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The niche of blogging tips is a crowded one and no wonder it’s that way. Blogging is so “the new black”. It gives you freedom, the perspective of making a few (or more) bucks and why not, for some might be just a way to vent. So, what better way to reach a constantly growing and renewing audience than by providing tips on how they should blog. The problem is that sometimes bloggers in this niche forget to be original and get stuck in the same circle of clichés.

Let me take you through my personal top 5 list of the most annoying blogging clichés.

5. Content is king

I’m pretty sure I’m not the only one that reads this almost daily on some blog or Twitter. It gives me the feeling that people keep on discovering the wheel over and over again. We all know that content is king, but there’s so much more beyond that. How many or the articles you read on this topic go further into exploring the ways to give your content the deserved spotlight? My take is that without due promotion, aesthetics and a good network, your content is nothing but a king without a kingdom!

4. How to overcome a writer’s block

Are there any more ways to overcome a writer’s block? I’ve read so much advice on this, but fact is you only need to know/do 3 things:

• Step aside from what you’re trying to write.
• Get out of the house, do something different. There’s life outside blogging too!
• Ask other people for their opinion. You might consider it or not, but a fresh perspective is always welcome.

Other than this it’s all a matter of personal habits, of things we love to do and things that relax us.

3. Top X lists

He he, I know I’m guilty, but can you blame me? We all love lists! The trick is to know how and when to do another list post. Lists are such an easy way to get some new content published without worrying too much about creative writing, but please don’t overdo it. Have a good balance between in depth articles that will encourage your readers to think and react and list posts. Consider them a way to give your readers a moment to breathe.

Also, make sure you don’t copy other people’s lists, which is hard because lists are about mass-appeal, and if you chose a topic, chances are other bloggers have already been there and already done that, most probably in just the same way.

2. (How to) Make money blogging

Hype. Everyone wants to be the next 6 figure blogger (hate the term) and so many people state they can help you. Fact is, even if they could, they rarely do. I mean, have a look around at most of the crowned kings in the make money blogging niche and answer me this: how factual are their tips. Or better yet, how many tips, other than generic stuff they share? It’s all about “I’m affiliate to this, I’m affiliate to that, try it too.” Of course, through their affiliate links. I’m not saying you cannot make money online (God, please don’t smite me!). I’m just saying that there are only a few things you need to consider and not expect someone else to do it for you:

• Put great content out there. Nobody gives a poop (stop smiling, I’m just using decent language!) about how much you make if you don’t help them make that too.
• Try out different services. Some will prove to be money makers, some won’t, but there’s no generic recipe that will fit every blogger and his unique blogging style and topics, and most importantly their particular audience.
• Network like crazy! It’s the one big secret you rarely read, but if you watch closely, networking it’s all there is to it. Call it affiliate marketing, call it promotion, call it whatever you want. In the end it’s still multi-level marketing and it cannot be done without strong partners and happy followers!

Or, you might just want to create a brand for yourself that you can leverage to promote and distribute your own products, but that’s a path that requires work and where the fun in that when we could just expect money to fall from the sky.

And now for my all time favorite…

1. Stand out from the crowd!

I’m guessing I should be in perfect health right now from all the standing gymnastics I’ve done. No really, how many times a week do you read this? I know it sound nice, it even rhymes, but seriously, ain’t that the reason you blog about blogging, to help your readers achieve uniqueness and greatness? Should you add another generic “stand out from the crowd” post just to catch a damn long-tail keyword in search engine rankings?

Every time you use a blogging cliché…

You’ll make Mr. Newman sad, and seriously, see for yourself how sad he already is!

Jokes aside, consider this post as an advice to keep away from the blogging clichés. I know it’s hard since the niche is crowded and topics tend to come back into spotlight regularly, but if you must write about it, please try and get a fresh perspective or at least add some depth to your perspective. People rarely get down and dirty dissecting topics because using a cliché is just that: an easy way to get something out there. Why would you want to complicate your life? Really? Then I’d ask you: Why would you want to waste my time making me read the same over-recycled content?

Over to you

Tell me which are the most annoying blogging clichés you’ve come across in your blogging adventures? Drop me a comment, or better yet, write a post about it and give it a nice twist. Link it back here and if it’s really interesting I’ll include it in this post as a sample of “what others think”.

The cute sad pup in this photo is Bob aka Mr. Newman, which unfortunately passed away (one more reason not to upset him) and the shot was taken by Christopher Michel

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You know me, I always encourage you to experiment, to learn new things, to reinvent yourself, but sometime the wheel doesn’t not need to be reinvented. Sometimes the best thing to do is to learn from the experience and wisdom of our “elders”. Such is the case of today’s blog post. Instead of sharing some of my own tips with you, I’ll leave you in the company of some of the world’s most famous authors and only interpret their teachings in the art of writing.

Easy reading is damn hard writing.
Nathaniel Hawthorne

Have something to say, and say it as clearly as you can. That is the only secret.
Matthew Arnold

It’s easy to get lost in words and ideas. It’s harder to keep your writing concise and to the point, to make it clear and easy to read. Focus on getting your ideas across, to your readers, in their most natural form. Nathaniel Hawthorne and Matthew Arnold both agree on this.

A professional writer is an amateur who didn’t quit.
Richard Bach

If you write one story, it may be bad; if you write a hundred, you have the odds in your favor.
Edgar Rice Burroughs

Writing is a continuous activity. You experiment constantly. You learn and evolve. The more you write, the better the chances to put something good out there. It’s “trial and error” until it becomes “trial and success”.

You can’t wait for inspiration. You have to go after it with a club.
Jack London

It’s something I’ve always preached. Keep your eyes and ears open to the world around you. Look for inspiration in every single thing you read, hear and see. There’s actually no such thing as a “writer’s block”, but rather failure in finding a good starting point.

Tell the readers a story! Because without a story, you are merely using words to prove you can string them together in logical sentences.
Anne McCaffrey

Stories… even simple news have a story behind. Give people a story they can relate to. Give them a story they can understand and let them draw conclusions themselves. Give them the tools and let them build their own result.

The most essential gift for a good writer is a built-in, shock-proof, shit detector. This is the writer’s radar and all great writers have had it.
Ernest Hemingway

I try to leave out the parts that people skip.
Elmore Leonard

Being a good editor is also a must for a good writer. Proof-reading and “shit detecting” as Hemingway calls it are required in order to make sure you get the best possible copy out there. What’s harder to achieve though, is being neutral, looking at your own work from an outsider’s perspective.

