Photo by *beat*.
While I don’t claim to be a blogging expert, I have picked up a few tips and tricks over the past 9 months that have helped me break into the Technorati Top 10,000, push past 2,000 RSS subscribers, and find myself a job as editor on PickTheBrain. In this article I will share everything I know about blogging, including how to get started, find the perfect image for your article, and increase your subscriber count. Enjoy :)
Getting Started
Why blog? Well amongst other things, blogging is a great way to meet people, it can potentially be a healthy source of income, and it is much cheaper than therapy. See my article Why You Should Blog for a few more reasons.
Blogger. I created my first blog using Blogger. While I would never go back to it, I do believe it is a good way for a beginner to start blogging because it is free and incredibly easy. Also check out WordPress.com.
WordPress. If you are even a little bit serious about blogging, I suggest taking the plunge and going for a self-hosted WordPress blog (note: I am referring to the WordPress software from WordPress.org, not the hosted version available at WordPress.com).
Web hosting. For my web hosting I use and recommend Dreamhost (use the promo code “CHANGE” to receive $50 off). I also hear good things about Media Temple. If you are going to go for self-hosted WordPress blog, look out for a host that offers a “one-click WordPress installation” as it makes things incredibly easy.
WordPress for Dummies. I won this book thanks to a ProBlogger competition, and I must say it is an excellent guide to WordPress and blogging in general. I only wish I had read it earlier, as it would have saved me a lot of time and hassle. You can read the Amazon review of it here.
Writing
Tell a story. Don’t always tell people the information/ message/ idea you want to convey. Instead, try showing them by telling a story. Apart from being more interesting to read, stories stick (read Made to Stickfor more on this).
Who cares? Whenever I write an article, I ask myself “who cares?” Firstly, do I care? That is, am I writing about something I am passionate about and that has meaning to me. Secondly, will my readers care about what I have to say? I have found that asking myself this simple question keeps me focused and helps avoid a common blogging sin: being boring.
Capture ideas anytime and anywhere. My best ideas for articles normally come when I am anywhere but sitting in front of the computer. So I have made it a habit to carry a notebook and pen with me wherever I go, allowing me to easily capture ideas as they pop into my head.
Write with purpose. As a father and a full-time employee I have limited time to write articles. I have found the key is to ensure I have a clear understanding of what I want to say before I sit down at the computer and start writing.
Take time to craft a catchy headline. A headline can make or a break a story, so make sure this important decision is not simply an afterthought.
This is not university. So don’t write your blog articles in the style of an essay.
Read sites devoted to writing/ copywriting. I highly recommend CopyBlogger to any blogger wishing to write in a more strategic, persuasive, and compelling manner. Also be sure to check out Leo Babauta’s recently launched WriteToDone.
Subscribers
Why care about subscribers? Someone subscribing to your blog is perhaps the best compliment they can give you. Traffic comes and goes, but someone subscribing to your blog says that they want to read more of your articles.
Make it easy to subscribe. Make it easy for readers to subscribe by prominently displaying a subscription icon and giving them the option to subscribe immediately after your article. You may even include a link in your article giving them the opportunity to subscribe (click here to subscribe to my feed).
Offer a full feed. It may decrease traffic to your site, but not offering a full feed is a big reason why people unsubscribe.
Don’t forget email subscriptions. Not everyone wants to use a feed reader. I have approximately 150 email subscribers at the moment, so it is certainly worth your while to make it easy for people to subscribe via email.
Subscribe to your own feed. It is not vain to subscribe to your own feed. Rather, it is essential to regularly check your RSS feed to make sure everything is ok.
Flaunt it. If you have over 100 subscribers, I say flaunt it by selecting a feedburner chicklet that shows your number. If you have under 100, don’t display your subscriber number just yet.
Photo by SmilingSunflower.
Ignore daily fluctuations. Ignore day to day fluctuations of your Feedburner Subscriber Count. A drop in the number of subscribers shown does not necessarily mean people have unsubscribed (see this ProBlogger article for more on this). Instead, aim to increase subscriptions over a week or even a month.
