My Blogging Mistakes - Were Yours This Bad?

July 27, 2008

When I first started this blog, one of my main objectives was to share business mistakes I’d made, to help you avoid making them yourself. And 380 posts later, I’ve made plenty of blogging mistakes too.

Blogging About People You Know

On Exes: Blogging about an ex is a huge mistake. After all, you’ve probably worked hard to shut them out of your life, so why attract them back into it by writing about them? I made this foolish mistake when I was asked to participate in this meme and referred to my ex-husband as a prick, among other things. If you’ve blogged for any length of time, at some point you’ll attract undesirable people to your blog. But there’s no point in writing about them and attracting even more.

On Assholes, Freaks etc: In some posts I’ve made reference to assholes, or stalking freaks, although I didn’t point the finger at a specific person. Trouble is, if someone identifies with one of these posts, they might believe you’re actually blogging about them. They may even leave nasty comments, or break into your blog and try to sabotage it.

If you’re one of those people, I’m sorry if you recognised yourself as an asshole, or a freak in what I’ve written. And if it’s any consolation, now you’ve identified yourself as an asshole, or a freak - you have a great opportunity to work on the problem. I can highly recommend one of these excellent life coaches: Tim Brownson and Tom Volkar.

Allowing Personal Insults In The Comments Section: If you’re like me, some people may not like what you’ve written and call you “a bitch”, or even tell you to “go die”. But these things have no place in your comments section. I made the mistake of allowing a few of these comments to stay on the blog a little while before deleting them. Now, I make sure Askimet picks them up and puts them straight in the spam box where they belong.

Other Blogging Mistakes

I’ve made lots of other blogging mistakes too. Far too many to mention here. What about you - have you made mistakes when you were blogging. Were they relatively harmless? Did you blog about people you know? Did you regret it?

Posted by cathlawson | Filed Under Misc | 31 Comments

The Blogging Advice That Kept Me Up All Night

July 26, 2008

On Thursday, I received some blogging advice that kept me up all night. It was so amazing, it even caused me to miss Liz Strauss’s Blog Showcase (sorry Liz - I was really looking forward to it too).

It was late but I just didn’t feel sleepy, so I downloaded an ebook that I’ve been desperate to read: The Secret To Writing A Successful And Outstanding Blog by Liz Strauss.

Do you read reviews before you buy a book? I know I do. Buying a bad book is a waste of your time and money right? So this was the first book I bought in a long time where I didn’t even bother to read one review. The reason is simple - I trust Liz. I trusted her not only to write a good book, I trusted her to write an exceptional book. If you read her blog for a little while, you’ll understand why.

How many bloggers do you trust enough that you would buy anything they were selling without reading a review? But I bet you would love for your own blog community to trust you that much right? And you’re probably a trustworthy person. But that isn’t enough. You’ve got to prove to your readers that you’re trustworthy. And Liz explains how to do that in her book.

By the time I’d finished reading, it was morning. And I was really sleepy. Had it been any other book, I’d have gone to bed. But I began reading over Liz’s book again and I went over to her blog. I wanted to work out how she was applying the advice she’d given in The Secret To Writing A Successful And Outstanding Blog, on her own blog.

So I was so tired after missing a nights sleep, that I went out for an early dinner then went straight to bed. So I missed signing up for the Blog Showcase but I did learn how to write a successful and outstanding blog.

Would you like to learn how to be a successful and outstanding blogger, or did you read the book already? Did you sign up for the blog showcase?

If you could listen into your reader’s conversations about your blog, what would you like to hear them saying?

Posted by cathlawson | Filed Under Inspiration and Motivation | 18 Comments

Lets Focus On Promoting You

July 25, 2008

It’s my birthday today. They come round too fast. And I can’t have a cake to console myself because of the fat ass project. The good news is, I thought I was 40 this year, then Stuart (my husband) reminded me that I am in fact 39. But I still think birthday’s suck, so to take the focus off me - lets focus on promoting you.

Whether you’re building a business, your own personal brand, or your personal blog on the Internet, promoting yourself well is a must. So where do you start?

If you have a blog, Liz Strauss has a generous offer for you. She’s holding a weekend showcase and if you send her your details, she’ll showcase your blog on 26th and 27th July. Click here to get the full details. But hurry - or you’ll miss out.

Your next stop should be Barbara Swafford’s blog. Like Liz, she’s excellent at building community. She makes a point of visiting the blog of every single person who drops by. And other members of her community often do the same. Barbara does a lot to help and support new bloggers. And if you’re really lucky and she likes your blog, she may even award you New Blogger of The Week, which puts your blog in the limelight.

