On of my biggest passions in the social media realm lies within blogging. I’ve traveled the country as a social media speaker teaching thousands how to get started in blogging. Honestly while it is probably the subject I have spoken on the most, it is also probably my favorite. The reason why is because I feel all social media efforts should revolve around your blog.
Why? It’s one of the few places that social interactions take place that you are in absolute control of. You get to make the rules and determine how things should look and feel. If places like Facebook & YouTube determine you are doing something they don’t like, they can simply shut you down without even providing a reason.
Each Sunday night there is a wonderful discussion that takes place on Twitter called #blogchat. Blogchat discusses various topics related to blogging. The host Mack Collier is usually accompanied by a special guest that helps moderate the chat of several hundreds of people generating many thousands of tweets at times.
This past week was an open mic night which means you can discuss any topic you wish and ask any questions you may have. I’ve highlighted a few of my favorites below thanks to Dashter:
Pam Moore – @PamMktgNut
There is only one perfect way to do blogging & #sm & that is the way that works for you & your audience! #blogchat
I agree with Pam on this. There isn’t one single mold to social media that works for every single person. You have to find what works well for your business and implement those things. For some that is using opt-in campaigns. Others have success with affiliate programs. Find what works for you and your audience and do it better than everyone else in your industry.
Ian Greenleigh – @be3d
You don’t owe anyone content. Never feel like you need to blog when you don’t have anything to say. #blogchat
Too many times we feel like we have to write a post just because an expert somewhere said that we needed to blog XX times each week. Instead of creating content of value to our consumers, we just write something that has zero value and can be more harming to our online footprint just so we can say we kept our weekly quota.
If we create junk, it breaks the trust in our readers that we are giving good stuff to them. Also, too many trash posts can put a major hit on the SEO of your site. Just like your mom taught you when you were a child, if you don’t have something good to say, don’t say anything at all.
If all you care about is traffic, blog about Bieber. #blogchat
This second though from Ian I haven’t personally tested yet, but I might need to soon! Considering Bieber draws a crowd everywhere these days, it might just work. What I do know, is that if I did implement this tactic, it would at least drive a few of my friends like Mike Mueller here. As for more than just him, I don’t know.
Sandy Ellingson – @sandyellingson
Spend more time learning about & connecting w/your readers than copying & watching how others connect w/theirs! #blogchat
Sandy makes a whole lot of sense here. Too many try to be the next Chris Brogan or Gary Vee and copy what worked for them. The only problem is what works for them doesn’t always work for us.
Take your time and efforts to test your own strategies and ideas to find what works for your potential consumers. Research the age groups, things your consumers enjoy, things that would appeal to them and implement those strategies. Your results should be much greater.
Jessica Levin, CMP – @JessicaLevin
@MackCollier I’m still thinking abt what @marcymassura said: Make your blog a TV channel, not a show. That was powerful. #blogchat
This statement I probably spent the most amount of time pondering. I thought about what Jessica Re-Tweeted from Marcy and basically had two different trains of thought here.
The first was on creating variety of content to appeal to various groups of readers. If you offer a mix of content instead of just information on one single subject over & over you be able to gain more readership and traffic to your site. I try to do this on my site by sharing information about everything from blogging to video, and everything in between.
The second thought that came to mind was that we need to focus on long tail keyword topics on our site instead of just focusing on one larger item which I agree with 100%. It’s much easier to get your site ranking for a long tail keyword than a main keyword. Ranking for a bunch of long tail keywords over just one main keyword gives you an ultimately broader spectrum to drive traffic to your site via SEO.
They say that long tail keywords make up almost 80% of keyword possibilities, so if you write on your subject using various long tail keywords related to your product or service you can gain more and more eyes.
So there you have it, Justin Bieber, blogchat, & thoughts on blogging all wrapped up into one post. Make sure to try to join into a blogchat in the near future, it can really be beneficial to your business.
Photo Credit: cukuskumir creative commons 2.0
I think there’s something to be said for the debate between post X times per week / day / month and only posting when you’ve got a full head of steam. I tend to believe that excellent writing is (just like many other skills & talents) the product of practice. If you wait until you’ve got a fully formulated thought EVERY time you want to start up a blog post – you miss the opportunity to put many great debates / discussions / conversation points out there.
I think knowing the difference between a powerful and provocative piece and a “practice” piece is important – and should be promoted / marketed accordingly. If it’s not your best work, don’t invest the same time and energy in to engaging your audience as you would with a “best” product.
Great wrap-up Jeremy. Hope it was as fun to make as it was to read. 🙂
Marcy’s comment was great. It was in response to my comment about my own blog where I don’t feel 100% focused on what I am selling. Instead I tend to write about things that impact businesses in general with a dose of technology and events which is our core focus. She really clarified things in my mind by her comment.
I know that I need to focus more on SEO. I tend to use post titles that I like rather than ones that will increase SEO traffic. It’s more authentic, but doesn’t lineup with my business goals for my blog.
Great post and thanks for including me and Bieber in the same post. 🙂
Dave, it was quite fun and also a learning curve. As for the debate of waiting till perfect, or writing just to write, I have a full post on that. Look for it on Twitter soon 🙂
Anything for you 🙂 I do SEO and consult with people regularly. But, the one thing I always stress is this. Nobody will comment or like your post because they feel it is a really well written SEO post. Great content is what will drive the consumers.
I try to balance them in my writing, but whenever there is doubt, I always lean consumer experience over SEO.
hm. looks write about Bieber become popular.
great) liked everything very much) keep it up
and dont stop)
Amazing! Thanks for this post.