You’ve got the itch to blog, congratulations! It’s a wondrous thing. I started my first blog in 2006, and I have reaped rich rewards both personally and professionally. I use this blog as a bit of a sandbox – it’s where I experiment with new ideas and play around with features. Blogging helps me to sort out things in my head, and I love the opportunity to be able to publish in a public way.

I may not have the most subscribers. I may not get a tonne of comments on every post. The number of views I get on my posts is probably pretty average (with the occasional spike). But I deeply appreciate every time someone stops by to leave their thoughts, or shares my posts on their Facebook page or Twitter feed. I have grown to love being able to share my thoughts with the world in this way.

Starting up a blog, while technically very easy thanks to great tools like WordPress, is not without its challenges. There are myriad sites out there that will present long lists of best practices for running a successful blog. But sometimes all we really need is a kick in the pants to get us started. So consider this your kick.

Inspiration is everywhere.

Don’t tell me you have nothing to say. Inspiration is everywhere you go, in every part of your life. You just need to be aware. I find inspiration in all sorts of things. Much of the time it’s in my interactions with others. I will go out with a friend, or attend a meeting or event, or spend time with my family and before I know it, I’m observing something about myself or others that I want to write about.

Most of us just motor through our days so fast that we get to the end of it and we can barely remember what happened. Becoming more mindful is the secret to becoming a better blogger. Slow down and pay attention to everything going on around you. Watch people in line at the grocery store. Observe your colleagues in meetings. Sit on a park bench and just watch. Really listen to your friend when she’s talking to you. Before you know it, ideas will start to percolate. I will often wake up first thing in the morning with an idea in my head for a new post, especially after spending time doing things I enjoy. When inspiration and ideas hit, be ready. Carry a notebook or digital note-taking tool (I love Evernote) with you everywhere you go. When you get an idea, write it down. I have pages full of blog topics that are based on the experiences and observations I have every day.

Then when you sit down to write, you can just refer to your list and go nuts.

Don’t over-think it.

I know so many people who start up blogs and agonize over every little detail. Their design has to be exactly perfect before they show it to the world. Their posts have to go through umpteen drafts and rewrites before they are ready for prime time. Frankly, I think in many cases, this is a stall tactic. The longer you take to prep and primp your blog to perfection, the more you don’t have to actually hit that publish button and make yourself vulnerable to peoples’ opinions.

One of the great things about blogging is that it allows for a certain amount of spontaneity. While it’s true that some posts require more thought and research than others, the truly prolific bloggers are the ones who can get inspired, sit down at the keyboard, and bang out 500 or 600 coherent words in about 20 minutes. The secret to being able to do this is two-fold.

First, you need to stop over-thinking your posts so much. Just write. It’s okay to change things around as you go (I often find I’ll start writing and realize I’ve written the end of the post first and have to move paragraphs around, but that’s part of my process). But don’t agonize over every little thing. The best blogs have some element of “stream of consciousness” mixed with facts and opinions.

Second, you need to practice. Some of the posts I wrote back in 2006 are cringe-worthy. I hadn’t found my voice yet. They didn’t have much flow. The ideas were a bit muddled. But I published them anyway. Why? Because blogging is kind of like yoga. It’s about the journey, not the destination. Your Downward Dog will start out very differently from how it ends up after you practice, and your blog is just the same. But just like going to your yoga mat every day, you need to sit down at that keyboard and practice as much as you can. And you need to publish your work. Because keeping your ideas all to yourself won’t teach you anything. You need the feedback of others to keep growing.

Fun first.

Blogging should not be an arduous process. The beauty of the medium is that you can post about any topic you want, whenever you want. It’s a relatively informal platform, so people don’t mind so much if your sentence structure isn’t perfect. What they care about is that you cared enough to share something that’s important to you.

If you really want to blog, now’s the time to stop thinking about it and planning and trying to make it perfect. Now’s the time to just do it.

And one more thing – and this is true whether you’re writing for yourself personally or for a business – blog for yourself first. Do it for the pure enjoyment of creating something new and sharing it. If you create from the heart, the rest will follow. That I’m sure of.

Thanks to @AnatheaT  for the inspiration for this post. See, inspiration can come from anywhere! In this case it came from Twitter. Thanks, Anathea!