Don’t become obsessed. Yes, it is nice to see subscribers increasing, but if you start judging the success of your site based solely on a number you are giving in to your ego (this is a self improvement site remember :) ).
Themes
Free themes. There are some amazing free WordPress themes out there. To get an idea of what is available, check out the following articles from Smashing Magazine:
Custom made themes. If you want to take your blog to the next level, a custom made theme may just be the answer. John Chow recently said that a custom made theme was the most important thing he did to improve his blog in 2007. And if you are wondering why I am still using a free theme, I am currently in the process of getting a custom made theme.
Images
Why bother? An interesting and relevant image can add a lot to an article. It is of particular importance if you hope your article will become popular in the social media. For example, you only have a few seconds to catch the attention of people using StumbleUpon.
Flickr. I find most of my images on Flickr. If you decide to do this, take a moment to read up on the Creative Commons License. Then, go to “Advanced Search” and tick the box for photos licensed under the Creative Commons License. To make it easier to find a good pic, I suggest selecting the option for “most interesting” pics and then “thumbnails” so that you can scan them quickly.
Other sources of pics: Sometimes it is worth spending a few pesos to get the perfect image. Check out iStockphoto for a huge collection of images that can be purchased quickly and easily.
Maintaining a Blog
Often less is more. If you struggle to find the time to blog, just remember that when it comes to posting frequency often less is more.
Photo by Hypergurl.
Hitting the publish button. If you have any doubts about as to whether or not an article is ready, don’t hit the publish button. It is better to not publish (even if you normally do post something that particular day) then to post something that is not up to your usual standard.
Microsoft Livewriter is great. Yes, it’s true! “Microsoft” and “great” can exist in the same sentence. Livewriter makes blogging incredibly easy. Check it out here (it’s free).
Read blogs devoted to blogging: ProBlogger, Skelliewag, and Daily Blog Tips are my personal favorites.
Comments
Plugins. There are a number of WordPress plugins (eg Threaded Comments, Subscribe to Comments, Top Commentators, and Recent Comments) that help encourage people to leave a comment. You can read more about these below.
Reply to comments. This may sound obvious, but if someone leaves a comment on your blog that is directed to you make sure you reply to them.
Take time to comment on other blogs. Often if you take the time to comment on someone else’s blog, they will visit your blog and return the favor. Don’t comment just for the sake of commenting though – make sure you have something thoughtful and relevant to say or don’t say anything at all.
Building Your Online Profile
Give. In a recent guest article on ProBlogger, Tina from Think Simple Now suggests ending your emails with “let me know if you need anything”. Very simple. Very powerful.
Sell yourself. To build a good online profile you need to sell yourself as a person. If the idea of “selling yourself” makes you cringe, read my article How to Sell Yourself for a better idea of what I mean.
Guest post. Guest posts are one of the most powerful ways to build your online profile. Most blogs are open to guest posts, so take the plunge and get in contact with a blogger you admire. It is best to attach your post to your email. Even better, attach a few articles and tell them they can use their favorite. David Bohl from Slow Down Fast often does this when he sends articles to me – he also regularly writes for Dumb Little Man (60,000+ subscribers) so he must be doing something right!
Be Strategic. It is no coincidence that I have posted this article about blogging the same day as this post and this post are posted elsewhere.
Blog Carnivals. Blog carnivals may not be suitable for every blog, but I have seen a number of bloggers in the self improvement niche build their online profile this way. I have found that my Personal Stories of Change Blog Carnival has helped me break the ice with a number of my fellow bloggers, and we have since gone on to have become good friends.
Photo by El Fotopakismo.
Making Money
Dream. Blogging can potentially earn you $1,000 per day and allow you to quit your day job. There is nothing wrong with having a dream, right?
The path to making money online is not always obvious. As I wrote about in this guest post for ProBlogger, when you start blogging it is not always obvious how you will make money online. Focus on adding value to your readers and building traffic and I’m sure goods things will come your way.