The two most engaging powers of an author are to make new things familiar and familiar things new.
Samuel Johnson

When 20 people are writing about the same thing, the only one to “make it” is the one putting it in a new light. There’s no point in doing the same things in the same way. Find your original angle.

What is written without effort is in generally read without pleasure.
Samuel Johnson

And your original angle comes from within your original voice. Put your heart and mind into your writings. Put passion into writing and passion with be reborn into reading.

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A year ago, I wrote about creating reader-engaging posts. In that article, I discussed the benefits of creating posts that got your readers involved. Now I want to point out some techniques and formulas content that will keep your readers talking, on and off your blog.

For your content to truly be great, you don’t want people just reading it. You want people discussing it. However, many bloggers struggle to create “conversation-worthy” content. What is the magical formula to sparking discussion?

As it turns out, all you really need to spark imagination is a little imagination. While there are many ways for you to draw in readers, it is the creation of discussion that will keep them here. Here are some formulas for creating comment-worthy content every time.

1. Be Entertaining

Half of the readers of blogs on the internet do not actually focus on educational value – they focus on entertainment. If you can get people to have some fun while still learning your lessons and understanding your primary message, then people will start talking about your content. Here are some example entertaining headlines:

• 23 Reasons Your Content Reminds me of my Moldy Sweater
• An Open Letter to the Makers of My Horrible Couch
• Blogging: Better than Freshly-Baked Sliced Bread

2. Create a New Perspective

This works especially well if you happen to be up-to-date on the issues in your niche. Putting an new perspective on popular assumptions, news-worthy events, or old-time sayings will get people talking about your ideas. Readers are always looking for more and more information on a subject, and if you can offer them something never before read, they will start talking about it. Here are some examples of New Perspective posts:

• Is Content Really King?
• Can Scammers Market Better Than You?
• Who Care’s About the First Lady’s Wardrobe?

3. Be Personal

When someone tells a story about themselves and you find it interesting, you pass it on, don’t you? Readers love hearing more about the bloggers behind the content, and if you can provide them with some insight into your mind, they will end up discussing your writings and your authority even more. Some fantastic personal posts might be:

• How I Started My First Profitable Website
• 34 Life Lessons I Learned from the Marines
• Why I Will Never Go Back to Ohio

If you can make readers discuss your content, your blog will grow simply by word-of-mouth and so will your authority. Learning to create not simply posts, but ideas and discussions will help you to develop a thriving community. Discussion is the foundation of any great society, so make sure your content gets people talking!

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Your introductions are not that great. Sorry to be rude, but you could be getting ten times the readers if you only wrote better opening paragraphs. If you’re wondering how this is possible, consider the opening to this post. How did I grab your attention?

Your blog could have the most informative content on the internet with a design that blows others out of the water and still not get a lot of readers. The reason for this is that your introductions just aren’t sucking readers into your content. You need to get them hooked on your posts, right from the start. To do this, you’ll need to pull a few tricks out of your sleeve.

Five Sure-Fire Introduction Formulas

The Hypothetical Situation

Imagine this: you come across a blog post that assumes you have $5,000 to spend on a start-up website, and asks if you think you’d blow it on the wrong things. Sounds like you’re interested in your budgeting now, huh?

The hypothetical situation is great for drawing attention from specific types of readers. It takes some imagination to put yourself in the shoes of readers, but once you’re there, they’ll follow you wherever you take them.

The “no offense” Introduction

This is where you start your blog post with an “honest truth.” The same technique is used in the intro paragraph above. Explain to your readers (kindly) what they’re doing wrong, and why. Then proceed to the solution. This should be used with some light humor.

The Overwhelming Factoid

The overwhelming factoid technique involves digging up a seemingly startling fact, such as “50% of twitter users are spam bots!” or “40% of Blogsessive readers are actually non-bloggers.”

When using the overwhelming factoid, it’s best to use either percentages or a seemingly large number, such as “Google makes 1.2million selling T-shirts!” Since Google makes billions, this really isn’t that startling. Still, it brings in some readers.

The Startling Rhetorical Question

You like making money, right? Well if you take advantage of the Startling Rhetorical Question, you’ll be making lots of it from visitors who desperately answer “yes!” to your question. Try starting a blog post with a question about your readers’ desired outcome. Would they like to gain 200% more traffic? Of course they would.

The Personal Admission

I have to be honest – these tips really work. The Personal Admission will have readers interested in your content because they connect with you. Personal admissions range from “to be honest – I don’t think this works” to “to tell you the truth – this changed my life.” A personal endorsement is the most powerful form of marketing, and you can use your own authority to your advantage when crafting great posts.

Introductions can often be overlooked by even the best blogger. However, writing a great introduction can just about double your reader engagement. These techniques can even be combined and mismatched in the body of the post to keep your reader’s attention. Sounds awesome, right?

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When it comes to reader engagement, crafting an attention-grabbing headline is not the only thing you should consider. You might even write a great introductory paragraph that will make your readers click the little “read more” link on your blog, but the hard part is drawing their eyes down the page, and keeping them hooked until the final message.

Great content is essential, but it only goes so far. What your readers are looking for is a summary of the main points, in an easy-to-find-and-follow format. Just like reading a magazine, readers want to be able to skim your content and still pick up the essential points.

For this purpose, we have HTML heading tags such as H1, H2, H3, H4, and so on and so fourth. While H1 and/or H2 will be used for your catchy post titles (check out the guide on SEO-friendly headlines), H3 and H4 should be used throughout your post to draw the reader down the page and summarize portions of your content. Either tag has a slightly different purpose, and we’ll discuss how to use them in your posts.

When to include H3 tags

So when should you include these tags? There are a few instances when you might use an H3 tag in your content. The first is when you shift in the focus of your blog post – like moving from the introduction to the first main point. In addition, you should use h3 tags in the following situations:

1. When changing the main subject of your post (examples to definitions);
2. When separating quoted sources;
3. When separating unrelated information (such as in showcase posts).

H3 tags are slightly smaller than H2 tags, and will provide an obvious contrast to the surrounding content. In addition, search engines will treat them on differently than the H1 or H2 tags, making your pages more relevant.

