Then, I saw the movie Julie and Julia.
And then I joined a network marketing company.
And the rest is history.
Let's take a couple of steps back, shall we? Julie and Julia kind of opened my eyes to the possibilities that blogging can create for a person. Seeing Julie share her trials and tribulations with the world as she worked her way through the cookbook showed me just how powerful the internet can be. Here we all are, miles apart, living isolated and separate lives, yet we are connected by the click of a mouse and the hum of a hard drive. Our lives suddenly come together in the stories we weave-- suddenly we aren't the only people in the world who get bloated up after eating wheat products, and no we aren't the only ones who love eggs baked in avacados....oh the power of the blog!
So when I joined my primary company it made perfect sense to me to blog about my experiences. I love to write, and it immediately gave me a way to connect personally with the world around me, who might also be facing the same challenges as myself.
I will also be the first to admit that it wasn't me who initially had the brain wave. I give credit to my sister for this, who I initially consulted about embarking on this adventure in the first place.
However, blogging is more than just writing, sharing your innermost thoughts, and posting a few pictures. Over the last year I have learned that there is a bit of a science to it, especially if you want to be seen by the world.
So, in a nutshell, here are a few things that I have learned about the fine art of blogging. And yes, some of these are my ideas, but many of them aren't. If you haven't checked out Ray Higdon's blog or his youtube channel, you really should. The guy is a wealth of information, and seems like a pretty cool guy too. He has the smoothest radio voice I've ever heard, and returns emails to little fish like me, which I completely respect.
Here we go!!
1) Keep it fun and casual. No you don't want to crack dirty jokes or anything, but keep your writing style light yet informative. Nobody likes reading a text book--so write in a way that will keep your readers coming back for more. And while we're on the subject, I would avoid swearing as you never know who is reading your work and it's best to avoid offending your fans.
2) Use the power of white space. Let's face it, your readers are getting to know you on a computer screen, so avoid using long paragraphs--which can often get hard to read. Break your work up into shorter paragraphs with lots of white space, for better 'readability'.
3) A picture says a thousand words. Words are great, but pictures can convey messages that words fail to, and will give your blog more emotion and depth as well. They make your work more visually interesting. I'm a fan of stock photos and am willing to pay the small fees that stock photo companies ask to share their work. One site that I use a lot is http://www.123rf.com/ as they have a huge database of photos and good ones only cost one credit (about $1.00).
4) Let your readers get to know you. No, you don't have to talk about the last physical you got, but by adding a personal element to your blog your readers will be better able to make a connection with you and be more inclined to relate to what you are saying and visit more often.
5) Fall in love with the power of the keywords. Search engines will find your page if you use good keywords--so make sure that the title of your blog is a good keyword, as well as the title of each post as well. Use the free Google Adword Keyword Tool to search good keywords that will be found by the search engines. Start with using words with a global search of about 500, and then once your site gets more traffic, increase to 1000.
6) Share Share Share your blog!! Once you have your blog written, take the time to post it on various social websites to start generating some traffic to it. Below is a list of places where you definitely want to post your blog:
- Socialadr
- Pixelpipe
- TweetDeck
- Webring
- BetterNetworker
- Email your "list"with the link to your blog.
- Shoot a youtube video that talks briefly about your blog and then post a link to it.
- Join various appropriate Facebook groups and post your link in them. Start by posting your link about 5 or 6 times, and then post a few more times later in the day. You don't want to be too aggressive when posting your link on Facebook or you will get shut down.
So, that, my friends are a few tips to get you going to create your powerful blog. Don't be shy, give it a try!! You never know the power of the "typed word" until you sit down and start plunking away.
And, if you are interested becoming part of a proactive and creative marketing team, click here to learn more! I'm looking for YOU!
