This is a guest post submitted by a budding blogger and he shares what he has learned so far.
It’s 6:30 a.m., just had my first cup of coffee, black. My mind is racing. It is filled to the brim with flagship content waiting to pour onto my computer screen. I type for seven hours, no break. I feel exhilarated. I produce 15 amazing blog posts. All Flagship content. Has this ever happened to you?
Of course not. It may happen after years of blogging, but I doubt it. Blogging is wonderful, hard work. What a sense of accomplishment when you get one right.
I am a rookie blogger, but I’ve learned from the finest, most generous group of bloggers on the Internet. It’s there for you to absorb, if you take the time to follow, listen and learn. You can blog.
Here’s 5 things I’ve learned from the bloggers I’ve followed for one year before launching my blog:
Passion.
You better have it for the subject you’re writing about. Your reader will feel it. If it’s not there, she’ll go to one of the other 80 million blogs. You can’t fake passion. It’s like a bolt of electricity comes through your computer screen. It yells out, I care about adding value to your life. I thought about my post, changed ideas, wrote and re-wrote it before I pressed the “publish” button. It’s the best I can do. I’m still worried it’s not good enough for my readers.
Practice, Practice, Practice.
Did you get behind the wheel of your first car and win the Indy 500? Did you start for UCONN at point guard the first time you played basketball? Probably not. Why do you think you can place your fingers on a keyboard and publish a blog?
The second lesson I learned was to start the process by reading other blogs. Join discussion groups. Get a feel for the ebb and flow of a conversation. Once you start feeling comfortable, begin posting comments on blogs. It takes courage to put your ideas out there. Can’t learn to swim by reading about swimming. Post comments on the famous blogs, and the not so famous blogs. Post ‘em on your bathroom wall until you learn how to write the way you speak. Your high school English teacher will roll her eyes, but it’s how you blog.
Be Nice.
I once asked a defense lawyer who I frequently came up against in court, how he was able to be so nice in the courtroom during a trial. Outside the courtroom, he wasn’t very nice. He shared with me that when he woke up on the morning of a trial, he smiled at his wife the second his eyes opened. He went into the bathroom to shower and shave and smiled in the mirror. He smiled at the gas station attendant filling his car with gas on the way to court. He said good morning to everyone he passed on the way to the courthouse. This guy had to practice being nice. It worked. The jury loved him.
As a rookie, when you think you have the skill to write something funny, be careful. The written word doesn’t come across the way the spoken word does. Instead of being funny, be nice. You earn the right to be irreverent, after you grow a reputation for being nice.
Blog frequently.
One post a week on a new blog isn’t going to do it. Even if you have a cold, blog. Your tired because you stayed up late watching Sunday Night Football, too bad. Write a blog post. Don’t mail it in. Work on it. When you were growing up, which parent corrected your English papers? Make sure your blog post passes the parent test. If Mom would send you back upstairs to re-write your blog post, don’t click the publish button.
Understand the difference between listening to your readers and hearing what they care about.
You can pretend to listen, but you can’t pretend to hear what someone says. Big difference. It’s what your readers care about hearing from you, not what you feel like blogging about on that day. Stick to your message, and the theme of your blog. If your blogging for a group of lawyers, don’t talk about math. We can’t do it, and we don’t care. That’s why accountants and adding machines were invented.
Know your audience and deliver what they want to hear from you.
My next post is about all the mistakes I made. But, I had the courage to try stuff. How about you? What’s the best lesson you learned from your blog mentor?
Lawrence Berezin . I’m an attorney, entrepreneur, and focused on all aspects of marketing. I’m passionate about my wonderful wife and children, law, my new business, blogging, copy writing, web site design, and publishing. I love learning about new stuff.
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