By BloggerKhan

My profession is Management and Marketing and it revolves around outsourcing, ecommerce and marketing on the internet. Wise men say identify what you are passionate about and then see if ...

How to be a successful blogger

Blogging can be fun but blogging can also be very lucrative. Many people start blogging because they think every body is doing it – then soon give up. You hear stuff like ‘Oh blogging is a waste of time’ and ‘I tried that but didn’t do anything for me’. If you ask what they wanted from their blog, they generally say ‘Oh I don’t know – just thought it was a good idea’. Well how can blogging do anything for you when you don’t know what you want from it.

You want to be a successful blogger? Then heed the following advice:

1. Clearly identify the purpose of your blog, to yourself first and to your readers second. Is it for fun or business? If it is for business then narrow it down to your area of expertise or the service you provide.
2. Have a theme that matches your subject. If your blog is about the stock market, then a wild jungle theme may not suit you – then again it may. Put some thought into it.
3. Learn about plug-ins on an ongoing basis. They make blogging easier and more enjoyable.
4. Don’t feel intimidated by what others may say. If you feel strongly about a subject, then express yourself. It’s your blog isn’t it. Your blog should reflect your thoughts, not some corporate mumbo jumbo.
5. Make it easy for your readers to subscribe to your RSS feed or via email. See the subscription options at the top right on this blog? Gives you ideas? You’ll be surprised how many people would like to hear from you but at their convenience. Helps you build your mailing list.
6. If you are a frequent blogger and you have other related activities that may interest your subscribers, send out a weekly digest to bring everyone up to date.
7. Don’t hesitate in referencing other peoples work on your blog. You see a good video or article, write a little summary and provide a link so your readers can also enjoy the content.
8. As your traffic grows, monetize it through Adsense, banner Ads and affiliate offers. But first get your traffic up.
9. Encourage people to leave comments and then respond to the comments. Helps build dialogue.
10. Promote – Promote – Promote. Your blog needs to be promoted just like your business website. This is a big world and unless you promote your blog, most people will never hear about it. That’s a loss to both you and them. Traffic is the lifeblood of any business, conventional or online. The more the traffic, the better your chances of monetizing it.

So grab your pen or keyboard and start blogging.

I am sure you have something to add to this list. Feel free to do so in the comments below.