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. |
Oh boy, I’m not yet done reading this list.
From my reading so far, I have found the following as stand outs:
1. Maki – Rethinking Blog Comments: Much More Than Just A Quick Way to Get Web Traffic. I am sold on his long term take on the benefits of blog commenting and the likelihood of effecting future possibilities through building network and collaboration.
2. Maki – You’re Not Just a Writer, You’re the Editor-in-Chief. Very solid advice. For web authors to chart where the blog is going. And not just to get lost on the daily routines of maintaining a blog. Executive planning – very forward-looking take on blogging. Brilliant.
3. Chris Garret – all articles you’ve cited. What sticks in my mind is the value of building authority. And not to be overly fascinated with search traffic to weather the storm of a fickle market.
4. All of Skellie’s post – What can I say, I love her even before you’ve recommended her.
5. Liz Strauss – Again, the 3 posts. My first to comment on her blog. She sounds like a good friend who knows lots of stuff and very generous at that.
*sighs* I’m still reading the rest. Lovely read. I think I’m in dire need of more neurons – preferably billions of them – to accommodate all these precious knowledge. lol
Nice portfolio Darren. I’ve read them all :-) Thanks for your reading task in Day 6. Helpful!
Sorry.. Just wanna know, is there a fixed schedule (time) for 31DBBB? Day 6, came not as usual, too early.
It could be better if you set a fixed time. For example, lets say – everyday at 5pm.
Good collection of nice articles, I did read about 10 of them and marked this page. Will come back later to read the remaining articles.
Aloha Darren!
Mahalo once again for such incredible info.
I started pasting and copying notes in my googledocs for the things I want to remember to DO. I also got deeper and deeper into many of the articles by clicking on more links….note to self: add more links!
I learned so much and will return often to this list as I continue to grow as different articles will be more important in the future.
This was a very intense assignment for me and I am exhausted with a information overload but happily so :)
Aloha~
Gina
@starlightlife (twitter)
http://www.lunchwithouted.wordpress.com
Great articles, but I found myself disagreeing with a few of the tips inside. I think they would be a bad strategy on my part (in my particular case, for my own blog).
Anyway, I think it’s important to keep my unique point of view and be true to myself: so I will follow what I think is good advice, and discard the rest.
Wow, Darren, there’s so much information in there, that I have to put a filter in my mind and start to implement, if not it will be wasted knowledge!
That was hard work! When I saw the task yesterday, I thought it would be quick and easy – especially as I’d already read many of the posts. But it’s taken me several hours as I made sure I checked each to see if any actions should come out of them.
Result – I have a full page of notes and to do’s, so I’m getting on with those before today’s task arrives.
Note to Hning – Darren’s in Aus, I’m in Europe and most readers are in the US – 5PM where?
Thanks for the the list of successfull bloggers, a great way to learn, I can wait to digest it all
A great resource! I have to say I have read through some of the article and flicked through others but it has generated not only some great ideas and perspectives but also some new sites that I hadn’t found before.
One of the most interesting parts of the exercise was about being exposed to some very different styles of blog.
I’ve bookmarked this post to come back to and am sure I will over and over. For information that I personally found useful and interesting, I’d have to go for Skellie’s articles. But I haven’t read all of those on offer extensively yet.
i recommend putting a delicious link here so that everyone could bookmark without fail.this is very cool .
A good teacher delivers in building blocks and you did it Darren.
This is the one that has helped me make the most changes and absorb the other material better.
Who did I resonate with? Actually it was Rand Fiskin of SEOmoz’ entry that brought me the greatest gifts if I can put it like that. He found me feedburner.com But Skelliwag also shaped my thinking and come to think of it so did Liz. Strauss….
Having just decided to start a blog two days prior to learning of your 31DBBB project, I cannot express my gratitude in basically “holding my hand” throughout this challenging task of creating a relevant and meaningful blog.
I actually did make it through all 27 tips and wrote them down in my 31DBBB notebook. Keep up the great work, Darren. I now know what Stephen Covey meant when he referenced win / win situations. I win. You win. Everyone wins when information is shared generously. Thanks again!