When to use H4 tags

The even smaller h4 tag should be used within related content areas to divide content even further. You could use H4 tags when:

1. Pointing out a particular situation;
2. Separating source from content;
3. Asserting calls-to-action (“download now”);
4. Asking for feedback;
5. Separating your feed and other auto-content from the post.

H4 tags are fantastic for organizing information within different areas of you posts, such as when you present a download with specifics or a showcase with a similar layout per entry. In addition, h4 tags carry the same SEO effects as h3 tags, incurring a different kind of indexing by bots.

Conclusion

By using sub-headings in your posts, you can help the reader distinguish the main ideas in your content more easily, and improve the layout of your content overall. Sub-headings are especially essential for longer posts, such as pillar articles or reviews. Consider them not only for their SEO value, but also for their blog post sculpting usefulness.

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Yesterday, Syed Balkhi published one of his best posts lately: “Consistency & Frequency Are The Ultimate Downfall of Blogging“. While Syed was probably looking – as he stated at the article’s end – for a bit of controversy, he actually managed to create a very thoughtful post that made me write a follow up, something I rarely do.

Blogging “Experts” always preach that you must be consistent with your blog, and you should post frequently.

This is how Syed starts his article, making it clear where he’s going to hit, the famous “Be consistent, write frequently” blogging tip. While he makes some very good statement on consistency, I would have loved to see a more detailed explanation of what should be understood by “being consistent with your blog”, and since I did not find those, I’ll share my views in this article.

By blogging consistency you should understand that…

1. You should be consistent in quality

By quality consistency I mean that you should continuously thrive to improve both your writing quality and the usefulness of your articles. People follow you because of the practical use they have for your tips, or the fun factor you always provide and so on. If the quality is poor, make it good. If it’s good, make it better. There’s no perfect, but thrive for it, you’ll get close.

2. You should be consistent in writing style and tone

The folks that read your blog and follow you through feeds and Twitter, do so because of your personality. The more charming you are, the easier it is to get followers. When you’ve found that tone that suits you best, stick with it. Of course, with the occasional escapades. Once in a while it’s nice to break the blogging patterns.

3. You should be consistent in frequency

While frequent posting has its advantages in terms of traffic, when it affects the quality of your posts it can become your blog’s killer. If once a week is the rhythm than does not affect your creativity and quality, that’s how frequently you should post. Don’t post daily just because X does it. I don’t. Even more, whenever I feel that I come across a writer’s block I take a break from Blogsessive, and guess what. My readers are still here. My RSS subscribers are still here. Why? Because they understand and accept the fact that it’s better to sacrifice a week than sacrifice your readership and value.

All in all, Syed is a bit harsh and extreme saying that “consistency & frequency are the ultimate downfall of blogging”. But he’s got a point. Being consistent and frequent for the sake of it is wrong. Being constantly useful and frequently creative is what you should struggle for.

And one more thing to ponder about consistency…

Consistency is the key element in branding

Personal branding, just like any other type of branding is a compound of your actions. The better these actions are tied to each other, the more consistent your image/brand is. But just as with every other brand, there comes a time when you’re required to hit that “Refresh” button. And when you do that, it’s called rebranding.

The point of rebranding yourself? It’s infinitely better that instead of wasting time recycling others’ or your own ideas you should be using that time to reinvent yourself. Continue to provide value, just in a new shape.

My 2 cents on consistency: Be on the lookout for the best in you. Constantly!

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I have a secret – this post is going to be loaded with grab words. You might be wondering what exactly a “grab word” is. That’s perfectly okay, because you’re going to learn not only what a grab word is, but also what it does for your content and your blog.

But wait, there’s more! I’m also going to give you a list of grab words you can use to generate interest on your blog, to engage your readers!

What is a “Grab Word”?

A “grab word” is a word that grabs the reader’s attention. Words such as “attention, free, money, sex, radical, new.” There are tons and tons of grab words that you can use to enhance your content. The best part? Your readers won’t even know or care that you’re using specific words to make them listen! If you use them correctly, your content will have more personality and your readers will love you for it.

Grab words work because they change the dynamic of the content. Instead of phrasing your articles around yourself and your knowledge, you’re phrasing the article around the reader and what he or she wants to hear, learn, or experience. Grab words form a strong connection with the reader, and in turn, suck them into your content so you can deliver the primary message.

7 Examples of Grab Words

Are you ready? Let me give you some examples of grab words you can start working into your blog posts. I’m going to share something with you – there are hundreds of grab words and, yes, grab “phrases” that you can use on your blog to raise interest. However, let’s start with a few basics:

• Listen Up!
• Free!
• New
• Coming Soon!
• That’s not all…
• I have a secret…
• Transform

How to Use Grab Words

The premise is simple. Go about writing your blog post as usual, and every here or there, insert a phrase specifically for attention. Instead of saying “I’d like to talk about…” say “let me tell you about” or “you might be wondering“. This will draw your readers in more, because you’re making the sentence about them!

Quite frankly, you could throw a grab word in every sentence if you wanted. Ultimately it’s up to you where you place these words, but simply trying to work them into your sentences will improve your familiarity with them, and transform your content into must-read material for your blog’s readership. One little suggestion is to use grab words to create suspense.

It’s easy to take your content from mundane to awe-inspiring with just the usage of a few simple words! Imagine the possibilities creating customer grabbing content will deliver you. By utilizing some of these phrases, you can make your content flow, draw readers’ eyes down the page, and ultimately sell them on your idea. It’s that easy!

Photo credits to propter

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You know, planning a new blog post can be one of the most common problems for a new or recurring blogger. At the same time, the quality of one’s content can dwindle if you don’t take the proper time to consider what it is you want to write about, and stay on task. So how do you go about creating that perfect post idea?

Write When You’re Most Productive

To start, you should try writing when you’re the most productive. If you really want your content to sizzle, you need to be on top of your game, ready to outperform. For example, sitting in a comfortable chair and listening to music might be the best writing environment, while a silent library works for others. Naturally, it’s impossible to be able to sit down and be in perfect writing form 24/7, but being prepared to write is important to developing exceptional content.

Before you begin writing, why not try arranging your desk area in a way that suits you? Make your environment as comfortable as possible to get yourself into the writing mood. Try opening a window. Sounds crazy, right? Whatever you might think, creating an atmosphere that you feel at ease in will make you that much more productive.

