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Five mistakes newbie bloggers make

Mark Tosczak — Tue, 16 Feb 2010 16:31:20 +0000

Some blogging mistakes can block your path. (Photo source: http://www.sxc.hu/photo/589399)

I’ve been blogging for about 10 years now. Along the way I’ve learned a lot. I’ve also made a lot of mistakes. A lot.

So, if you’re new to blogging and determined to be successful at it, here are five mistakes to avoid.

Mistake #1: Not sticking with it.

Some bloggers see a lot of success relatively quickly, but there is no such thing as an overnight success. Even those bloggers who brag about how they took a new blog from zero to 10,000 subscribers in three months, or whatever, didn’t really go from zero to hero overnight. Chances are they put in years of work before they ever launched that “overnight success” blog, developing skills and acquiring tools to make a big splash quickly.

Whatever your goals are as a blogger, you’ve got to stick with it to see success. A good rule of thumb would be six months of steady blogging before you begin to see significant traffic, readership or (if it’s a goal) revenue.

Mistake #2: Not focusing on content.

Great design, cool widgets and useful plug-ins are all good things to have on your blog. But you can waste hours on these things without adding the one thing that makes the biggest difference: new content. If you want to fiddle with your design, write a new post first. If you want to add a new plug-in to the back-end of your WordPress admin panel, write a new post first. If you want to add a cool new widget or explore a new social media site, write a new post first.

Readers come to blogs, and come back, for one thing and one thing only: content. Make that the No. 1 focus and you will be much more successful.

Mistake #3: Not being consistent.

One of my biggest mistakes as a blogger has been inconsistency. Being consistent means regularly creating and publishing new content. You don’t have to publish a new post every day. And you certainly don’t have to do what the big, commercial blogs such as Mashable and Lifehacker do — publish many, many posts every day. But you do need to publish consistently.

Pick a frequency that you think you can maintain (once a week is probably a minimum for most of us) and start with that. If you want, and can, then increase your frequency down the road. But don’t decrease it. Pick a goal for how often you want to publish and stick to that.

Mistake #4: Not writing for your readers.

The biggest misconception that blogging and social media suffer from among those who are not enthusiasts is the idea that we all sit around and write about what we ate for breakfast or that we’re all writing poorly thought out, uninformed reactions to the news of the day. This isn’t true, of course, but there are some bloggers and social media aficionados who do those things. And that’s fine, but it’s probably not going to get them a ton of readers, bring in torrents of new business or job offers, or result in highly profitable online information businesses.

The key is to write for your readers. What information and content do your readers need and would find helpful? What are they looking for online in your niche or your industry? What would you want to read if you were one of your readers? It’s fine, from time to time, to write about things that may be more meaningful to you than some of your readers (like this post of mine from last week on global poverty and educating girls). But overall, concentrate on content that’s of value to others. Give value, and over time you will receive value in return.

Mistake #5: Not blogging because you’re afraid of failing.

Everyone is afraid of something, and lots of people hesitate to start something (or continue it) because they’re afraid of failure. That little voice inside that warns you that maybe you shouldn’t because you’ll fail, because something bad will happen? That voice was really useful thousands of years ago when human beings had to worry about getting eaten by a prowling sabretooth or a hungry bear. That voice isn’t so useful now, but it still won’t shut up. So ignore it.

Listen, you may fail (however you define that). But even if you don’t achieve what you set out to achieve, even if you fall short of some goal or promise or commitment, it will be OK. Chances are, most people won’t even notice (the Internet is a noisy place, after all; it’s hard to keep track of who’s gone silent). Even if you fail, you will still learn something in the process and you will still be a better human being for having tried it. Don’t let fear stop you.

What other mistakes have you (or other bloggers) made? Don’t keep them a secret. Please share in the comments below.

What’s your purpose?

Mark Tosczak — Mon, 15 Feb 2010 09:33:07 +0000

What's your purpose? (Photo source - http://www.sxc.hu/photo/867083)

I recently listened to an interview with author Daniel Pink (via Elizabeth Marshall’s free Author Teleseminars) about his new book Drive. (Confession: I haven’t read it, so I’m basing this blog post on the author interview, which ran about an hour. If you want to learn more about this, you should read the book, which has exercises and, I’m sure, a lot more detail and insight. The book is going on my to-read list.)