[photo by Britney Bush]

Share/Save

Think of someone you know who tells a great story. The kind of person for whom virtually everything that comes out of their mouth is in the form of an interesting story. They are the kind of people you can listen to for hours on end. Someone like Liz. Or The Dude. Storytellers do what they do inherently. It’s simply the way they naturally express themselves. They aren’t just telling you something. They are the weavers of tales. And because they are able to turn everything into a story, the things they say are compelling and memorable.

Isn’t that how you’d like to be when you publish? Compelling and memorable? Well the secret is to be able to find the story in anything, and the secret to doing that? Read on.

Most of us spend far too much time participating in things, and far too little time observing. We are immersed in the middle of our lives, reacting to everything. Life happens to us, and before we know it, it’s all taken place, and the details are all a blur. So when we finally sit down to publish, we come up empty handed. Our descriptions of our days are emotion-based. “I got frustrated, then angry. Then I was happy again. Then I was disappointed.”. We’re feeling our way through things. To be able to find the story, we need to become better observers. Instead of focusing on how you felt, focus on what actually happened. Once you can describe what happened, the emotion of it will follow naturally, in the form of the reactions of your readers. Here’s how.

You could say:

This idiot cut me off on the highway and I ended up in the ditch. He sped off, boy was I angry.

It works, but it’s pretty generic. Because you’re putting the emotion first, the rest of the story sort of falls flat. You’re giving it all away, instead of revealing pieces and allowing your reader to experience the emotions themselves.

If you put yourself into the observer’s shoes, something cool happens:

I was driving down the highway in the middle lane. It was a gorgeous afternoon, but the sun was bright and low over the horizon, making it difficult to see. My favourite Jack Johnson tune was playing quietly on the radio, taking my mind off squinting and into serenity. I saw the red Mazda in my rearview mirror, growing larger by the second. He was moving at a fair clip. The car zoomed up to my tail, then whipped out to my left. It cut back in too fast, clipping my left fender, and sending me into a spin. Everything seemed to slow, as my car spun around and around, 3, then 4 times. When it finally halted, I was in the ditch. I wiggled my fingers and toes, blinked my eyes. I was intact. I glanced up, barely able to see out my cracked windshield, as the red car sped away. Luckily, I was able to catch the word “SPDDMON” on his license plate. Gotcha.

Observing changes your entire perspective on the story, because observing is about noticing the small details. The light outside. The music on the radio. The sensation of spinning. Observing takes you from reactive to narrative in one step, and not only that, it makes the whole process of publishing – whether written, audio, video, what have you – much easier and much more fun.

So, if you’re struggling with your publishing, step back and see if you’re observing or reacting. If it’s the latter, then step into the observer’s shoes for a while. You’ll find that suddenly, the stories will just appear before your eyes. Now all you need to do is hit publish.

[photo by MSVG]

Share/Save

This might be kind of a funny post coming from a gal whose blog has been known to go dormant for 2 or 3 weeks at a time, but perhaps this is a post as much for me as it is for you.

I spend a lot of time talking to my students about the virtues of blogging. Not only can it make you a better writer (I’ve improved a LOT in the 4 years since I started writing here), but in my opinion, it’s one of the best ways to build a devoted audience that will follow you no matter where this wacky online world takes you.

I’m trying to get serious about taking my own advice here, so I’m working hard to come up with some ways to be more consistent on this blog. My goal is to write here every day, but I realize that simply having a goal is one thing – doing what it takes to meet that goal is entirely another. Here are a few things I’m experimenting with in order to be a better blogger. Maybe it will help you too, and maybe you have your own tips you can post in the comments.

Let’s do this together, shall we?

Read, Watch, Write
The number one thing I hear from my students and clients when it comes to blogging is, “I don’t know what to write about”. It’s true, there’s nothing more daunting than having a blank page in front of you and not knowing what to say. Everything I’ve ever learned about blogging I’ve learned from watching, reading and experiencing things. All the ideas I’ve ever gotten have been sparked, even in a small way, by things I’ve read, seen or done. My blog is simply my take on things, as yours should be too. It’s a sandbox where I can play with words and ideas, and where I can share things that I hope are of value to you.

If you want to be overflowing with ideas for your blog, you need to get out and see things. You need to read voraciously. You need to meet people, and have experiences. Read every single day (and not just Twitter and Facebook updates, either). Be infinitely curious. And you’ll never be at a loss for things to blog about.