Choose a Compelling Topic

If you really want to make an interesting post, you need to begin with an interesting idea. Generating ideas is as simple as considering a solution your readers might need, or a new product that has come out within your market. Let me show you some more ideas you might use for a blog post:

• 5 Ways to Do [Something]
• 20 [Market name] Professionals to Follow on Twitter
• How to Grow in [Your Choice]
• How I [Achievement] in [Timeframe]

One little suggestion might be to build upon previous posts that you’ve done for your blog. What areas have you covered that you can grow and develop more? Building upon your blog’s past content will make your new post even stronger. What’s more, it will give you a place to start when structuring your new blog post.

Structuring Your Post

Normally, bloggers will jump right into writing before deciding upon the layout of their blog post. But let’s be honest – considering the structure of your blog post will ultimately make it more effective. Taking one to two minutes to simply lay out your ideas in order will result in a much more professional post, which flows more seamlessly to your readers. However, you should not spend endless amounts of time on the arrangement on just one post. Figuring out the acceptable layout and moving on is perfectly fine. The bottom line is: spend some time arranging your ideas to avoid turning your posts into a reader’s nightmare.

Learn When to Publish

If it weren’t for the last minute, nothing would get done.

Why wait? Or why hurry, for that matter? The most important factor in planning a new blog post is when you’re going to publish it. Rhythm is especially critical in the development of a blog, and posting your new article online at a time of peak visiting hours will help raise subscribers and readership. In the past, new bloggers would simply post and let traffic take care of the rest. However, analytics software makes it easy to determine when people are reading your blog. Posting your new entry an hour or so before peak visiting time will help to improve visibility and exposure. Posting on a day when people are more apt to read your blog is also important.

You might be thinking that planning blog posts is for the more organized or elite bloggers, however, learning to plan out new posts is a skill that will help you to build your blogging experience and authority. Your content will excel with a little extra help.

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One of the biggest mistakes that bloggers make – but still expect reactions and feedback – is to ignore the basic fact that in order to engage their readers, they need to sell their blog posts. No, I’m not talking about literally selling your content on article market websites. I’m talking about selling ideas through your blog posts to your most favorite customers, your readers. Are you ready to close this sale?

It’s not a big stretch of imagination thinking of your ideas as if they were products you need to sell through you blog posts. Looking back at a past article on Blogsessive, we can link the proper blog post structure to one of the most basic, yet highly effective selling technique: The AIDA Model.

What is AIDA?

AIDA is an acronym that stands for: Attention, Interest, Desire & Action, and is a selling model developed back in 1925 by psychologist E.K. Strong Jr. Don’t be fooled by the date. The AIDA model still holds strong and is still being considered by many as the copywriter’s best friend.

How does this model apply to writing blog posts? Simple! It is enough to link each of this acronym’s letter to one of the four main elements of your blog post:

• Come up with an attention grabbing title;
• Write an interest startling introduction;
• Proceed to creating desire and motivation in the body part;
• Close with a call to action.

Now, let us get down and dirty with each of these four steps.

The Title – Grabbing Attention (A)

You know that it’s a fast world we’re living in and time has become more and more valuable. With this increased value, people have reduced the time they spent scanning blogs to scanning blog posts, and nowadays to mostly scanning titles. So, you should consider your post’s title as your first idea pitch. Make sure it’s a winning pitch, otherwise, the “sale” will most probably fail before it even begins.

In order to write a good title you need to be concise, focused and why not, intriguing. Address a real problem, a real interest. A good title generates a spontaneous question or dilemma within your reader’s mind instantly.

Let’s take this post’s title as an example. It uses a direct approach through “you” and it creates a dilemma: Why the heck do I need to sell my blog posts? Or maybe there’s something else the author is trying to tell me?

Now, let’s twist the title a bit (more) and take a look at a less fortunate format: “Wondering if writing is anything like selling”. A title like this shows uncertainty. People don’t have really have time to waste with your insecurity. People need facts and they need them quick. The most probable reaction a title like this would get is: “OK dude, keep wondering! Let me know when you find out.”

The topic of writing attention grabbing titles is itself a very big one and I will not develop it here any further. Instead, I’m going to guide you to some of my favorite posts on this matter, the “How to Write Magnetic Headlines” series on Copyblogger.com.

The Introduction – Generating Interest (I)

So, you’ve managed to write a pitch-winning headline, what’s next? Now, it’s time to sustain your readers’ attention by writing an introductory paragraph that gets in touch with their interests.

State the problem right from the start. Let readers find themselves in your little “case-study”. Let them know that you have come up with a solution to their problem. Also, know that interest wear off pretty quick and in order to further engage your readers, ending the introduction with a formula that actively involves them is a good idea. Take this article’s introductory paragraph for example and see how it ends:

Are you ready to close this sale?

If you have managed to generate enough interest, your readers will definitely continue reading the post body.

The Blog Post Body – Creating Desire (D)

Now, it’s time to build on the readers’ interest. You have convinced them that what you’re about tho share sounds good, in theory, but how will they be affected?

Writing the body is an action-benefit game. Simply listing the actions they need to take, or an item’s features in a review is not enough. You need to motivate readers and this is done by explaining how each of the actions or features will influence them and solve their problems. Come up with real examples, testimonials if necessary. Strengthen your theory with solid facts.

Do not make the mistake of keeping your best for later. Hit your readers with the best you’ve got, right from the start. Make an impression. If not, you risk loosing their interest before they even get to read your “best section”.

Remember to always keep the writing at a conversational level in order maintain the reader engagement. I’ve talked about engaging writing before if you need to refresh your knowledge.

The Closing – Call to Action (A)

With enough desire built, it’s time to seal the deal. A successful idea sale is confirmed by the feedback you receive through comments, emails, backlinks and so on. Summarize in a small phrase the best of your post for those who scanned through the body part, then jump to the “call to action“.

The time for pleasantries is gone. When closing your article, you don’t need to give options. There’s no need for questions that might encourage readers not to deliver feedback.

Stay away from questions that might return a negative answer ( “Have you used ‘product X’ before?” ). They are bound to keep readers away from that comment form. Who wants to waste even more time discussing the negative impact or lack of experience with an action or product?

Instead, be decisive. Encourage readers to interact through subtle persuasive lines like “Share your experience with me / the community!”

Sometimes, a post scriptum (PS) empowers the call to action by delivering an amazing feature that deliberately left out.

PS: Have I mentioned that this technique improved my comments rate with over 200%?

And That’s How You Sell a Blog Post

You capture attention. You build interest. You create desire and then hit your readers with the most powerful call to action you’ve got! The AIDA model is indeed your best friend.

