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Starting A Successful Blog Is Like Planning An Invasion

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This post was written by Alan Skorkin. Alan shares his thoughts about software development, people and teamwork on his blog skorks.com.

Every blogger wants to be successful, it is only natural. We often start out blogging about something that is our passion and we want everyone else to be just as excited about our passion as we are. It is therefore surprising just how many people have no concrete plans regarding what they want to achieve with their blog (let alone how they are going to achieve it) beyond vague dreams of grandeur. I understand that it can be difficult to set yourself concrete goals, you may not really know what you’re capable of and so much is simply beyond your control. But, I have a trick that you can use whenever you’re starting a new blog (or want to kick-start your existing blog) that will help you focus and put everything in perspective.

Think of your blog as a country that is planning an invasion. What does an invasion have to do with the internet, I hear you ask? Well, consider this. What you want to do with your blog is to take over the internet (i.e. be successful), but the internet is a big place and you probably won’t be able to hold the whole thing, so what you’re really trying to do is carve out a little piece of the internet for yourself (being the supreme ruler, god and emperor of it is strictly optional :)) and that is exactly what an invasion is all about - at least in the classical sense. Whenever you’re planning an invasion you don’t just send your troops out to ’see how they go’ and ‘play it by ear’ the first thing you need is…

A Strategy

Every grand strategy starts with a grand objective. Where do you want to end up and at what point will you pronounce yourself a success? You need to know what you’re working towards, it gives you your general direction. Once you have a direction, you need to map out - in broad strokes - how you will achieve your grand objective. What are the steps on the road to your goal - these are your milestones. Get 1000 subscribers, have at least 100 blog posts published, guest post on 10 of the top 100 blogs, get at least 300 visitors per day from Google, these are all great milestones and can form part of your strategy. And don’t forget to set yourself some deadlines, you’re invading, not going for a leisurely stroll, you don’t want to be at it forever. This is all well and good, I hear you say, but how do I reach each of those milestones? For this you need…

Superior Tactics

A grand strategy is necessary, but invasions are not won with grand plans, it is all about having superior tactics from battle to battle. In the blogging world it comes down to:

• how targeted your posts are - make sure your posts fit your niche, otherwise you dilute your message. It can make tactical sense to creatively jump out of your niche once in a while, but in general you want to play to your strengths (presumably you chose your niche based on your strengths). You will fight better and last longer (i.e. write better posts) and you will constantly reinforce your message.


• how timely your posts are - learn to know what’s happening in your niche, find out what’s important, what’s hot and what everyone is talking about. You need to know when and where to strike to achieve maximum impact. People don’t want stale content, that doesn’t mean you always have to break news, but a timely opinion piece on a hot topic can bring a tremendous amount of exposure.


• how your promote your posts to give them maximum exposure - you can’t just use brute force all the time, sometimes it helps to use terrain to your advantage. In blogging terms that means you need to promote your posts, use the social media terrain and let it do half your work for you.

Even with all these efforts it can still be tough, you’re targeted and you’re timely, but the terrain is vast and there is just so much ground to cover. Plus the more ground you cover, the more you leave your flanks exposed, not a good situation. You will need some help, you have to find yourself some…

Allies

Often you get stuck in a rut, you hit a stalemate, you and the internet are just equally matched. This is where having allies comes in really handy. It sometimes makes sense to band together with another invader, you’re both after the same goal and there is more than enough territory for everyone. You can help promote each others content or provide a fresh voice on each others blogs, and you don’t have to band together with just one, sometimes a coalition is a good idea - everyone benefits. You might even try to get the support of a major power (a top blogger), that can be a real bonus, all you have to do is be creative and persistent in your approach (a little luck doesn’t hurt either). And of course don’t forget the local powers (the social media power users), these can make the outcome of some of your battles a foregone conclusion. A successful invasion can be largely about relationships and the internet is no different. But of course, no amount of allies will help you win your battles if you don’t…

