With the rise of tablets and smartphones, people have more devices than ever from which to read blogs. This means you need to learn the biggest pitfalls of many bloggers and the bad habits to avoid if you want to be a star blogger. Writing regularly, even if you love to do so, can be much like a job, so you need to make sure the passion to stick with it stays with you. The following are some of the biggest blog-killing work habits that you should avoid at all costs.
1. Write sporadically: You may be fired up when you begin to blog. Motivation may wane, however, after the first week or even the first posting. To help combat this, you can come up with a long-range plan of a month’s worth of topics, then fill out your outline with ideas. As more topics come to mind, you can change and adjust accordingly. A regular schedule of writing will benefit your audience and may gain a loyal following as you become a useful source of information.
2. Write without a plan: This speaks to the previous tip, but it cannot be stressed enough that you need to think ahead for future blog ideas to stay consistent. This is the biggest cure for writer’s block and can see you through the days when you wake up and feel less than motivated to write. Having a plan also will help you when you do not have the time to write. You could have advance pieces written to publish at a future date to keep consistency.
3. Ignore your readers. Your audience will appreciate a dialogue with you and with each other. If someone responds to your post, then it may be a good time to start a conversation, possibly asking about what future topics your audience might want to read about. However, if a reader leaves a post and hears nothing but crickets as a response, your audience may quickly abandon your blog and move on.
4. Forget to engage your audience: A running conversation matters when it comes to writing for an audience. Remember that your posts are not going out to an empty room. Readers worldwide have the potential to come across your writing. Know your target audience from a regular dialogue and carry that conversation into your blog. You could run surveys or polls or ask questions to generate comments and more conversations.
5. Stay too busy: If you make a commitment to blog, then the work needs to be on your calendar along with your other commitments. Time-management skills are necessary for all bloggers so that months don’t pass between posts. You need to set aside ample time for your work to write with authority and precision. Slap-dash entries read as such, so take the time to hone your writing skills. Try mentally writing your blog before sitting down to type.
About the Author
This article was submitted by technology enthusiast and blogger, Lewis Jacobs. Lewis has had success of writing for many technology blogs, blogging sites and web content creator for the Choose Clear Internet campaign.
This is an original article from WP Cypher Copyright 2012
