Building a Better Blog, Part 2

To me, being a High Calling Blogger means I'm (we're) dedicated to excellence in blogging. This is something that's perfectly clear when I read statements on our About page like this...

"Our work itself should be a testimony to our Creator."

So when we had the opportunity to partner with Christian Web Trends to do a project on Darren Rowse's 31 Days to Build a Better Blog, I knew it was something we needed to join.

I shared a few lessons learned at the mid-point of the project, and I even had the chance to be the project's guest blogger a couple of times (Day 15: Find a Blog Buddy and Day 24: How to Use a Magazine to Improve Your Blog).

So as we wrap up the project there's some final wisdom that I'd like to share. Based on what we've learned, these basic themes seem to keep popping up. I'd love to hear what you think about these ideas, and how you apply them in your blogging.

1. It's about the people

Every blogger understands the fundamental idea that blogging requires us to connect with people. But one trend I noticed throughout the project was this idea that in order to be a better blogger, one must invest time and effort into other bloggers. It's not always about how you can connect with people to draw them to your content, but there seems to be a servant-leader mentality that inevitably results in blogging success after you invest in OPB (other people's blogs).

2. Watch the experts

While there's lots of value in looking at what successful bloggers are doing, it's just as important to look at what the experts in marketing are doing. With tasks like 'go to the mall' and 'read a magazine' in this project, there certainly was a lot of attention paid to learning from those in our culture who get paid to get our attention. And there are lots of great lessons from these observations that we can apply directly to our blogging.

3. Plan, plan, plan

Most bloggers I know (especially the Christian kind) like to blog according to whatever they fancy that day. Usually there is very little planning that goes into organizing and planning ahead for upcoming posts. However, whether it's doing some mind-mapping to brainstorm new post ideas, creating an editorial calendar, or analyzing data about your site traffic, successful blogging requires us to put on our 'editor-in-chief' hat and plan like we are running a major publication.

4. Have fun!

What you do in the blogosphere must be something that you enjoy and are passionate about. No matter how you look at it, taking your blog to the next level is going to require some serious work. So if you cannot have fun while you are doing it, then you're probably wasting your time. Your lack of passion will show through in your work, and readers will inevitably lose interest. But it's easy to follow people who you can tell are passionate about their craft.

Being a better blogger isn't completely dependent on these concepts, and there may be several other factors that can lead to blogging success. But one thing that's important is that you define what success looks like to you, and you take the steps necessary to get there.

I do believe that our efforts in the world of blogging make a difference in many people's lives, and therefore we do have a responsibility to do it to the best of our ability. In doing so, we honor God. And that, my friends, is why we're all gathered here...

Photo by Elizabeth Weller. Used with permission. Post by Dan King.

• Tags:  
• blogging
• group projects
• problogger
• social media tips

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