update: see a summary of all of the post in the ’31 Days’ series here.
August is going to be a frenzy of Blog Tips here at ProBlogger.net.
Starting Monday I’m going to turn up the ‘Blog Tips’ volume to 11 and am going to attempt to vomit onto you everything I know about how to make your blog better. Each post will be in a normal category but also in a new 31 days to building a better blog category also.
In a sense it’s nothing different to normal (there are hundreds of blog tips in my archives already) but I’ve noticed recently quite a few bloggers are in a bit of a slump with their entrepreneurial blogs – lacking inspiration, slipping in their posting frequency and even considering throwing in the towel.
Whilst it’s every blogger’s prerogative to let their blog slowly die – I’d like to be a part of giving bloggers a shot in the arm (or a kick up the butt) and hopefully in the process give them the motivation (and practical know how) to get their blog reaching it’s potential (whether that be financially or in some other way).
So we’ll be revisiting some old tips, coming up with some new ones and hopefully will all improve in our blogging as a result.
All I ask of you as readers is that you join in the frenzy of Blog Tips. I do not and will not know everything there is to know about blogging – but I have a suspicion that the wider ProBlogger community does. The only way to get at this communal knowledge is to make a commitment to share what we each know.You can do this in two ways:
1. Leave comments on the blog tips that I post here. ProBlogger is increasingly becoming a place of conversation and group learning. I learn so much from you and hope that you continue to teach us via your comments.
2. Post your blog tips on your own blog and let me know about them. If you’ve learnt something about blogging recently the rest of us want to hear about it. Post it on your blog and then email me with the title and URL. I will attempt to post something every day or two with a summary of the blog tips that have been written.
3. Suggest a Topic for me or someone else to write a Blog Tip on. To do this simply leave a comment below. I won’t guarantee it’ll be answered by me – but if you see a question and would like to tackle it on your own blog (see #2 above) feel free to do so.
I’m looking forward to the learning that we do as a community in August!
update: see a summary of all of the post in the ’31 Days’ series here.
About Darren Rowse
My name is Darren Rowse and I’m a full time Blogger making a living from blogs like 
Sound’s like August will be an interesting month at ProBlogger…I’m looking forward to it.
Yes, sounds like its going to be good. Look forward to hearing your tips, old and new.
Lets see if the Summer downturn can be halted!
Looking forward to it as well–even if I probably won’t have much to bring myself in terms of “useful tips”.
i am a blogger in china,My English is not very well,but i Rss your Blog and read it everyday, By your Blog–i know how to be a good blog,and how to earn money.haha
thanks
PS-my Bandwidth is Limit this month
Yes, Problogger has become something of a club these days. Long may it flourish. I’ll put my thinking cap on.
Forgot to mention : here’s a chapter of a book on Blogging in a Crisis by Robert Scoble and Shel xxxxx (forget last name). Worth a read.
Drat! Blogging in a Crisis
hey! fascinating! will keep my readers updated on this. U’re so generous, Darren.
Sounds like this will be the place to hang in August. As a new blogger who was turned on to blogging and Problogger by Taughnee from The Alaska Blog, I am finding that there is so much I need to learn. I really have enjoyed your useful information so far. I look forward to seeing what new information I can pick up. Let em rip!
Darren,
Thanks for the 31 days of better blogging and for encouraging people to post their knowledge on their own blogs with a link from your site. Brilliant idea!
I’ve learned a lot in the short amount of time I’ve spent looking at your site. I’m looking forward to learning more. Checking out some of your other blogs has given me some ideas that are very promising.
I haven’t been posting on my usual blogs. Near complete loss of motivation to do so. It could be said that depression pamphlet post suits me down to the ground. I lose interest so easily in one topic or another. Its only been engaging in conversation on something new that has required thought that has me posting at all. And now that I’ve settled that topic in my mind I’m bored again. I’d rather comment on others blogs than post on my own.
Some tips on maintaining goals would be useful. It’s so easy to lose sight of the direction your heading at times.