Dan
This is awesome.. these information will surely help us grow our blog. Thanks Darren.
Wow ! What a great list ! I resonated with something that was said with each of the 9 top bloggers ! So much amazing info packed into those lists.
I took my experience on the task and did the following blog post:
http://activerain.com/blogsview/1030437/Have-you-read-some-of-these-top-Bloggers
Those are some awesome resources. Did not read all but loved 50 Ways to Take Your Blog to the Next Level.
I think that’s useful but there’s some words may need to explain at those posts… thanks again
That is one hell of a comprehensive list of links. I am on it
The most helpful for me was “How to Find Advertisers for your Website”. Seems I’ve got some design work to do. Luckily, I have a day to replace my template and get all the optimization code I have added back in place…which usually takes a day to do. Thanks for all the great tips. I bookmarked this post so I can return to it often.
Thanks Darren, I am sure I will benefit from these links. Time to read them now.
An amazing list! I’ve bookmarked, and will use time and again!
Thank you, Darren, for all the work you’ve put into the challenge.
Great tips, Darren, I looked at some of them and was able to learn something today, so thank you:)
Great tips here. My own choice since I’m short for time right now was Chris Brogan’s ’50 Ways …’ list. I like Chris’ comments and style in general on the web and felt his would resonate best for me. Sure enough.
This task gave me some great 360 degree hints to revise my thinking and practice on blogging.
And of course when I get some time, I’ll read a few of the others. Perhaps bookmarking on Delicious and reading one of these each week over a period of time would be a not bad thing at all. It might also share the wisdom around a bit more.
Great resource Darren – thank you for the pace and intensity of the training – I was wondering if 31DBBB would be happy camp & we get served 31 days of boot-camp, I love it.
Thank you for delivering on the promise & thanks again for your generosity.
Unlike everyone else I was not so enamored with this task. I can see what the purpose was, but it seemed like just an exercise to get traffic to all these blogs.
I wish you’d separated them into subject matter (that way, for example, I could have skipped all the monetizing ones which don’t interest me) and maybe just picked one post from each blogger.
Having said that, I did think two of the posts were outstanding though – Liz Strauss on why people don’t comment and the one about 43 web design mistakes.
Next!
I can’t believe how many great bloggers are out there. I just started blogging as part of my internship with a startup called Future Delivery. They are developing a blog ranking site. They have some interesting bloggers and video interviews with the actual people, which I think is pretty cool It’s the next best thing to actually meeting people
Howdy Darren.
Great compilation you got going here, will definitely try to give each of these links a read, thanks for putting this together.
Since I am new to all this blogging stuff, I feel a lot of the information is over my head BUT I tried to read at least one article from each blogger’s posts.
And YES, I actually did learn some stuff. Learning something new is still “something” even if it is something small.
One quote I read (not on this lesson) a few days ago that I really love is: “If you always do what you’ve always done, You’ll always get what you’ve always got”.
Hi Darren,
You have a great list. All of them are “must read articles” for all the bloggers. I like how Seth’s get traffic at the top of your list. However, we can be great blogger too if we do the things on those articles.
Lord, I really hate leaving these types of comments, but I just wanted to say thank you for turning me on to so many other blogs. Not only did I learn some new and helpful blogging tactics, but I’ve added a couple new blogs to my Google Reader!
I read: Seth Godin from Seths Blog – How to Get Traffic to Your Blog
and
Skellie from Skelliewag – A Complete Guide to Finding and Using Incredible Flickr Images also How to Start or Start Over Building Your Personal Brand
From these I learned that the content has to be tight, that there’s a wealth of images on Flickr that can be used (relevant and good to break up a long post) and the importance of personal branding. I don’t know how I feel about that label, but I do know that the more you interact, the more you write, the more you comment is a reflection on you/your brand.
Day 6 and Chris Brogan’s ’50’ list resulted in an inquiry to my readers about what works on my site. After all, the reader knows best, yes?