Read sites devoted to making money online. John Chow and Shoemoney know a lot more about making money online than me, so if you are interested in learning more these two sites are a good place to start.
Social Media
Digg, Reddit, Del.icio.us, etc. If you want to see your articles do well on these social media sites, I strongly suggest becoming an active member of their communities. Oh, and do my next 2 tips….
Ask. It is becoming more and more common to see articles end with a simple request such as: “If you liked this article, please share it on del.icio.us or on Digg. I’d appreciate it. :)” And why not? It is a simple and effective way to help promote your articles with the social media.
Email requests to your friends. If you have written an article you are particularly proud of, I suggest bringing it to the attention of your friends by sending them an email. Of course, just remember my earlier point about giving.
Plugins
Akismet. A essential plugin for fighting spam. It normally comes automatically with WordPress so just make sure you have it activated. Download Akismet here.
Adsense Deluxe. This plugin is the easiest way for WordPress bloggers to incorporate Adsense into their blog. Download Adsense Deluxe here.
Automatic Update. If you hate the thought of having to update WordPress, this plugin makes the process extremely easy. Down Automatic Update here.
Comment Relish. If you received a “thank you” email after leaving your first comment on this site, that message came courtesy of this nifty little plugin. Download Comment Relish here.
Feedburner Feedsmith. An essential plugin for anyone offering a feed on their blog. Basically it detects all ways to access your original WordPress feeds and redirects them to your FeedBurner feed so you can track every possible subscriber. No prizes for guessing where this link takes you.
Full Text Feed. If, like me, you only have an excerpt of you article on your main page you should have this plugin which prevents WordPress 2.1+ from adding a more link to your website’s feed. Download Full Text Feed here.
Google XML Sitemaps. . Download Google XML Sitemaps here.
Subscribe to Comments. This is a simple little plugin that has the potential to stimulate discussion in your comments. Basically it allows readers to receive notifications of new comments that are posted to an entry. Download Subscribe to Comments here.
There’s more! There are many, many more plugins available for WordPress. 50 Best WordPress Plugins for Power Blogging is a good list of them I came across recently.
The Blogging Blog
This is a kick ass post, mate! Not sure if I said this in our private correspondence, but I didn’t realise just how kick ass being an editor is. (I didn’t even know what it was supposed to do) Congratulations! And this is a good post that points the way for others to follow your footsteps. Good guest post on problogger too ;)
Really good post! I didn’t even know there’s a WordPress for Dummies! And yes, asking helps. I know because I just Stumbled you. =)
Oh thank you for this post !
I am new here and it is really good to read some quality post for a change! I was starting to get sick of looking at food pictures on “what so called” A-rated blogs ;)
Cheers
Great post. I found you on problogger today!
I hope to apply some of these ideas to my work. It’s tough at the beginning.
Peter,
As a newbie blogger, I must say that I really appreciate this post. It has given me inspiration and something to strive for. Your website is beautiful, clean, and your content and images are truly amazing. I hope after some time and much learning that I will have a blog with content like this (and make $1000 a day! Hehe!)
One of the best posts I have ever read about wordpress/blogging. Well done Peter!
I agree that this is a very good post. I thank you for sharing the invaluable tips and information that you have. Photos, plugins etc, were what I was looking at implementing on my blog.
Thanks
Well Peter, I thought I new everything; but I had never heard of Livewriter.
I just downloaded it and I’m going to give it a go-thanks so much!
AWESOME stuff man, just learned a lot…and also never heard of live writer….and will download it when I get a moment!
Todd
Peter,
Excellent post. Where were you when I opened my firt Blogger account?
David
Thanks for the tips. I am always looking for ways to improve my blog. I just added some items to my list :)
Excellent post
This is an awesome list. It’s going to take me a while to digest these.
Speaking of subscribing to my own RSS feed, I use Odiogo.com and provide a “podcast” version of my blog via RSS. It’s so much fun (I’m a little narcissistic ;-) ) to listen for the narration of my own posts.
