Suspicious Success in Blogging by Nosa
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Transcript of Suspicious Success in Blogging by Nosa
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This eBook is to teach you how to get unexpected success from blogging,
GROW your blog and become an authority in your niche!
The lessons in this eBook stem from personal experience. I am not a pro-blogger,
just a passionate blogger who failed on several attempts but has experienced
success after overcoming frustration. This eBook is entirely free.
Copyright and All Rights Reserved ThatNaijaBlog
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Can Success Be Suspicious?
When a universal rule is defiled to actualize a milestone, it becomes success. When
you are a successful blogger, you become exceptional and people tend to look at
you with great admiration while other look at you with envy of epic proportion.
You become the auto-pilot of your life, your blog and your creation; a rare asset.
Your folks can't just stop patting you on the back. And you start receiving offers
beyond the scope of your imagination. Here is where danger looms: Because you
are an exceptional blogger, you become convinced that rules don't apply to you and
so you tend to break them.
Breaking rules isn't entirely a bad idea provided success is the only alternative.
Always remember that the best virtue any successful person can ever have is
humility. Here is what the Bible has to say about pride: Pride goes before
destruction and a haughty spirit before a fall. Do not be arrogant. Be humble.
Success could be life-threatening. With all the attention, the ego, the praise, the
power and the money that come with it, success is a heavy responsibility to bear.
You need skills and a lot of grooming to handle it. Those who cant bear the
pressure self-destruct.
Nosa E. Nosa
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Table of Contents
What is Blogging? ..................... 1
How to find a niche for your Blog . 5
Principles of successful blogging ...7
How to stimulate your blog ... 10
The creative mindset of a blogger ... 14
The money mindset of a blogger . 16
Solving problems as a blogger ... 18
The spirituality of blogging ... 21
5 tips before accepting guest posts .. 23
5 tips to becoming a good blogger ........ 26
5 tips for optimizing your blog for mobile users .. 31
How to press the restart button . 35
About the author ........... 40
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WHAT IS BLOGGING?
Blogging is an online chain-reaction, where a person known as a blogger does the
hard-work of researching about an issue or talking about his life entirely, while
visitors which soon become dedicated readers completes the cycle. A blogger if
successful is seen as an authority in whatever field (niche) he decides to explore.
Blogging is increasingling popular today because it allows people to interact with
each other. No matter where you come from, once an internet connection is
established, a blogger and a reader can be locked in a conversation and in the
process, learning occurs. Blogging has also become a popular search engine
optimization (SEO) tool because search engines like Google, Bing and Yahoo have
seized the opportunity to have relevant articles indexed on their first page. This is
possible because search spiders visit blogs frequently with the sole aim of
gathering new contents.
Blogging gives you the right to talk about eventually anything, this is way too
much freedom and you are carried away by such unlimited powers. Talking about
anything does not mean you must talk about everything. You must create a niche
for yourself and build an audience. Successful bloggers know this and it is part of
the reasons why they have stayed in business.
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Is Blogging Dead?
Sensationalist tech pundits have over the last few years opined that blogging is
dead; they attribute their claim to the evolution of microblogging platforms such as
Twitter and Tumblr. Many have already been misled into believing some of the
theories, but to be sincere, the blogging cyberspace has never been more vibrant
and alive.
One of the reasons why microblogs are extremely popular is that it often takes
minimal effort to reach a targeted audience. Within seconds you can share a link or
a short thought about yourself. But the same cannot be said of blogging, since you
need a well written article and which should naturally takes hours or even days to
craft.
Microblogs are nothing but a branch of blogging, simply targeted toward an online
audience thats stereotypically perceived as having a short attention span. As a
professional and technical blogger, you have nothing to fear, one hundred and forty
characters is perfect to share how you feel, link to a touching story or share your
thoughts about a football match, but it is completely worthless when you want to
share a full article about a subject neither it is suited for How-Tos on
technology. Rather, think of microblogging as a complementary way of blogging
and broadcasting your messages.
