It’s quite a daunting challenge: Write a blog about dangerous blogger mistakes without committing any of those mistakes in the blog itself! At the risk of making some of the very mistakes I’m writing about, here is my list of beastly blogging blunders and how to avoid them:
PROUD PEACOCK BLOGGING – This blog is all about showing off to the reader. There is no blog content whatsoever. The writer has decided that what he or she has to say is important to the world, and the world should be appropriately impressed. Note to peacocks: Readers don’t care about what’s important to you; they only care about what’s important to themselves. Find out what your audience wants to know, provide solid content, educate them, describe the benefits, and they’ll pay attention to you.
LONE WOLF BLOGGING – In this blog, the conversation is one-sided. The writer has forgotten that blogging is a “social” media and never gets the reader involved. Engage your audience, make brash statements, ask for input, respond to their questions, act like you’re carrying on a conversation, and soon you’ll be running with a pack of avid fans.
HIBERNATING BEAR BLOGGING – This blogger appears every so often, gets people excited, and then disappears for long stretches of time. There is no regular schedule to the blog, no plan of action, and people soon forget what got them so excited in the first place. Readers are creatures of habit who don’t like having their schedule disrupted. Like a pool player, you’ve got to be thinking six or seven shots ahead. Before your first blog makes it to the Internet, you should already know the topic and dates for your next six to seven blogs. Better yet, have a schedule worked out for several months in advance and stick to it. Come out of your den on a regular basis and you’ll get a “honey” of a reward.
SHARK BLOGGING – Like a shark, this blogger smells blood and attacks relentlessly. The blog is a continuous sales pitch that doesn’t end until the reader gives in and buys something. The point of blogging is that you’re in it for the long run. You’re building a relationship step by step, with quality blog writing that builds a positive image for you and provides solid bits of information to help your readers. Stop swimming with sharks, and you’ll stop scaring prospects away.
HUMMINGBIRD BLOGGING – The hummingbird blogger flits from one sweet-smelling topic to the other, without any sense of direction or focus. Readers get dazed trying to keep up. The blog streaks along and never reinforces or follows through on previous ideas. The truth is that the reader is actually more like a hummingbird and the blogger should be more like the feeder, attracting readers with sweet bits of information that keep them coming back again and again.
If you think I’ve transformed into any of these animals in writing this blog, leave a comment and let me know what you think. But, if you’ve recognized your true animal nature in any of these analogies, then challenge yourself to use proper planning, solid blog content, and a focus on reader needs to tame these beastly blogging blunders. Write a quality blog that engages and involves your audience, and you’ll be “king of the blogging jungle” in no time!
Kathy R. is a freelance writer available on WriterAccess, a marketplace where clients and expert writers connect for assignments. WriterAccess is powered by ideaLaunch
