How To Become A Successful Blogger
I recently wrote about how to become a successful intern, since I am an INROADS intern, but Robyn Tippins thought it would be a good idea to write about being a successful blogger.
I will give this my best shot, but these are characteristics that I currently working towards since they seem to be prominent in most successful bloggers.
How To Become A Successful Blogger
- Think PASSION, not numbers
- Some bloggers start off or eventually participate in the popularity/number contest–AKA your technorati rank
- Numbers and Ranks are a distraction, instead write about your passion
- Blogs written with passion are much more powerful, resourceful, and interesting
- Join the CONVERSATION
- Shel Israel, author of Naked Conversations, said we should join the conversation by listening FIRST–excellent advice!
- Listen to what others have to say, start writing your own thoughts, comment on other blogs, and invite them to talk with you
- Be a good listener and a good contributor
- Exhibit THOUGHT LEADERSHIP
- Keep your posts unique and resourceful
- Add value to what has already been said and introduce new ideas and questions
- Make your posts thought provoking, not just a summary of what’s going on
- Create TRUST
- Shel Israel said blogging should be like:
- “Two neighbors leaning on a fence talking about their interests”
- Create trust by creating an informal and open global conversation
- Invite others to agree and disagree with you
- Shel Israel said blogging should be like:
- Enable comments
- Comments are an important feature of blogs, enable them and help keep the conversation going
- Positive and negative feedback are both good, don’t worry
- The best thoughts, perhaps some you did not think of, come from comments
- Become the starting and ending point for all conversations
- You want the conversation to start and end with you
- First, keep up to date with global trends, news, and innovations and provide your honest opinions
- Be enthusiastic and raise eyebrows
- Network with other bloggers
- Build relationships, do not just sit back and hope things will happen
- Venture out in the blogosphere, meet new people, and build friendships
- Commend bloggers for a job well done and help them become thought leaders as well
This is an on-going list that I will continue to update with YOUR COMMENTS! I would really like your feedback for making this list the resource for all bloggers!
YOUR COMMENTS ARE NEEDED!
May 4th, 2006 at 5:23 am
Thank you for this. I’m new to blogging having recently started with flickr. I’m really more interested in photos than writing. Even in the short time I’ve been involved I’ve seen that your point about passion not numbers is true. I posted a photo of some old Macs in a secondhand store (http://www.flickr.com/photos/the-lab/136829901/) and straight way this photo got a reaction. Technically it was not a particularly good photo, it was taken with a point and shoot - but the subject, the old Macs, aroused passion among the Mac/geek viewers.
I’ll keep going with your guidelines in mind.
May 4th, 2006 at 6:00 am
Hi Madam,
Exactly! You have found your passion and I bet that several other people share the same passion as you. It does not matter how many people visit your site each day, but its about finding others who have your same interests. This is exciting and what makes blogging unique.
As you continue blogging, please visit and keep me updated with your progress. If you find anything that you would like to add, let me know!
Good luck!
-Chris
May 5th, 2006 at 6:03 pm
Hi Chris, great blog will subscribe…I am reading Naked Conversations too!
I also have other blogs related to yours, http://family2point0.wordpress.com and http://web2point0blankie.wordpress.com
great to see you at minti and see you round in the blogosphere too, cheers rachel
May 6th, 2006 at 12:48 am
Thank you for a very informative and knowledgable summary of what it takes to be a successful blogger. I especially like the concepts of writing what you love and engaging others with thought-provoking questions.
May 6th, 2006 at 12:50 am
[…] Chris Salazar has written an informative piece on what it takes to be a successful blogger - and by successful he doesn’t just mean raw numbers, he means a dedicated and involved readership. You’ve got to be honest, engaging, and asking the right questions. […]
May 8th, 2006 at 3:32 am
Hello Rachel,
Thank you very much for your comment! The two links are very good! I will keep checking your sites!
Take care,
Chris
May 8th, 2006 at 3:34 am
Hi Sage!
Thanks for your comment. I am a strong believer that if I write about what I love people will read my blog. Many bloggers try to right what they “think” others will like, but it does not work.
Instead bloggers should share their passion with others and wait for others to join in!
Thanks for stopping by!
-Chris
May 8th, 2006 at 11:24 pm
[…] I believe Kevin is really on the right track and he will do a great job at Windows Live. I especially like his first tip to "Listen and Learn." I previously talked a little about this in how to become a successful blogger but I believe it deserves more attention. That's really where it should start! […]
May 9th, 2006 at 5:10 pm
[…] In answer to Christopher Salazar’s excellent post on business blogging last week. I challenged Chris to write up his thoughts and now I am answering with my own. Being a successful business blogger really isn’t all that difficult. And, if you’ve built a successful business, I know you have it in you. However, you may need some guidance. Here are my favorite suggestions for beginning business blogging. […]
May 11th, 2006 at 10:59 am
[…] While I was putting together 10 Great Strategic Benefits of Blogging earlier on this morning, I bumped into another weblog post that I thought was worth while mentioning on its own since it comes to tackle a question that I keep getting several times a week from folks who are rather skeptic or reluctant to try out weblogging to help them with their knowledge sharing and collaboration techniques. The actual weblog post is titled How to become a Successful Blogger by Christopher Salazar and while going through it I just couldn’t help thinking about another weblog post I created in the past and which comes pretty close to the overall thinking as well: 10 Tips for Becoming a Great Corporate Blogger. […]
May 18th, 2006 at 8:19 am
[…] Some consideration needs to be given to who is the "audience" for your blog. I had a chat on Skype with Dave Wallace and he pointed out that for some people just getting what you have to say out there is all some people want, and that makes sense, however what if you do want to reach a wider audience? What if you want to connect with other like mind people, or people with similar interests or concerns? What do you do. On this subject I found this interesting blog How To Become A Successful Blogger by Christopher Salazar. You can read this blog for youself however I'll take up his first point "Think PASSION - not numbers". […]
August 30th, 2006 at 6:30 pm
[…] Chris Salazar has written an informative piece on what it takes to be a successful blogger - and by successful he doesn’t just mean raw numbers, he means a dedicated and involved readership. You’ve got to be honest, engaging, and asking the right questions. […]
September 3rd, 2006 at 9:01 pm
Christopher:
Thank you for posting such great advice. It is especially helpful for noobs such as myself. I agree that bloggers should focus on their passions and not their rankings.
I am just getting started with my site and blog that I use to both promote the site and to post news about the site, and found that due to worries over rankings I tend to get side tracked and lose focus instead of writing and promoting my passion which is astronomy (with focus on the disabled)
Your advice is helping me regain my focus. Thanks again
January 1st, 2007 at 7:35 am
[…] - e-Bizz […]
November 6th, 2007 at 5:46 pm
These are some really great points. I have been blogging for about 2 1/2 months now and am still not getting too many hits to my site.
Any suggestions?
Any help would be much appreciated.
Thanks,
Richard Rinyai
November 23rd, 2007 at 7:17 pm
Very clear and precise. Thanks for the post.
December 19th, 2007 at 12:38 pm
I was thinking of this subject and thought I do some research first. So far, this is the most precise and to the point one I’ve seen. I can totally relate to those that you said too!
Hope you won’t mind if I create a post highlighting your points. I would like to share it with my blogmates.
December 28th, 2007 at 7:22 am
No problem at all. But please let me know what you have to add. I love to learn more about others’ best practices!