Are you a She Power Woman, or a She Power Man even? If so and you’d like to go under the mic, Kelly at She Power wants to interview you. You can read her recent interview with Vered of Mom Grind here and discover how to take advantage of this wonderful promotional opportunity.

Social networking is another great way to promote yourself. And if you’d like to learn how to promote yourself well on StumbleUpon, Caroline Middlebrook is offering a StumbleUpon course and the great news is, Part 1 is free. Click here to view more details

If you’re banned from StumbleUpon like me, don’t worry, you can always Twitter instead. I must confess that I’ve found Twitter a bit confusing to learn. But Scott Sweeney has written a fantastic resource to help you promote yourself on Twitter.

And don’t forget to promote yourself offline too. Scott McIntyre has written a fab article with great ideas for promoting yourself, or your business outside of the Internet.

What else could you do to promote you, or your business? Please share your ideas in the comments section, or ask any questions you may have. And feel free to post links if you’ve discovered resources elsewhere, or if you’re offering a promotion on your own site. They may go into a moderation queue but I’ll approve them just as soon as I can.

Posted by cathlawson | Filed Under Marketing | 36 Comments

What Is A Blog And Will It Feed You Or Eat You?

July 24, 2008

So just exactly what is a blog? Could it make you rich and famous? Would it propel your business to unimaginable heights? Or would putting a blog in your grubby little mitts be The Internet equivalent of tossing a firework into a liquor factory?

What The Hell Is A Blog Anyway?

There’s a common misconception that a blog is an online diary. Whilst some bloggers do indeed write about the cheese and pickle sandwich that made them belch for the entire afternoon, the number of press ups they can do on one hand, or the fact that their child has just thrown up on the vicar’s wife; most don’t.

A blog is a website which uses special software that produces pages in chronological order. And blog pages tend to get listed on search engines much faster than “normal” webpages, which is a major attraction for most of us. It gets you seen quicker. Trouble is some blogs - especially business blogs would be better off not being seen at all - ever.

Some Good Reasons Not To Blog

To Make Money: There’s nothing wrong with wanting to make money. But if it’s your only reason for blogging, you’d be better off doing something else - almost anything else in fact.

If Your Business Sucks: Do you treat your customers like dirt? Do you ignore all the bad things they’re saying about you online? If so, there’s no point in starting a blog until you sort your business out. In fact some businesses shouldn’t even think about blogging at all.

As top blog consultant Michael Martine pointed out: “Some businesses don’t have blogs and shouldn’t have blogs: oil companies, Blackwater, KBR, Halliburton, whatever. Evil = no blog for you, unless you just like putting a hate magnet on the interwebs.”

If You Have Nothing To Say: Could you fit what you know about your chosen topic on the back of an envelope? Does the idea of learning and research appeal to you about as much as brushing your teeth with a loo brush? If so, a blog is probably not for you. But there’s a few exceptions. If you’re smart witty and interesting like these fine people, you may be able to get away with blogging about just about anything:

Rita (Bloggrrl)
Heather (Dooce)
Kelly (She-Power)
Vered (Mom Grind)

If You’re Not Passionate About Your Topic: If neither you , or anyone in your Company is passionate about your chosen topic, then a blog is probably not for you. Your business probably isn’t for you either but that’s another story.

If You Can’t Spare The Time: Setting up, running and marketing a blog takes up a lot of time. Can you, or a member of your staff spare that time? If not and your marketing budget allows, it may be worth paying a freelance writer to blog for you.

Some Good Reasons Why Individuals And Businesses Blog:

To promote their business.
To help build a brand.
To keep in touch with customers and get feedback.
To keep friends and family up to date with what they’re doing.
To write for pleasure.
To make money.
Because they feel so passionate about something they want to share with the world.

Do you blog? How long have you been blogging? Do you do it for pleasure, to promote a business, or for another reason? Can you think of any more reasons to blog or avoid blogging completely? Is there a particular type of blogger you’d happily torture with candlewax, in the hope of shutting them up? Please share your thoughts in the comments section.

Image Credit: Robert Whitlock

Still Not Put Off Blogging? Check Out The Following Resources:

Business Blog Consultants

If you don’t know where to start and want to avoid ruining the reputation of your business, you might want to consult one of these outstanding individuals before launching your blog:

Liz Strauss
Michael Martine
Men With Pens
Kathy Hendershot-Hurd

Posted by cathlawson | Filed Under Marketing | 23 Comments