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I see microblogging as megaphones, it amplifies the voice of the author to reach a
wider audience. It takes a great deal of time, hardwork and patience to be
established and have loyal followers and readers. One of the common mistakes
people make is that they give up at a point when they are almost reaching the top.
Just like the megaphones comes with built-in echo generators by default, your
audience automatically becomes the blogging echo, reason being that they are the
ones who would rebroadcast your message through social networks or on their own
blogs, helping you reach an even larger pool of interested readers.
As a technical blogger, its up to you to decide how to use such a megaphone, but
youll be surprised by just how handy it is to have the same circulation as a local
newspaper.
Exact blogging statistics are hard to come by, but at the time of this writing,
Technocrati reports that they are over there are over 158 million blogs floating
around. As numbers like that clearly show, blogging is indeed alive and well.
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HOW DOES BLOGGING WORK?
Now, who ever told you that blogging is easy must really be kidding and if you are
a newbie in blogging, you have to ask yourself some certain questions; why are
you blogging? Do you have passion for the job and will you be committed to the
task ahead? If you are sure your answer to all of these questions is yes! Then
welcome to the blogosphere. But if all your effort is solely centered on how to
make money from blogging, then I am sorry, blogging might not actually be for
you. I spent the last couple of years improving my writing skills, trying to stay
committed and even when I failed on six embarrassing attempts, I got the strength
to remain in the blogoshpere. Blogging is not something I started by chance; it was
a deliberate attempt to become a successful blogger and impart as many people
within my reach.
If you ever thought of becoming a successful blogger, one of the fundamental
principles is to choose a niche for your blog. I will tell you the truth, no matter
what niche you eventually choose, it requires much more than writing skills but
passion, dedication, commitment and above all; sacrifices.
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What Is A Niche?
I wanted to assume you already knew what a niche is but I realized that sometimes
a word might become popular, yet only a few know what it actually means. A
Niche is the act of creating a blog with the intent of using it to either market or
write about a particular thing and/or inter-related things. Things here in my
definition could mean Soccer, Gaming, and Religion. Inter-related things mean
combining things like Soccer and Religion.
How Do I Find My Niche?
Finding your niche simply means finding your passion and exploring it. Your niche
is what you like passionately. What you like passionately, you learn easily. This
makes you an automatic pilot of your blog. In that way, you constantly want to
learn more about your niche because you attract a special kind of emotion to it. It is
easy to know a blogger who has a passion for her blog because the blogs piloting
almost effortlessly.
One of the mistakes a blogger can make is to choose a niche where he has no
passion. Why would a blogger do that? The answer is simple, that kind of blogger
is a money-mindset blogger and not a creative blogger. The blogger might have
seen a particular niche attracting success; he is not interested in what led to the
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success but thinks that particular niche has an automatic birth-right to success.
Unfortunately, success is tied to the creative force that initiates a blogger into
blogging. Choose your niche wisely; a careless mistake in this regard would most
likely cost you alot as you walk through the path of blogging.
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Principles Of Successful Blogging
It is important that once you have committed to the journey of blogging that you
stay connected with it. The principles of successful blogging which I will discuss
here would try to highlight some fundamental components of blogging to the top
that will forever shut the back door of your blog.
1. Write Like You Are Talking Professionally
Take blogging like you are dealing with a client whom you have never met. For
example, when you receive a call from an unknown caller, do you go about using
slang or impolite words? I assume the answer is no! Blogging isn't different;
approach every topic and commenter professionally. Take blogging as an extension
of your voice. Be polite and talk in a language that everyone can understand.
2. Edit One Last Time Before Publishing
Avoid common grammatical flaws and ensure that your spellings are correct. This
gives you a better command over your blog. Overall, you get respect from your
readers. When you know how to use sub-headings and how to break paragraphs,
your readers will see you as someone who cares about them. Readers will not spare
you, if lots of grammatical errors are found in your blog post. They will think you
are telling them; "hey, I know you want this information, but I can't spell, please
swallow this sholveware down your throat". How does that feel? Not just cool. The
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point is this; No matter how quick you want to get done with that post, just take a
few minutes to correct any error that might have happened without your conscious
thought.
