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8 More Habits of Highly Effective Bloggers

by Annabel Candy on October 25, 2011

Do you ever feel as if your blog has plateaued?

Like you’ve hit some kind of blogging hump you just can’t get over?

About a year ago I wrote the 8 Habits of Highly Effective Bloggers here on Copyblogger.

I practice those habits and continue to see huge improvements in my writing — but some habits come more naturally than others.

Through this continued struggle, I’ve identified 8 more habits to help stay on top of the ceaseless blogging and writing game, to get over those humps and get back to work that matters.

I think these 8 habits will help you reach your blogging and content marketing goals:

1. Effective bloggers take risks

Most successful bloggers have one thing in common: they’ve started blogs that failed.

They don’t stop trying new things at the first sniff of success either, their blogs keep evolving and changing to move with the times and with their readers.

You have to be brave when you start blogging, then keep taking those risks and keep innovating.

Not every idea will work.

Many will fail, but if you don’t keep taking risks and trying new things your blog will get stale and your readers will get bored.

2. Effective bloggers are creative

If you’re ready to take risks you need to come up with creative ideas to run with.

As time goes on it can feel harder to come up with and act on new ideas that keep adding value to your blog.

It’s critical to keep acting creatively, and then fine tune those ideas that have legs.

If you want to be truly creative you’ll need to keep taking action and develop a thick skin.

3. Effective bloggers are really passionate

You’re passionate about what you do, aren’t you?

But the whole idea of being passionate about your niche is such a cliché, I can see you’re just about to skip this bit.

Yes, you might know you’re passionate about your topic — but you need to make sure your readers know it too.

You need to make sure your passion jumps off the screen from your blog, your Facebook page and your Twitter account so that your readers love hanging out with you and don’t take their attention or business elsewhere.

4. Effective bloggers are visible and engaging

I’m always astonished by how many new bloggers see comments as being a pain in the neck.

It seems they look at comments as something that only eats up their time.

Effective bloggers see their blog readers as interesting people who they naturally want to interact with them. They reply to comments on their blog posts and talk to their readers on other social media because they value them.

The best bloggers focus on creating strong content that resonates with their readers. They’re not afraid to be provocative or share personal stories. They have that unique voice and point of view which creates reader loyalty.

Effective bloggers really talk to people. They show they care, and engage their readers rather than just going through the motions of networking because it has to be done.

5. Effective bloggers are disciplined and organized

If you’ve got one of these traits, you’re onto a good thing.

If you have both, you’ll go far.

The top bloggers are able to focus on the big picture and have the discipline to stick with it.

They have organized systems with editorial calendars planned months in advance, lists of RSS feeds for blog reading, and deadlines for new products they’re developing.

Like many good traits, you’re not going to nail discipline and organization overnight, but if you keep working on them, and keep improving your productivity, your blogging will improve.

6. Effective bloggers are self-aware

They know what their strengths and weaknesses are, and how to work to them (or through them) to achieve their goals.

You need to know your limitations and learn how to delegate the tasks you can’t do well, or don’t enjoy, to people who can take care of them more effectively than you.

Things like blog design, technical issues, or editing can be handed over to other people or organizations.

If you’re not a natural born writer you can even pay someone to ghost write your blog posts for you.

7. Effective bloggers use a variety of media

In 1995 I signed up for an Master of Arts program in Design for Interactive Multimedia.

We spent a lot of time working out which media would best communicate our desired outcomes.

We spent spent days debating if a particular point would be best taught through video, with images, or in text.

But out in the real world, it doesn’t work like that. Bloggers are governed by budget and time constraints.

It’s easy to stick to text and hope for the best, but more and more bloggers are turning to video, audio, and more.

Video doesn’t have to be a difficult undertaking, and it needn’t cost an arm and a leg. And it’s a powerful way to get your point across or to make your point more accessible to your readers.

Nothing will personalize you and your blog better than video, even if it’s just a two-minute production filmed on your iPhone.

8. Effective bloggers diversify their income

Having multiple income streams is a good idea in any business.

It’s key if you want to make money blogging. It protects you if one income stream fails, and allows you to safely test new ways of earning money.

There are many ways to build a business around a good blog. You may use your blog to build your profile, sell your services, open up new career opportunities, or partner with the right people to develop software or instructional courses.