Drive examines decades of research on what really motivates people. Pink says that there are two kinds of activities — algorithmic and heuristic. Algorithmic work is anything that can be broken down into a set of rules. Heuristic work is more complex, more nuanced, and requires judgment, creativity, intuition and analysis. Heuristic work is what many of us spend a lot of time doing.

Pink says that the overwhelming evidence from decades of research on motivation was that carrot vs. stick type approach to motivation (penalizing people for mistakes, rewarding them for successes) work well in motivating algorithmic work. But for heuristic work, penalties and prizes have the opposite effect. So long as people are being paid at a level they believe is fair, paying them a lot more in hopes of motivating them for heuristic activities doesn’t work.

What does work to motivate people to accomplish heuristic work? Three things: autonomy, mastery, purpose.

Autonomy, obviously, is the ability to make your own choices about when and how you do things.
Mastery is the desire to achieve a high skill level.
Purpose is the belief that you’re acting in service to something greater than yourself (not money).

It’s the last one I’m particularly interested in. If you have a purpose, it can bring fresh reserves of motivation into your daily life. And that’s a good thing. Worthwhile things are frequently difficult to achieve, and achieving the difficult requires motivation.

Which brings me to — What is your purpose? Have you ever thought about that question?

For that matter, what is the purpose of your company? Your brand? Your blog? Your social media activities? Your marketing?

Are you doing it just to make money? Or is there something else that motivates you?

Google, a company that has made lots of money, says its mission is to “to organize the world’s information and make it universally accessible and useful.” That is a grand purpose, and I wonder if it doesn’t play a role in motivating people at the company. A cynic would say that words like that are just clever PR, spin designed to pretty up Google’s real purpose, which they would claim is to make the founders and shareholders rich. Google has made its founders (and many shareholders) rich, but I don’t think that excludes the company having a purpose beyond that.

Most marketers (myself included) would urge the typical company (or product/brand/service/whatever) to clearly define its USP, its unique selling proposition. That’s the one thing that makes that product or brand different from everything else and desirable to some group of buyers.

But before you ask yourself what your USP is, maybe you should ask yourself what your purpose is. You with me? Please share your thoughts in the comments below.

Dear email marketers – why don’t you love me anymore?

Mark Tosczak — Sun, 14 Feb 2010 12:15:54 +0000

Your unthinking emails could wash away my affection for you. (Photo source: http://www.sxc.hu/photo/1089948)

Dear Email Marketers,

I have to admit, in the beginning I was really infatuated with you. You had a cool web site with lots of great content. You had obviously spent a lot of time developing it, and it seemed like you were going to be pumping out more great content in the future. All you wanted was my email address. I wasn’t sure, but then there was that special offer: the enticing free ebook, discounts, special offers just for me. So I took the plunge and signed up for your email list. What the heck, I figured, you seem legitimate, and legitimate email marketers would honor a future unsubscribe request. And if that didn’t work, I could always mark you as spam.

At first it was good. You sent me updates, new content, emails that were genuinely useful and interesting. But over time, your ardor seemed to fade. The emails got shorter, the copy less engaging and less interesting. It seemed like, more and more, all you wanted me to do was click on that link and go read a sales page, watch an over-the-top promotional video or buy something else with my 15% off coupon (which isn’t so special when you’re sending me one every week). The interesting, engaging content that had attracted me at first? It was no longer there.

And then it got worse. I started getting these really short emails – “Hey, Mark, you’ve got to check out this link.” No explanation, no detail, nothing. Too often the link led to just another sales page.

Then there was the “Whoops, I made a mistake in yesterday’s email and sent the wrong link. Here’s the right one.” Yeah, right – that’s just another come on.

Or worst of all, the “keep this a secret.” Even though I know you’re sending the same email to many other people. C’mon, we both know there’s no secret. Do you really think that old copy writing trick fools anyone?

And about those subject lines carefully crafted to look as though they come from a friend. Sometimes they start with a “RE:” at the beginning to make it seem as though you’re replying to something I sent, or they have proper nouns spelled with lowercase letters to make it seem more casual. Do people really fall for that? Listen, as soon as I saw your email address, I knew you were a marketer, not a close personal friend.

