Today your task in the 31 Day challenge to Build a Better Blog is to do some learning from successful bloggers.
To do this I’ve asked nine bloggers that I know and respect to nominate a few posts from their own blogs archives that they believe would be most helpful for bloggers wanting to improve their blogs.
You might choose to read just a couple of the following links if you don’t have a lot of time up your sleeve today – but as someone who has just read through them all I suspect you’ll benefit most by reading as many of them as you can – there’s some great advice in this lot!
Here are the posts that the bloggers I asked nominated as their best tips for bloggers:
Seth Godin from Seths Blog
Rand Fiskin from SEOmoz
- 21 Tactics to Increase Blog Traffic
- Blogging in an Oversaturated Market is Usually a Poor Decision
- 21 Tips to earn links and tweets to your Blog Posts
Skellie from Skelliewag
- A Complete Guide to Finding and Using Incredible Flickr Images
- How to Start or Start Over Building Your Personal Brand
- 25 Paths to an Insanely Popular Blog
Chris Garrett from ChrisG
- Grow your google authority
- Diggbait, Linkbait, Flagship Content and Authority
- The art of getting things wrong
Yaro Starak from Entrepreneurs Journey
Jeremy Schoemaker from Shoemoney
Maki from Dosh Dosh
- 6 Fool-Proof Steps to Make More Money With Your Website
- Rethinking Blog Comments: Much More Than Just A Quick Way to Get Web Traffic
- You’re Not Just a Writer, You’re the Editor-in-Chief.
Liz Strauss from Successful Blog
- 10 Reasons Readers Don’t Leave Comments
- The Secret to Massive Digg/StumbleUpon Traffic Without Spamming
- 7 Great Ways to Connect with Other Bloggers While You’re Out Reading Blogs
Daniel Scocco from Daily Blog Tips
Chris Brogan from ChrisBrogan.com
- 50 Ways to Take Your Blog to the Next Level
- 40 Ways to Deliver Killer Blog Content
- 27 Secrets to Power your Community
Which of these posts did you resonate with most and find most useful? Share in the discussion here, or over at the forum thread dedicated to this Daily Task: Day 6 – Learn from Successful Bloggers.
Want More?This task is a sample of one of the tasks in the 31 Days to Build a Better Blog Workbook – a downloadable resource designed to reinvigorate and revitalize blogs. Join over 14,000 other bloggers and Get your Copy Today. |
Great collection Darren, I have checked all the links. I find all the links bookmarkable. I liked the post “How to Find Advertisers for your Website”
Thank you for all the extra links.
I’m really enjoying Seth Godin’s Email Tips, which is great since I’ve been working on returning email’s from yesterday.
Can’t wait for the next lesson.
Skelliewag’s post was so good that I just return to it each time I need copyright-free images instead of adding bookmarks to each link.
Thanks for this fantastic list, Darren! I guess my weekend is planned now. ;-)
Just wanted to add another one from Dosh Dosh that I really liked, about social media:
http://www.doshdosh.com/the-importance-of-social-media-marketing/
Have a Great One!
I’m biased, but I have always resonated well with the posts (and books) of Seth Godin, and I suggest to anyone here who doesn’t already subscribe to his blog; go subscribe today!
Of the posts Darren selected, I particularly like, “First, ten.” It brings great focus to the idea that you have to build a following, a tribe, bit by bit over time.
For those without time to read 27 articles today (perfectly understandable!), I suggest printing the ones you can’t read right away out.
Put the printed articles in your purse, briefcase, hat, shoe, whatever. You’ll find moments of downtime during the day (waiting in line at the grocery store, for example), and it’s a perfect time to read one of these articles (unless the person ahead of you in line is also a blogging guru).
Thanks for the wealth of information Darren!
Barry
This blog post alone is one of those resources that will have you checking back again and again just to see something that you have forgotten about.
Great content as always.
Karl
I’m making a list of my favorite blogs on my website at http://www.reallifepurpose.com today. My goal is to make a post responding to each of your daily tasks.
Hopefully, I’ll make the list of successful blogger soon.
Thanks,
Greg
Very useful list. But there is still one article remaining that you did not cover. Its about how to catch the eyeballs of your blog visitors and make them glued to your blog, so that the more time they stay on your blog, the more chances they’d become your readers. Here is the link:
http://www.carlocab.com/catching-eyeballs-5-steps-to-transforming-visitors-to-loyal-subscribers/
@BarryWrightIII
Thank you Barry.