Keep an Idea List
We all know that inspiration is all around us, but how many times have you been inspired and then forgotten to write it down? Then when you get back to your computer, the idea is gone. Find a way to keep an idea list with you all the time. You can go old school and use a notebook and pen, but I prefer to use the device that is on my person 99% of the time – my phone. You don’t need any fancy apps, but it has to be an app that only takes you one or two clicks to get to where you can write out the idea. Use a simple note app (the default one that comes with your phone is great), or a simple to-do list app (I love Wunderlist for this). Click, type, save, repeat.

The point is, you need an easy way to write out ideas when they come to you. Sometimes I have mini idea generation sessions – where I’ll just sit for a few minutes and brainstorm ideas. I can easily come up with 6 or 7 good ones in a few minutes (because I’ve read, watched and done, as in Step 1). Having a running list serves two purposes; first, it allows me to incubate on ideas…once I’ve got the basic concept, I can think about it while I’m walking the dog or cooking dinner, and the post practically writes itself in my head. Second, it gives me plenty of fodder, so when I sit down to blog, I can scan the list and write about whatever tweaks my interest at that moment.

The list is critical – so get yourself going by taking 5 minutes today to sit quietly and write down 6 or 7 things you’re interested in writing about.

Consistency is Key
This is the one I have the hardest time with. But I’m learning that the secret to blogging consistently is to find the time to do it every single day. It has to be in your schedule, part of your routine, and eventually it will be a habit. When you blog doesn’t matter, what matters is that you do it every day. You don’t have to publish every single day, but write something – a partial post, a post you can bank for later, that’s fine. But write. Something. There’s no rule except you just need to write some every day. Then you’ll never be at a loss for the next step.

Just Hit Publish
This one gets a lot of folks. How many partially written blog posts do you have sitting around right now? Are they partially done because you’re a bit nervous to put them out there? That’s perfectly natural. I get nervous every time I hit the “Publish” button. But I do it anyway, because if I don’t put my stuff out here for the world to see I’m not respecting myself and the time I’ve spent thinking and writing. If I don’t make myself a bit vulnerable to whatever the reaction to my thoughts might be, then I’ll never grow as a writer or a professional.

So just write something. Read it through for grammar and spelling and clarity. Then just hit the darn publish button, already. (Or I’ll come over there and push it for you.)

Your Homework
Hey, I’m a teacher, I can’t help myself. Here’s what I want you to do. Go open a new document right now, or turn on your web cam. Spend a few minutes reflecting on the things you’ve read, seen, or done in the past few days. Pick something. Start writing (or talking, if you’re a video blogger). Then, just hit Publish. Finally, post the link in the comments below, so we can all have a look.

Happy blogging. Let’s work on this together, shall we?

UPDATE: My pal Jennifer Navarette (@epodcaster) came up with a great idea! If you are going to participate in this blogging challenge, then be sure to tag your posts (and your tweets about your blogging efforts) with the hashtag #jbi (stands for Just Blog It). That way we can keep track of everything!

[photo credit: notionscapital on Flickr]

Share/Save

I couldn’t write a post about writing better blog content without also writing a post about comments. One of the things I love most about blogging is the comments. As we all know, it’s often in the comments where the real juicy stuff happens. For people who may not blog themselves, it’s a way for them to express their perspective on a topic, contribute to a discussion, and even meet new people. I gained a new client once because of a discussion I had with someone in the comments section of a blog post.

Online conversations are a funny thing. Because they are primarily in text, there’s a low threshold of tolerance for noise. So when I see a blog post where the comments say mostly “Great post!” or “You rock!” I tune out really quickly. I want to see the meat. I want to hear varying perspectives. I don’t want to hear a bunch of applause. I think sometimes, it can be difficult to know how or why to add to a conversation. Here are some things I’ve learned about being a better commenter.

Hold your applause.
Have you ever read a really terrific blog post, and then scrolled to the comments, only to see a list of 97 people saying “Great post!”? It’s always baffled me why people feel compelled to do this. Sure, we all want to appreciate the author of the post. But, is it really necessary to add to the cacophony of woo-hoo, yay for you, if you’re not going to add anything else? There are alternatives. For instance, you could add a few lines with some thoughts on the matter. Instead of just shouting a resounding “I agree!”, how about sharing a brief story of your own that drives home the point? Or better yet, add a different point of view altogether? You don’t have to disagree, but you could make an additional point, or even ask a question. The next time you’re ready to give the big thumbs up to a post, consider how you might add to the conversation instead. And if you want to praise the blogger, consider posting a retweet on Twitter, or linking to the post on Facebook, or your own blog. Link love means more to a blogger than 97 “great post” comments.

