A friend asked me recently, (again), if this blogging was worth it.
It all depends on how you measure it.
And that depends on your goals for blogging.
This site has a couple of goals.
Spread the word about what's going on in the marketing/advertising/sales world so that others can learn and become better at marketing/advertising/sales. It also helps expose you to others ideas and wisdom. (That's why it's Collective Wisdom.)
And it also serves a my own personal marketing forum. If you want to establish yourself as an expert or authority on a subject, then a blog is one way to market yourself. And this one gets world wide attention I've noticed.
Need some tips on blogging? Read this from the DLM blog:
11 Ways to Generate Ideas for your Blog
Posted: 15 Jul 2008 10:09 AM CDT
Written on 7/15/2008 by Syed Abbas of TNerd.com.
“Content is King”, it is true to the core. Creating valuable content is a challenge and doing it regularly is a bigger challenge. I meet quite a few bloggers during conferences and events and one of the most commonly discussed issues among new bloggers is, “How can I create content on a continuous basis? Where do I get the ideas from?” This is one of the major reasons most bloggers start with lot of enthusiasm and quit in despair. It's simple math, content creation on regular basis adds value to a blog which brings more users. Now go in reverse, No content – No Value, No Value – No visitors. I’ve put together few things which have helped me generate ideas and put them in words for my readers on regular basis. - Do Not Panic – Have Fun
I’ve been there. It’s a beautiful sunny day; you sit down with your laptop to publish a great article only to realize that you don’t know what to write. Panic sets in, “I have to publish an article today and I have no idea what to write about, I don’t even have anything saved in Drafts.”
The more you panic the worse it gets. So, you know what? Don’t bother! Think of it as a holiday, go hangout with friends, watch a movie, visit your favorite eat joint, spend time at the library, do whatever it takes to put yourself at ease. While you are out having fun, record your thoughts (if any) which can be potential blog posts. Just record your thoughts at this time don’t spend time thinking if they are really worth a post, do that once you get back home.
The point I am trying to make here is that ideas for posts or articles will come to you naturally. All you have to do is look around without worrying about it. Most of the ideas come from regular conversations with friends and others or by something you see at a store on the sidewalk, etc.. - Feed aggregators
This is THE most important source of getting ideas for blog posts. I cannot stress enough on how important this is. If you are a blogger and you do not have a list of blogs you follow through aggregators, then you are missing something really important. Feed aggregators are the fastest medium of getting the latest news and articles from blogs and websites and believe me the sooner you blog about “something” the better it is.
If you don’t currently use any aggregators, start building one now! I use iGoogle and the Google Desktop Web Clips Gadget to get the latest from the blogs and news sites I follow.
I can help you build your iGoogle, just shoot me an e-mail at nerd[at]tnerd.com and mention one of the following categories: “Tech News”, “Official Tech Blogs”, “Gadgets and Products” and I will share all the blog feeds I follow under that category. This way you can create your iGoogle page with close to 100 feeds instantly. - Social Media Sites:
Social Media sites are a very good source of certified interesting and valuable information. I say “certified”, because information on these sites is posted by readers like you and I who find it interesting enough to be shared with others.
Few of the sites I Follow are:
Feel free to add me to your friends list on Digg, Twitter or Stumbleupon. - Visit Forums, QnA, News sites, etc.
Identify the nature of blog you are running and the kind of content your users like to read. Once you have that, find forums and sites discussing related information. Make a list of such forums and sites and be a regular visitor. Comments and users discussions on such sites will generate enough leads to keep you busy writing for a while.
Example forums and sites: - Learn and Teach
Did you do anything recently which required a lot of reading and research on multiple sites? If yes, then write about it (do pass links to the original source). If you had to learn something and did not know about it then the chances are, another million people on the internet are searching for it too. So write about it.
For example:- How to download videos from YouTube and other Video sites?
- How to search for different file formats?
- How to download videos from YouTube and other Video sites?
- Keyword Logs of your site
Sometimes you will see keywords on the logs which does not match the content on your site but can be a good topic for the next valuable post.
Following image has a keyword which will get me to research if .rar files can be opened online. If yes then that will make a good post for users wanting to know how it’s done.
I use Google Analytics to track visitor information on my tech blog. It’s a free tool which can be used on any site or blog including blogger and Wordpress blogs. - Watch TV
This is the easiest, just watch TV. Try watching news, tech shows, product launches, etc, instead of CSI or Lost. This is not only a good source of information but sometimes offers the opportunity of breaking the news on the internet, as you know breaking news has its own advantages.
TV can certainly help but it depends on the kind of blog you run and the information you are looking for. For example a tech blog writer will greatly benefit from a program such as Click – BBC world. - Software Sites
Visiting sites like Downloads.com will help you find new software that is hitting the market.. If you manage to find one that has recently launched, is very useful and not many blogs have reviewed it yet, then that could be a potential article.
Such sites usually offer a list of recently added or released software’s and utilities which can be very useful or you can go the software list page and sort by “Date” to see the latest additions.
Example sites: - Events and Conferences
Keep a track of events and conferences; these can be potential blog posts. If published at the right time, these blogs can attract a lot of visitors and subscribers.
Example events and conferences:- iPhone launch
- SunTech Days
- 4th of July
- Valentine’s Day
- iPhone launch
- Track comments and e-mails on the blog
Some of the top running articles on my technology blog are the result of tracking comments and e-mail from the blog. This can prove to be one of the best sources of ideas for posts and articles as users mostly leave comments asking questions.
Few of these questions might require a lot of explanation in terms of following steps to accomplish a task or simply explaining a concept. So keep your eyes open and never let any comment or e-mail go without a notice. - Last but not the least…
Sleep well, eat well, go to the gym and stay fit.
Bloggers usually work long hours and don’t get enough sleep which results in loss of focus. Not only blogging but anything you do, requires focus and best efforts for excellent results. The only way you can focus and give your 100% is by staying fit by sleeping enough and eating right.
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