3. Treat Your Commenters Like Kings
As you journey through the blogosphere, it is important to recognize your
commenters. By recognition, I mean attending promptly to the needs of your
commenters, answering questions to the best of your ability. If you lose one
commenter, you lose ten readers. That's how it works. When you have numerous
comments without interaction from the author, if feels like a slap right in their
faces. Be polite in your interaction. No matter how you try to be professional, you
would always come across trolls, but by enforcing strict commenting policies,
trolls would find it difficult to dwell in your blog.
4. Be Accurate and Research your Topic Properly
Successful bloggers know this principle. No matter what niche your blog is, it is
better to always provide accurate information about an event or a tutorial. Should
your readers discover elsewhere that you provided them false information, the trust
they had for you will diminish. No man is perfect, and we are all prone to mistakes
but you can also show your sincerity by appending an update to correct false
information within the post with questionable information.
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5. Advertisement
Advertisement is good. Infact, it is fantastic and brings reward for you hardwork
but if not done properly, the reward might turn out to be regret. It is important that
you do not scare your readers with so much advertisement, when a reader find it
difficult to differentiate the loads of advertisement on your blog from your content,
it could retard the retaining factor of that reader. Everyone loves revenue, but when
you force it on readers especially with low quality content, you might as well be
opening the backdoor of your blog.
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How To Stimulate Your Blog
If you are a beginner in blogging or already have a good understanding of what
blogging is all about, you might want to stimulate your blog to reach a larger
audience and get better rewards.
I will discuss five ways in which you can stimulate your blog to reach levels of
previously unseen heights.
1. Linkage
How do you make people stay on your blog? Reduce bounce rate? Firstly, visitors
will not stay on your blog reading just one article, staying on your blog simply
means navigation. Visitors will navigate through your blog when you have quality
articles and each quality article is linked to other similar or related articles.
It is necessary to always have related articles at the end of your blog post and
wisely link to your previous posts if you ever need to make a reference or give
further information about something
Linkage is absolutely fantastic but do not bore and annoy your readers with too
much links on one blog posts. I would suggest a maximum of 4-links in a post.
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2. Social Media
Social networks like Facebook, Twitter and Google+ are vital parameters to
stimulate your blog for higher traffic. In the past, there was an argument that
Microblogs (the social networks) would eventually retard the conventional
blogging system. Obviously, that argument is no longer valid as they have actually
helped in re-echoing the voices of bloggers.
The key is to always share your blog posts on social networks, for every 10-person
that sees an update on social networks, there is a possibility that at least one of
them would share or re-retweet same blog post provided it be of relevance.
3. Design
To be considered a serious blogger, it doesn't all have to be all about good
contents, content is king but when the king is housed in a (mushroom)
"unprofessional blog-design", the king becomes a mockery of itself. I know you
can argue that it doesn't matter, you are wrong, I love you but you are wrong. I will
rather visit a blog that doesn't have the entire frame-work of the blog cluttered than
one that will waste the first 1-minute of my precious time trying to navigate my
way through it.
Designing a blog, you must put ease of navigation at the back of your mind while
also selecting colors that are calm to the eyes.
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Hint: Avoid dropdown menu as much as you can.
4. Accept Guest Posts
When your blog starts to grow astronomically, you will start receiving offers from
people who want to leave a post on your blog. Not all guest posts would stimulate
your blog, so you have to choose wisely and by doing so you and your readers
learn new things. It would be a mistake not to take guest post seriously. What
happens if no one wants to guest post on your blog? You answer that.
5. Connect With Other Bloggers
No man is an island; you can't stand alone no matter how intelligent or smart you
think you are. To stimulate your blog, you have to drop your ego and connect with
other blogs. As a beginner do you even have an ego? So why not connect with
bloggers ahead of you and learn new things. No matter what, your readers would
always be your readers; every blogger has different ways of writing and appeal to
different set of people. My folks who know me very well know I have high regards
for Ben Duka of Psxextreme. Anytime I wanted gaming news and information the
blog Ben writes for was my permanent starting point. He is my mentor and has
imparted alot in my works.
