The following piece was submitted by Fitness Mantra from http://www.fitnessmantra.info as part of the habits of highly effective blogging group project.
- Target audience: I find that it helps to reiterate to myself who my target audience is and whenever I find myself moving on a tangent or rambling unnecessary, this thought helps me get back on track.
- Regularity: I try to post everyday. There are two reasons for this. One is a feeling of responsibility to my audience (imagine if the Wall Street Journal decided to take a day off for no reason! This is not to compare the relative importance of my blog with that of the Journal, but thinking in these terms can help you get on your feet and finish that post.) The second reason is simply that if you intend to get your email subscribers to your site (I know FeedBurner only sends an email update if there is new content) then you have to have new content in there. Every day.
- Respect: I do my best to know and understand why my readers visit my site and this is true for anyone writing a blog: The readers want to know/learn/see something new. Even if it is your take on something, it is still an opinion they can agree or disagree with. So empower them. Enlighten them. Even entertain them. But always respect them. Because they gave you their time and attention.
- Honesty: I have found it’s OK to not know something. And even better: it’s OK to admit it. Being honest with your readers reiterates the fact that you are human and willing to learn new things too. But I always have a plan of action ready. Usually I offer to do a little more research and get back to them as soon as I can.
- Easy RSS/Email: I like to make it easy for my readers to stay in touch by using standard RSS icons in prominent locations and also promoting the subscribe by email feature – this ensures people visit your site regularly and ties in with my “Regularity” habit above.
- Hooks and Suspense: The post title and the first line are sometimes all it takes for a reader to decide if he/she will finish reading the post and/or recommend it to others. I like to post bold headlines and start off with a hook. It could be a joke, an incident or a story, but I find that grabbing the readersâ•˙ attention and taking them along works almost always.
- Passion: Love your topic. Love it to death. Write about it as if your life depended on it. I have just started this blog recently, but since the topic is something I care about so much, I find it much easier for me to create posts and infuse life into each post. If your blog subject made a difference to your life, you can always find ways to write posts that will inspire others too.