Blogging BasicsWhat Makes the Most Successful Blogs and How Yours Can Be One of Them

Blythe Daniel, Jessica Kirkland, & Stephanie Alton

How many people are blogging?

164 million bloggers

1.5 million published books per year - this has tripled in the last 5 years because of self-publishing

Amazon has 27 million books in its database

* According to Michael Hyatt as of July 2014

Brand Before You Blog“A personal brand is a promise that you’ll be the same wherever people find you.” ~ Stephanie Bryant

If you share your writing publicly, you are a brand wether you claim to be one or not.

Creating a brand is your ONE opportunity to tell readers what you are all about. They will make an assumption if you don’t offer them a suggestion.

Your brand tells readers what they can expect from you (ex. Humor? Encouragement? Advice? Stories?)

Your brand should be something that you can maintain for a long period of time. Example: A blog entitled “Raising Toddlers” might be your current season, but won’t have longevity.

Scouting Bloggers: What an Agent Wants

in a BloggerIs there a clear message that might translate well into a book?

Can I visualize how I will market your book(s)?

Are you branded?

Do you have a unique voice or writing style? Do you show or tell? Is the writing vulnerable or plastic?

Are you writing consistently? Journaling or cultivating a community?

Are there followers? Are you talking back to your followers through comments?

Does the blogger seem like they will be easy to work with?

Are you active on at least 2 social media platforms? What does your actual engagement look like? Ex. Facebook page versus Facebook group

Scouting Bloggers: What an Agent Wants in a

Blogger (cont.)Is there visual evidence of beneficial partnership? What other bloggers might use their social media platform to help you?

Do you show knowledge of SEO (are you hyperlinking to other bloggers, other sites, ect…)

Do you show knowledge of platform building?

Are you giving away any content for free?

Are you participating in blog tours?

Guest posting for others/allowing guest to post on your site?

Are you strategically building a subscriber list?

Leveraging Pinterest for growth?

Blogging Platforms

Wordpress

Blogger

Genesis - a frame work for Wordpress. Considered the “Gold Standard” of Wordpress themes with many premium options not available in the standard Wordpress software. It functions within Wordpress. my.studiopress.com/themes/genesis

Blog EssentialsAbout Me page

Photo on Home page and About Me page

Email Subscriber List

Related Content

Social Media Icons (Pinterest, FB, Twitter, Linkedin)

Content Page (please make your email address visible)

Social media sharing options beneath your blog posts

Grab button for other bloggers to put on their sites

Offer a free printable for a subscription after every blog post

How Your Blog Audience Won’t GrowMake yourself too available on social media. Give people a reason to come check out what you are up to on your blog.

Send readers away from your blog

Make content too lengthy, not relevant to your core message (no more than 500 words for a blog post)

Direct people to a landing page instead of current content (there is a time and place for a landing page).

Protecting Yourself from Weirdos

Yes, “weirdos” exist

Safeguards for your blog

Be careful about how much personal information you share

Don’t announce your travel until your return

Consider the use of your last name or simply being known for your brand

Consider protecting the identity of your children with nicknames

How often should I blog?

Initially, once a week or no more than once every two weeks is a good patten to establish your voice

Once your demand picks up, you will want to think about blogging twice a week to give your readers what they want to hear from you. You can point to a video or another blog and comment on it to help fill your blog spots.

When you have a good-size, consistent following, you will want to build in blogging daily since you have built your base to a place that they expect content from you.

Remember: Crawl, Walk, Run!

Guest Blogging Ask authors you know who can offer your audience great content to guest blog for you

You will also want to ask if you can guest blog for them as well

Don’t know very many authors or bloggers? Consider joining a network like ours, The Blog Spot

Gold mine: the contacts you will get from others coming to your blog from your guest’s post is very valuable

Promote your guest blog on your blog and social media sites to build buzz

In addition to guest blogs, keep your own blog post on file so that you can have a minimum of 5 blog post ready to post.

Keeping Up with Your Readers

Blog stats show an agent and editors that you are serious about writing and developing your audience

Keep up with your unique visitors and subscribers so you can mention to those looking at your work

Continue to look for ways to grow your readership, moving readers from just being a casual onlooker (unique visitor each month) to a regular subscriber.

Are some blog designers better than

others? Yes, we recommend you talk with several to decide how you want to set up your blog

Don’t know where to find a designer? Go to some of your favorite blog sites and look at the bottom of the page to find the designer logo

You will want to ask about a flat set-up fee and, if you need it, a maintenance fee. You will save money if you input your own content each time you blog.

YouTube is an excellent source to help figure out how to design or maintain your blog

What Blogs are Getting it Right?

We read the following blogs and recommend them as good examples:

michaelhyatt.com

dashingdish.com

journeyofsarah.com

upcycledjane.com

shaunaniequist.com

motheringfromscratch.com

atthepicketfence.com

These blogs create interest, are visually appealing, structurally sound, and invite the reader to plug in for engagement

What are the best resources to read for

blogging?The Sits Girls www.thesitsgirls.com

Blogging with Amy www.bloggingwithamy.com

problogger.net

How to Become an Authority Blogger by Kenneth Byrd

How to Write Great Blog Posts that Engage Readers by Steve Scott

The Blog Post Writing Formula by Ian Stables

Our Blog NetworkYou may want to offer reviews on your blog to be able to network.

Or you may need bloggers to review your book.

The Blog Spot offers at least 2 resources per month for bloggers to provide honest well written reviews, and sometimes giveaways are included

What does our agency provide to bloggers and

authors?We provide blog critiques to bloggers. You can email Stephanie Alton, the Blog Resource Manager for The Blog Spot, for a critique or further information on how to partner with our network: stephanie@theblythedanielagency.com. Stephanie’s personal blog is: theprincessdisciple.com.

Jessica Kirkland, an agent in our agency, also does blog critiques. You can ask her for a quote: jessica@theblythedanielagency.com. Her blog is under reconstruction now.

Blythe works with bloggers to help them craft a book from a blog and also blogs some at theblythedanielagency.com/life-love-books.