Waiting for Results – The Best is Yet to Come
September 15, 2009 | Blogging, Questionable Content
Building a Web site or blog can be a lonely process, much like the early phases of writing a manuscript. Don’t expect a mega response in the first month or even the next six months. Often
it takes an entire year for a site or blog to gain momentum. But if you concentrate your time and energy on churning out quality content and building a useful site, word will get around.
As you build your site, keep one general idea in mind: Unless you’re already a superstar, don’t make your Web site about you. Make it about the reader. Provide compelling content that solves problems, entertains, sparks curiosity, or inspires. Everything else will follow.
Resist the temptation to pack your site with fancy features like flashy graphics or voices or music that plays automatically. Usually
these doodads have the opposite effect than what was intended–they make your site slow, irritating, noisy and hard to read. Instead, keep your blog simple. Make it easy for your visitors to navigate around.
Remember these points when creating your blog:
- Post on a consistent basis. Aim for once a day at least.
- Add the element of social proof. Make it obvious to visitors that they are not the only one visiting your blog, and that others are interested as well.
- Don’t post things that are wildly off-topic.
- Your ‘About Me’ section is your chance to let the world know who you are. Make it witty, make it interesting, but if your blog is a professional blog, keep it semi-professional, too.
- Build your list from the beginning. Offer up something in return for a subscription to your newsletter. Post regular updates to your list to keep them coming back.
- Make it easy for people to follow what you are doing, either through RSS feeds, twitter, or your newsletter. Have several options available for them to choose, but not too many!
- Make it easy for those interested in what you are writing about to find you!
One of the most important steps in beginning a blog is to consume some blogs yourself. Reading other blogs gives you a quick feel for what works, what doesn’t, and the techniques you’ll want to apply to your own blog.
It’s natural to be apprehensive about starting
a blog. When you first begin, it may feel like being on stage without a script or a view of the audience. Don’t worry, feedback will come soon enough. Remember, there’s no right or wrong way to blog. The only rule is your target audience must find something worthwhile.
Good blogs are addictive, which is one reason they’re so effective for internet marketers.
A lively blog is like a focus group and writing laboratory rolled into one: It provides you with constant feedback, criticism and new ideas. Your blog readers will pepper you with comments and e-mails. When you’ve struck a chord, you’ll know immediately from the response. When you lay an egg, you’ll know that, too, from the silence.
Indeed, the true power of blogging is the momentum created by your audience. Once your blog has 100 frequent
readers, it has critical mass. It may take six months or a year to get there, but from there it’s all downhill. Members of your core audience begin competing to hand you the most useful, compelling ideas by writing comments on your blog and e-mailing you directly. That’s when your blog becomes electric, a magnet attracting new readers. Your core audience swells as word of mouth goes viral.
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