Appearance May Not Make You, But it Can Break You

Let’s pretend for a minute you have a job interview today. It’s one of the biggest career moves you could possibly make in your early adult life. You had gone out a few days ago and bought a nice business suit, new shoes to match, and got a nice haircut while you were at it. The big day finally came and you go to put on your new suit and realize somehow there is a stain right on the front part of the shirt. It is too big for your tie to cover it but you dress in it anyway and head off to the interview.

Now studies show that you can be judged by the interviewer on the appearances like this. Your qualifications may be above the grade, and you may show ambition with a great sense of accomplishment coupled with a good sense of humor, but that stain just rubbed him the wrong way. Now if the stain was not there it may not have improved you interview but having the stain there sure caused enough irritation that the interviewer may have felt something was a bit “off”.

Relate this to the appearance of your blog. Having a good looking blog won’t make you successful. All the qualities that make up a good blogger will make you successful like: networking, writing good content, keeping the blog current and up to date, relating to your readers, and so forth. But if the appearance of your blog is too distracting, or is just a bad looking theme, it can cause readers to feel unpleasant. It should be a fairly pleasant experience to come check in on your blog.

So what are some of the top most annoying things about a blog that could cause problems?

I will list a few but I would like you guys to list at least one by replying. But how about when the there are so many Google Ads you can’t find the content? Or how about when the theme is too dark and you can’t read the text? I have read blogs where it is so dark and the text looks like it is trying to hypnotize me while I am reading. Shouldn’t a blog be fresh and clean… easy to read?

What else? Ideas anyone?

Keeping Blog Posts Short, Sweet, and to the Point

One of the first things we all should take note of is that the average reader doesn’t believe they have a lot of time while on the Internet. Most readers browse and scan pages until something catches their eye. Once the reader determines they might be interested in the content, they slow down and begin reading more in depth. The average reader does not have time to read long posts. If they glance down and notice it will take them 10 minutes to read the article, more than likely they will leave even if their intentions are to come back and read it later. Most never come back to finish. There is just too much information out there on the Internet.

The key is to break longer posts into several, and then linking them together. If they read the first post and got through it, they will more than likely click over to the next post. Keep articles under 5 minutes. Present the article so it is easy on the eyes. I tend to read articles that are broken up nicely into short paragraphs with bold words emphasizing an issue. You could have the same text but in one long paragraph. Break it up into nice looking paragraphs.

Blogging is different than writing articles for a magazine. I remember when I first started blogging, and my goal was for lengthy articles. Soon you realize it isn’t the length of the article but rather saying the exact same thing but in half the article. Choosing your words better, and getting to the point immediately with little character development leads to better blog posts.

The first paragraph is the most important. That first paragraph will be the determining factor whether or not the reader will continue. One of the biggest mistakes bloggers make is trying to lure readers in with suspense, as if you are writing a novel. Instead you should lure your reader in with facts on your topic. Whatever your article is about should be pretty much summed up in the first paragraph. From there on out, diving in and getting more specific will be important.

Spend some time reading top news articles online. Hit some of the biggest news sites and read through their articles. First and foremost, the title is descriptive. There is never any question what the article is about from reading the title. Then the first paragraph is a quick summary of all the important facts. Then the rest of the article dives into more detail. Go check it out. The reason they do that is because they know what hooks the readers and draws them in. Try following these simple procedures when writing and I think you will begin to see a big difference in readership.

But as far as short or long posts, the best thing to do is mix it up. There is nothing wrong with winded articles as long as people are reading them. When people are not reading them, then it might be worth shortening your articles a bit or splitting longer articles up into several.

But the debate goes on… and on… and on… and on… and on…

You be the judge!

Blueprint for Starting a New Blog

If you surf the Internet long and hard you will find many articles with tips on how to start a new blog. Successful bloggers always provide tips because they know it is not an easy thing to do to maintain a well organized and insightful blog. Of course it takes commitment and a lot of drive, but if you begin reading all the tips out there it can become very overwhelming.

Sometimes it’s better to sit back and keep things a bit simple and follow some of the basic formulas in order to move in the right direction.