I’ve read quite a few of these already and gotten such wealth of knowledge -especially Chris Brogan’s 40 and Seth 1st 10 that I know I need to read all or most of Darren’s suggestions.
But as I was just looking at the list, I was also staring outside at the very beautiful and untypically warm day and my heart kind of sank. When, when I murmured quietly until I read your comment.
;-) Thanks Darren, appreciate the time and effort you just took to do this for us!
Karenne
This is an excellent list of wonderful and valuable information for bloggers. I will try and read each and every one over the course of the coming week. Thank you!
Thanks once again, Darren.
As a new blogger, I’m trying to read as much as I can to learn. Having a “pro” suggest my reading list is more than I could ask for.
I particularly like the broad range of topics here. I know that some are going to be extremely helpful to me right now, as I begin, and others are going to be more relevent as I go along. I’m going to be coming back to this list for a very long time.
Off to do some reading. Thanks, again!
Hi Darren,
I came here thinking that I’d have to do another writing task this being a weekend. But to my surprise you had something else in store.
Of the list you’ve passed, I’ve only read Daily Blog Tips and from Barry’s and Karenne’s comments, I feel that I must subscribe to the others too.
*note to self: read all these posts tonight itself*
Thanks for the list, will post my experience once I’ve gone through all of them.
Shantanu.
http://www.threetipsaday.com
@threetips(twitter)
Wow, what a list! I have been behind in my blog reading lately, but with a focused list like this I’ll have a jump start to get back into it.
I was glad to see a mix of people I know and those I haven’t heard of. Looking forward to making some great discoveries here.
I do want to say that I recently read Skellie’s article on personal branding. This is a hazy area for me, but the article helped to bring it into focus and was really helpful. If all of these articles are of the same caliber then we are all in for a big treat!
I have had many of those posts bookmarked for a long time. I do not know how Skellie chose those posts.. I think the whole blog should be listed!!!
@ Barry Wright, III – Hat? Shoe? I love it! :)
I just want you to know that I have started looking forward to, not only Darren’s posts, but finding your comments on them as well.
Keep ’em coming!
One of the best ways to learn anything is to emulate what other successful people are doing.
Great post!
Nice list!
2 years ago, when I started blogging, most of these guys were on my daily list, because they had great articles. They all have a different writing style, which made it fun to see things from different angles.
I would advise who has just got here, read through all the links provided above. You’ll find lots of hidden treasures (some hidden within their comments of each post, you’ll be surprised).
One of the best I’ve learnt is about the flickr image & the copyright issues. I know some may think it’s weird why I never considered using pics from flickr before this. I always thought free stock photos would best fill my needs, actually, not so much. I’ll take flickr more seriously now.
Also, it’s time to think about hosting, and template-modifications for a change. Thanks to Chris Garett for his earlier advise to me about going towards authority blogging, now I have a new perspective about future goals, and also, it’s ok for not being ‘perfect’.
Should definitely work on the 50 ways to bring blog to next level.. although all I can think about now is the toughest~ ‘Work On Your Content’…
@wchingya
Social Media/Blogging
Wow, lots of reading to do today ;)
This challenge has already helped me get organised, and I’m half way to launching a new blog (more focused than my personal one, and one where I’m a bit less tied down to post about specific things)
All things considered, it’s going well so far! thanks :)
I just read Chris Brogan’s blog: 40 Killer tips! Far out.. I’m psyched and will have to give up my day job if this keeps up.
I intend to read all on your list!
I like how you were able to create a list post that
1. Required little writing time
2. Sent traffic to blogger friends.
I did the same thing yesterday with this post.
Max
http://www.maxtrescott.com/max_trescott_on_general_a/2009/04/general-aviation-heroes-part-v-readers-top-16-choices.html
I liked the Dosh Dosh article about rethinking blog comments. One of the the reasons we all blog is to share our ideas and to get a conversation started…that the community aspect of blogging. We all need to be commenting more on the posts we regularly read and encouraging those in our community readership to do likewise.
@Darren Rowse
That’s a quite useful list,all links seemed to cover gettign traffic to a site through social widgets and writing good articles wiht quality .
Thank you Darren; this list looks really comprehensive and well thought out. I’ll enjoy having a browse this evening.
I just want to extend my thanks and appreciation for this first few days of the challenge.
I’ve had a few people reach out to me, personally, through your site, and I cannot tell you how much they enrich my life.
Thank you to you for all that you share and for these lovely new friends :)
Lots of reading to do today and that’s what blogging is all about…
Thanks Darren for this fantastic list though i have read few of them. Seth Godin has quite a few short but amazing & very useful posts.