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Leaving comments in commentluv enabled blogs is one of the best ways to connect
with other blogs. Basically, while connecting with other blogs, the bloggers should
be of a similar niche with yours. Should that be too hard?
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The Creative Mindset Blogger
In Blogging, there exist two types of mindsets; the creative mindset and the money
mindset. These two kinds of mindsets play a major role in differentiating a
successful blogger from an ordinary blogger. Success doesn't happen by accident,
it all comes after mistakes and the capacity to avoid similar pitfalls.
A blogger with a creative mindset has the following characteristics;
1. Readers First
The creative blogger put his reader first; he spends alot of time and resources in
publishing quality posts. One of the most effective ways to have genuine
readership in your blog is tell your visitors you care about them by not shoving the
ads on your blog in their faces. The truth is that people will always appreciate
quality and informative post, but if this is lacking, readership will not be
guaranteed. The creative blogger knows this and has this singular idea at the back
of his mind whenever he decides to write a post.
2. Has a Vast Knowledge of his Article
A creative blogger knows he has to give high quality articles to his readers, for that
reason, he would attempt to write articles only when he has gathered enough
information and resources about a topic. It is not about writing lengthy articles, a
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medium-written article that proves you know what you are talking about will be
much appreciated. The reading span of humans has reduced and a creative blogger
must know this. Being original and providing as much details is the key.
3. Has A Goal
As a blogger what will you achieve? A creative blogger spends time skimming
through other blogs and forums, asking and answering questions knowing that
learning is a continual process. If you sit in your comfort zone and not observe
what's trending in the blogosphere, sooner or later your relevance would be on the
decline. The goal of a creative blogger is to strive for more knowledge and acquire
it when necessary.
Your character is your blogging integrity, if you handle it without guard, you might
just be blogging in vein.
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The Money Mindset Blogger
A blogger who sets up a blog without long terms goals and focuses only on how to
maximize profits within the shortest period of time is regarded as a money blogger.
It is pertinent to know that money never yields creativity but creativity itself can
yield money beyond any anticipated expectations. Now that you already know who
a creative blogger is, let us examine what makes one a money blogger.
1. Low Quality Posts with Loads of Affiliate Links
The money mindset blogger is not interested in writing good posts; he spends less
time in planning his post because all his interest is centered on how to sell his
affiliate links. A blogger who doesn't watch football suddenly finds himself writing
about a club's jersey because he assumes anyone going through his blog would
automatically buy the affiliate links cluttered all over his blog; this is a scenario of
a money mindset blogger. The money mindset blogger does little or no research
about his topic and cares only about the money.
2. Google Ads
A money mindset blogger is so passionate about Google's ad network because he
probably had read success stories of bloggers enjoying proceeds of their
HARDWORK. He set up his blog and registers with an advertising network
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preferable Google. After publishing several low-quality posts, nothing happens, he
becomes furious and maybe give-up entirely. The key to success is to learn from
instructions; experience has always been a bad teacher. That's why I always
suggest bloggers to identify with a blogging mentor before attempting to start a
blog. Many bloggers have failed today because they couldn't re-ignite that initial
blogging spark after having one terrible experience.
3. Asking Wrong Questions and Being Selective
Even when a money mindset blogger has decided to seek professional advice from
pro-bloggers, he asks the wrong questions. A money mindset blogger would rather
ask what kind of ad placement and/or network would suit him best instead of
asking what makes a blog successful. Even when the right question is asked, he
might be too uncomfortable with words like; persistence, dedication and
commitment but words like earn and earn more will constantly form vibrations
within his nerve cells.
The truth is that no one likes blogs that tend to take advantage of them, when a
visitor finds it difficult to differentiate between affiliate links and actual blog
contents; that becomes a big letdown. When you lose one direct visitor, you
automatically loose 10-visitos indirectly. Words spread and a blogger with a
money mindset won't have his blog spared.
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Solving Problems As A Blogger
One of the first questions I ask newbie bloggers who claim they want to succeed is;
what kind of problems can you solve? The kind of response you have to questions
like this determines your path in the blogosphere.
