1.
If
you want to build a social media footprint and increase your list of
connections – and sell books – you must have a blog. Any exceptions? You can choose other types of media, such as
podcasting or posting videos on YouTube, but whether your blog is visual,
verbal, or oral, you need one.
2.
Blog
daily. That’s right. I know you don’t want to see that, but
blogging daily or every other day is the way to go. To control the dialogue, you need to
participate in it. Frequency is very
important when branding yourself online.
3.
Focus
on quality, not just quantity. Every blog
post should be consistent, useful, interesting, and relevant to serving the
image or brand you seek to project.
Don’t start blogging about politics if you cover sports, or cooking, if
you cover business – unless you can merge the two together in a meaningful way.
4.
However
often you blog, use other social media to distribute it. Twitter, Facebook, LinkedIn, etc. all should
use your blog links to generate more traffic.
5.
Make
sure your blog is listed in every spot imaginable – on your social media
profile pages, on your website, in your email signature, on business cards, and
in your communications with others.
6.
At
the bottom of every blog post make sure you have other key contact information,
including a Twitter handle, website, phone number, and email address.
7.
Be
aware of what you hope to accomplish with every blog post. Filter the topics you write on and the voice
or persona of the blog through your prism of goals. The blog is not just a rant tool or a
therapeutic device. It’s a place to be
heard and for you to be seen as an expert.
8.
Respond
to comments on your blog – engage those who show an interest in you. Encourage them to share your blog with
others.
9.
Feel
free to promote prior posts and links in a new blog post, perhaps at the end of
the new content.
10. Update your content
regularly. Feel free to revisit old
posts by supplementing, revising, or enhancing them – and then repost.
11. Use catchy, short headlines. To lure people to click and read, the
headline is the key.
12. Write in short paragraphs. A lot of blog reading is on mobile devices
and chunky text overwhelms readers.
13. Add relevant images to dress up
the post.
14. Use a readable font, such as
Times New Roman, 12-pt.
15. Use sub-headings to break up a
long post.
16. Use lists (9 ways to do x, Top 10
blah blah, 9 things to avoid).
17. Use bullet points to break up
text.
18. Consider using guest posts. Now you can do less work and still have a
link to share. Plus, by having a
guest-poster, they may invite you to post on their blog and thus, get introduced
to a whole new set of connections.
19. Use appropriate keywords and
liberally sprinkle them throughout a post in a way that feels natural, not
forced.
20. It’s okay to use blue language,
tell racist jokes, or share nude images – if you run a business like porn,
comedy, or truck driving. Otherwise, be
mindful of your readership’s moral code and expectations.
21. Never plagiarize or share content
without permission and attribution.
22. Don’t use your blog as a tool to
hurt others or focus on negative stuff.
23. Link to relevant posts, news
media, or current events and appear informed and timely in your posts.
24. Find like-minded bloggers and
examine their content and style for ideas to model but not completely replicate.
25. Experiment. There’s no exact formula to follow here. You may come up with a whole new approach to
blogging. Be a leader, not a follower –
but before you burn bridges to blaze a new trail, think before you leap.
Brian Feinblum’s views, opinions,
and ideas expressed in this blog are his alone and not that of his employer,
Media Connect, the nation’s largest book promoter. You can follow him on
Twitter @theprexpert and email him at brianfeinblum@gmail.com. He feels more
important when discussed in the third-person. This is copyrighted
by BookMarketingBuzzBlog © 2014
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