And since titles are decisive to win the first pitch, pitch me with your best title so far and a link to the blog post you’ve “sold” best!

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As many of you know, when submitting a story to social news or bookmarking site, you risk having a lot of traffic to that page alone and having people leave your site immediately after reading the post in questions. There are several things you can do to keep readers engaged and direct them to different articles: really great content, related posts, links in your sidebar and many more.

But the purpose of this article is not to teach you how to go about getting legitimate traffic; it is to show you how not to act to get the same, yet temporary result. There’s a new practice: something mixing the multiple page posts with the well know “read full post link” used on blog homepages. It translates into going to the post page, reading one or two paragraphs and seeing a “read more” link.

It’s annoying! And it will work once, twice, three times, but after having the nice reader click and see the entire article, you are back to square one: how do you keep them from moving to a different site?

Besides, readers, like a lot of other people, are lazy sometimes. They like to get what they were promised and what they expect when following a link. All of us social media users expect a full article when we hit that link, so it’d better be there! Let’s say the content is OK and we move past our urge to close the tab and we actually read. What do you think will happen at your next submission? Will we click again or simply click away?

Is your content worth “spending” an extra-click?

And here comes the ugly part. After the initial page intro, when actually clicking the artificial “more” link, the content is crappy. This is the worst scenario. It might increase the number of page views and add an extra second to the time spent on site, but it still would make readers run away at speed of light afterward.

Are multiple pages any different? I for one prefer having the content placed in a few pages to endlessly scrolling down to reach the end of a post. But if you add a new page after every two paragraphs, it’s not better than what I’ve described above. So when deciding how to present your content to social media readers, leave the petty metric goals for later, and think of how to better welcome your guests.

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Blogging, before being a tool of expression and communication is a tool of desire, especially these days when thousands of people start a new blog each day, hoping to become successful.

It doesn’t matter how each and every one of them defines success. It can be a big readership, new relationships, business leads, money making or whatever, in the end, it starts out from the desire of doing better for yourself.

Unfortunately, that’s the point where most bloggers get stuck. Success is a two-way street, a give and receive relationship between the blogger and its community, and a blogger that cannot see his work from the readers’ perspective is bound to fail.

Have a clear and easy to digest message

As bloggers, you are the experts, your ideas make sense to you and probably a lot of your readers too, but don’t expect everyone to be able to understand and follow your thoughts as easy as if they were of your level.

In order to attract and maintain a good readership you need to appeal to the novice and the expert both. You need to be able to explain things in such way that novices could understand, but interesting enough so that you engage the advanced ones too.

A good way to reach that is to avoid a vocabulary consisting mostly in technical or complex words. Rather than using such a vocabulary, add references to each of your articles, encouraging the novice to find out more about the topic. The experts can still be engaged by leaving enough room for conversation or second opinions, but don’t expect them to come by their own. Ask for opinions. Different people handle the same situation in different ways and those people might be willing, if encouraged, to share their experiences and results.

Let readers build the story

No matter how good an article is to you, it’s the readers who decide if it’s appealing or not. Use an engaging writing style to attract readers and give them the tools to build the story upon.

Without your readers’ engagement, your article is nothing more than a series of materials and words put together in a logical sentence, and that proves nothing about you. The second you publish that story, everyone reading it will have the chance to appreciate it, comment it or criticize it. Once it goes live, it’s not about how you wrote it anymore, but rather about how it’s read.

Accept feedback, but don’t let it drive your actions

No matter how good the quality, critics will come. It’s the human nature and the internet has its share of trolls, so don’t worry about them. Instead, focus on the real reactions to your work.

Satisfied readers will most likely go unnoticed or simply leave an appreciative comment. It is up to you to determine how many of these appreciative comments come from people that are really captivated by your work, and how many simply go with the positive flow.

To best determine the reaction to your work, look closely at those leaving truly meaningful comments. If their comments are mostly dissecting your theories, then you need to reconsider your views. That doesn’t mean you need to change them, just try and look through another perspective too.

If most of the comments take your theories further, complementing them with new ideas and experiences, then you article had a positive impact, turned out valuable and managed to engage the community. This is the case you need to find yourself in.

You and I both

We are both the ones deciding my fate, it’s up to me to give you my best, and it’s up to you to react naturally to what I give you. No matter how I choose to define success, I can only take the first step alone, because writing it’s a song to dance to in couples. One gets to lead as long as someone else follows.

And since it all starts out with your action, here’s a nice quote from Beth Mende Conny, recognized and appreciated writer, speaker andd trainer, the mastermind behind the “Art of Schmooze” series of books:

No one is asking, let alone demanding, that you write. The world is not waiting with bated breath for your article or book. Whether or not you get a single word on paper, the sun will rise, the earth will spin, the universe will expand. Writing is forever and always a choice – your choice.

Photo credits to Vinícius Sgarbe

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Most niche bloggers have definitely experienced what is called a “writer’s block”. It’s a natural reaction that comes along with writing to much on the same subject and can be induced by many other things, non-blogging related, like the lack of sleep.

Just as writers experience these blocks, readers are no exceptions. They too can experience what people call reader’s block.

The good thing is that writer’s block and reader’s block can be treated or prevented by using the same medicine: Diversity.

Diversify by breaking your blogging patterns

At one time, many of us felt that a certain writing style or topic is more appreciated by our community. The obvious choice was to expand that topic and create follow-ups, or write aticles on other topics, but use the same writing style.

For a period of time, that proves to be a good strategy, but in the long run, you and your community will experience saturation which will lead to a block. This is where diversity should step up and break your blogging pattern.

Blog post alternatives

There are quite a few types of blog posts and writing styles you could experiment with and even mix them up as you find fit for your next article.

• Pillar articles
  These are long posts, usually well above 500 words, containing valuable, in-depth information on a certain topic. Tutorials are good examples of pillar articles.
• Interviews
  If the right people are interviewed, your readers will love them. Further more, interviews are a good way to reach out to those people you wanted to get in touch, but never knew how. They are a great networking tool.
• Market Research & Statistics
  Doing a bit of research did not hurt anyone. It keeps you and your readers informed and could also help catch some traffic if the topic is hot. Take Technorati’s 2008 State of the Blogosphere for example. Many bloggers republished the study’s results, analyzing them from their own personal point of view.
• Link Round-ups
  Many bloggers do it, but only a few go beyond linking. Link out and share your those on the topic. If you’ve enjoyed it enough to link it, you definitely can write something about it too. Here’s a good example on Words Of A Broken Mirror’s Monday Reading Roundup. Linking too can prove to be a great networking tool.
• Lists & Resources
  Lists are fun and easy to follow. Good resources are always appreciated. So, why not writing some good resource lists once in a while. You can take my Domain Names for Bloggers Series or WordPress themes round-ups (here and here) for example.