If you’ve grown your readership and built trust and authority with them, you can make money directly through your blog by selling advertising, offering sponsored blog posts, or becoming an affiliate. (These aren’t Copyblogger’s preferred models, but they work well for many bloggers.)

A combination of some or all of the above will increase the income that your blog generates, whether directly or indirectly.

It’s not what happens, but how you act on it

Whatever habits you do or don’t currently possess, one thing is inevitable when it comes to effective blogging: The bumps and turns will pop up regularly. You will reach plateaus that you feel you won’t be able to break.

The only way to get over those humps and through those plateaus is to keep blogging, to slowly adjust your habits, and keep learning and applying new techniques that work for you.

The problem is not that these challenges come along, it’s that we don’t face them correctly.

Can you add any wisdom to these 8 habits of highly effective bloggers? Let us know about your own effective habits in the comments …

About the Author: Copywriter Annabel Candy started blogging in 2006 to overcome her fear of being read publicly. She didn’t write another blog post for three years. Finally she set up a popular travel blog and become a confident writer. Last year Annabel wrote the ebook Successful Blogging in 12 Simple Steps to help other writers tap into the power of blogging. Check it out here and use discount code “35off” to get (you guessed it) 35% off.

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Why Bad Writing is Essential to Good Blogging

by Jeff Goins on July 26, 2011

I’ve been blogging for six years now, and in that time I’ve noticed something — anyone can do it.

At first, I thought that this was a good thing. But then I realized that every good thing has a shadow side.

So here’s the downside of the accessibility of blogging: It makes the already-terrible writers much, much louder.

There are too many bloggers out there.

How can this be a good thing for you?

For too long, the bar has been set way too low with millions of blogs contributing to the noise without adding anything substantive to the discussion.

Our fame-obsessed culture has driven teenagers and baby boomers alike to create their own blogs — all for the sake of being heard. They’re taking up space with half-formed opinions and rants, and it’s given the blogosphere an infamously bad name.

But now, there’s a new phenomenon: The prolific, mediocre blogger.

This person actually understands the basics of SEO and social media and can attract a decent readership.

The problem, though, is that their content sucks.

This probably drives you real writers completely nuts. But maybe it’s not all bad.

Here are three reasons why these awful wordsmiths can actually make you a better blogger.

1. Envy leads to action

Be honest: part of the reason why you hate these champions of mediocrity is jealousy.

Because if you’ve stuck around the Internet long enough, you’ve seen how even a terrible writer can build his own tribe.

You’ve seen spam queens go into six digits on Twitter and typo-ridden articles go viral on Facebook.

And this pisses you off (and it should.)

But we need you to act, not sit back silently judging and mocking. Okay, you can judge and mock too, if you really want.

We need you to move, not lock up out of protest. We need your voice, and we need it now.

Don’t just complain. Act. Fight awful quality with excellence.

2. Competition is (always) good

Social media has, indeed, leveled the communication playing field.

Now, if you have a good story or idea, you can share it, without having to know the right people or possess the right skills.

The days of the gatekeeper are ending.

This, for the most part, explains a lot of the frustration you’re feeling. There are terrible writers out there with nothing to say, and they’re saying a lot … very poorly.

They are stealing away your readers and making them dumber by the minute.

This is actually a good thing.

It forces you to up your game, to woo your followers back to your well-crafted blog. This is not a sprint to the bottom; it’s a marathon to the top.

And those who are truly excellent in their craft and committed to finishing will win in the end.

3. Bad writers need coaches (i.e. you)

The fact that you’re an excellent writer irked by all this mediocrity may be an internal prompting to give back.

More people are blogging, because they recognize the value of building a platform. But they’re breaking the first rule of Copyblogger.

You can help them.

Look at it this way: If you’re really good at writing, you can help others become better writers. Instead of seeing these mediocre bloggers as a threat, why not view this situation as what it really is — an opportunity?

You could begin a writing consulting practice.

You could start coaching amateurs on how to stop sounding stupid and start writing like a pro.

You could help, instead of criticize.

The opportunity is there — do with it what you will.

What do you think? Does this just frustrate you further, or are there some legitimate lessons we can learn from mediocre bloggers?

About the Author: Jeff Goins is a writer and marketing guy who helps people use digital media to amplify their voice. Follow his blog or connect with him on Twitter.

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How To Keep Kevin Costner From Ruining Your Blog and Business

by Jessica Commins on July 11, 2011

image of kevin costner

In the Internet Marketing for Smart People radio show finale to season one, Brian refers to “Kevin Costner Syndrome”, a condition that affects a number of bloggers, marketers, and entrepreneurs.

