If there’s one post you’re going to read today about how to take a new blog to the next level then I’d recommend it be:
27 Lessons Learned on the Way to 3000 Visits a Day and 2200 RSS Subscribers by John Wesley from Pick the Brain (found via Alister).
27 lessons might sound like a little too many – but they’re all short and all really worthwhile. Here are 4 from John’s list that stood out (with a few of my own comments).
1. “Don’t write every post for the social sites. It isn’t genuine and people get tired of it.”– Write for your readers first. Create useful content that builds the momentum of your blog and takes your readers on a journey. From time to time you’ll find an idea will come to you while you’re in this process that will work on the social bookmarking sites – but your main priority needs to be building momentum with your readership.
2. “Don’t participate in every meme or trade links with everyone who asks.” – Preach it brother! If you participate in every meme that comes your way (or every time you’re tagged) then you could find your blog goes so far off topic that you lose readership (not to mention your own focus). Be selective in what you participate in and choose those that have relevancy in terms of topic and add value to your blog.
3. “If you aren’t sure a post is good, sit on it for a day. If you still aren’t convinced, delete it. A bad post is worse than no post.” – Oh this is good – it fits in with my mantra that everything you do on your blog either adds to or takes away from what you’re trying to achieve with your blog.
4. “Be prepared to completely run out of ideas after the first 3-4 months.” – Do your best to stick it out and refrain from posting anything that’s absolutely lame. The inspiration does come back.” – I think most experienced bloggers have been through this at least once or twice. It’s a real test but if you can come through it then you’ll find you learn a lot about yourself, blogging and your niche.
John writes another 23 tips that are well worth reading. Great post John.
For a few of my own Lessons from blogging check out 18 Lessons that I wrote after 3 years of blogging.