Tips on blog design and editing tools. A poll on what people use perhaps.
I’d also like to see thoughts on thinking beyond the blog into CMS software.
great news! a month of tips and hints, that hopefully helps not only those of us with a blog, but those of us with a website!
(i have found many tips transferrable to my review site :-) )
thanks as always darren
Problogger is one of my favourite. I will be sticking around to get over the tips and imply them on my blog(s)
A Bloggy August
I can’t wait! Thank goodness August starts tomorrow =:)
ProBlogger is the ONE blog I always check in with even if I don’t have time to browse through MyYahoo for everything else. And it is worth every minute too. Thanks Darren.
I look forward to it! I’m happy, and thankful, to see this flurry of problogger activity after yoru vacation, it’s obviously rejuvenated you!
Cheers
“This post by Darren Rowse over at Pro-blogger came to my attention a little earlier today – I am always hungry for new tips.”
My own contribution is a great new 24 page report on keyword research. (important for SEO, your categories and Technorati tags)
Looking forward to some great material. Maybe after it I will take the plunge and switch blogging solution.
Take care
Andy
Darren,
When I started my site a few weeks ago, I created a press release for the launch. That was one of the most difficult things I have done in relation to blogging!
I could use tips on creating press releases that will get noticed.
Here is a tip. Yellow on white is impossible to read.
If you click on your “Creative Commons License” … I do not understand what “non-commercial; You may not use this work for commercial purposes” really means.
Aren’t you using stuff for commercial use – even in an information blog such as this – to create traffic and generate commercial revenues from the adsense clicks?
I say it’s a thin line that you are either crossing or not crossing, and that’s my reason for not using it. Maybe you can discuss your thoughts about it, and the realities of what this all means for bloggers and informational websites.
Take care.
HART
I am so grateful that you are doing this. I’m an accidental blogger, if you will. I kept a private political blog for five years which eventually prompted a reader to hire me to create a blog and content for his business.
I have no clue what I am doing and feel that, whatever I’m doing, that I ought to be doing something more or something different. Thus, though I am drowning in links and research gathered over the past few months to provide the grist for articles, I lately find myself off surfing and meandering about instead of cranking out posts. I think the most discouraging aspect is the lack of comments. Or perhaps it is just burn out.
Oh well, thank you and I shall sit back and study the pros – a designation I unfortunately can not make claim to.
Wow, first time here.
This site is quickly getting “Bookmarked”, and I’m searching for my sponge right now so I can soak up every bit of blogging moisture possible from around here.
What a resource. Thanks Darren
Hi,
I would like to learn as much as possible on how to promote my blog.
I have a personal request also as I am forced to make a living on my blog.
I look forward to the combined wisdom of all those who post here and ofcourse from Darren.
hats off and thank you,
Sincerely,
Edward
Thanks a ton for all the info. It’s been helpful in getting my blogging vision together.
I don’t like blogging but when i see all this, i think to start serious!
I don’t know why is hard to me to write some good articles.
Great points on interactive writing for comments , I have been working on the Israel Lebanon War covering it for a TV Network as a Cameraman and have been wondering why so few comments , given the behind the scenes glimpse to covering events here . Your blog is full of great ideas and know that your newsletter will be being read on my blackberry on the frontlines
Thanks
Mal
Today marks the first post of my first blog, as well as my first serious read of your site. If what I ultimately have to offer is half as much as what you now have to offer, I’ll be able to consider it a job well done.
Dude,
This is kick ass, I will definitely be back for more… Woo Hoo!!!
Not sure if it was mentioned but another thing some people are guilty of is NOT PUTTING A DATE AND TIMESTAMP ON YOUR ENTRIES! There’s nothing I hate more than surfing onto a blog and wondering if the latest entry is even relevent anymore.
Terry
Volume 11? Spinal Tap? :)
“This one goes up to eleven.”
Wow I am definitely bookmarking this site it’s brilliant :)
Thank you for this “31 Days” project. I’m working at getting my first blog off the ground. While most of your newer posts are helpful, this series and all of the offsite links you provided have given me so much know-how. I hope I’m avoiding the pitfalls that trap many first time bloggers.