That’s not all. Sometimes you sent me these emails that had nothing but images in them. Don’t you realize my email programs automatically block those images? I couldn’t even guess what you might be sending me without hitting that download images button. I admit, I’m in a hurry and I’ve got a lot of other email to get through, so sometimes I don’t bother. The email was never read.

And those emails from the upscale office supply company whose products I love? Lately, those have seen really cluttered. Too many pictures of too many products. What are you trying to sell me? The pens, the purses, the new line of notebooks? Don’t you know that most of what I’ve bought from you, and most of what I’m interested in, are the notebooks and paper? Why are you distracting me with all those things I’m not interested in?

What’s wrong, email marketer. Don’t you care about me anymore? Why aren’t you making an effort.

What, you don’t know how? OK, then, I’ll tell you what I really want:

1. Interesting, useful content — right in your email. Sure, I’m not always going to click through to your web site, though I know that’s what you really want, but at least I’ll continue to pay attention to your emails, and maybe click through another time.

2. Offers that are actually related to my interests. You already know them, don’t you? After all, I’ve bought things from you before, and you got my email address during those transactions. Please don’t make me go hunting through your promotional emails for what I really want.

3. Honesty. Drop the “I made a mistake” and “Let’s keep it between us.” I know you’re trying to sell me something (which I’m OK with, if it’s a quality product that I’m interested in). But I hate the deceptive writing intended to somehow manipulate me into doing what you want.

4. Regular emails, but not too frequent. I’m busy, I get a lot of email, and sending me something everyday is just too much unless you’re providing great content.

5. Uniqueness. When you send me the same thing every time, the same discount or coupon, it just looks like you’re not trying. And quite frankly, it’s boring. Why don’t you mix it up a bit and come up with some new ideas? That would get my attention.

I unsubscribed from some emails today — I wasn’t getting anything from them. But maybe that won’t happen to you. I want what I once got — engaging, relevant content. Maybe you’ll make some changes before it’s too late.

Sincerely,

Mark the Customer

p.s. Dear reader — What do email marketers need to do better to woo you? Leave your ideas in the comments.

How to blog frequently

Mark Tosczak — Tue, 09 Feb 2010 11:46:58 +0000

Posting frequently requires discipline and a commitment to that goal. (Photo source: http://www.sxc.hu/photo/1122022)

One of the biggest challenges for most part-time bloggers is finding the time and energy to blog consistently. Since Jan. 18, I’ve been engaged in a little challenge here for myself — 30 posts in 30 days.

As it turns out, I probably couldn’t have picked a worse time to try to average a post a day. Work has been crazy, with a lot of travel and an unusual amount of night and weekend hours. A couple of my volunteer commitments have required more time than usual. And just last week snow kept my daughter out of school for four days, which disrupted our household schedule and made it even harder for me to keep up a demanding extracurricular writing schedule. There is more travel on my calendar in the next couple of weeks, so this is not going to get any easier. In fact, I’m going to have to average about 1.5 posts a day to make my goal.

Nonetheless, despite the challenges I’ve learned a lot of good lessons about how to blog frequently. Here are some of the keys that have helped me to write as often as I have the last couple of weeks.

1. Keep a list of blog post ideas some place. Your list could be in a file, on paper or even inside your blogging software. But keep a list of ideas and every time an idea pops into your head, add it. You don’t have to end up writing a post for every idea, but having a bunch of ideas ready to go makes it a lot easier to keep to a writing schedule.

2. Work several days (at least) ahead. In the last three weeks or so I’ve had a couple of times when I had as many as four posts written and scheduled to go. Typically I was able to do that on the weekends, when I could devote more time to writing and when I felt less pressure to publish. This helps because it takes the pressure off to produce something for today or tomorrow and makes you feel less anxious about maintaining a frequent posting schedule.

3. Write partial drafts. Sometimes I don’t have the energy or time to finish a blog post all in one go. But that’s OK, and in fact in someways it’s better. If I start to write a post knowing I don’t have to finish it right now it makes it less intimidating to start. And if I go back to a post I’ve already started with the intent of finishing it, it’s easier because I already have some of it done. Writing partial drafts has been one of the most important keys for my regular posting.