There are, of course, more types of posts that you could consider, such as: industry forecasts (predictions), relevant reviews, rants and gossips (be careful with these), open discussion threads, group writing projects and many more.

It’s up to you which one will be your next post or how would you mix up these blog post types.

Some writing styles alternatives

Different blog posts require different approaches. A “positive” approach may prove a good choice some times, but not always. Consider alternating your writing styles, once in a while:

• How NOT to’s
  “How to” posts have always managed to attract a good community response, but how often have you considered writing about the down-side of things? How often have you made your readers aware of the things they should stay away from?
• Thinking outside the box
  Presenting things from another perspective can prove to be not only a well deserved mouth of fresh air but also fun to write. Remember my Are Bloggers Hollywood’s Next Big Shots? post or 10 Blogging Tips from the Top 100 Songs of 2007? They are a good example of thinking and writing outside the box.
• Getting personal
  Bloggers are people. People have emotions, expectation and preferences. Sometimes it’s good to let your feelings about things show in different posts. Back in April 2008, Daniel Scocco wrote a post about the old WordPress Theme Viewer. If you read the post now, you’ll see how his personal feelings and opinions on this website stick out of every sentence.  My post Top 5 Reasons Why Blogging Rocked Our World would be another good example in this case.

Conclusions

In order to prevent blockage, be it writer’s or reader’s, a good deal of diversity is required. You don’t really need to look for topics outside your niche, but rather take a look at your niche from the outside. Go around it and look from every perspective that you can connect to.

The results will be amazing and fun. Just remember to break the blogging pattern once in a while!

Photo credits to Vivek Chugh.

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Blogs live and grow through quality content. Writing a blog post is not a big deal if you have low expectations, but writing a post that will attract community reactions, traffic, social media love, links and new readers is definitely not that easy. It implies a creative writing style, engaging phrases, catchy headings and a good, logical and easy to follow article structure.

Here are five blog writing tips to help you give a better shape to your wonderful content ideas!

Expect unexpected ideas

If you ask me, writing is more about imagination than rules. It’s definitely not math. The harder you look for content ideas, the harder they’ll come to you, or come in the most appropriate shape. Keep an open mind and expect new ideas in everything you do, every comment or post you read, every movie you watch, every discussion with your friends.

It’s said that good journalists see a news story where other people notice nothing. That’s no different when it comes to blogging.

Start big and finish bigger

A great opening paragraph is decisive for making your visitor read the whole story. It helps build interest and a higher level of patience. But as soon as you fail to maintain that interest high, that great opening paragraph will only be a waste of good content ideas.

Focus on ending your story with at least the same quality level as the opening paragraph. Not only you’ll have a happy reader, but most probably one that will come back to read more each time you publish.

Be familiar with what you’re writing about

In that crazy search for “what’s hot”, bloggers tend to approach topics that they’re not familiar with. Sure, there’s a good side to this, you’ll get a few more hundred words as content on your blog, but where’s the value in that?

Where’s the value in writing something that you or your readers cannot relate to? Why write if you cannot add a personal view on the matter or expend what already got posted by people more into the topic than you? In the end, it all turns out to be a poor time investment.

Pay attention to details

Writing is a form of art, and as any other form of art, details turn a piece of work into a masterpiece. A shallow view does not add any kind of value to your articles. Spice up your writing with enough information to turn your idea into good content.

If you are the “opinion blogger” type, make sure you add your own views and suggestions on the topic. If you are more of the “advice blogger” type, think of writing as a form of building. Add pieces of relevant information to build upon your topic foundation.

Maintain a balance between form and foundation

The foundation of your articles are topics. The form is represented by the way you explore and expose those topics.

I’m sure you’ve all heard about the KISS (Keep It Simple Stupid) concept, but what you should be aware of is that certain topics require certain levels of depth and a certain type of language. If you’re topic does not require complex words and phrases, don’t use them. They’ll only be a waste of time as readers will make sure to skip them or worst, not understand them. It’s all about balancing content and ideas.

Blog writing tips are not rules

I’ve always said that the best you can do is to experiment. That’s why I’m offering blog writing tips and not writing rules. There are no rules when it comes to writing, but rather principles and personal guidelines that one should consider in order to find his own writing style.

More on this from Blogsessive:

• Blog Topic Research Resources
• Blog Topic Research Tips

Photo credits to Chris Greene.

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Update: Contest is closed. It’s time for the jury to play its part. All entries will be made public with the contest winners announcement post, next Monday. Thanks to everyone who submitted their entries to this group writing project. It will be a very interesting reading!

The end of September brings a killer contest on Blogsessive under the form of a group writing project for all blog owners, and, since this is a killer contest, your skill can win you some killer prizes. Here’s what the contest winner will get:

1. One identity package – logo, business card and letterhead design – by yours truly;
2. One “Personal license” for the Edge premium WordPress theme, created by Blog Design Studio that as you probably have guessed, offers blog design services;
3. 500 business cards printed using your newly won design by U Printing, company that offers business cards and business cards printing services.

Also, there will be 2 consolation prizes, each of 250 business cards by the same U Printing.

What is a group writing project and how to participate?

A group writing project brings together bloggers with the same interests, all writing and publishing blog posts on a given theme/topic. The topic is usually decided by the one that initiated the project, which is me in our case.

Everyone who wants to join, has to publish a blog post until a specified deadline. This group writing project will end on September 30th, which will be the last day that we’ll accept submissions.

The Topic: How to connect with (engage) your blog readers

I’ve talked about engaging writing before, so you can take a quick look and see what’s this about, but I strongly suggest that you write your own posts. Do not recycle, do not rewrite, do not use old posts from your blog or other people’s materials!

How to submit your entry?

You can submit your contest entry by using Blogsessive’s contact form and following these requirements:

• From the subject drop-down box select “Group Writing Project”;
• Fill in your name and a valid email address(!);
• In the website field insert the link the blog post to be considered as a contest entry. Do not put your home page there;
• In the message field you can tell us a few words about yourself.

