When I'm done with my life responsibilities or want to steal
away for a few minutes to look at something that doesn't pertain to work and is
entertaining, I visit Jasmine Water's blog, http://jasfly.tumblr.com/. She's
one of my favorite bloggers. I discovered her on Twitter and have been a
follower ever since. I check her site for her ventures, opinions and
experiences.
Jasmine 'JasFly' Waters bio on LinkedIn says she is a New York based Writer,
Journalist and Multi-Media Personality who has interviewed such noteworthy
names as Jay-Z, Warren Buffett, Common, Joan Rivers, Spike Lee and more. Her
career in Film Production and Television Development includes work on dozens of
projects including Spiderman 2, Hardball, Save The Last Dance, MTV's Real
World, Barbershop 1&2 and NBC's ER.
Jas is also the the official
Ambassador to Pop Culture for ooVoo a video chat platform with 80 million users
worldwide.
Setting up and maintaining a successful blog takes time,
effort and calculated actions. I stumbled upon a "best practice" post
from EchoDitto, a small digital firm that works with social change
organizations and social enterprises. They provided three basic keys to
building a successful blog:
1.
Engage with other blogs and your own readers 2. Keep the material fresh and exciting
3. Give people a reason to return
In my opinion, reasons two and three are the most essential
elements in having a successful blog. Fresh and exciting content is the engine
that drives a blog. Regardless of the topic or subject matter, there is no
reason to visit a blog if it isn't up-to-date and properly maintained. All the
marketing, promotion and advertising in the world will not keep visitors coming
back to a boring, outdated and un-engaging blog.
EchoDitto also listed some things to keep in mind when
blogging:
1.
It's OK to say what you think. Blog readers want to hear opinions; otherwise
most wouldn't read blogs.
2.
Engage from the beginning. Blog readers
generally pay attention to the title and the first two paragraphs of any given
post, and then decide whether to read the rest.
3.
Be casual. Most blog readers want to know that
they're talking to a human being much like themselves, who happens to know a
bit more about the subject than they do, or who shares their views on the
subject.
4.
Remember, it's a conversation. Keep the
discussion open. You don't have to be a closer; meaning you don't have to tie
up all the loose ends and answer all questions by the end of a blog post; leave
some questions asked and unanswered.
5.
Never forget, it's personal. Blogs live,
breathe, and die based on the level of involvement with their readers and other
blogs.
6.
Link or trackback to other blogs whenever
possible. Linking builds community across blogs, expands the conversation and
it gets bloggers' attention.
7.
Read other blogs, and write about what you read.
If you want to comment on something use your blog web address to direct people
back to your blog. If you want to write about and/or trackback to another post,
link to the initial post in what you write.
8.
Turn-around matters. If you want to write about
a hot news story that's all over the blogosphere, turn it around by the next
day at the latest.
9.
It doesn't have to be perfect. One of the great
things about the blogosphere is that you don't have to be right all the time. It's
standard to post a brief update. Bloggers understand that, and will forgive you
for being wrong as long as you're up front about it.
10.
Use syndicating technologies. XML and RSS feeds
are a technical ways of syndicating your blog to other blogs, a sort of
personal AP Wire for your campaign.
11.
Click your own links. When you post an article
that links to other post or blogs, be sure to click those links after you post.
12.
Don't be afraid to promote. Tell them about it!
People who are active in the weblog world are active precisely because they are
curious people who are always looking for new perspectives. Your purpose is
simply to be read by people you respect and if you achieve that, you have been
successful.
Jasfly's blog doesn't do a good job of posting fresh
material, but she's very active on Twitter, a micro-blogging social network. I
enjoy her Twitter posts but her long blog needs to be updated more frequently. When
she first began her blog her posts were more frequent and engaging.
Sources
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