4. Prioritize writing over reading. It’s tempting when you hop on your computer to just check your email, your RSS feeds or Twitter to see what’s going on. Don’t. Write first and write often. If you want to be a frequent blogger, you have to put your priority into creating content. And the way to do that is to simply put in the time.

5. Have a goal. Thirty posts in 30 days was a goal for me, to see if I could post that frequently. It was a private goal at first, and now I’ve made it public. But keeping that goal in mind has helped me keep going at times when I didn’t feel like blogging. Other people can post this frequently, so I should be able to also, right? (Check in on Feb. 16 and we’ll see how well this worked for me.)

These have been the most important things I’ve done in the last few weeks to post frequently, even as I’ve been busier than usual in other parts of my life. How do you keep up a regular blogging schedule?

How to overcome blogger’s block (aka writer’s block)

Mark Tosczak — Fri, 29 Jan 2010 10:19:15 +0000

Sometimes your mind goes blank — like a busted laptop. Don't let that stop you. (Photo by winjohn @ stock.xchng - http://www.sxc.hu/photo/529107)

It happened to me this week. I was cruising along, had a good list of blog post ideas and had written four of seven posts for the week. But I knew I had some very busy days coming up, and I needed to get three more written to meet my self-imposed quota of posts for the week. And I got blocked.

None of my blog post ideas seemed interesting. Or the ones that were interesting seemed too challenging — I wasn’t sure I knew enough to credibly write about the topic. Or I could write about the topic, but it would take too long, and I was tired. In other words, I was blocked. Call it blogger’s block or writer’s block, it happens to all of us from time to time.

But for bloggers, who rely on the ability to consistently publish new content, this can be fatal. It can murder your momentum, drown your enthusiasm and kill your creativity. However, I’ve been getting paid to string words together for almost 20 years. I’ve faced this demon before, I know a few tricks to get past him.

1. Write partial posts. Instead of trying to put together perfectly formed posts, open up your text editor, word processor or blogging software and write partial posts. Write in bullet points and just put down a few key ideas. Do this for two or three different post ideas, and often something will light your interest and get those blogging fires burning again.

2. Write something that you promise yourself you won’t publish. Don’t worry about whether it’s any good, just write it. You can change your mind later if it turns out it’s worth sharing. If it’s not, you can trash it.

3. Write a links post. Go out and find half a dozen really good links to stuff other people have written or created, and write a links post. For each link hammer out a couple of sentences about why you like it. This is a low creativity task, but it’ll give you a blog post you can use, and the discipline of writing this sort of thing is good for you.

4. Use a different writing tool. If you normally type up your blog posts on your computer, try writing one by hand on paper. If you normally write in your blogging software’s built-in editor, try using Word, or a text editor, or Google Docs instead. You could even try recording it instead of writing it.

5. Take a photo, shoot a video or record a podcast. I admit, I’m very focused on text. I’ve always been a writer who wrote for print, and I love the power of words well put together. But if you have the ability, you might want to try a different kind of content. So maybe that means shooting a photo or a video, or recording a short podcast. It could even mean a slide show you publish with Slideshare.

6. Write in a different place. I usually write at my desk at home. But if that’s not working, I might move to another room or even sit outside (if weather allows). Anything that gets me out of my habitual, unconscious patterns habits might also shake loose a little creativity.

7. Write about something totally different. This blog is generally about topics related to social media, blogging and online marketing. But what if I took a break from that and instead wrote about the earthquake in Haiti, or my challenges in balancing a number of volunteer activities on top of my job and family, or something else entirely? Maybe you’ll publish this entirely different post, maybe you won’t. But maybe it’ll loosen up your writing muscles enough to get some more content created.

8. Just push through. Sometimes the best way to overcome the demon of writer’s block is to just push on through. Ignore those voices in your head telling you your ideas aren’t good enough, or not interesting enough, or that you’re not qualified, or that you don’t have enough energy. Write anyway. Just put some words down. This was ultimately the tactic I picked this week – and I got two more blog posts out of it. I’ve faced this demon before, and I know that sometimes I just need to shove him aside, keep on moving and ignore his taunts and insults.