If you saw Costner’s 1989 blockbuster “Field of Dreams,” you remember the line from the film:

If you build it, they will come.

It was heartwarming and inspirational in the movie. It can destroy you as an online marketer.

You’ve been told that if you start blogging and “join the conversation,” your appreciative audience will be magically drawn to you.

Some people blogging for business are still waiting for “them” to come.

Silly people. Good thing we’d never fall for that … We know better. Right?

Eh … maybe not.

Many of us who read Copyblogger are chasing dreams of our own right now. We’re building it because we believe they will come.

We just know they’ll come. Tired as we are, we don’t understand why our dreams aren’t getting the attention they deserve.

If this sounds like you, it’s possible that you have Kevin Costner Syndrome (KCS), too.

KCS eats your dreams for breakfast

Entrepreneurs are easily enchanted by the “Field of Dreams” story.

We love the idea that our dreams are premonitions of unstoppable events.

Resistance loves that we love that idea, too.

On its own, KCS can be an incredible asset for an entrepreneur. It can give us the faith we need to pull through the darkest days of our journey. However, it also makes us vulnerable to misleading direction.

Planting voices that masquerade as our own is resistance’s specialty, so how do you know whether your calling is pure?

Easy. Just answer this simple question:

What is your ball field?

In other words, what’s the grand attraction that will draw those appreciative crowds?

Was your answer printed books, e-books, recorded audio, recorded video, websites, consulting packages, a service, or some other thing you can hold in your hand?

If so, it can only mean one thing: you’ve been had.

Instead of building the best ball field you could, you spent too much time getting the best deal on screws for the bleachers and controversy-free chalk for the lines.

You were so focused on painting the concession stand (twice, because you didn’t like the color the first time) that you forgot to order the lights. You needed the light, so you put out some floor lamps and had friends hold up flashlights for as long as their arms could handle.

You’ve been so busy focusing on the logistics, you missed the message.

Save your dream from Costner’s death grip

Don’t let KCS ruin your life.

Every legendary entrepreneur has a few busted ball fields in his or her history, and they went on to do amazing things.

You can too, if you properly manage your condition.

KCS is easily managed by understanding two critical truths:

Your ball field is not your various products
Your ball field is your core message

Things like books or consulting hours are nothing more than media for your message, often referred to as your Unique Selling Proposition. It’s the positioning statement that transmits the emotional content required to draw them to your product or service.

The message doesn’t tell your story — it’s the takeaway you build your story around. If you’ve been building your ball field with a message that’s about people giving you money, you’re not going to be as intriguing as a would-be competitor who’s been building her customer-focused USP.

Your message is the driving force behind the vehicles you select (like websites, books, consulting packages, and so on). Without it, you’re lacking a magnet for the masses. Polish it to address a proven need and you’re ripe for a home run.

But what if your core message is still unclear to you?

Consider flipping it…

If you build them, it will come

Instead of continuing to throw products down an empty hall, consider taking a break for a moment … just sit back and listen.

Focus on the people you want to work with and observe them in action. Learn what they care about and what makes them tick.

When you’re building relationships, you find out what your friends and associates want and need. They tell you. You just need to listen and be ready to make yourself useful.

Don’t stop writing just because you haven’t nailed your USP yet. Fine-tune it while you’re making things and making friends.

Try on a message or two and see how they fit.

You’ll know when it’s right — your legions of customers will tell you.

Just be patient. Be observant. And whatever you do, don’t stop believin’ …

About the Author: Jessica Commins is a project manager for game-changers and a connoisseur of iced tea. Following her on Twitter might be the easiest thing you do all day.

52,211 people take WordPress further with StudioPress

The Genesis Framework from our StudioPress division empowers you to quickly and easily build incredible websites with WordPress.

With search-optimized code and functions, 38 turn-key designs, and unlimited support, updates, and websites you can build, Mashable calls Genesis the “best of the best” among premium WordPress themes. It’s no wonder over 52,000 online publishers trust Genesis to provide a solid foundation for their sites.

Whether you’re a novice or advanced developer, Genesis provides the secure and search-engine-optimized foundation that takes WordPress places you never thought it could go.

Find out more about StudioPress here.

