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.