Keep it brief.
Nothing makes me tune out of a comment conversation faster than when someone drops in a 600 word comment. Hey, I think it’s great that it’s not a “great post” comment, but this falls into the opposite end of the spectrum. I’ve started many a comment that, after typing a couple hundred words, I realize I’ve got a lot to say on the topic. At that point, I simply hit the copy/paste function and post it to my own blog instead. If a blog post gives you a spark, and you’ve got something to say, consider creating your own post, and linking back to the original post. I do want to hear what you have to say. I just don’t want you to drown out all the other commenters.

Be nice.
One of the best things about blogs is the opportunity it provides for people to share differing points of view. I love when people disagree with me on my blog. I encourage it. But there’s a way to disagree respectfully, and a way to do it meanly. Don’t be mean. If the blogger doesn’t use foul language in their posts, then don’t use foul language in your comment. Don’t call people names. Don’t be disrespectful. Disagree, even passionately, but ultimately, be nice. And don’t take it personally and get defensive if people don’t share your point of view. There’s plenty of room out here for everyone to have an opinion and a voice.

What about you? What kinds of comments do you like best? How do you think the art of blogging can be improved through comments? Have at it…in the comments, of course. Oh, and before you leave that comment that sarcastically says, “Great post”? Ha ha ha. :)

photo credit: Ben Haldenby on Flickr

Share/Save

I recently did a big purge from my Google Reader. I usually do this once every few months. Not only do I remove subscriptions blogs that no longer seem to be active, I also use the purge as a chance to get rid of blogs that just aren’t producing great content anymore.

There are only so many “Top 5 Tips” I can take. Only so many “Blogging/TV/Newspapers/Social Media is Dead” linkbait posts can cross my stream before I hit the snooze button. But sadly, every time I go through a big RSS purge, there are a lot of blogs I’m eliminating for just those reasons.

More and more, content creators are so caught up in driving traffic, increasing their views, and improving their (gasp) influence, that I think many have lost sight of why they really even started blogging in the first place.

I suppose I could be considered late to the game when it comes to blogging (in comparison to some of the true “old timers” of the online journaling era). I had a false start on this blog in 2006, but then really got into it in early 2007. Like everyone else, I’ve had my share of dry spells. I’ve had times when I’ve gone weeks without a post. I’ve focused on various topics at length, social media, education, video, and so on, and become better known in those spaces; but I’ve never lost sight of one thing – why I do this in the first place.

Sure, I know that blogging often on certain topics can improve my search engine ranking. I know that getting links on others’ blogs helps that too. I respect the fact that what I have done here has opened up new doors and new opportunities for me and my business. These things are all wonderful side effects of blogging. But they are most certainly not my raison d’être.

I have other reasons for being here. First and foremost, it’s because I love to write. I love to spend time in the part of my brain that creates and shapes ideas. I use this space as an outlet for my thoughts, a way to get them straight. And yes, sometimes it’s even therapeutic. The fact that not only can I share what I think, know, and feel here is terrific, but what’s really cool is that people actually read it. And leave comments. I write because I enjoy it, and I keep writing because other people seem to enjoy it too. It’s win-win.

I believe that the people who are most successful with their blogs are the people that create them out of a love for something – a hobby, a profession, or some aspect of their personal life. Some do it for the sheer joy of writing and creation, and that’s great too.

But if you enter the world of blogging just so that you can be read, be popular, or be #1 on Google, you’re doing it for the wrong reasons.

Businesses are feeling pressure to start blogging, and I believe that in many cases, blogging can be extremely beneficial to businesses of all sizes and industries. But just because you’re writing with a business focus does not mean you can’t still write from the heart. It doesn’t mean you can’t post things just for the sheer joy of it, to work through ideas, or even as self-therapy. You could write a blog about the joys of doing theoretical physics, and if you’re writing passionately and honestly, if you can make me CARE about theoretical physics, then I’ll be way more inclined to subscribe to it than a blog about video production that simply posts boring top 5 lists of fancy video effects I can use in my next YouTube video.

Forget about SEO. Forget about backlinks and getting readers and building influence. Make those things come second. Write down a list of the things that get you fired up about your hobby, or your work, or your life. Think about those things, and let those crazy good, excited feelings well up inside you. Then, and only then, start writing.

Want to create great content? Then consistently write from the heart. It might be what makes the difference between whether your blog succeeds or not. It will sure as heck make me stay subscribed.

Share/Save