by Bruce Newman

   This article was originally published in The Productivity Institute (PI) Newsletter

There are currently over 200 million blogs on the Internet.  54% of all bloggers post content or tweet daily.  34% of bloggers post opinions about products or brands.  The highest percentage of new bloggers are people in the 55-65 years old range.

These are amazing numbers and statistics.  They indicate the importance of blogging for both business and personal reasons. Blogging for business allows companies to gain attention, enhance market share, announce new products and be branded as an industry leader.  Positive buzz is extremely important, particularly since so many bloggers will readily post their opinions about a product or brand (which also denotes the need for a solid social media policy).  Conversely, blogging for personal reasons is often simply because people feel the need to write or to be heard.

With this huge number of blogs and new content, it is becoming increasingly difficult to stand out from the din.  Increasingly, a strategy must be employed for a blog to be successful.  Being a very good writer is no longer sufficient – unless you work for the New York Times or are very famous.  If you’re not in these categories, here are five important keys that will help your blog be successful.

1. Know your goals and target market

Determine the goals of your blog.  Is it to generate attention for your website or brand you as an industry leader?  Is it mainly to communicate with others?  Do you just want to provide information or use it as a political platform?  There are many different goals.  Select only one as your main goal and if applicable, several secondary goals which, when achieved will help you reach your main goal.

You must also know your target market – including your competition.  The more you know about how people are reacting to other blogs and what is triggering their reactions, the better idea you will have concerning what actions you must take to achieve your goals.

Knowing your target market also includes determining the keywords that you should scatter in all your posts and include in your titles.

2. Plan a mix of posts

Just straight text is not sufficient.  Augmenting your posts with videos or pictures will enhance their value.  It will also provide a basis for content distribution (as discussed in point 4, below). What is most important, however, is that you supply excellent content, for it is this content that will continue to drive people to your site and follow you.

Writing great headlines will also attract attention.  Since searches by keyword are extremely important, make sure to include them in both your headline and content.

3. Publish regularly

You must publish regularly.  If you stop publishing, the world will go on without you and you will be quickly forgotten.  No matter how loyal your readers or followers are, unless you write regularly, you will lose them.  The best solution is to establish a writing schedule. Twice a week is good, three times is even better.

4. Spread it around

Remember, your world does not revolve only around blog and maybe a handful of social media platforms.  Twitter and Facebook are important, but so are many other relevant blogs and sites - particularly if the target market of your article matches their specific niche.

5. Listen

Comments that reflect your article content are great. Definitely respond to them.  It will help develop a dialog that will attract more subscribers and attention.  Unfortunately, too many people respond with inane comments such as, “I learned a lot” in order so they can generate back links to their websites.  You can ignore them, set a no-follow flag so they don’t get credit for their links or review all the comments before allowing them to display.  My personal preference is that people who provide thoughtful feedback should get back links (if they want them).  They should be rewarded for their thoughts and I enjoy read and responding to their comments.  I’ve started some great dialogs and made some good friends as a result.  But, because I do allow back links, I must approve (or ignore or spam) each comment first before I allow it to be published.

Blogging is an important part of any social media campaign.  By following these five steps, you significantly enhance its success.

Bruce Newman is the Vice President at The Productivity Institute, LLC, a leader in locating, evaluating and matching the specific areas of expertise of consultants to the needs of its clients.  An expert on social media, Bruce constantly writes and gives talks on many facets of social media including branding, social media strategies and policy.  He has also developed several social media training courses. In addition, Bruce is the editor of the Productivity Institute Newsletter, a free content-is-king newsletter and thought leader.  Follow him on LinkedIn, Twitter and the Productivity Institute blog.

by Gay Walley

   This article was originally published in The Productivity Institute (PI) Newsletter

I am amazed at how much raw talent there is out there and struck by the diversity and number of people who take up writing books.

Maybe it’s because of the hundreds of thousands of blogs or maybe, it’s the reason for all the blogs.  I don’t really know.  What is apparent is the number of people who want to write.

One such person, a Wall Street risk manager who has never written before creates a Lehman Brothers-type melt down and draws incredible characters who manage and ruin his fictional bank. He knew he wanted to write, but wasn’t sure how to begin. Less than six months later, he has completed a first draft of a driving yarn, full of regulators, hedge fund managers and bank personnel who stay with you and keep you at the edge of your seat. Such latent creativity that somehow he knew was inside him, waiting to come out.

Another amazing new writer is a school principal who always had a ken for short stories. She only can devote weekends but her stories grow more and more fluid and she writes of every day people and their quiet challenges. A record company executive wants to write stories about the music business and the constant creativity she sees about her. An out of work computer programmer writes a hair-raising long novel about the mafia and father-son relationships. He struggles with how to write women, but his mafia scenes are so well drawn that it makes you wonder (a little) about his background.  

Creativity is in all of us, all you have to be is willing to go through the struggle of learning and failing, and then the surprise of achieving and succeeding.

Maybe this is an unexpected – but exhilarating – part of technology and social media; the desire by so many people to communicate through writing.  Most social scientists have declared that man is a social animal and that perhaps the technology has helped stimulate this innate desire.  What is certain, however, beyond all contentions is the enormous and rapidly increasing volume of writing – in all forms - that is now being created by an ever- widening population.

I don’t know if any of these people will get book contracts – or even if that is their intent. But what I do know is that these people love creating their books, as others love the challenge and excitement of learning a new language, or learning how to play an instrument and that within each of us resides endless stories and delight in the telling of them – if we permit it.

Gay Walley is a marketing writer, novel writer and writing coach living in New York City. She helps her students live their dream of memoirs and novels. You can find her on www.gaywalley.com and www.nycwritingcoach.com .

by Dave Walker

   This cartoon was published in The Productivity Institute (PI) Newsletter

We welcome your thoughts and comments on this cartoon.

Dave Walker
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