blog first thing every morning…
You have one of the best blog I know (not trying to suck up:))
I would love advice on how to grow your blog into a business…if that is not to broad of a topic:)
Have a great day
Great tips lady, where can one register interest for this e-book? And I hope it has lots of pictures, to illustrate all the points of course;)
Actually I once came across a post of yours sharing how to take good photos of yourself for internets – I remember finding it helpful at the time and considering I need a recap, would like to see that contained in your ebook too.