I just finished devouring Debbie Weil's book, The Corporate Blogging Book: Absolutely Everything You Need to Know to Get It Right
Here are the ten ideas I liked most.
- Break blogs up into lists (like this one). Readers prefer lists to interminable paragraphs.
- Link always. Link to competitors, to reference sites, to other blogs, to your own website. Links build better search engine listings.
- Write as if you are writing for your mother. (Since I happen to know that my mother is one of my few consistent readers, that isn't too hard for me.)
- Ask for help. Try not to be the expert all the time - once in awhile admit you don't have the answer and ask your readers for input. David Maister uses this technique nicely, as is shown in his post about "The best manager I ever had," as did Bob Sutton in his post asking whether Sizzle or Substance sells business books. I'm not very good at this one yet.
- Use illustrations - photos, charts, videos. I never do this - but I need to start. The Green Car Congress blog is an outstanding example of the use of graphics - almost every post has a useful illustration, and best illustrations are available along the right hand column.
- Write the title of your post for the search engines. For example, following Weil's suggestion, the title of this post uses her name and the name of her book.
- Give your readers what they want. David Pollard's list (pages 112-3 of the book) includes "fun stuff: quizzes, self-evaluations, other interactive content." That's another one I need to try.
- Preserve the original post. Never delete it. If you edit it, make clear what you changed (use strikeout rather than deleting the changed text).
- Highlight your best posts in the left hand column of your blog. I've added my personal favorites - the ones I am most proud of - just under the RSS button.
- Ask for comments. Don't just turn comments on, but try something like the note Debbie has in the left hand column of her blog.