If you’ve got tips for overcoming writer’s block, please share them in the comments below. (Hey, a comment can be just a couple sentences — it doesn’t need to be War and Peace. Push on through that resistance and tell me what you think.)

10 ways to generate ideas for blog posts

Mark Tosczak — Tue, 26 Jan 2010 10:40:51 +0000

How do you come up with ideas for blog posts? (Illustration by raja4u at stock.xchng - http://www.sxc.hu/photo/1156284)

Here’s the problem most bloggers, and anyone doing content marketing, faces: how to come up with ideas for posts.

I’ve got a list of about 30 potential blog post topics for this blog, right now, and I add to that list each day.

There’s lots of ways to come up with ideas. In fact, I think it’s fair to say that if you consistently work out at these techniques below, you’ll soon have more ideas for blog posts than you have time.

1. Wordtracker

SEO software maker Wordtracker’s free keyword questions tool allows you to enter a keyword and see the questions that people have actually typed into search engines related to those keywords. As with many of these online question tools, I always assume that if some people asked these questions online (through a search engine or another forum) than many others are probably also looking for the answer and interested in the topic.

2. LinkedIn Answers

Go to LinkedIn Answers and you can drill down, by various industry categories, and find questions that people have asked related to that. As above, I am assuming that if someone on LinkedIn asked the question, may more are interested in the answer. I’m not suggesting you should copy the answers, by the way. To produce good content you need to come up with your own original, meaningful, useful way of answering these questions.

3. Yahoo! Answers

Just like LinkedIn, Yahoo! Answers is a compendium of people’s questions, categorized by topic. You can use these just like you use LinkedIn Answers.

4. Ask MeFi

Same as above. There are some really interesting questions, by the way, if you dig into the Ask MetaFilter archives.

5. Everyday Conversations

What do people ask you? What do they wonder about? What conversations do you have that make you think about ideas related to your blog? For example, I had a conversation recently with a personal trainer who’s really trying to grow his business — he’s only got two clients at the moment. He mentioned being on Facebook, but obviously there’s a lot more he could do. Maybe there’s a blog post there, don’t you think?

6. Magazines in Your Niche

Go to a news stand or library and look at the magazines in your niche or industry. What cover blurbs do the latest issues have? What are their stories this month? Could you write your own take on some of these subjects or ideas? I’m not suggesting copying or stealing their stories, I’m saying that chances are, sometimes you’ll have your own ideas that are different from the ones in the magazine. Turn those into a blog posts.

7. Read Other Blogs in Your Niche

Has someone write a post that you have strong feelings about — maybe you think it’s brilliant, maybe you think it’s terrible. Either way, write a post in response. You can even link the original post that prompted the idea. (Although, even if you think the original post is horrible, be polite and diplomatic.)

Also look at the ideas that other bloggers in your niche are using. Could you do your own version of some of these posts? If someone does “10 tips for doing better” in your niche or industry, could you come up with 10 different tips? If so, you’ve got a blog post. I’m a big fan of giving credit where credit is due, so linking to these inspiring posts is a good idea.

9. Ask Your Community

Run a poll on your blog about possible future topics, or just put out a call “What should I write about next?” You can also ask these questions on your social networking sites, such as Twitter, Facebook and LinkedIn. If you have an email newsletter (which you should), you can put out a call on that channel, too. This probably won’t work so well for start-up blogs, but if you have a reasonably active community of people tied to your blog and social media presence, this could yield some good ideas.

10. Timed Brainstorming

Set yourself a deadline and simply come up with a certain number of ideas — say 10 in the next hour. The trick to this is to write down anything and everything that comes out, even if a lot of those ideas are not terribly good or original. With all the unusable ideas you get out of brainstorming, you’ll also get some usable ones. I did this recently on a plane trip when I didn’t have anything to read, and I added 10 new ideas in the last hour of the flight.

How do you come up with ideas for blog posts? Please share your tips in the comments below.

Don’t let a good idea slip away

Mark Tosczak — Tue, 15 Jul 2008 09:52:56 +0000

Where do you keep your ideas? You know, the ideas that pop into your head while showering, the notions that wake you up in the middle of the night, the inspiration that comes out of nowhere when you’re stuck in a traffic jam or a dull meeting.

