Recently on Twitter I was asked for some tips on what sets ‘great’ blogs apart from the rest.
With millions of bloggers creating blog posts every day – how do you stand out?
It’s a big question, and the reality is that there are many ingredients to building a successful blog.
A variety of words came to mind as I struggled to come up with my 140-character guide to ‘standing out’.
I started to list them:
- Credibility
- Share Your Opinion
- Great Writing
- Ability to Connect
- Understanding Readers
- Injecting Personality
As I brainstormed, I realised 140 characters was not going to cut it:
- Great blog design
- Tell Stories
- Use Great Visuals
- Network with other bloggers
- Be prolific
- Be funny
- Be smart
- Be first
- Write great headlines
I started to think of the blogs I love and what makes them stand out:
- Be Useful
- Be Entertaining
- Take note of your readers
- Have a different spin on things
- Be Original
The list continued to grow and with it my heart sank a little.
“There’s no one way to stand out…”
But then I had two realizations:
Firstly – I love that there’s no one way to stand out! There are no rules. There is no blueprint – and that’s what is so simultaneously exciting and frustrating about blogging.
That’s why I love what I do. Constant experimentation, learning, testing and trying new things.
The second thing I realised is that there actually was a common feature about all of the blogs that came to mind as ‘stand out’ blogs.
Passion
There are plenty of bloggers that do the things in the lists above. There are bloggers sharing opinions, writing well, with a heart to connect, with great personalities…. bloggers who are smart, funny, prolific, original, entertaining and bundles of wonderful!
But something that seems present and that shines through in the blogs that I read and love is passion.
They are created by people with passion for the topics being covered, passion for the process of creating content, passion for their readers, passion for learning, and passion for pushing the boundaries of thinking and creating.
They love… they enthuse… they delight in what they do. By doing so they somehow draw others into their passion too, which is where the real magic seems to happen.
This isn’t to say that passion is the only ingredient needed for success – but maybe… just perhaps… it’s what binds it all together and helps a blog just click.
Are you passionate about your blog?
Happy Valentine’s Day.
Exactly, you need passion. If you are not passionate about the topic you are writing about that it will always end up as a crap. I would still add determination. You need to to determinate that you want to succeed and provide your reader with good quality content which will not only provide information, but also entrainment and offer something little more then all the others. With nowadays competition on the market it is not easy to succeed, but the tru is if you are determinate and you have a passion about what you share, you have already a wining card.
finding new inspiration in web is also a best way to get passion.
Thanks for sharing
…I am going to print out (!) this post (that’s how I learn best….) and really think about this….BUT what about niche-blogging…I want a greater readership, but my blog is very much niche…and that is who I am- does anyone have any advice for me?
I am a new blogger but I’ve realised that blogging IS a lot of work but because I love making money online and more so, teaching others HOW TO make money online, I don’t feel the pressure. I am enjoying every minute of it and that keeps me motivated. Regards from Kenya!
I truly believe original content is king! Have a passion about what you are writing about and the content will flow naturally. Also having a sense of humor and entertaining individuals will keep the readers coming back. After I write a blog, I make sure to then go back and fit in keyworks and do a little SEO to make finding it a bit better but I don’t lose sight of keeping my readers happy.
Passion is everything when it comes to blogging. Without it your readers or subscribers won’t stay engaged with your blog and they won’t stay loyal.
Passion is very important think to get focus for blogging. I find this site from indonesian forum. I visit and woowww.. awesome. Thanks
i became inspired to read this blog and i realized that the best blog contain a high passion in it through which we can get the high rank in google
I think there are two types of passion. The first is emotional. It is expressed in extremes. The second is interest. It is in the stuff that you pay attention to. I think that when it comes to building something people will want to read, both will work.
Of course i have…. Who can be patient, without passion..
That’s why there are more bloggers who are broke, unsuccessful, doesn’t earn much to pay for their monthly web hosting just because they don’t what it takes to stand out from the crowd. If our goals in blogging is to make money online, we need to have the qualities and capabilities of those pro bloggers who are successful in this field like, johnhcow and Darren rowse.
I started with blogging without any passion but now I have understand without being passionate in blogging world, you stand nowhere. thanx for the article.
greatt !
There is still the problem on how to discover these passionated bloggers with the harsh competition out there, paying SEO, buildlink and marketing.
Maybe we need more tools like noosfeer that help the readers discover passionated bloggers and like-minded people.
Love this post!!!!
Passion- Its just been 50+ plus days since I am blogging, I find it so liberating, I have so much to say but I feared none would understand me, but after I started writing my blog was so happy too be surrounded by unknown strangers who now know me better than my family :)
When you are passionate abt something you cant hide it, it just shows :)
When you are passionate abt something you cant hide it, it just shows :)
Being passionate really brings life to your blog. It makes it more exciting to read..no matter the content.
I completely agree with you about the role of passion in successful bloggers. The passion of the blogger is overcast on the writing and in turn causes the reader to feel the same passion for the topic. It is definitely the most effective ingredient in a writing.