If you’re like most of us, you have no idea what to write
about, neither the capacity nor the attention span. One way to avoid the frustration is to write a meta blog that
offers tips for writing a blog.
1. Enumerate, enumerate, enumerate.
2. Experts say making a list is the simplest way to turn your
unorganized jumble of pointers into coherence even if your ideas are, let’s face
it, not that compelling.
3. Get used to the idea that no one, including you, has anything
new to say – everything has already been mentioned, at least in passing.
Shhhhh!
Do you, in your blog, also give advice for writing blogger
blogs? Perhaps you should not. Experts say to keep your blogger secrets to
yourself for now. Some have modelled a future where blogger knowledge is a valuable commodity and bloggers are among the wealthiest in the universe.
Commitment
I have authored two blogs before this, one about philosophy
and one about old baby names. One of
the most important things I learned was that 80% percent of all blogs are
abandoned. In the grips of fear, I promptly discarded both projects. Avoid this pitfall and make a commitment now that you will blog every week. Only then
will you be a blogger. Until that time, Beulah Mae, you are writing ephemera.
Eat your words
Bruce Arnold of Caslon Analytics blogging blog said
the following in his 2005 vicious attack on blogs:
“The blog phenomenon in the English-speaking
world has peaked and - as forecast in an earlier
version of this page - most blogs are being stored in the part of cyberspace
dedicated to hula hoops, pogo sticks and other fashions that reached their
use-by date…We should however be realistic: the 'blogging revolution' collided
with human nature and human nature won. Most people do not like writing, even
if they have something to write about. Many people do not have time to blog on
an ongoing basis in a way that attracts a substantial audience. Some people
will continue to write offline diaries, commonplace books and criticism - including
work that relies on a pen or pencil rather than a keyboard. Others will
flow with the latest fad.”[i]
Do you remember back in that decade when we used to think
things like that? Now do you see why
you should avoid writing dated material?
Because Arnold was looking at things through the fog that was the
2000’s, the decade of failure, he could not see just how popular blogging would
become. In a world that did not have
widespread access to adsense, he failed to predict the benefits of monetization. You should avoid reading blogs like Arnold’s
because he has a negative and egocentric attitude when it comes to
blogging.
Types of blogs
The best type of blog by far is the blog about blogging,
which is why I blogged this blog.
Still, if you are going to write a blog on blogging you need to know
about every type of blog so that you can help bloggers that read your blog
choose what type to blog. If one of your readers finds that no existing category of blog fits their vision, encourage them to make a new one. We can always use new types of blogs.
 |
| an example of good clustering, Balloons and Confetti, Frank Lloyd Wright (1912) |
Word clusering and spamming
Try to cluster words to generate search engine
prominence. Another very clever trick
is to write out Google three times like this: Google Google Google. Because you are writing about blogging, your
blog will have some difficulty being seen in searches when the searcher
searches “blog”. That is because the
word blog is ubiquitous across the internet.
This is not the time to be discouraged - spam the internet with your blog’s
url.
Get a guest blogger or ghostwriter
Bruce Arnold was right about one thing - blogging is a lot of work and quite simply most of us don’t
have enough time for it. Experts say
that is okay because you can get a guest blogger to write your blog for awhile while you "find yourself" with drugs.
Or, even better, you can get a ghost-writer to mimic your tone and content if you hate writing but love the rewards of writing.
Proper dust jackets
Finally, be sure to design a good dust jacket for your
blog. I’ve seen thousands of blogs that
were really good but their dust jacket was faded and looked cheap.
Thoughts
In conclusion, if you enumerate, don’t give away secrets,
understand the types of blogs, use word clustering and spam, blog every week,
avoid reading bad advice blogs, employ guest bloggers and ghostwriters, and tend
to the dust jacket design amorously, you are virtually guaranteed success in
your blogger’s blog.
[i] Arnold,
Bruce. Caslon Analytics, blogging. http://www.caslon.com.au/weblogprofile1.htm
(2005). Accessed 10 May 2013.
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Now be honest.