This is a guest post by ZK. If you want to guest post on this blog, check out the guidelines here.
Will your next blog post be path breaking?
In the last few years the internet has seen a surge in the number of blogs, low entry barriers and a host of free blogging platforms have been the result of over saturation in almost all blogging niches.
Every single niche is getting more and more competitive and saturated making it difficult to come up with anything unique or path breaking.
Below are a few points that will help you to think before your next post:
Provide Value
Provide Value
Why do you read this blog? Obviously because you like the kind of content, right? And the niche fits you? But also because we provide value. So you need to provide value if you want to gain a bigger audience.
If your niche is small, then there will be other expectations than if it was a bigger niche. Of course I think the post quality is better in the blogging niche than in the “printing” niche or the “gardening” niche.
Small niches are very powerful, but it doesn’t mean if you have a small niche, that you should provide less value. If you keep the post level much higher than all your competitors then you are already a winner. No doubt. You just need to be better than the other blogs in your niche.
Offer Uniqueness
Have you seen content on a blog which you have seen another place before? If you have, you probably don’t trust the blogger that much as you did before.
You are losing a credibility point, if you are a little copy-cat. Just ask yourself “How would I have it, if someone was stealing my content?” You wouldn’t like that, would you?
It isn’t just the content that needs to be unique. There is : web design that needs to be unique, you need to have unique offers and promotions to keep your readers coming back for more.
Just think of things that haven’t been done before, or have been written before. It is easy to get up with something new, you just need to think.
Useful Content
Useful Content
People are thinking of usefulness in different ways. For example you wouldn’t find this blog useful, if you are looking for PHP tips. But you would find it useful if Marko comes up with a post on how you can “increase your readership by 100%”.
Where I am about to go is that I want you to focus on one niche, instead of two or three different niches for your blog. Of course you can write about ramblings and everything between heaven and earth and still be successful if you have the right audience.
Provide Humor
Fun? That’s just fun. Everybody loves to be entertained. It can be hard to make people laugh of a blog post, but you should try. I have tried many times to laugh of a post – and I just think that, it is an absolutely amazing gift to have. Have the ability of entertaining through text?
Are you capable of doing that? I know lots aren’t they are just plain boring. To spice up your content then you could add some words, you might not be so entertaining but still it gives some character to the text and makes it funnier to read.
Go to a blog that makes you laugh, what do they do to make you laugh?
Think Out of the Box Content
Think new, think creative. Stand out from the crowd.
An article doesn’t need to be totally new. You can write something that have been said before, but just give your own point of view. Your readers are looking for your view point on a certain subject.
Think of a completely fresh angle.
Build Expertise with Comments
You don’t have to reply to every single comment on your blog post, but some of the comments that you’ll receive can start off an interesting discussion on the blog post. Answering comments is a good way to build credibility.
Start a conversation with your comments.
About Author :
This guest post is written by ZK who offers blog coaching and consultation services, you can also follow him on Twitter.
About Lee Ka Hoong
Rehashing someones topic is fine, as long as you place a new angle/spin/personality to it. ;)
.-= Dennis Edell @ Direct Sales Marketing´s last blog ..Attention Readers of all Kinds! – Multiple Articles Comin’ Atcha!! =-.
I agree. At the end of the day, its all about trying to come up with a unique spin on a certain rehashed topic.
.-= Melvin´s last blog ..April Fools Pranks, Are you one of those fools? =-.
Great advice ZK, without value, then there’s no reason for anyone to return to your blog or tell others about it. :)
.-= Mathew Day´s last blog ..PLR Software Ultimatum – Make Your First Ebook, PLR articles Package, or Create a List =-.
I think build expertise in comments is what i lack of. I need to learn how to reply the comment properly and interestingly.
Yes, useful content is important. I keep on visiting myblog2day.com because this blog provides me a lot of useful content to guide me in blogging.
Thanks for sharing! :)
.-= Kok Siong @ Cancer Research´s last blog ..Genome Instability Causes Cancer =-.
Expertise and Content is important, it has monetary benefits in the long run once you have built a loyal community..no doubt Lee provides great value on his blog that drives us all to vist it :), its a perfect example of great content with expertise.
Thanks for the tips.
I think it’s every blogger/writers target to achieve all the points you have mentioned, and it’s not easy but feasible.
It won’t be easy, but if you are motivated enough to blog for 6 – 8 months you ll start to see results.
