Go online and you'll find evidence of countless blog failures. Most of these failures occur within the first six months after the first published post. Why is this? What causes a blogger to just give up? Want my unsolicited advice? Don't give up! This is my advice for first-six month bloggers!
I received an email from an HR Blogging contact I had met in a Google+ Community last summer. This person reached out to me seeking advice on blogging and wanted to know how to stay motivated to continue and increase blog performance. Honestly, I don't recall all of my suggestions. I wondered, "Why choose me?" I was relatively new to the blogging universe. I certainly didn't want to give any advice that would prove harmful to this person's blog so I chose my words with great care.
I told the person to tell a story and that blogging centered around the need and want to write. You must love what you do to find the story. Regardless of the blog, I knew this to be true. I, too, echo the love to write as my nature is a storyteller at heart.
Finding A Story
Any writer in any medium may pose the following questions:
What should I write?
What topic should I choose?
How will I know who will read what I write?
How can I find topics?
Have you ever asked these questions? (I think, if honest, we would ALL say "yes" to the question.)
Three Suggestions:
Look for stories anywhere.
Don't think too hard but look for them.
It's a story and, as The Doctor always says....We are all stories in the end.
Think of What You are Writing
When you think of writing I urge you to think of what you are writing.
No, you didn't read it wrong.
Yes, the sentence is as I intended.
When you think of writing I urge you to think of what you are writing.
What does this mean? It means that writers should not write what one might THINK someone wants but what you FEEL you want to write. Don't expect to write a 10 point how-to or an in-depth discussion of XYZ topic on every single post.
- Write about you.....that is what is unique.
- Write about a class discussion and how it changed/did not change your perception of the topic.
- Write about the paper you wrote and learning about XYZ topic during the process.
- Write about the really great/really bad day you had during your HR (or any other type of) education.
- Write about your first time watching a TV show (Doctor Who...hint, hint) and your impressions of it.
- The lists and article posts are great but it is those who make you feel something that you remember. It is also those that make others come back.
- Also, don't be too aggressive with your posts. What I mean is - one posts every 7-10 days...that might be enough for now. Just make a pattern and post consistently.
Final Recommendations
Expect and embrace failure.
Don't Expect to be perfect.
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