Everyday people share information via various social networks such as Twitter, Facebook, etc. why you should have a blog (especially a company blog). Yet, you hardly ever see articles that share lessons bloggers have learned from blogging. I definitely wanted to take this opportunity to share the lessons I have learned from blogging because one week ago was my blog’s anniversary.I have always had a passion for writing and finally decided to channel that energy into a blog. From a business standpoint, I know that having a blog is essential because it serves several purposes such as demonstrating your industry expertise, generating interest in you or your company, connecting with prospects and customers, etc. In case you are experiencing some reluctance in jumping on the blogging bandwagon, I believe it is a worthwhile endeavor because blogging will teach you the following lessons:1.) Inspiration comes in many forms: Many do not blog because they do not know how to come up with blog topics. At times it can be overwhelming to generate ideas for your blog because you are putting so much pressure on yourself that you are inadvertently causing your mind to shut down. When I get like this I force myself to take a time out because staring at the computer is only going to frustrate you. I have a variety of activities that I perform during my time out such as reading other blogs, exercising, etc. The best ideas come when you are not intentionally looking for them.2.) Write on: One of the main reasons I started this blog was to share information that I felt would empower and encourage people. I wanted to be more than a logo. However, you have to realize that there will be times when you put your heart and soul into writing a post that you may consider to be a “masterpiece” and still not receive the attention you anticipated. It can be disheartening to receive a negative comment or worse—no comment at all. However, this is still no excuse to avoid blogging. One of my favorite blogs, Men with Pens, wrote a great post about comments. People often do not leave comments for various reasons (check out the comment section of this post) and this is not necessarily a reflection on your content.3.) Patience: When you first start blogging you may feel that no one is reading your blog. Therefore, many often give up right before their blog starts to pick up momentum. You have to have confidence in your capability to write quality content because it takes time to build up your community. Do not blow your opportunity by posting content just for the sake of posting. This will not only hurt your credibility, but waste your readers’ time.4.) Expand your network: Blogging requires you to be willing to put yourself out there. Having a blog has introduced me to incredible people who I otherwise might not have had the opportunity to meet. I met many of these people by commenting on other blogs, Twitter, forums such as the VAF, etc. In my experience, I have found bloggers to be extremely helpful and always willing to provide you with great advice.5.) Exchange ideas: One of the main reasons I enjoy blogging is because I truly enjoy learning. I enjoy researching different topics and listening to various points of view regarding that topic. I like sharing information I learn with others because my desire is to help people and of course I incorporate that mindset into my blog. In my opinion the only way to learn more about a topic is to talk with those who are passionate about the subject and a blog is an excellent platform to facilitate a conversation.Some concepts and tools that I have found to be extremely useful in blogging:1.) Self-hosted WordPress Site: If you want to have some flexibility in how you customize your blog, you should use WordPress. It is extremely simple to use and has a myriad of themes and plugins that allow you ability to make sure your blog reflects your personality.2.) Editorial Calendar: You want to keep the content on your blog fresh and relevant. Using an editorial calendar will keep you from repeating the same topics. Rod Kirby’s video does a phenomenal job demonstrating how to create and use an editorial calendar.3.) Linkedwithin: If you do not want to feel as if your old posts were written in vain, this widget gives new life to those posts. Underneath your current post, this plugin shows older posts your readers may be interested in based upon how they are categorized or tagged in how they are related to the current post.4.) Flock: This social web browser enables you to easily locate pictures and videos to insert into your blog—without having to have multiple screens open (I will be writing a blog post on this browser). This browser has enabled me to keep track of all my RSS feeds while keeping in touch with what is occurring within my social networking sites—all on one screen.5.) Wordtracker Firefox SEO add-on: You want to make sure that you increase your posts chances of being ranked in the search engines so you need to keep track of your keywords. This plugin easily enables you to do so.6.) Zemanta: Having a great picture to accompany your blog post can reinforce the viewpoint you are attempting to convey. However, searching for the “perfect picture” can be incredibly time consuming. Zemanta takes care of this for you by generating pictures and smart links based upon the post. Having smart links in your post will result in more traffic to your blog.I could go on and on about all the lessons that blogging has taught me, but I feel that the aforementioned reasons and concepts are hopefully enough to entice you to start a blog. In case you are wondering why I did not write this post on the actual day of my blog’s anniversary, it was because on this day I received a link to a post that reinforced the reasons why I blog. Amber Hunnicutt wrote a post commenting on a post I wrote called Life is NOT an ATM (which happens to be my favorite post) and how my post inspired her to pursue her dream. I truly hope that if you are on the fence about starting a blog, whether it be personal or for your company, surrender to the peer pressure and hop on the bandwagon (companies should consider hiring a ghostwriter if their staff does not want to blog). I guarantee this will be a ride you will not want to miss.What lessons have you learned from blogging? If you do not have a blog, what is stopping you from starting one?
@Ettosi A blog can be difficult to maintain, but I think if you have brainstorming session and use an editorial calendar it will not be as hard. Plus, I also make sure that in my About Me page to inform readers about how many posts they can expect from me. This lets readers know that you are keeping them in the loop. Thanks for your comment!
@Latreeka Thanks! I find blogging to be very therapeutic and it is not as cumbersome as I initially thought it would be. I am glad this post motivated you into blogging and please share your blog information when it is up. Thanks for your comment!
Latosha,
Great post! I have actually been debating about whether or not to start a personal blog and your posting is just the motivation I needed! Thank you for sharing!
Comments
@Latreeka Thanks! I find blogging to be very therapeutic and it is not as cumbersome as I initially thought it would be. I am glad this post motivated you into blogging and please share your blog information when it is up. Thanks for your comment!
Great post! I have actually been debating about whether or not to start a personal blog and your posting is just the motivation I needed! Thank you for sharing!