Thanks for all the tips, unlike other “experts” advice they actually work.
politicstime.blogspot.com
The number one reason for blogging is to establish, build and enhance your reputation as “the expert” in your particular niche.
But to do that you need an “editorial plan”. Blogging is publishing and no self-respecting publisher of anything in print would ever start without knowing exactly what was going where – in advance.
In my blog on Internet psychology I have an editorial plan which provides “themes” for every day of the week; I have dates set in the future when I will write about specific “diary events”. Plus I have a plan for what I’m doing for the next month or so, which constantly gets updated.
The result – I can blog without the “fatigue” shown by some bloggers. Plus it just continues to build my reputation – readers know that every Monday, for instance, I focus on running a business online, Fridays are about social networking and so on. And because that reputation is there, I get the business. People book me to speak and to consult based on what they’ve read in my blog.
But the blog only succeeds because of the rigours of editorial planning I learned as a magazine editor / newspaper journalist.
I cannot wait to start. Like I have stated before since my friend and I started MindsOfWealth.com it has been an inspiration for us to learn and promote our blogs. If someone has an idea for my blow please feel free to send me an e-mail at MBatcho1@aol.com. Otherwise i look forward in participating in this series.
Talk to you soon.
Matt Batcho
Darren,
I’m way behind in reading your blog and subsequently, my blog is suffering…coincidence? I don’t think so. I’ve somehow found myself not so motivated to blog everyday but here’s the strange part, my brain has been working overtime and I’ve got more blog ideas/topics than I know what to do with. I can’t wait to catch up and look forward to reading each days tips.
Came across your website the other day. I’m interested in what you have to say and am going to go through the ’30 day’ series in as close to 30 days as possible. Until now have only done the ‘this is my daily life’ type blogs. Am very interested in doing more with a blog. Thank you for your openess and generosity.
Hello,
I just got to your blog and will look through your archives, etc. But, also wanted to leave a comment asking if you knew any resources where I can learn how to get better stats for my wordpress blog. Last I knew, Google Analytics didn’t work with wordpress. So, I was curious if you or anyone else knew of a different program or resource.
Thanks!
Hi, just found this article while rummaging through your archives, guess I could use a little kick up the butt, not so much because I’m lazy (I can only blog on a limited time schedule) But, I will put your advice to good use. Time to go look now. Hopefully my blog will be better for everyone not just for my sake!!
We are testing and reporting on many of these ideas on the Data Mining Lab blog. We are learning how effective each of the techniques are in comparison with one another.
I just found this guide, and I hope to go through it this week, to help out my own blog.
It has been over a year since the 31 days to build a better blog and I am still coming back. I decided to start from the beginning and run through the 31 day course to see what all I could learn from it.You will probably see a lot of comments from me since I will be reading your blog more often than what I have been in the last few months. I truly enjoy this blog and have learned a lot already.
I’ve been in the online money-making business for several years now, but have not put the time and energy into learning everything I needed to know to be successful. I shut down my website for good last month, just wrote it off as a failure I would never repeat again. I just found your empire, and am quite impressed; I feel a little more motivated to try a second time, but this time with a firm foundation of knowledge behind me. First a blog, then a site, then a franchise, and then…….
…the world.
I’m newbie in money making. This guide is good for me, thanx!!
I have always found your tips about blogging to very informative and interesting. I have applied some if not most of your tips when I first created my blog. I like coming to problogger to see whats new in the world of blogging, and I recommend your site to all my friends.
John,
Thank you for the tips. I have always found you insightful. Now if I could only find the time and energy to continue writing!
Mark
I have a new blog site that I started on less than a month ago. The blog is one that discusses parenting topics and child oriented material. I know that there are tons of parenting sites out there, but this is a topic that I really love. With so much parenting information available on the internet, I am just wondering if there is something special I can add to help me stand out from the crowd…any suggestions?