Win The Skirmishes

Skirmishes are the bread and butter of any invasion. They are not glamorous and there are lots of them, but together they combine to let you succeed when you fight your major battles. In blogging the skirmishes are your daily (or at least) regular periods when you produce your content. It is not a glamorous time and it is not very social, but it is the bread and butter of a successful blog. You need to make time to regularly produce content, it doesn’t have to be daily, but you do have to keep doing it. The more skirmishes you fight the more you wear down the enemy, or in the case of blogging the more content you get out there the more chances you have of being noticed. There is one thing though, that will always jeopardize your chances of winning your skirmishes (and battles)…

Getting Distracted By The Scenery

There is always more to learn in the blogging world. There is a lot of info, much of it free and you can keep reading and learning indefinitely. But while you might get knowledge or satisfaction from watching the scenery, it is also how you get ambushed. You look around at the beautiful trees (or helpful blogging info) and before you know it you’re ambushed and have lost the skirmish (not writing content) and ultimately the battle and the war. You have your strategy and you know what tactics to employ, these may or may not be the latest and greatest, but they’re tried and true and they do work - stick to them. And if you really want to give yourself some motivation and kick this invasion up a notch try…

A Blitzkrieg

In a blitzkrieg you hit the enemy fast and you hit them hard, and you keep moving before they get a chance to recover. This means you brainstorm an idea for several successful posts or a series of posts, then you write them all and then you release them in quick succession and go all out promoting each one. I don’t mean release them one minute after each other, but instead release them judiciously. Build some hype around the first one and before it starts dying down, you release the second and build hype and promote that one, and then do the same for the third. Don’t give them a chance to recover. A blitzkrieg series of posts can really allow you to move far in short period of time. The allies you built before will really come in handy here (to protect your flanks as you move forward). Sometimes though, all this is not enough, none of it seems to work because you have forgotten one of the most important things…

The Logistics

Your invasion will only continue to have momentum as long as it is well supplied, ratty equipment and threadbare clothing will come back to bite you eventually (invading Russia in the middle of winter has proven this time and time again :)). For you this means, looking at where your blog lives and maybe sprucing it up a little while you’re at it. Make sure your blog is hosted reliably, a poor host can really cost you. It doesn’t mean you need to pay an ëarm and a leg’, but it does mean you server should be able to handle traffic spikes that you will no doubt supply through your promotional efforts. At the very least you need to make sure you have a caching solution of some sort in place (e.g. WP-Cache plugin for Wordpress). It is really embarrassing when your blog falls over after a small traffic spike - almost as embarrassing, as realizing your tanks are not water proof when you need to cross a river. Oh and do invest a little bit into your blog design it will pay off handsomely in the long run. Everyone enjoys a unique and cool-looking design, it may not be the major selling point of your blog, but it does add that little bit extra. Finally, if you remember nothing else, always remember this old maxim…

No Plan Survives Contact With The Enemy

What this means in terms of an invasion is that no matter how good your strategy and tactics are it can all go to hell in a second when you’re in the thick of things. The key is being flexible enough to adjust to these changing conditions, take advantage of the opportunities and minimize the losses you take from circumstances you couldn’t foresee. In blogging terms it means - well, exactly the same thing. You need to have a grand plan, you need to set milestones for yourself and work towards achieving them, you need to know how you will promote your content and your blog and you need to build relationships to help you do so. But above all you need to be flexible enough to adjust to anything. If something is not working for you, scrap it and try something else, figure out a different way to approach that A-List blogger instead of giving up. Find a way to advertise creatively rather than using Adwords like everyone else. Always remember this, you can become as successful as those who have come before you by emulating them, but to surpass them you will need to forge your own path. I wish you a successful invasion!

Post from: Blog Tips at ProBlogger.

How To Write When You Think You Can’t

from Dumb Little Man - Tips for Life by DLM Writers


When you have to write something and you feel as if a family of butterflies has taken up residence in your stomach, you aren't alone. Many people become anxious when they attempt to write. Some get panicky at the sight of the blank page and say they have a writing phobia.