Two things exist in life; one is a problem and the other is a solution. But then
again, you can also create problems for yourself when you decide to follow the
path of solving problems for people. The point is this; do not focus on making
money from blogging, rather focus on solving problems.
Money making is not about focusing on your-self, on your wants and needs. You
must think about helping other people. The fundamental principle of creating
wealth is nothing more than creating a system that effectively solves problems,
provides value or saves time and money. You need to understand what people are
constantly finding difficulties in overcoming and what you are willing and capable
to provide as a solution.
When money is lost, nothing is lost; when health is lost something is lost,
but when character is lost all is lost.
This is a famous quote by Lord Milner and has formed the fabrics of my blog.
Losing your reputation as a blogger, your blogging career is finished. This point is
this; as a blogger who has decided to help solve problems, you must be very
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careful. It is important that you are being honest and have equally tried the
solutions you are providing. In the case where you havent, you must inform your
readers that you havent but anything arising from carrying-out your instructions,
you hold no blame. But when you plagiarize someone else work and lay
unreserved claim to the guide or instructions contained in it, you also automatically
become responsible for whatever happens subsequently.
Lots of people are making money by building reputation and solving problems.
Lawyers protect names from being tarnished, while psychiatrists help heal the
troubled mind. Every day problems are being solved by different people. Some are
giving solutions free. Others are selling them for a price. When a problem and
solution meet, a relationship of trust is built between the two parties. If what you
are offering as a blogger helps your visitor, he would always come back because
trust has been established. It doesnt stop there, he informs his friends and they get
their problems solved also.
There is a connection. The problem solver-blogger becomes more popular as more
problems are solved for more visitors. Every time you solve a problem in a way
thats better than others, you add undeniable value to your blog and the person in
need.
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Having the thoughts of being a pro-blogger is a long-term plan at growing your
blog. This isnt just about making money; it is about making money the only way
that promises you long-term success. It is about being a blogger with a creative
mindset. When you act the victim, you will never see the opportunities around
you.
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The Spirituality Of Blogging
Whatever is it you are thinking is a perfect reflection of what is in the process of
becoming. Your thinking, if visualized becomes a thought and then it becomes
reality. The thought first happens in the spiritual before entering the physical as a
product of your most passionate imagination.
The point is this; becoming a successful blogger first starts in the spiritual. You
begin to think of how you would structure your blog, what kind of niche would
best suit you and how you would get your reward for handwork. The spiritual
controls the physical hence you cannot afford to fill your mind with negative
thoughts.
As you begin or continue your blogging career, it is important to surround yourself
with thoughts of a successful blogger. That kind of conscious thoughts is capable
of interacting with positive forces to produce results that conform to the kind of
thoughts you have produced. In your journey through blogging, you will be
obstructed with a lot of obstacles; you will be annoyed and feel really frustrated. It
is at this point of frustration that the spirituality of blogging surfaces. At the point
of frustration, you would want to quit, you would regret why you ever became a
blogger, things won't just go right no matter how you try. You begin to think
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negatively and not surprisingling, negative thoughts will only produce negative
results.
I always tell my friends, if you can overcome this period of frustration by lifting
your spirits with positive thoughts, eventually ideas will flow through your veins
like water gushing out from a pipe. After frustration come fulfillment, most
bloggers fail because they let the frustration overwhelm them and get sucked there.
The frustration limit determines who becomes a successful or a failed blogger.
When you supply your mind with positive thoughts, it has no other option than to
return to you positive ideas that will uplift you from the point of frustration to
fulfillment.
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Before You Accept A Guestpost
They are two things a guest post can add to your blog; it can either add value to
your blog or de-value it. When the latter happens, be ready to get the hammer from
Google. Google takes the issue of useful contents very seriously and if you are not
providing this as an author, your blogs reputation is damaged. It is even worse
when guest posts do not inspire your readers, it is important to know the kind of
guest posts you can accept, certain criteria have to be met before you let the post
go live. If the guest post is empty, it is the blog reputation that suffers.