Contest entry validation

For your entry to be considered valid it has to follow the above steps and also contain an exact reproduction of the following paragraph (copy-paste works) at the end of the post:

This is an entry for Blogsessive’s Group Writing Project & Contest. Supported by U Printing – Business Cards and Blog Design Studio.

No need to display it in a block quote as above, only the text contained in it. If you think it’s easier to copy and paste exact code, here’s the piece of code to add to your posts:

I know that some people disregard this type of links, but consider this: the above prizes sum up to about $1000 and sponsors should have their gain in this, for you to benefit more. And also…

3 more reasons to join

If the above contest prizes are not enough, here are 3 more reasons to join in:

1. At the end of the project, a list with all valid entries will be published on Blogsessive with do follow links and also, GroupWritingProjects.com will publish the contest results;
2. At the end of the project you’ll a more experienced blogger, with a better understanding of your readers’ behavior and you will discover more ways in which you can connect with them.
3. Write a great post and other participants and readers will most likely talk about it and link to it on their own blogs.

Again, the rules in brief

To recapitulate:

1. Write a good post on “How to engage your readers”;
2. Include the required paragraph as required above;
3. Publish it until September 30th and use the contact form to announce your entry;

Winner and the jury

There will be only one winner of the big prize and 2 consolation prizes, as stated in the beginning of this post. All entries will be analyzed and graded by the contest jury and those with the highest grades will be elected winners.

The jury members:

• Alex Cristache (me);
• Alina Popescu of Words Of A Broken Mirror;
• Tibi Puiu of Lost Art Of Blogging;

As me and the other jury members are all anxious to read your wonderful entries on such an interesting topic, I encourage you to head to your writing space and give it your best, because the prizes are well worth it! Good luck and inspiration, friends!

A big thanks goes out to Jacob of Group Writing Projects for his help in spreading the word about this!

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Have you ever wondered what was it that made blogging turn into such a mass phenomenon, with billions of bloggers and readers spread all over the world? What’s behind the huge mass appeal? Sure, in the beginning it was a simple and accessible way to maintain an online diary, but that’s definitely not a powerful enough factor to affect the shaping of the future of the online environment.

The more I though about it, five reasons began shaping in my mind, strong enough to set things in motion and to rock our world. Read on and find out what these reasons are and don’t forget to share your opinion with me after you finish reading.

Blogging gave us back “reading”

In a world ran by television shows, Hollywood movies, adverts, gaming and cheap entertainment, blogging gave back “reading” to people.

Sure, some of us never gave up on reading. Some of us still devour literature, but I’m sure you’ll agree that less and less people still do that. Most reading we do these days is magazines and newspapers, and even those are affected by the low interest in the actual concept of reading.

Even so, blogging stepped in at the right moment, offering a wide range of topics, opinions and voices. Nowadays, we follow hundreds of blogs daily, read enormous amounts of text blocks and continue to train our reading skills. Ain’t that wonderful?

Blogging gave us back “writing”

Most of us gave up creative writing back when we finished school, no matter how far we went. With blogging, we (re)discovered skills and interests long forgotten. First, a bit shy, but more concise, meaningful and powerful with each post published.

Sure, we can’t compare to Tolstoy, Voltaire or even modern authors like Stephen King, but we do it. We do our best and try to improve our skills.

Blogging gave us back “thinking”

We’re so caught up in our little “nine to five” worlds that sometimes we even forget to “think”. We’re so caught up in labor that we forget how it is to work. Each morning, the subways are filled with apathy, with people showing little interest in everything else but their own little lives.

Blogging changed that. Blogging gave us back “thinking”. We read and write opinion posts. We’re concerned about our economy, our political system, our finances and ways to improve our status, the global warming, war in the Middle-East and much more. Blogging took as from robots to thinkers.

Blogging gave us back “evolution”

In a world of huge unemployment rates we’re bound to find success stories in the blogosphere. People that have evolved from zero to hero through their new found passion for blogging.

Take Darren Rowse‘s evolution for example. When he started blogging, back in 2002, he was a simple part-time minister and casual laborer. His continuous blogging efforts made Darren one of the most notorious bloggers ever, with people only aspiring to his status. Talk about heroes, huh?

And last, but not least…

Blogging gave us back “empathy”

Some would say it sounds cheesy, but that’s what blogging did. We’ve opened up our knowledge for people allover the world to experiment and learn. We listen. We hear about problems and offer solutions. We promote charitable actions. We offer prizes. We understand and help.

And that, my friends, makes us better people.

That’s why blogging rocked our world; because it’s based on real people, evolving, striving to be better. Better people. Better us. Need any more reasons for blogging?

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From where I stand, the greatest advantage of blog writing is, without doubt, the instant feedback. Unlike classic media, like newspapers or magazines, our blogs give us the possibility of getting valuable opinions on every post that we publish. Of course, not all feedback should be considered valid, but this is a matter of personal choice and analytic skills.

Writing reader engaging posts is definitely one of the biggest challenges of every blogger, since these posts are usually excellent ways to create and grow a community around your blog. At a short glance, among the advantages of writing reader engaging posts we find:

• Community growth – Obviously, writing quality posts has the power to turn casual visitors into loyal readers, as long as you maintain a good flow;
• Social media exposure – The more interesting and better written the post, the more people will want to share and recommend it across services like Reddit, Digg, StumbleUpon, Mixx and so on;
• Conversations – A good post is more likely to entice readers to engage in commenting. This is a great way to further develop the topic or even generate new content ideas;
• Networking - Engaging posts are great ways to network with other bloggers in your niche. Write something appealing and you’ll surely make their link-round-ups;
• Quality traffic – Of course, all of the above are great ways to generate either a great deal of traffic or quality traffic.

Tips for writing reader engaging posts

With such important advantages and assuming that the topic you have chosen for your post is interesting enough, you should concentrate on making it more conversational and giving it that personal touch. To do so, here are some of the most important things you need to consider when writing.

Write opinion posts

Even if your post is simply a news item, you should always try and take some time to express your own views on that particular topic. Some will agree, others won’t, but it definitely should a boost for the discussion.

Use the 2nd person, singular or plural

“You”, “your”, “yours” are very powerful words, mostly when used to address a single person. They establish a direct connection between you, the writer (see, I’ve just used it), and them, your readers. By using them you’re more likely to make your readers feel like what you wrote is there especially for them, thus feel the need to leave feedback and answers.

