Taking that first blogging step

Friday, September 28th, 2007    Posted by Carmi Levy

Last time out, we discussed whether or not you should even start a blog. On the assumption that you’ve decided to move ahead with it, you’ll need to go through a number of due diligence steps before your site sees the light of day.

We touched on what you would write about, who would read it, and why. Write these out on a large piece of paper and post them somewhere visible, because you’re going to be mulling them over for quite a while.

WHAT: There are a lot of voices on the Internet talking about a lot of different issues from a lot of different perspectives. Is your voice one among many or do you have something unique to say? Would you be able to sum up your blog’s reason for existence in a 30-second elevator pitch. Stop here and really think this through before you do anything else, because if there’s nothing unique and uniquely compelling about your message, there’s no point in reading - or writing.

WHO: It’s a given that we all want lots of people to read us, but you still need to understand who would be most interested in what you have to say. Separate readers by age range, gender, geography, ethnicity, income level…or any other point of differentiation that makes sense to you. Research your target groups online to see what else they’re reading. And if you remember nothing else, resist the urge to be all things to all people, because nothing is more vanilla than a broadly focused blog.

WHY: This explains why they’ll take time from their busy schedules to read you. It speaks to the value that you’re bringing to the table - to their table. If you can’t articulate it, chances are your readers won’t, either - which means they likely won’t become readers.

Take a stab at answering these. Bounce your responses off of people you trust. We’ll dig deeper into each of them in future entries.

Add to: del.icio.us Digg Furl Reddit Google Technorati Yahoo!

This entry was posted on Friday, September 28th, 2007 at 4:55 pm and is filed under Communication vehicles. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.

6 Responses to “Taking that first blogging step”

1. aka_monty Says:
   September 30th, 2007 at 3:49 pm

   See, that seems like taking blogging WAY too seriously. You know I have the UTMOST respect for you and all your work–but blogging is about (for many of us, anyway) just claiming a space where we can empty our heads or do whatever we want-whether we have something unique to say or not. I certainly don’t have anything compelling to put out there about 99.9% of the time, I just put down random junk as it occurs to me and I’m lucky enough that some people like to read it because it’s REAL LIFE STUFF. And they think it’s funny for whatever reason. It’s RELATABLE. You know what I mean?
   And you say there’s no point in writing it if you have nothing unique or compelling to say–well, I have to take exception to that. The POINT is the interaction with other people, whether they’re like-minded or no. The point is getting feedback on situations that you’re living. The point is being part of a living, breathing community–many of whom are far less judgmental than “Real Life” people. The point is venting, journaling.

   Of course, if you’re talking about the kind of blogging where people get PAID to do it, that’s a horse of a different color.
   Just my opinions!! (and I’m always willing to admit that I could be way off base)(and I hope you don’t take any of this PERSONALLY, because I think you’re a wonderful writer, photographer, and person)

2. aka_monty Says:
   September 30th, 2007 at 3:56 pm

   My apologies, Carmi, I should’ve read the previous entry–and then I would’ve realized you were talking about a COMPANY blog rather than personal.

   So sorry!

3. Carmi Levy Says:
   September 30th, 2007 at 6:51 pm

   No need to apologize. You’ve helped focus the discussion on the key differences between work-related and personal blogs. The reasons for writing and reading them are necessarily different.

   In a professional context, people are so busy at work that the blogs they read either feed into a particular need, or they won’t be read.

   Although it is indeed true that individuals who write personal blogs are free to vent and otherwise say whatever comes to mind, one can argue that it’s difficult to build a business case on top of that.

   Of course, it doesn’t matter when the blog is personal. It does when it’s work-related, and like all work-related projects, it has to justify the resources invested in it.

   I’m glad you raised the issue. You’ve planted the seeds to further discussion on this down the road.

4. Sarch Says:
   September 30th, 2007 at 10:53 pm

   An interesting concept and something I had never thought of before Carmi…a business blog.

   Personal blogs are indeed by necesity a different breed of blog. A totaly different animal with a totaly different desired outcome.

   I can see how it would take a special person within a particular framework for a work blog to be of any true value. However with the right subject matter, the right audience and an author with a talent for getting the message out there a business blog could be incredibly usefull to people!

   I wonder if there is one out there for the commercial printng field? Hmmmmmm….

5. Shephard Says:
   October 12th, 2007 at 8:12 pm

   Excellent, excellent questions for beginning bloggers, Carmi. I think people jump in and flouder about for months before sifting through these questions. Great that you are giving some clarity to the blogging process.

   Michele told me to go check out your geekier blog.
   ~S

6. Talking about the what Says:
   October 25th, 2007 at 11:22 am

   […] Taking that first blogging step […]

Leave a Reply