Hi Peter – this is a fantastic article, thanks for all those tips!
You mention that you also have a full-time job, as well as being a father… how do you balance your time?
Hi Peter, thanks for sharing your knowledge with us. It’s really nice to learn from some experienced in this blogosphere. I think I have a lot to learn about it. The tips and ideas you provided here are very practical and make sense. Thank you. I will follow your footsteps, I thought I can, knowing that time is really a challenge for me.
All the best!
Wow Peter. You’re all over the blogosphere cranking out great posts. Good stuff! Me too, never heard of Livewriter. But do you need Microsoft word to go with that? I’m using Open Office.
Once again, thanks for the great tips.
Cheers,
Ellesse
Awesome post, great ideas and very inspiring. This one is definately getting printed out and added to my never ending “to-do” list of things to update on my own blog.
Great work – thanks!
Hello Peter,
This is a great post. Actually I have followed many instructions you mentioned and some more to follow :-) . I want to add this small suggestion also. I think the template of the blog conveys the quality and importance to a great extent. it is more productive if you can customize your blog theme freely downloaded. Then your blog will be unique compared to all other blogs even other blogs have used the same free theme.
I wish you all the very best!
Thank you Peter, this is an amazing post and has inspiring me to further pursue blogging!
Out of your list, I think everything under “Writing” strikes the loudest chord with me. Perhaps it’s just because I love to write about topics I’m passionate about, but I think after everything about blogging is said and done, blogging boils down to the content you write, the value you present, and the story you tell to another person. If you don’t give out what you know and write passionately about something you are interested again, your blog is almost like a fish out of water… it just won’t survive.
Anyways, that’s my two cents! First I see you at ProBlogger, then I see you at Steve Pavlina’s forums, then I see you named at Adversity University, and so now I had to come here and say congratulations at being editor at PickTheBrain! :)
Hi, Great post.. but think you may have missed a trick..
You could have put an affiliate link for most of the links and reccomendations you gave in there, and made loads!
=)
Peter,
As I’ve told you before, I think your blog in fantastic. Since I started reading it, I’ve become curious about the whole blogging process. You’ve provided an outstanding description and a thorough analysis of the tools of the trade. It’s very generous of you to share this vast spectrum of blogging knowledge that you’ve accumulated. You really do come across as a giving and caring person, and your growing group of enthusiastic readers speaks to that fact. I haven’t read any other person’s blog that conveys generosity and the sincere wish to support other people anywhere near the degree that yours does.
Thanks for sharing your knowledge and experience in another great post.
Although I have started blogging some time ago, I find it hard to keep up with new plugins and social marketing ideas. Thanks for putting all the tips in one place. Great post!
Cheers,
Evelyn
Another great post, Peter. I’ll be referring to it time and again – thanks for covering a wide of topics in a way that a novice like me can understand – I found the tone and content perfect – It wasn’t too simplified, so I wasn’t bored reading it, but it wasn’t too advanced or technical either, so I didn’t feel like I was reading something over my head. And, I always feel like you’re talking to me – I would bet that your other subscribers feel the same way – high praise! Thanks!
Wow, I wish I had this article before I started my blog. I have learned a lot of these lessons the hard way and still am learning a lot. I think this is one of the most comprehensive articles I have read on “best practices” for blogging and will definitely be passing it on. My father and I recently started a new web site with a blog, http://www.Living4Outdoors.com, and I am just beginning to teach him about social networking, widgets, plug-ins, etc. Thanks for the lesson; I’m emailing it to him right now!
http://www.JuiceofChampions.com
Peter,
You hit this one out of the park. I guess that I am growing when I read a post like this one and begin to see how little I really know.
I too, have read “Made to Stick”. It’s an outstanding read and has really helped in my marketing of the Rotater.
Thanks for the tip on hosting sources. I’ll be checking out both of the hosts that you cited.
One of the best posts I’ve read to date on blogging tips. That and Tina Su’s recent article on problogger. Thank you for all the tips, and thanks for exposing me to WriteToDone and CopyBlogger.