Ask questions

No, asking questions does not make you look stupid. It’s all about asking the right questions, in the right place and form. Let’s take a product review for example. Do you think that asking your readers about their personal experience with that particular product would make you look bad? Absolutely not; it will only show your readers that their opinion matters to you.

Leave path for readers to explore

Writing insightful and in depth post is important. The better the quality, the better your reputation as an expert in the field gets. Still, it’s also important to leave “unexplored” paths for readers to develop in the comments section, and why not, on their own blogs as follow-ups (this will probably get you some backlinks too). Also, if you’re trying to sell services that relate to you posts, it would be a good idea to keep some “business secrets” to yourself, or simply for future blog posts.

Focus on delivering to your target audience

It’s very important that you write with your target audience in mind. The people visiting and reading your blog have niche-specific needs. Focus on covering those needs and solving their problems. This will encourage feedback and contribute to your reputation.

Be concise and effective

Don’t strive to write a 1000 words blog post just because a famous blogger does so. Write it because that’s the amount of words required to present the topic without any useless additions. Keep your post long enough to incorporate all your ideas and short enough to encourage visitors to read it in full. Also, use enough spacings and elements that break the natural paragraph flow, like lists, subheadings, images, quotes and so on.

Writings are for readers. Sounds basic, but focus on it!

Indeed, whenever you write, keep the human factor in mind. I’m not saying to ignore search engines or social media potential. Just to write for your readers and spice up the post seamlessly with elements for SEO and social media.

Now, what was your most reader engaging and comments generating post about?

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We’ve all heard the cliché “Content is King”. And it’s true – the more quality content your site has, the more both the readers and the search engines will like you for it. However, good content only means something when it’s presented properly: you could have the best tips on how to make money to be found anywhere, but if the structure of the blog post isn’t right, then it’s just as if those killer tips weren’t even there.

Let’s start at the beginning: the crucial part of any blog post is the introductory paragraph. This should be no more than a couple of lines and should be short and snappy, summarizing the article. The purpose of the first couple of sentences is to inform the reader about the post to come, and entice him or her into reading the whole thing with promises of some juicy content.

Next comes the main content. Different points should always be separated by different paragraphs, possibly with their own sub-heading. Either these sub-headings or the first sentence of each new paragraph should be the “leader” sentence. This is somewhat akin to the introductory paragraph: it should summarize the lines to come and almost force the reader to carry on exploring the post. Like the first paragraph, the leader should be short and snappy, ideally containing a controversial phrase. Controversy sells best on the web, and a unique and intriguing leader sentence will lure your readers into continuing to read the paragraph. Example leader sentences could be: ‘I can make you rich, with little effort on your part, in seven days flat.’ or ‘For years people have wasted their money on expensive blogging platforms without realising there was a free alternative.’ The rest of the paragraph should solely be based around the leader sentence, and should embellish it until a new point needs to be made. Remember: new point, new paragraph.

In addition to all of this, you need to keep your reader interested. Break up paragraphs often to avoid big chunks of text. As the average time spent on a website is purely a matter of seconds, you need all the help you can get into persuading the reader that your blog post is worth reading. If you have lists, then always use numbers or bullet points. Never nestle or embed them, that is to say never put lists in an ordinary sentence using commas in the middle of a paragraph. In fact, always try and turn things into lists where possible. They’re easy to reference, read and find. “Top 20 Blogging Platforms” sounds much better than “An in-depth discussion of the pros and cons of several of the leading blogging platforms”. People always need to be able to easily access and digest information.

Don’t forget your summary paragraph: a short round-up of what you’ve been talking about, and if necessary a conclusion. Ideally, include RSS and further information to aid your readers. A cliff-hanger which subtly promotes your next post is another great idea.Good luck!

A guest post by Heebie.

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The quality of the reader’s experience is essential to your blog’s success. It is most important that you deliver original, interesting and well-written content every time you hit the “Publish Post” button. The way you manage to deliver this content will finally result in your reader’s reaction toward your blog. So, whenever you want to publish a new article, you should consider the following blogging tips:

1. Choose a topic

And stick with it. We live in a dynamic era. People have less and less time to spend for themselves or to look for information. Deliver you content in a straight-forward way, without altering the subject.

2. The Title is your best ally

Whenever you decide to post a new article, try to extract the essence of the topic and formulate one short, descriptive title that perfectly represents the information that unfolds below. The shorter and more expressive the title, the easier for people to find it, remember it and recommend it.

3. Unique content

Provide your users with unique content. It’s very hard these days, but it’s well worth it. If your topic has been approached before by other bloggers, it doesn’t mean that you can’t express your opinions on the subject. Just keep in mind the fact that readers tend to read multiple sources for a topic and select the most representative and clean information they find. Who knows, maybe you’ll find those who share your point of view on the matter.

4. Write for people

Some bloggers tend to write their articles in a fanatic-SEO way. It’s always good to use representative keywords in your post, but don’t exaggerate. Your most important friend is the reader. The better the reader’s experience, the better your blog will rank in search listings. Those indexing bots that everyone talks about have been developed, after all, by humans. You might fool them once, but does it worth the risk?

5. Use images

Only when they provide help for a better understanding of a term/fact/topic. A picture is worth a thousand words, but keep in mind that blogging is about writing, not drawing.

6. Reference

Give your article more credibility. Provide users with good reference to your content so that if a reader wants to find out more information on the topic, he/she will have the right tools at his/her disposal, making your website the perfect start for a future knowledge development.

7. Link building

If other bloggers have approached the same topic with interesting content, relate you content to theirs. This will attract fellow bloggers to you website and so help you develop a good linking system. The key to the success of this step resides in the quality of your content.

8. Use tags

Think of tags as if they were keywords. They are helpful for indexing bots, but most important, they help readers find related, relevant content. Pick your tags carefully, in perfect sync with the provided information.

9. Cross article reference

If, in the past, you have published similar or related articles, make sure to include them in your new post as related posts. This will help users find more content on your blog, spend more time and create more page views. If you use an ad system, I’m sure that the importance of those page views is familiar to you.

10. Respond to comments

Take a moment and engage your readers in a discussion. It’s always nice to show your appreciation to those that give a few minutes of their busy life to comment your posts.

Finally, consider these blogging tips, not as secure paths to success, but as ways to ensure the quality of your readers’ experience.

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