On the one hand, it’s hard to believe I’ve been blogging for a year now. It doesn’t seem possible that I’ve written that many blog posts; who knew I could be that prolific? On the other hand, in some ways it seems like I’ve been blogging longer. The focus of my business has changed so much it hardly seems possible it’s only been 12 months.
When I first started blogging I worried about coming up with enough content. How could I possibly write three to five blog posts a week when I was having trouble writing a monthly newsletter? My blogging mentor Yaro Starak insisted finding content wouldn’t be a problem. Since I was paying him to learn how to blog, I decided to take him at his word.
Turned out Yaro was right. The more I wrote for my blog, the more ideas I got. In fact, everything in my business life – and a lot in my personal life – is fodder for the blog. Ideas pop into my head constantly. I’ve learned to write them down before they vanish again. This way, when I sit down to write, I don’t always have to think up ideas from scratch; I can look at my list for inspiration. Even better – I choose my topic the night before. Sleeping on it often means I sit down to the computer with the post half written in my head.
Yaro was also right about how blogs help with SEO (search engine optimization). When I launched my first website – www.stenbergwrites.com – it took almost eight months before I showed up in Google. And that was just typing in my own name, never mind keywords that potential clients would use.
With the blog however, Google found me much sooner. I spent my first couple months as a blogger creating content. I decided I wanted to have a good range of topics covered before I started promoting my blog. However, Google found me before Christmas – in less than three months. Once I started promoting TheBabyBoomerEntrepreneur.com, things really started moving. Each month my traffic grew. And I started getting more subscribers to my ezine.
Even more exciting was getting comments on my blog. Finally I could see that not only were people reading my posts, but felt like commenting on what I wrote. I wasn’t just putting stuff out into the ether. I was beginning a conversation.
An interesting side-effect of writing a blog was how it forced me to look more closely at my business, my niche, as well as my long term goals and vision. I’d not been entirely happy or comfortable with what I was doing in my business but wasn’t quite sure what to do. But writing blog posts nearly every day changed how I looked at my business.
I began to recognize that I really am more of a teacher than a copywriter. By focusing on how to help other business owners become better marketers, I could help far more people than I could by working only one-on-one with clients.
Blogging also gives me more feedback. By looking at the statistics for my blog, I can see which posts get the most traffic. I can see what keywords people are using to find me. And luckily for me, I found the most popular topic – social media – just happens to be the subject I’m most passionate about right now.
Looking back over the past 12 months I realize I still have some ways to go with the blog. Because I’ve been focusing on social media sites like Facebook, LinkedIn and Twitter, I haven’t spent as much time building relationships with other bloggers.
This is something Yaro really stressed in his course, but I’ve only done sporadically. But perhaps it’s time to revisit his advice and put some time into this. Why? Yaro says getting attention from “A-list” bloggers can really cause a spike in your traffic and help move you to a new level as a blogger.
But perhaps more importantly, following top-notch bloggers, leaving comments and hopefully getting some attention back, will make me become more part of the blogosphere. Being part of a bigger blogging community and connecting to more experienced bloggers will push me to become a better blogger. It will force me to improve my writing style, create better content and take more risks.
Although I must say blogging has already moved me to take more risks. I’ve always been too cautious: a perfectionist. But blogging has helped push me beyond my comfort zone. First, by writing blog posts almost daily, I can’t spend hours, or days editing what I write. I don’t have time, so I’ve had to become comfortable with putting work out there that might not be perfect. Like it ever could be!
Second, I’ve been willing to try new things, for the sake of the blog. For example, I started my podcast not quite knowing how to do it. I didn’t know how to record, wasn’t sure how to edit the audio, and didn’t know how to post the audio once it was ready. But I took a chance, followed the advice of Yaro, and went ahead. And what do you know, I didn’t fall flat on my face.
Overall, I’d say my blogging experiment has been a resounding success. Yes, I still have a long ways to go – more traffic, more income, new directions. But overall, I’m glad I took the chance. And you can mark your calendars for 2009 because I definitely plan to still be here in another 12 months.
Andrea J. Stenberg
Are you a blogger? Share your experiences by leaving a comment.
Do you want to know more about what Yaro has to say about blogging? Try his free report “Blog Profits Blueprint”. Or, if you’re ready to start blogging but want some help to get started and do it right, check out his “Blog Mastermind” course. This is a paid program but you’ll find it’s worth every penny. I know I did.
