Let me start by saying I have been really frustrated at times trying to get blogs off the ground. Google Penguin really did a number on one of my blogs and it seem like nothing I could do could lift it out of the doldrums.
So if you are wondering how to become a successful blogger and you are stuck, make sure to check and see if you have been hurt by Google Panda or Penguin algorithm updates. No amount of fresh new content can get you out of purgatory if there is a giant lead weight pulling your ship backwards into the waves.
Assuming you have a site that is not being held back by poor quality back links or duplicate content and it is just not getting the level of traffic you want, one of the ways to jumpstart your activities is to write 30 posts in 30 days. That is how I kicked off one of my blogs called the Legal Marketing Review. It also took off really quickly for some great industry specific keywords because it was a tighter niche than general Internet marketing.
This new blog, while it is just getting off the ground, quickly became top five in Google for our main general keyword Authority Marketing. So if you are in a real funk and you are able to create a new domain name and drill down your niche a little bit more, you just might want to give that a try for some new inspiration.
My 500 Words
After seeing a goinswriter.com post on Deceber 10th, about a challenge called My 500 Words, I was really inspired to do another blogging binge. This time, 31 posts in 31 days.
Here are the rules to become a successful blogger using this challenge:
- Write a 500 word blog post or any type of content per day, for 31 days
- Writing more is okay but you can’t write less than 500 words
- Don’t get hung up on editing and simply write freely
- Pick up where you left off if you miss a day and don’t make up for lost days
- Encourage, don’t criticize (unless explicitly invited to do so)
- Email doesn’t count
- None of this cost anything, other than waking up a little earlier
Becoming a blogger will help you become a better writer
I’ve been blogging for many years but ironically because I wrote a book and was so focused on that for more than three years, my blogging suffered. If I could go back in time, I would blog my book. By writing a table of contents and outlining exactly what you intend to write and then matching keywords to each of the pages or sections, you can then write blog posts that will form an eventual manuscript that is also Google friendly.
Writing a book is a powerful Authority Marketing tactic. One of the best. But I can’t believe how much of a dumbass I was to have rotted away in a cave for years writing my book without using keyword research. For goodness’ sake, I was writing a book about search engine optimization and keyword research and how to get more traffic and yet I overly transfixed on having a printed book. Sure, I went back later and put some keywords into the headings when I turned my book into blog posts but it’s harder to do this in reverse.
Blogging your book should not be a novelty and in fact it should be the only way to write a book in the future. If you’re going to become a successful author, you are going to have to eventually market your book. That means you need a platform and an email list of blog subscribers. Becoming a successful blogger and getting feedback on your work as you go through comments and social shares is one of the best ways to vet your content but also one of the best ways to kill two birds with one stone.
Just make sure that you don’t let anything get in your way. I am just heading off to go snowboarding and I am late to go meet my girlfriend but I had to get this post out. At least while we sit in traffic, I have a sense of completion.
If you are wondering if you really have what it takes to be a writer, then take the My 500 words blog challenge immediately. Are you scared? Inspired? How bad do you want to become a writer and an authority?