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Three Worldclass WordPress Themes for Savvy Online Publishers

by Robert Bruce on April 12, 2011

It would be a gross understatement to say that my colleagues over at Copyblogger Media’s StudioPress division have been working like crazy on your behalf.

They’ve been developing and shipping so much digital goodness lately, it’s making me feel fatigued just watching.

I mean, I’m just a guy typing in his bathrobe, continually pouring coffee, and talking into a microphone once a week. I’m lucky to get a coherent sentence out in an hour.

These folks, on the other hand, are working relentlessly to make things easy for you by doing most of the heavy-lifting when it comes to website design, search optimization, and security.

If you’ve not yet heard about what’s going on over there, StudioPress makes a world-class website framework for WordPress and has currently delivered (with more on the way) 36 child themes to easily skin your site.

We’ve chatted about it before, but here’s a quick look at what you get “out of the box” when you hook yourself up with the Genesis framework + any of the 36 turnkey designs:

Evolve with your site’s growth using several different page layout options
Quick-change between different color schemes without touching a line of code
Show off your latest content using the featured article function
Logical navigation & category layout that lets your readers get to what they want, fast
All the SEO, security, and design benefits of the Genesis Framework
Unlimited updates, domains you can use the theme on, and support (you’re not on your own)

That said, here are a few designs direct from the StudioPress factory that’ll make your online life easier, faster, and more secure …

Hang a beautiful Tapestry on your site

You’ve seen it.

You might already be hooked by its simplicity.

The tumblog-style of blogging has become a comfortable yet powerful form of expression for many online in the last few years.

Now, you can combine the benefits of this micro-blogging genre with the muscle of the Genesis Framework, all in one easy package.

The Tapestry child theme is the way to go if you’re the type that likes to post a variety of stuff — links, video, photos, text, et cetera — and a lot of it.

Tapestry allows you to beautifully publish in eight unique formats, with posts optimized for each type of content.

Click here to get into all the layers of the Tapestry theme.

Getting Focused

The average time spent by a reader on an average single web page is measured in seconds.

The number of those precious seconds goes down every single day.

In an age of unprecedented distraction, focus is fast becoming a priceless commodity.

The Focus child theme was built to bring your message and work into sharp relief. With six super clean page layout options, and three easy-switch theme colors, the Focus theme concentrates everything on your objectives.

Click here to see exactly what the Focus theme has to offer.

Clean and Powerful Prose

The Prose child theme is an understated masterpiece.

Understated, because it specializes in elegantly getting out of your way — bloggers, copywriters, consultants, and content marketers — so that your words always sit front and center.

A masterpiece, because it is one of the most easily flexible WordPress themes ever developed, sitting safely on top of the rock-solid Genesis Framework.

The point-and-click design controls built into Prose change pretty much everything you’ve always hated about running your own website.

With a few clicks in a few minutes from within your WordPress dashboard you can control site colors, typefaces, font sizes, and other critical elements of your site design. Instantly.

Oh, and did I mention you won’t need to touch a single line of code to make those changes?

Click here to dig deeper into the amazingly versatile and pain-free Prose theme.

Oh yeah, Genesis is now on WordPress.com …

If you’re on board over at WordPress.com, you can now get the Enterprise theme or the Pretty Young Thing theme set up on your site.

Enterprise and Pretty Young Thing are our very first themes available in the new WordPress.com Premium theme marketplace. If you want the all the benefits of Genesis + StudioPress without hosting your own site, this will be a game-changer for you.

And, it’s only the beginning. We’ve got more Genesis-powered StudioPress themes on the way over to WordPress.com, so stay tuned.

Or, if you want total control, click here to get more details on the Genesis Framework and find out why it’s the smartest way to build any WordPress site.

About the Author: Robert Bruce is Copyblogger Media’s resident raconteur, copywriter, and regular-guy attache for the Genesis Framework for WordPress.

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Tim Gunn’s Top 5 Tips for More Stylish Content

by Copyblogger Media on October 26, 2010

image of Tim Gunn

A little over a year ago, Brian Clark gave us a What Not to Wear guide to blogging.

Brian laid the groundwork for the inherent value in talking about what’s not working. And if you haven’t read the post, clickity-click and get on that — and here’s why:

We don’t change a damn thing when we’re right.

Being “right” makes us do exactly the same thing, time and time again until it become rote. Habit.

But being wrong … ah — dawning recognition.

When we’re wrong, we can change things.

We can change our direction, our strategy.

Or in the case of Tim Gunn, our clothes.