.-= ZK@Web Marketing´s last blog ..Retweet and Win Entrepreneur Heroes Trading Cards =-.
its my experience that says that thinking out of box is one thing that can take your blog to a new level….write what you feel, even if no one is agreeing with you
.-= Tushar´s last blog ..Use Windows Live Writer- Highly Recommended =-.
Well said ZK, and nicely done. This is among the elements that would bring yourself to the next level. Thanks for sharing from your point of view…
.-= Terrence´s last blog ..3 Important Parameters of Water Quality =-.
I think one of the most important value attribute is that you can provide info on what the visitor is looking for. Therefore you can make him satisfied.
.-= Ricardo´s last blog ..What Salary Transfer to use for My Online Work? =-.
Hi ZK and Lee,
The points you made are all valid and some of them are talked about a lot, like valuable and unique content. But repeating that never hurts since many people still don’t follow that advice.
Providing humor is something that is not emphasized that much but I think it is very important too. And as you say, not every post should attempt to have the readers laugh. Humor is sometimes just a non boring way of saying things.
Answering comments, unless they are spam, is hugely important.
Blogging should be about interaction.
Will my next post be path breaking?
I don’t know but that’s what I’ll be aiming for.
Vance
.-= Vance@Gurus Nightmare´s last blog ..Marketing With Alex 3.0 Preview, Gurus Nightmare Alex’s New Ebook =-.
Hi Lee,
I have noticed that your systems says that this is my first comment.
My records show that I have posted a comment on your blog December 29, 2010.
I commented on your post “How to Market Your Blog with Comments”.
My records also show that my comment was approved.
My question is, how long are the comments kept on your blog and are you actually erasing them?
Best Regards,
Vance
.-= Vance@Gurus Nightmare Ebook´s last blog ..Marketing With Alex 3.0 Preview, Gurus Nightmare Alex’s New Ebook =-.
@Vance,
That’s weird Vance, I used to check my spam folder in case genuine comment goes to spam folder, I used to check comments in daily basis. Perhaps there was some problems occurred or I accidentally deleted them, sorry about that Vance. :P
Whatever happened, I can forget it. Accidents do happen.
It’s just that the comment had been approved already. I know that because I went back to check on it.
Thanks for the reply.
Now it’s time to look forward and keep the conversation going, commenting on upcoming posts.
.-= Vance@Marketing With Alex 3.0´s last blog ..Marketing With Alex 3.0 Preview, Gurus Nightmare Alex’s New Ebook =-.
Do you know what? I just realized what is happening.
It has to do with the keyword luv. When I put in a different keyword it counts as a comment separately and doesn’t add it to the previous comments that were submitted.
Since I noteced something else I’ll ask you about it.
How did you make keywordd luv nofollow? It’s supposed to work only with the dofollow plug in.
Also, what is your comment policy? I see people here with dozens of comments who still get nofollow.
Just to make it clear, I do comment on good blogs regardless of their links but I fail to understand the reason for having keyword luv and Comment luv when it’s nofollow.
Perhaps you can write a post about that to clarify things and create a great discussion.
Vance
.-= Vance@Marketing With Alex 3.0´s last blog ..Marketing With Alex 3.0 Preview, Gurus Nightmare Alex’s New Ebook =-.
Vance – “How did you make keywordd luv nofollow? It’s supposed to work only with the dofollow plug in.”
Who told you that? Untrue. :)
.-= Dennis Edell @ Direct Sales Marketing´s last blog ..Blog Comments and Blog Comment Contests – Lets Chat about Paying for Comments =-.
Humor…if you can get that right…you are onto a winning formula.
Andrew
.-= Andrew @ Blogging Guide´s last blog ..Blogging Guide: The Pages Google Expect To See =-.
@Andew,
Humor is a winning formula, but a tough if your blog has a varied readership from across the globe, you ll need to connect with various cultures and backgrounds. For localised blogs or blog content that connects with users across different cultures will work well.
Check out Neil Pasricha’s http://1000awesomethings.com/ an award winning blog started less than 2 years ago..the humor connects with people across the globe..the blog went viral almost instantly. Niel now has a book deal from the blog http://1000awesomethings.com/book/ ….truely awesome :)
Thanks for the links – I will certainly check them out.
Andrew
.-= Andrew @ Blogging Guide´s last blog ..Blogging Guide: Feedback On Our Free Guide =-.