Here’s the post: ‘Hello Dear Reader’ http://katefoy.com/?p=1061
What a fantastic group of posts! I am definitely keeping this in my list of bookmarks to read again and again. Thanks :)
This is truly a gift and I am a little ticked that I did not respond yesterday because of the stalkdaily virus scare. I learned valuable tips from the links you provided from all the bloggers and plan to bookmark them for future reference. I did particularly enjoy Seth’s “first,Ten” (i’m a subscriber), Liz’s “Ten Reasons…,” Chris B’s “40 Ways…,” and Skellie’s”…Personal Branding.”
Honestly, ALL the bloggers listed gave me great food for thought and I will go back and re-read every single one of the posts above.
Okay, a lightbulb moment here Darren, each assignment triggers an idea for a blog.
Thank you!
Solid resource. Thank you once again for your great work!
Thanks for the resources, I’m going to spend tomorrow afternoon checking them out.
Do you have any good tips for those of us dealing with a not-so-websavvy crowd?
I’m pretty sure many of my readers don’t know what digg, twitter, or stumbleupon are. One reader asked me the other day what a twitter was, after hearing Diane Rehm talking about tweets on NPR.
Is there good info anywhere about how to cater to the not so web savvy crowd?
cheers,
Mary H.
http://stalecheerios.com/blog
HI Darren
The Heading I was drawn to was
“40 ways to deliver killer blog content.”by Chris
blogging to me is all about improving communication skills.
The other Heading I enjoyed was
“7 great ways to connect with other bloggers, while you’re out reading other blogs” by Liz
Good stuff
Wow… I had to read a lot but I have a lot of things to do.
Great list, thanks Darren
Thanks Darren. I appreciate you linking to good bloggers other than yourself .. you are definitely showing us the way to do things.
Thank you,Darren! I’ve read all Seth’s post links and one from Daniel Scocco. I hope my blog would be amazing as those Top Bloggers’ soon!
Just wanted you to know that on day six, of 31, my blog traffic has already doubled, and google Adsense is performing best yet to date. Plus, comments are coming in for the first time!
http://WWW.AllThingsAboutPhotography.blogspot.com
You all rock!
Wow. Nice collection of links. I’m read a bunch already and I’ll have to catch up on the rest later.
Very good series so far. I look forward to the rest.
The Casual Observer
http://www.observingcasually.com/
Terrific,
I’ve read a few of these but many are new. This is certainly a list that any blogger old or new can benefit from. I’m going to write a short post about it on one of my other blogs.
Simply a perfect place for any blogger to get all of the best info.
ps. I am thoroughly enjoying the workshop. I was worried that it was going to be dumbed down a bit and geared for entry level bloggers but as a seasoned blogger I am finding it very informative and helpful !! you should be commended (you are being commended – Thanks)
I managed to read through all the articles and I have chosen Liz post on 10 reason readers don’t leave comments as the post which I resonate most with. I have also written a blog post on it – just like every day of the blog challenge. I will be looking to use her advice to get more readers to leave comments.
http://limetouch.com/archives/learning-from-successful-bloggers/
WOW! Such a great collection of helpful links! I’ve read just a few & plan to come back to read more of them soon!
♥Mannie
MannieMandibleNews.blogspot.com
With the holiday I’ve only been able to read the 1st nine, this is some great stuff to take in. Lots of advice. Feel my head going to explode.
Neat collection, so far… Seth’s are legit. :) I mean, how can anyone beat the “you can’t market to the masses, they’re not masses, no names, you must find 10 persons who are willing to participate. Start with 10, build trust, they trust you and believe in your message, product or whatever, they are listening. You can’t market to those who aren’t participating. This is the truth, he’s telling it like it is. :)
-Mig
The selection of bloggers are really great. I am familiar with most of them and I know they are the most successful blogs on the net. Will get to this listing right away. This was very helpful.
thanks
I really like the “Rethinking Blog Comments” by Maki. I’m going to read through that one a few times.
good tutorial. I wonder if i can follow all that tips. But i will give my best try to see the difference.