If you want your blog to be successful and draw visitors, you might want to sit down, analyze your blog and dissect it to death. Remember those biology classes you took in school? The ones where you cut open an earthworm and labeled it? Well, that’s what I’m talking about, and before all you SEO experts and gurus laugh at me and say, “What about you Gutsy Writer?” let me tell you, I’m in the process of doing this and realize the changes I need to focus on. Give me a break, it’s a learning process. So what about you? Have you thought about your message, what you want others to get from your blog? Darren Rowse from ProBlogger is running 31 Days to build a better blog, the 31D BBB challenge, and the first day is all about your pitch.
Not easy, and believe me, I can relate. If we take our blogs seriously, we go through stages questioning whether or not we’re on the right track. Here are six questions to help you focus on your goals.
- What is my message?
- Who is my audience?
- Do I stick to a theme or am I all over the place?
- Should I hire an expert?
- Can I do it myself and save money?
- Why can’t I just have fun? (If you’re like me, overcoming challenges can be fun. Did I really say that?)
I read many marketing blogs and books and they always talk about the importance of your pitch, message, or tag line. This applies to blogs, manuscripts, screen plays, whatever you’re creating and wish to share with the world.
So today, I’d like to ask you to reflect on your blog. How is it different from all the others out there? In order to help you take the first steps, how would you classify your blog? (Pick the three most relevant to you.)
Educational
Entertaining
Informative
Motivational
Inspirational
Empowering
Spiritual
Uplifting
Journalistic
Artsy
Financial
Humorous
Promotional
Selling
Other (Please describe in your comment below.)
Useful Marketing Tip: If your goal is to get more followers, then just like getting media attention, your blog needs to focus on being:
- Entertaining
- Informative
- Motivational
Here are three very helpful books I’ve used:
- Marsha Friedman’s book “Celebritize Yourself” offers the steps you need to work on if you’re ready for media attention.
- Darren Rowse : 31-Days to becoming a better blogger.
- Annabel Candy: 12 Steps to Successful Blogging
So what is the message you want to share with your readers?
Are there any changes you wish to make with your blog?