Great list to study and learn. Thanks for a great list.
Thank you for this great list.
Let me do these reading now.
I can’t figure it out why I clicked on every single link as soon as I ran my eyes over it, they knew how to name their post, really!
An awesome list to go thru Darren.
Thanks for taking time and pointing us to the apt resources.
I’ve been compiling useful links for some time, but this takes the cake!
As always, thanks so much for sharing… not often do you run across people who are so open to sharing their thoughts & knowledge for FREE!
Thanks!
Lewis
Taking my cup of coffee before I dive into this list. Nothing can be better than this thoughtfully compiled list for a weekend task. Great list Darren.
thanks. I read them all and i definitely learn a lot from all of it. great compilation Darren.
There are some of those posts I’ve already read. Wow, the cream of the crop, these list of bloggers. I have missed out on four of them. No, I will not reveal here who I have failed to get on my email or reader.
But what am doing, running off the mouth here while there are lots of goodies to read!
Out of here in a sec, my good sir. “,)
Very nice list. I aspire one day to be included in that list, specifically for my particular niche market.
Having gone through the links and reading the content, I see there is a lot to learn. Some though I might disagree with, others I take to heart.
I must admit that if you are serious about blogging and learning more, you should have encountered some of these articles. But it is always nice to re-read those that you have read before. Kinda cements the ideas in.
The two that really struck a chord with me were Skellie’s post on buliding your personal brand and Maki’s post on making money with your website
Thanks for the list this will definitely give me a lot of food for thought and different things to try.
twitter: sambuzin
Great articles and easy reading. Perfect for a lazy weekend!
I enjoyed the 10 Worst Ways to make money, and 27 Secrets to power your community.
They were all really informative though. Thanks a lot.
Wow Darren. I honestly don’t think I’ve ever found so much fantastic information concentrated into such a small space. There’s enough content to write 2 books here.
This page will be a fantastic resource for anyone looking to improve their work. I’d recommend you throw a link to this page in your ‘favorites’ column.
I’ve read and enjoyed Yaro’s and Skellie’s posts before – and put into action their recommendations, however I found Chris Brogan’s posts really helpful this time as they suggest a couple of things I hadn’t heard of before, especially in:
* 50 Ways to Take Your Blog to the Next Level
* 40 Ways to Deliver Killer Blog Content
I’m now exploring Alltop and trying to claim my blog on Technorati (although it seems to be stuck at the verification stage…).
Wow – what an incredible resource you’ve scoured together, Darren! Thank you so much for this.
As I read the articles and put the advice into practice, I keep wondering: in my crowded niche (the food blog) that already has its share of super-stars, what can I do better?
I still don’t know. I’m hoping that the next 25 days will help me discover that.
twitter:cakeandcommerce (great idea, sam)
Few bloggers at the top of their game can get away without images in their posts.
Most notable example? Mr. Steve Pavlina, of course. This is yet another confirmation that authentic writing coming from the heart stands above blog traffic strategies and calculations.
Still, “a good picture is worth a thousand clicks” (if you’ll allow the paraphrase) and I’ve sure added quite a few hits to Leo Babauta’s visit count because of his tasteful selection of attribution-only Flickr images.
Hence, my dear ladies & gentlemen, my vote goes to Skellie’s Flikr tutorial.
Have a fantastic weekend, everyone!
This is a post I’m going to be coming back to a few times for reference as I keep working on my blog.
This is great. Makes the work of getting my new blog started alot easier! There are so many articles about bloggin out there, that without an expert telling you which ones are good, you have no chance… you can’t read them all…
Thanks Darren.
Great list of resources. I have a lot of reading to catch up no now.
Thanks for the great list. I’ve got some reading to do, now. I did read the post about 10 Reasons Readers Don’t Comment and had some fun with it making my own list for my blog today.
Also, just wanted to share that yesterday, I had lots of traffic… at least for my little blog. Thanks!
Thank you for another great article.
I have two favorites:
1. Dosh Dosh: Rethinking Blog Comments- This one gave me some valuable insite. Being one to read, but not comment, it really gave me pause.
2. Liz Strauss: 10 Reasons Readers Don’t Leave Comments
The blog I am currently working on is only a week old. In just the past few days I have already garnered 15 new subscribers. Yay, me.
I can’t wait for the rest.
Great list of resources for bloggers no matter how long they have been at it.
I appreciate the time put into this list as it is really a blogging course without the added expense.
Great & Long List.
I want read all the posts first and then will say that they are excellent…. ;)
Because Darren Always give the excellent contents only…