1. Check The Posts For Plagiarism
This is one of the most vital aspects of deciding whether or not to accept a guest
post. Search engines especially Google treat the issue of plagiarism very
ruthlessly. Googles Panda update which has affected a lot of content stealers is a
proof to the prescript. You wouldnt want your blog to be associated with stolen
contents; hence it is paramount to check whatever post the guest author is
presenting for publication. Plag Tracker seems to be a vital tool in checking for
plagiarism. They are other equally great and premium tools to achieve this task; a
random search on Google can release you to some of them.
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Hint: You can equally search the guest post author on Google, this will enable you
decide if the author is known for notoriously spamming the web with meaningless
contents.
2. Edit Guest Post
You wouldnt want your readers to read a content that is misleading or providing
things thats against the philosophy of your blog. Should anyone wish to send in a
guest post to your blog, it therefore means your blog has reached a certain standard
where trust has been built. It would be insane to let one guest post soil your effort.
However, before attempting to edit the guest post, inform the author that you
reserve the right to edit and proof-read the entire contents, including adding and/or
removing links and also not excluding other alteration that might be necessary to
let the article fit into your blog. If he accepts, then you are only a few steps from
publishing a new guest post.
3. Images
Google requires bloggers to have original images on their blog and in the case
where one cant find owned-images that fit into an article; it is best practice to
always credit the image used to the copyright owner. If the guest post has images
without credit, request the guest author to provide one.
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In addition, you can also add and remove images from the post. This is in line with
the second tip above which gives blog authors the unlimited rights to edit the guest
post before publishing.
4. Niche Factor
A lot of people can argue against this but I wouldnt attempt to over-flog the issue.
The bottom line is this; your audience is accustomed to receiving information
about a niche or a group of relating niche. Anything other than this will piss them
off and trust me, whatever happens next if the same thing occurs in rapid
succession is a story that no responsible blogger wouldnt like to author.
5. Guest Post Guidelines
You dont have to explain your requirements for publishing a guest post each time
you have a request. Having a set of guidelines exclusively for guest posts would
save you the stress of informing guest posters on what is accepted and not accepted
on your blog. Anyone submitting a guest post must have read and understood the
guidelines before committing to the task ahead.
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How To Be A Good Blogger: 5 Tips
Where did I go wrong? This question torments a lot of bloggers. As hard as you
try to make blogging work, things never really happens the way you want. Every
time you think about your blog, you wonder if you could have been a better
blogger.
In contrast, there is another blogger next door who is putting in lesser effort than
you do and he seems to have succeeded. Admittedly, it is not easy to sleep at night
with this kind of thoughts, but there are basic principles that can help.
Let us consider some of principles that have turned terrible bloggers to outstanding
bloggers.
1. Make Quality Time For Your Blog
As a blogger, how do you show your blog that it is important to you? Surely, there
are many things you can do including the sacrifices you make to ensure your blog
is in perfect shape. You wouldnt do such things if your blog was not important to
you. Yet if you do not spend much time with your blog, it might conclude that you
spend your time in other things and you start to see decline in traffic or get totally
annoyed altogether.
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To whom much is given, much is expected. You cant expect to spend 20-minutes
on your blog and expect automatic success. The point is this; as a blogger aspiring
for success, you must spend QUALITY time with your blog; fixing bugs,
increasing load speed, checking for little detail that require improvement.
I will tell you the truth, there is no week something isnt done on my blog,
although you dont get to see it in the front-end, I am constantly trying new things
to make both humans and bot happy. This consumes a large chunk of my time but
its a sacrifice that has to be paid if one ever wishes to be a good blogger. The
bottom line is to constantly research your niche and follow the trend.
2. Good Bloggers Are Good Communicators
In order to communicate effectively with your readers, you must be a careful
writer. You need to cultivate the ability to write without unnecessary whining. A
lot of bloggers have set their standards to 500-1000 words per article. This can
really be annoying especially when you have nothing more to write. And then, you
begin to add extra load of junk that dont matter to your readers.