A new Adventure Network I have been in contact with and is actually in partnership with Skinny Moose Media, wrote a nice article on their main blog called, “What is Important When Starting a New Blog?” The article focuses on a few major facets to blogging that is extremely important in the early stages of a blog’s development.

The article breaks these down into 4 stages:

1) Have A Plan
2) Reach Out
3) Tip Off
4) Social Networking

Read the full article here >>

Blogging 101: The Foundations of a Better Blog

I have created a new category which will cover some of the real basics of blogging. I think like anything, there is a foundation you build things on. Like math. You have addition, subtraction, multiplication, and division. If you can’t master those, then those long drawn out formulas and equations are impossible to execute. With math, you take a complex issue and break it down into pieces that make sense. In other words you are simplifying.

Blogging is similar. There are basics. Those basics should be mastered so that when later on you face questions, concerns, dilemmas, and a lot of problems, you can simplify everything. You break everything back down to the basics.

So what are the basics of blogging?

What is a blog?

Ok don’t laugh. What year is it and I STILL come across people who don’t know what a blog is. According to Blog Basics this is the definition:

Blog (noun) – a journal or diary that is on the Internet – Andrew Sullivan has the most popular blog on the Internet.

Blogger (noun) – a person who keeps a blog – Bloggers are revolutionizing the way news is shared.

Blog (verb) – to write a blog – I am going to blog before breakfast this morning.

Blogging (verb) – the action of writing a blog – Blogging is my way of sharing my passions with the world.

Establish Motive and Set Goals

Once we have determined what a blog is, you need to narrow it down to why you are blogging. What is it you want to write about and what are your goals? Do you want to provide a wide range of topics or narrow it down to just one or a couple? Do you want to produce news articles, tips, reviews, commentary, or maybe all of the above. Do you want readership? Are you looking to make money? Why so many dang questions?

The reason for the questions is simple. Blogging is not easy. Without a vision you will more than likely give up finding out that blogging was a waste of time and you should have spent more time with your studies or your family. Blogging is a commitment. You have to write often and even spend time doing research. Yuck… Research?

Yep. How else are you going to learn about something so you can share something new with your readers? So setting goals, planning out a mission, and being prepared to learn is key.

Persistence

This is the biggy. Here is a thought about success. I would not have gotten married to my current wife if I was not persistent. I was turned down (believe it or not), before she finally caved in. I am sure she is regretting it now. But hey, I was persistent. To be persistent also means you have to accept certain levels of failure and move on and keep up what works without letting the little things get to ya. I could have gone home and cried my eyes out and sworn off women for the rest of my life. Instead I was persistent.

There was a job I applied for over 10 years ago and was never contacted. I called each day asking for an update. They told me my schedule didn’t fit what they were looking for. So I changed my availability and resubmitted my application. After several weeks of constant back and forth communications, and being turned down for many reasons, I was persistent yet professional, showing them I was determined to work for them and would make certain accomodations to do so. I could have chalked it up the first time they turned me down as yet another failure, but I was persistent. It isn’t always that you need to do more work, but rather keep doing the same thing over and over and over again until it pays off.

What is your edge? Offer something different

Just like a product… you need that cutting edge. What separates your product from all the others? There are so many blogs out there to read, it is impossible for everyone to read all of them. How do you draw them in? Having another blog just like everyone else is kinda cool when you are new to the blogosphere, but at some point you will need to ask yourself, “What is it that makes me stand out?”

Networking

Networking builds traffic. There is no sense building a business out in the middle of the woods where you might get a couple of passer-bys each week. You need to learn to envision online traffic much like roads and pathways to real communities and places of business. I wrote about this a while ago on the Skinny Moose main blog in an article called Blogs are Roads; Intersections. Networking is done in many ways and we will cover this later in future posts but it can help you understand what is happening in your niche, and at the same time pave some nice roads to your blog. There are some great ways of doing this. Each time you write a new blog post you have another opportunity to pave roads to your blog. You aren’t just looking to promote your main page. Each article is a gem in and of itself. Getting people to take interest in your articles, link to them, and drive traffic your way based on one article out of many is a beautiful thing. It won’t happen with each article but the more you write and the more you network the more pathways that lead to your blog. So opening these pathways up so there are so many avenues to get to you no matter what the browser’s interest will really spark some diversity in your audience.