8 Key Things That Every Blogger Should Keep In Mind

This is the umpteenth installment of my evidently perpetually ongoing series about digital and other types of communication. There are a rather large number of articles in this series and they can all be found on my beBee publisher page at https://www.bebee.com/@jim-murray

Some Background

I wrote my first blog in 1998. Well it wasn’t a blog...it was actually more of a column. Blogs didn't really exist as blogs back then.

This first column was an email based review of the movie “The Blair Witch Project”. The series that it gradually grew into was typically 3000+ words and was called “The Couch Potato Chronicles”. I wrote it for 11 years and during that time I created about 450 articles, and expanded it to write about movies, TV series, the entertainment industry, books, music, advertising, photography, sports and a bit of politics, whenever I got pissed off about something.
At its peak, the Couch Potato Chronicles was reaching in excess of 7000 people including, I’m proud to report, Steven Spielberg. About this time, I moved it over to a WordPress blog site and eventually phased it out, because enough was enough, although I continued it as mini reviews on Facebook.
Today, my blog is primarily about communications and providing information and insight to the small business community. Since I switched over in 2010, I have written over 400 posts and have lots of followers. And now, thanks to beBee, where I have moved my blogging headquarters, (from the almost completely useless LinkedIn), I am reaching even more people.
Because I am a communications writer, and I like/need to write every day, blogging comes pretty naturally to me. But for people who aren’t professional writers, that’s not always the case. This lack of writing skill makes them hesitant, tentative, and in many cases forces them to get other people to write their posts for them. Not good.
Hopefully these tips will help those people as well as some of the veterans out there:|

The 8 Blogging Rules I Follow

1. Fear Is The Mind-Killer
Everybody can write. Not everybody can write eloquently. Not everybody can make a cogent argument and resolve it in their post. But writing a post is one thing. Being a blogger is another, and it requires commitment and a lot of reading the blogs you like with an eye to how they are structured. Soon you will start to figure out the key to it is in between your ears…if you are not afraid to confront the process and manage the time that it entails, you will get better at it.
2. Write About What You Know
I know a good deal about the sports I like, the TV series I like (I’ve abandoned movies), my family, my friends, my town, and my business, which is communications. And I have written about all of that.
Now I mainly write about communications. I do research but always work hard to keep my writing clean, simple and conversational. This is why a lot of people have told me that reading my posts is like listening to me talk. So I just talk about the things I know and the things I believe. This is a healthy way to approach blogging.
The idea of blogging is to build yourself into an expert in whatever it is you do. 

I’m working to build my perceived expertise in communications, which is basically combination of the creative and the strategic and the underlying reason why I blog at all. The surface reason is to share the insights I have learned from years of doing communications on a high level.
3. Every Good Post Starts With An Idea
I have a list in the notepad of my computer that just contains ideas for posts. I write them down whenever they strike me. And this year, I have built up quite a formidable inventory. 


You can do the same, because what most people struggle with is what to write about on their blogs. This is because they don’t think of their blog as an ongoing project and really make it a part of their life. Keep your eyes and ears open for ideas that you can transmute into posts. They really are everywhere.
Also if you are making a number of points, like this blog, make sure that you reflect that number in your headline like I did. People, so I'm told, love lists.
4. Don’t Be Afraid Of Self-Promotion
I know a lot of digital marketers will tell you it’s all about the conversation and engagement and all that other good stuff. But that's not really all of it.
It’s also about letting people know how smart you are so they will consider hiring you to do stuff for them. A blog post is as much a dissertation on a certain topic or expansion of a certain idea as it is a piece of advertising for you.
You don’t have to be all up in their face with it, but they need to know that your skill sets or your products are something that they might need. Because if you don’t tell them, they may not figure it out and take that away with them.
5. Length Really Doesn't Matter
There are some people out there who believe that people don’t read more than 500 words at a time. Well maybe that’s true if they are reading the same old crap over and over.
But if you make your blog interesting, insightful and true to you, they can be as long or as short as they need to be to make your point. If it’s interesting and tells them something, either factually or through your opinion, they’ll read it. And hopefully enjoy it. (PS this post is almost 1500 words give or take).
6. Write Your Own Stuff
I have a couple of clients for whom I edit blogs. They write the basic draft. I go through them and punch it up a bit and then gussy it up and post it. This kind of relationship can work well for a lot of people and businesses. It’s more affordable than hiring someone to write your blogs from scratch and it makes sure that your voice is the voice that’s being heard. Nothing wrong with either of those things.
BTW: Though my clients started off a bit shaky, they’ve gotten better and better over time and need less and less help from me.
7. Rules Schmules
The only blogging rule I know is that there are no rules: Some blogs are all words and really long. Some are all words and really short. Some have lots of pictures. Others have lots of diagrams and business info. Still others are all pictures or videos. And every permutation in between.
The only things that matter about a blog is that they are interesting, informative and reflect the personality of the blogger. Anything else is just bullshit digital marketing stuff.
8. Blogging Is A Process, Not An Event
80% of everybody who starts writing their own blogs, gives it up sooner or later. Why? Well, there are a number of reasons, but here are the four key ones.
• They're not writers, so they don't have the stubborn determination or the skill to keep up a regular and prolonged posting schedule.
• They keep expecting that the ROI will come sooner rather than later, and get frustrated because it doesn't.
• They become overwhelmed by the process of finding things to write about.
• They have been convinced by some ill-informed digital marketer that they should be blogging, when their business or personal brand might be better served in other media.

Free Tip From The Bee That Is Me

Post Script

Please bear in mind that this is strictly my opinion, because what else would it be?
I have always tended to challenge whatever conventional wisdom was being touted by the digital marketing community.
Why? Because despite all efforts to corral it, the Internet still is a relatively untamed frontier, where rules are really made up as we go along.
Digital marketers make rules to further the processes they sell. But I have created my own process and if you create yours then we'll all live happily ever after in the blogosphere.

Jim Murray is a communication strategist, writer, art director blogger and beBee brand ambassador for Canada. His partner, Charlene Norman is a business systems and operational analyst. Their collaboration is called Bullet Proof Consulting, headquartered in St Catharines, Ontario and designed to serve forward thinking businesses in the Niagara and Golden Horseshoe regions of Southern Ontario. Web site almost done and looking good.
You can find out more about us at: http://tinyurl.com/y9zc9gvx

All my profile and contact information can be accessed here:

https://www.bebee.com/producer/@jim-murray/this-post-is-my-about-page



All content and images Copyright 2017 Jim Murray 

""""