You know what? Readers are smart and can tell if you are feeding them with low-
quality articles. Once they realize, you would be amazed how love can be
transferred to someone else with ease. If you lose one reader, you lose 10 readers.
Thats how it works. The point this; treat blogging as an extension of your voice.
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Write like you talking to humans; add a little bit of emotion. Smileys also works
like a charm and gives your readers a reason to appreciate you more.
Treat your commenters like kings, read their comments carefully. Your reply
should show that you are genuinely interested in them. They will in turn be far
more likely to share their precious thoughts and feelings on your blog.
3. Learn Search Engine Optimization
Now, you have given more quality time to your blog and know how to
communicate with humans. How about the bots? This is where Search Engine
Optimization [SEO] comes in. SEO has been hyped like the second of coming of
Christ but I have never fallen for the hype. I am pro-the-content and that doesnt
make me ignore the importance of SEO, but everything must be done moderately
in relation to SEO.
Alot of bloggers have manipulated search rankings with SEO and having
unbelievable low-articles. Google Penguin update was deployed and still being
deployed to combat bloggers who spam the web with fake contents. You want to
be a good blogger? Then you must balance SEO with quality contents.
Know the principle of keyword targeting; this simply means what people are
searching for on the internet. The next thought should be on how to make search
engine users notice your blog. Use eye catching titles so that even when you dont
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make the top spot which receives 70% conversion, you can still get juice from the
remaining 30%. Also know that some keywords get more searches than others.
Some are high, medium while others have low competition. You can use Google
Webmaster Tool to have better insight. SEO is something I will really talk about
some other time as it outclasses the scope of this eBook.
4. Be Specific And Unique
If you are blogging entirely about entertainment, then it would be out of place to
make a post of Leo Messi vs C.Ronaldo. If you dont stay focused, your visitors
would be confused. I have had several offers and plea for sponsored post about
things that are very dissimilar from what my blog is all about. But I am not entirely
a money mindset blogger so I have the will to always decline the offer. Its hard,
but you just have to discipline yourself.
When I started my new blog, the foundation was built on very similar niche(s). So
anyone who wants to become a reader obviously knows he is going to only get
blogging tips, tech info and gaming. Forgive me if you suddenly see an article
about peace in the Middle East. :D Thats not going to happen anyway, so you just
have to decide what will be in your blog and what wont be from the foundation.
You suddenly found love in Sports and want to blog about it? Create a new blog.
Its that simple.
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5. Promote Your Blog
You will need to promote your blog, dont just sit there and expect your blog to hit
unbelievable heights. You need to spend money, participate in Google Adword and
experiment with Facebook ads. Join forums with members actively discussing
whatever niche you find yourself. Start submitting your blog to directories,
exchange links with others sites and make a blog roll. Its that easy, trust me.
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Optimizing Your Blog For Mobile
NPD predicted that mobile users will overtake traditional PC users by 2016, but I
had my doubts and reservation.
A couple of weeks ago, I decided to study my analytics and I was shocked; it hit
me real hard, NPD predictions happening faster than anticipated; I imagined. Its
just 2013 and mobile users from tablets and smartphones have nearly overtaken
traditional PC users accessing my blog? Honestly, the thoughts that ran through my
mind sent shock-waves across my nerves.
There are lots of templates which come with responsive designs optimized for
mobile but most times; they stack in just about everything from the standard
interface to the mobile interface. This for me is a wrong approach. Including the
sidebar only makes the blog longer and consumes more resources accompanied
with slow load time. In regions where 3G and/broadband network is ineffective or
unavailable, you leave your blog at the mercy of angry visitors who many never
return again.
Let us examine tips to make your blog mobile optimized;
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1. Simplicity
While you create your mobile design, the only thing that should come to mind is
simplicity. A lot of things are not needed in a mobile design. Removing the sidebar
which naturally floats under the contents because of the tiny screen is an automatic
requirement. Links should be clickable and text needs to be easy to read. Larger
fonts always make readers happy. :) There is no need allowing your loyal readers
constantly strain their eyes because they want to read your piece, sooner or later
someone else will snatch them from you. The bottom-line is to keep everything
simple and user-friendly.