Let me know if you need anything. =)
http://jonathanmead.com – Authenticity, Clarity, Balance
You are exactly right…that is the where I want to end up and after I read this ebook from Rob Benwell blogging to the bank http://www.gioperation.com/200.....og-to.html …he pointed out a few things as well…it was awesome and I was wondering why it hadn’t come into my life before earlier this month…and my adsense and money is going up everyday…I can see that $1000/day blogging coming one day…well maybe I can’t but I sure can dream.
Peter,
Great post, keep up the good work !
Good to see someone showing the way for new bloggers. :)
Outstanding Peter.
Here is my favorite point:
“Don’t become obsessed. Yes, it is nice to see subscribers increasing, but if you start judging the success of your site based solely on a number you are giving in to your ego (this is a self improvement site remember :) ).”
This was a great post. I have to remember to go back and read it a few times. There is lots of info for bloggers of all sorts. Thanks for pointing some stuff about feeds. I definitely have to play around with mine.
A very comprehensive and complete article. Thank you. If ever I moved to a self-hosted environment, this article will be very useful to me.
This is a great article. It inspired me to change the layout of my own blog and start using Word press and self hosting as an upgrade from Blogger.
Hi Peter.
It’s good to meet a fellow Vancouverite in the blogosphere!
This was an EXCELLENT post — thanks for compiling and sharing all this information. I’ve been blogging for about 2 weeks now and had no idea how much was involved. Don’t get me wrong, I’m loving it…. just slightly overwhelmed and still trying to find my voice.
Davinas last blog post..Hello My Friend
Hi Peter,
I stumbled across your blogspot some time ago and recently started my own blogspot – more for a good laugh – just to see how one goes about blogging. Now I find it so much fun – even if I do it on behalf of my cat! Yes, one of those cat crazy people who blog! But I find it a great way to learn, before doing serious blogging. Thanks for all your advice and links. It might even be the shortlived blog ever!
I am just starting out in the blogging scene and having a terrible time finding my nitch. I have been mostly writing about my recent breakup and other things that are on my mind. would love to pick your brain on how to make my blog better and any advice you might have. Reading this post has helped and thanks for you time…
Thanks Daryl for the stumble. Yes, definitely check out WordPress For Dummies – I had been blogging for about 8 months when I read it and still picked up some great info.
In can be tough if you put too much pressure on yourself. If you are starting out just enjoy the excitement of a new hobby.
$1000 a day sounds good doesn’t it :)
Let me know what you think Kevin. I’m a big fan of Livewriter. I have received a few emails in the past from readers wanting to know about the borders I have around my pics……. the easiest way? Livewriter.
Probably struggling with Blogger myself :)
Hadn’t heard of that one before Rudy. And yes, it does sound a little narcissistic – I’m not sure if I’m game enough for it!
Al, I just wrote about this actually! Check out last week’s article:
http://www.thechangeblog.com/2.....vity-tips/
Amos, so glad I could be of help! I enjoyed writing this article, so it is so nice to hear that people are finding it useful. I think even experienced bloggers might find a handy tip or two in it…..
Hi Ellesse, no you don’t need Word. I should point out that I don’t think it is available for Mac. Anyway, check it out and let me know what you think! It sure beats writing/ editing articles in WordPress….
Haha! Yes I have been getting around the past few days Adrian :) . Agree 100% with what you say about writing. Thanks for the comment.
Good point. To be honest, I just ran out of time in the end and I wanted to have this post up at the same time as the ProBlogger guest post I wrote. The good thing, though, is I can always go back and add some affiliate links. And since it is the type of post I can stick in my “Popular Articles” section I am sure many more people will read it.
Thanks Ruth :) .
I remember being so confused when I started blogging. Some of the things in this article took me a long time to discover, so hopefully some people get some benefit from it.
Daniel,
Thank you – I’m honored that you enjoyed the article, particularly since Daily Blog Tips is one of the articles I mentioned. :)