If you don’t know Gunn, he’s the critical eye behind “Project Runway” and “Tim Gunn’s Guide to Style.” He knows what works, and just as important, he knows what doesn’t.

We have to learn to “make it work.”

So in the interests of learning and building a better blog, here are five things that, if I were to channel Tim Gunn (and that would be a fabulous and incredibly stylish stunt), you might be doing wrong with your blog.

1. SEO is not the new black

I’m a huge fan of the Scribe plugin to optimize content, and I use it often on client blogs. It’s a powerful tool that combines SEO and blogging in a single, easy-to-digest package, and it’s a no-brainer for anyone with a blog.

But you don’t optimize every piece of content you create.

If you fill your entire closet with black, you have no versatility and you kinda screw yourself when you’re in a mood for a splash of color.

Don’t limit the incredibly powerful tool you have in blogging by binding yourself 24/7 to a keyword-based strategy.

Yes, have an SEO strategy. Yes, create terrific content that’s optimized for search. That’s just smart.

But going on to add to that with something of your own — something that’s not so easily optimizable — is even smarter.

People share great content, not great keywords. If you’ve got a great idea for a post but it doesn’t lend itself to SEO optimization, don’t hold back. This is one case when less isn’t more.

2. Conversation never goes out of style

It seemed like such a good idea at the time.

If you’re going to wear those four-inch purple metallic platform shoes with the mustard yellow tights, you need to be aware that you’re going to cause some buzz.

The blogging equivalent is taking on a juicy topic — and getting some major attention (not necessarily positive) in return.

In the blogging world, buzz mainly finds you in your blog comments. When you hit a hot button, that’s where you first find out.

When you look at great blogs, it’s not uncommon to find that the comments become even better than the post itself — so let them.

If you’ve written something that’s whipping up controversy, don’t hide from your comments.

Embrace the buzz, both positive and negative. Learn from it. Dive in and chat. Your readers will thank you (and become even more loyal on account of it).

3. Engagement is the key to style

Tim Gunn once said,

Perhaps the real secret to style is filling yourself to the absolute brim with engagement.

Engaging isn’t just about asking for retweets and responding to comments.

Engagement is about getting out there and understanding the true lay of the land. Attending conferences, making connections, reading other blogs, building relationships.

Start going through your comments and clicking through to your commenters’ blogs. Read them. Get to know your fans and your opponents. If you’re not doing this now, make it a to-do item a couple times a week.

Showing genuine interest is the least you can do to reciprocate a reader for showing an interest in you.

Engage. It’s the most stylish thing you can do in the blogosphere.

4. Make it accessible

One of Tim’s most famous quotes is from a critique of a Project Runway contestant’s design:

It looks like pterodactyl from a gay Jurassic Park!

While I almost fell on the floor when I heard that one, it reminded me of a simple fact: if no one can figure out what you’re trying to do with your content, you fail.

When you invite readers to spend some time reading your content, make sure you’re actually making sense.

That doesn’t mean being trite or going face-first into cliché. It means using examples, situations, and metaphors that people can relate to.

If people have to work too hard to “get” your content, they’re going to stop trying.

(And if you can’t live without the occasional cliché, try this cool cliché finder. Because the truth is, sometimes the right cliché is the perfect way to get your idea across.)

Don’t be predictable … but try accessible on for size.

5. Carry on!

Great blogs don’t just happen — they’re built.

A fantastic blog is crafted, just like a fashion collection that shows up on the runways. Designers and artisans spend hours painstakingly creating each piece that makes up the collection, and they all work together.

It amazes me that Tim Gunn isn’t a blogger, because he truly knows how to make it work. So if you’re looking to build a blogging empire (or simply one that makes you proud of what you’ve built), remember that it’s all about community and critics.

Your community needs to be built and nurtured. Your content needs to be shaped around their interests and desires. They’re the ones who will buy your stuff and wear it proudly.

Your critics will give you things to think about and ways you can improve. While some will be full of hot air and in love with the sound of their own voice, if you listen hard enough, there will be some pearls of wisdom worth stringing together.

And pearls go with everything.

About the Author: Erika Napoletano is the Head Redhead at RedheadWriting LLC, a Denver-based online strategies consultancy. Her blog, RedheadWriting, is a bastion for “unpopular thoughts and blunt advice — delivered” and consistently strives to say what others won’t (but should) about marketing, social media, business integrity, and life in general.

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