You do keep those ideas someplace, right? No? You mean you just let them slip away, unrecorded? Well, I’m sure they’ll find a home. The idea will occur to someone else, and if it’s a good one, that person may even act on it. Too bad you missed that opportunity.

OK, OK, so you get the point. Back to the original question: Where do you keep your ideas?

Here’s what I’d suggest: Create an idea file. Open up Word or Google Docs or your favorite text editor and create a file. Call it “Idea File” or something original like that. Put your ideas there. You may want to use Jott, or emails to yourself, or a message left in your own voice mail to capture that idea if it occurs to you when you’re away from that computer. If you’re in the shower, you’re going to need to remember it at least until you can step out and scribble it down on a scrap of paper. Once captured, you can then record it in your idea file at a more convenient time along with the date that it occurred.

What do you do with this idea file? Review it from time to time. After a while you’ll find that some of those ideas end up getting transferred to some place where they’re actionable — on to your to-do list or your projects list, into that list of ideas for blog posts you keep or on to the list of ingredients on a shopping list for that special recipe you want to try.

There are other ways of doing this besides a file on a computer, of course. You could keep an idea journal in a notebook, or file pieces of paper in a file folder, or send yourself emails and file them all in an “Ideas” folder (or tagged with “Ideas” in Gmail, if you prefer). But whatever you do, stop letting those ideas slip away.

Have other tips for making sure you hang on to your ideas? Contribute in the comments.

Nine exercises to stretch and strengthen your writing muscles

Mark Tosczak — Sun, 13 Jul 2008 11:40:09 +0000

In the quest to become a better writer, practice is important. Have you already written your first million words? Start on the second million — keep practicing.

There’s lots of value in trying different writing styles, techniques and forms. While you may not stick with some of those experiments, just spending some time struggling with a different form than you’re used to can help make you a better writer in the forms and styles where you spend most of your writing time.
So here are nine ways to stretch your writing skills:

1. Try writing something without using “to be” verbs. That means “The pizza delivery guy was late” has must be rewritten as something like “The pizza delivery guy arrived at the door — late.” To be verbs sneak into our language so much that it becomes easy to rely on those verbs as a crutch rather than reaching for a better word.

2. Write poetry. Haiku, free verse, sonnets, whatever – click here for some examples and definitions of different poetic forms. If you normally write prose, trying poetry will force you to think about word choice, structure and composition in new ways.

3. Give yourself a deadline. Maybe even an unreasonable deadline. Say to yourself “I’m going to finish this blog post in the next 10 minutes.” If you usually procrastinate or write very slowly — stopping to do a little “research” online, getting something to drink, sitting at the keyboard staring into space — a deadline can help you complete projects. That means more writing done, and more writing practice.

4. Revise once more. How many revisions do you usually do on your own work? One, two, more? Whatever the number, do an extra revision and stretch to find ways to improve that piece.

5. Try three different openings. When I was a newspaper reporter, one of my basic principles was that there were many ways to write the “lede” for a story. One of them was the best, and my task as a writer was to find that best opening sentence or paragraph. Try the same thing with your writing. Draft at least two other openings beyond your first try, and see which of the three works best.

6. Twitter — seriously. Trying to write something worth reading in 140 characters is a challenge, and an opportunity to stretch your writing skills. Brian Clark at Copyblogger ran a contest on this recently; check out the results to see just how creative people can be in exactly 140 characters.

7. Write longhand on paper. If you’re reading this, chances are you do most of your writing on a keyboard. Give old-fashioned pen and paper a try. You’d be surprised at how different the process can feel.

8. Use writing prompts. The Internet is full of writing prompts – here’s a collection from Writer’s Digest. Pick one each day and write for 10 or 20 minutes and see what you get. Do this regularly and your writing will get stronger and your creativity will bloom.

9. Free writing. Free writing is the process of simply writing whatever enters your head, without regard to structure or form, for some period of time, such as10 minutes. This can help get you into the writing mode, and help you learn to enter that state more easily.

What’s your favorite way to strengthen your writing skills? Leave an idea in the comments below.