My Blogging "Secrets" Revealed

 
The thing about people who write blogs (notice I didn't say bloggers) is that we don't have a ton of secrets to our "craft". If you choose to follow what we do, you'll pretty much figure it out for yourself. That said, Steph Grenier has put together a book called Blog Blazers where 40 indivuduals including the likes of Seth Godin, Steve Rubel and Rohit Bhargava share their tips. I'm in it too. Here's what I said:

SG: What makes a blog successful according to you? Is it traffic, reach, revenue, etc.?
DA: In a word—influence.  Influence is the most important way I can think to gauge a blog.  It’s not easy to measure influence, but popularity has something to do with it.  The broader a blog’s reach, the more influence it has. The more people a blog influences, the more successful it is.  It’s not about size—you can influence people in niche groups.

SG:When did you decide you finally reached success with your blog?
DA: Having it featured in the print version of BusinessWeek.  Here’s one of the few magazines that I admire and actually read and there’s my blog—in full color!  At that point, I felt I had crossed into a different league.

SG:How long does it take to become a successful blogger?
DA: That’s like asking how long should you wait until you get married.  It’s different for everyone.  It took me just under a year to get some serious traction—but that’s rare.  It could take many years.  Or you could be blogging for 20 years and never reach the goal of “breaking through” to the audience you want.  It’s something that requires passion.

SG:Who do you think are the most successful bloggers on the internet today?
DA:As far as size goes, you’ve got Seth Godin, Steve Rubel, Guy Kawasaki and Robert Scoble.  All have HUGE followings.  Personally—I’ve been influenced by Bruce Nussbaum, Kathy Sierra, and I enjoy reading industry blogs such as the Adaptive Path blog and Putting People First.

SG:Which five blogs do you regularly read?
DA:
Nussbaum on Design
Adaptive Path
Micro Persuasion
Web Strategist
Putting People First

SG: Which websites would you recommend for any new bloggers starting to blog?
DA:
Techno Marketer
Boing Boing
Mashable

SG: Which book(s) would you recommend for new bloggers (these can range from marketing books, blogging books, etc.)?
DA: Made To Stick

SG: What is your most successful blog post ever?
DA: Creativity 2.E

SG: What's your biggest tip on writing a successful blog post?
DA: Write something that people will want to talk about.  Do something that others are not.  Make each post memorable.

SG: What's your best advice in regards to content and writing for bloggers?
DA: State your opinions.  Don’t try to write like a journalist.  Do something different.  Use visuals.  Let your voice come through in the writing.  Write in conversational tone vs. formal.  Be true to your personal brand and if you don’t know what that is—figure it out.

SG: How important do you think are the headlines of your blog articles?
DA: Fairly important, but not as important as the content.  Best to write headlines that are both enticing and informative.

SG: Do you spend any money and time on marketing?
DA: No money spent except on Typepad.  I don’t market except through being myself and participating.  I probably spend about 15-20 hours a week on Twitter, blogs and participating in general.

SG: What are your main methods of marketing your blog?
DA: I’ll promote links on Twitter and Facebook, but the best marketing is the content.  That’s where I spend most my time.

SG: Which marketing tactic has surprised you the most in terms of its effectiveness?
DA: The visuals.  People love my visuals and want them for themselves.  It’s both my product, content and advertising.  People take my visuals and distribute them on the Web.  This eventually creates a bigger audience for me as most people can find their way to the source of the visual which is my blog.

SG:What are your quick and short five best tips for blogging?
DA:
1. Find your voice
2. Do something different
3. Be true to your brand
4. Provide value
5. Only write what makes you happy

SG: What is the most common pitfall new bloggers generally fall into?
DA: Self doubt will kill you.  When you’ve got people commenting on your stuff or calling you out or challenging you—you have to be prepared to guard yourself from being something that isn’t you.  You must be yourself first, as imperfect and flawed as that may be.  You won’t make everyone happy.  Most successful blogs are polarizing—people either love them or could care less.  The worst blogs are bland, generic and have nothing original to offer.  Doubting yourself is the first step down the path of boring.

SG: If you knew what you know now when you first started, what's the one biggest tip you'd give yourself today?
DA: Have an idea where you want the whole thing to end up.  When I first started blogging I had no idea where I wanted it to go and went with where it took me.  Now I’m a bit more strategic.  I’m blogging to build credibility in the industry and to make my job more rewarding and enjoyable.  I also like using it to help the company who employs me.  I have a lot of freedom because of the blog.  I would have established a vision for where I wanted to take it earlier.

