{Blog Write Now} What Newbie Bloggers Don’t Know And Veteran Bloggers Tend To Forget

In advance of my blogging webinars (delays suck, don’t they?), I’ll be giving out blogging tips and advice here on YML. If you like it, please share. 

In doing some recent blog consultations, I’ve been giving the same advice to the newbies.

They had good intentions in starting their blogs, but many suffered from the “trying to be everything to everyone” disease. They wanted to reach the young and old, the rich and poor, young Latina moms and elderly black men all in one post.

Blogging rarely works like that. You might be able to find success as a generalist—a blogger who blogs about a little bit of everything—but if you really pay attention to the bloggers who are on the rise, you’ll see there is a theme behind their posts, even if the casual reader can’t spot it.

Here’s a piece of advice I gave to a new blogger, who is full of talent and I have no doubt her blog is going to be huge, but she suffered from a lack of focus:

When people come to your blog, they should know in less than 20 seconds what your blog is about and why they should read what you have to say on the topic.

To discover what your true blog focus is, answer these questions:

Who are you? What could you write about all day long? What emotion do you want people to feel once they leave your blog? Happy? Encouraged? Inspired? Relaxed? Who is your audience? (Your audience, in most cases, will not be “everyone.”)

Why should people come to your blog, versus any of the millions of blogs out there? What do you offer that no one else offers?

Use the answers to these questions to formulate a bio/Welcome page/About Me that says who you are and why anyone would want to read your blog. Come up with a typical reader – what do they look like? Are they in school? Do they have kids? Are they older than you? Younger? Are they married? Get a specific person in mind and then write for that person. Then, with each post you write, target your message to that person. It will help all your posts be cohesive and parallel.

Veteran bloggers sometimes get antsy. We think what we’re currently doing isn’t working, so we start chasing trends, straying from our original message. But sometimes what we need is to get laser focused, instead of going broader.

Think about the community you’re trying to build. Who are your “peeps”? Who “gets you”?

When thinking about what you could blog about, try the “two adjective trick.” Think about who you are (a student? a couponer? a loving wife? a mother?) and go add an adjective or two. Think about if you were at a conference and you met the following bloggers.

“I have a couponing blog, The Couponing Lady,” says Person 1.

“I blog about food at Big Tastes, Tiny Ass Kitchen,” says Person 2. 

Who do you think is more memorable? Ms. Tiny Ass Kitchen, that’s who. Add some description. Don’t just be the “family meals blogger;” be a “family meals under $10” blogger. Find that niche.