No one is born with a writing gene. With a little work and effort, anyone can write. Here are some ways you can begin to build confidence about writing:

• Forget the past
  Maybe you had a teacher who criticized every other word you wrote. That's unfortunate, but it doesn't have to affect you now. Let the criticisms go.
  


• Practice freewriting
  Three or four times a week, write about a subject for 10-15 minutes without going back to correct your mistakes or judging what you've written. If you can't think of anything to write, write, "I can't think of anything to write," or, "I'm looking for something to write," and continue writing. The act of writing, even if your words don't make much sense, strengthens your writing "muscles," just as lifting weights strengthens you physically. At first, you may produce a lot of gibberish, but in time, your writing will become more focused; you may discover subjects in your freewriting that are important to you and that you may want to write about in more detail.
  


• Experiment with clustering
  Let's say you've been assigned a topic in school and you don't know where to begin. Get a large sheet of paper and some colored pencils. Write your topic in the middle of the paper and draw a circle around it. With different colored pencils, draw lines from the circle, write words that are related to your topic, and circle them. Make your cluster colorful. Extend your cluster by adding words that are related to the words you wrote. Make your cluster as long or as short as you want to.
  


• Carry a small notebook with you.
  Notice the world around you. If something catches your attention, jot down a few words to describe it. These jottings don't have to be profound or even well thought out. Simply write down a few of your impressions and try to appeal to more than one sense. For example, you see a flock of sea gulls at the beach. Your notebook entry might look like this:
  
  

  Sea gulls
  high-pitched squawks
  swoop down to beach for food
  large wing span
  flying in a cloudless sky
  

  
  This activity makes it easy for you to transfer your thoughts to paper, a problem many would-be writers experience. If you're so inclined, you might freewrite about the sea gulls later or make the subject into a poem.
  


• Follow the three steps of The Writing Process
  In the long run, using The Writing Process will help you write more efficiently. Even if you're writing a short e-mail (you could do the process in your head in this case), get in the habit of following these three steps:
  
  1. Plan your writing.
     What do you want to write about? Tailor your writing to your audience. What do you want them to do or think as a result of reading your writing? Obviously, you would use a different level of diction if you were writing for children than if you were writing to a group of cardiologists. Make a brief outline of your main points.
     
  
  
  2. Write your first draft.
     Unless you're writing a short message (maybe that e-mail I just mentioned) you're going to write and revise numerous drafts. Remember the old adage: "All writing is rewriting." This article has gone through five revisions, and I'm not finished yet.
     
  
  
  3. Proofread, edit, and revise
     Until now, you've planned and written without judging how you're doing. Not judging is crucial in the first two steps of The Writing Process. During the third step, however, you must question what you've written. Put on your critical hat and leave it on until you're satisfied with your document. Check your grammar, sentence structure, and content. Make certain you've done what you set out to do. Put your work away for a while--a few hours or more, if possible--then go over it one more time. This gives you a perspective you wouldn't have if you worked continuously.
     
  I'm convinced that most people have problems with writing because they try too hard, take it too seriously, or are afraid of being judged. Learn to play with words and get ideas by freewriting, clustering, and keeping a notebook. Practice using The Writing Process, but don't write and edit at the same time. Only during the last step, should you edit mercilessly.
  

Maybe writing will never become your favorite activity, but if you follow these tips, you'll be able to produce a decent report, letter, essay, or story. Eventually, you may begin to look at writing as a powerful tool for communication. Just think: Your written words can help you express yourself, educate or inspire others, and make people laugh or cry. I think all that is worth the effort. Do you?

Written on 7/28/2009 by Mary Ann Gauthier. Mary Ann is a writer and an adjunct instructor of English at a private college. She teaches listening skills to her business communication students and is also working on a book about the therapeutic benefits of journaling.

Photo Credit: Rennett Stowe