SG: What repels you the most from a blog (animations, in your face advertising, etc.)?
DA: Bad Content, bad design and over-promotion.  And also a lack of personality.

SG: Do you make any direct money from your blog through advertising, product placements, etc.?
DA:No

SG: What is your best monetization method (Ads, affiliate marketing, etc.)?
DA: My monetization is indirect. I get lots of professional opportunities.

SG: Do you find you get more from direct monetization of your blog or from opportunities that come because of the existence of your blog?
DA: I get invited to speak at places.  If I were on my own, I could make a business of that.

SG: What's your most interesting story related to your blog and blogging experience?
DA: I once wrote a post that was only a sentence long and included a visual.  I asked my readers to write the post for me based on the visual.  The comments were amazing!  Take a look for yourself.

SG: What's the one biggest opportunity that came to you because of your blog?
DA: I wrote a very popular article for BusinessWeek called “It’s the Conversation Economy Stupid”.  I was invited to write the article because of the blog.  It was a great experience—I got to work with an excellent editor and write in a very different way than blogging.  It was pretty cool.

SG:Any other comments or thoughts you'd like to share?
DA: Yes.  Everything I know about blogging is in this slideshow

Hope the interview was helpful. For the other 39 interviews, you'll have to get the book.

Comments

[Ted Striker]

Can you elaborate on this "Bad Content, bad design and over-promotion. And also a lack of personality." I'm not judging here, but as a in-frequent visitor to your site, it looks like all you do is self-promote. Just trying to understand if what you are saying is that it's ok to self promote on platforms like twitter and at conferences, but not on your blog. thanks.

[Michael Daehn]

I would say that Influence=Leadership. Interesting correlation. Congrats on the pub!

[Justin Brunner]

David,

Thanks for the great post! I'm relatively new to blogging and have struggled to find my unique voice. This interview provided some decent directional framework and I will definitely become more cognizant of future content.

In this day and age, it's not "who you know" but "who knows you." As long as people can find a unique niche, demonstrate initiative and drive, they can blog successfully. Hopefully, in the next year or two, my influence will also be far-reaching!

I'll be sure to pick up this book. Thanks again.

[David Armano]

Ted,

You said:
"I'm not judging here, but as a in-frequent visitor to your site, it looks like all you do is self-promote."

If that were true, my stats would be dismal. It's really that simple. Yes, I use all of the available platforms to promote—that's pretty obvious, but in my opinion the ratio is much higher on valuable content vs. self-promotion. As for what bad content etc. is—It's the opposite of everything I've stated. Not original, no personality etc.

And yes, you made a judgement, which is OK. You're entitled to.

Justin, glad it was helpful.

Micheal, there is indeed a correlation between the two. Neither can be forced either.

[Adam Singer]

"SG:How long does it take to become a successful blogger?
DA: That’s like asking how long should you wait until you get married. It’s different for everyone. It took me just under a year to get some serious traction—but that’s rare. It could take many years. Or you could be blogging for 20 years and never reach the goal of “breaking through” to the audience you want. ****It’s something that requires passion.****"

THAT is the key statement right there. Re-read that everyone - the part I starred.

[Matt Dickman]

Thanks for the shout out David. I'm honored to be on your list here. I hope all is well, I'm overdue for a trip to Chicago.

[David Tokheim]

Thanks for sharing David. It's bloggers like you that have help make blogging into what it is today! Can't wait to read the book I JUST ordered.

[Todd]

I got a question for ya - where do you find the time?

[David Armano]

Todd,

I watch very little TV, and don't follow sports.

[Fake Diego Rodriguez]

"DA: I get invited to speak at places. If I were on my own, I could make a business of that."

Interesting thought. But is it likely? Or sustainable especially if the aura of Web 2.0 related phenomena loses its glow in the current economic upheaval?

Many of the high powered-bloggers you mentioned above -- Seth Godin, Guy Kawasaki, and Kathy Sierra -- were successful published authors and successful independent business people before their blogging success.

Happy Thanksgiving . . . and get working on your book!

[David Armano]

Fake Diego,

you know me so well. That was the answer I was least happy with. Still grappling with the right topic. I keep coming back to the visuals because it has to be something I believe in.

Know I just have to "do it".

Happy Thanksgiving back.

[olivier blanchard]

100% brilliant.

1. Find your voice
2. Do something different
3. Be true to your brand
4. Provide value
5. Only write what makes you happy

Couldn't have said it better myself.

[Viky Shine]

Well nice to read it but i was expecting something more detailed and less self promotional things here.

[Lindsey]

Thanks for all the info about blogging! It was really interesting. I am looking to start blogging and didn't really know where to start until reading your advice.