2. Integration
Now that your site is simple, it is important that you match the elements from your
standard site to your mobile site. This is a very important feature, if your blog has a
traditional color of black and green, it would be out-of-place to make your mobile
design have red and blue. The point is to incorporate the same branding ideas on
both sides, so anyone visiting either the standard or mobile site wont have to
spend time thinking if his arrival was on the right blog.
3. Avoid Pop-Up Windows
I have visited a considerate number of blogs and when I try to read, Im faced with
a gigantic pop-up window which completely blinds my phone screen. Most times, I
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am unable to close the window, because the screen is not big enough to
accommodate the cancel button. I know many people love pop-up windows which
is either begging for Facebook likes or Subscribers. The truth is that, those who
want to like your page and those who want to subscribe will do same without the
annoying pop-up. If you keep forcing visitors to do something with pop-up
windows, believe me they wont. On a PC, I always close the pop-up window
before it loads, so I dont even get to see what the blog owner is forcing down my
throat. A lot of people still think like me. I can assure you.
4. Desktop View
Yeah, I get it. Your design looks fantastic. You love it and you are confident that
all your users will show same love. That isnt entirely a bad thought. Infact, its an
honest one for any designer who has spent an enormous time and resources in
making a design work. Despite this, you will still find people who dont want to
take a look at your mobile design. They are interested in some of the contents you
have removed.
An easy solution which will satisfy everyone is to create a visible Desktop View
link on your footer where users can be redirected to your standard site under few
seconds. This way, everyone remains happy.
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5. Redirection
Finally, put the redirects in pace that will allow users to get redirected
automatically to their platform. A search on a mobile platform should redirect
users appropriately.
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How To Press The Restart Button
As a beginner in blogging, whoever told you blogging was easy did not only lie to
you but placed you on a journey without preparation. What is not prepared for is
bound to fail. When I hear bloggers screaming and yelling; "I want to quit,
blogging is too hard", I am forced to ask, Compared to what?
You had just one blog, you failed and you want to quit? It would interest you to
know that I failed too failed multiple times. I spent enormous resources, time and
energy but I still failed and I haven't quit. This truth is that failures didn't make me
unfit for blogging, but it proved that each time I did something wrongly. Hence
there was the need to cross-check the foundation of all the blogs I had and what led
to their failure of colossal proportion. I realized that it wasn't the will to succeed
that matters, everyone has that. It is the will to prepare to succeed that matters.
How Do I Press The Restart Button?
Consider yourself playing Fifa13 on the PlayStation 3 console as an armature
against a top gamer; at the end of the day, the score is really pathetic with a
minimum of 5-goals hitting the back of your net. You can't even score a single
goal. What do you do? Do you quit playing Fifa13? No! You awake the next day
and ask for another challenge, you notice some remarkable improvements,
although you still loose but this time, by a lower margin. In the coming weeks, the
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top-gamer starts to find your match more difficult, eventually you start to score and
sooner or later both of you become champions wining and loosing in almost equal
proportion. That's how blogging is. You fail today, go to sleep, do not fill your
head with worries, for it brings nothing but depression. Start to think about ideas
and how it can fit into your blog.
Go on research; find out what other bloggers in your niche are doing. Find their
faults and find ways to make corrections and apply it not in their blogs but in your
own blog. Create a system on how your blog should operate, how often should you
post, the minimum number of posts that must be published per week etc. Little
details like navigation and CSS might also play a dominant role in turning your
"no-name" blog into professional blog".
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Take A Break
I know you love blogging and you are willing to spend all the time with your PC.
But hey! You need a break. Everyone does, you have to create a system that works
for you.
Every Sunday, I dont attempt to publish a post and I never will. There can be
exceptions though, maybe when the annual gaming conference continues over the
weekend.
I have started managing my online life and offline life; I am trying to make a
balance to regain my physical social life. Blogging can really consume your time
you know, so you must work with time management. Play some games, hang out
with friends, go to a gym and all that. Dont just sit in front of your PC everyday
because you want to be a pro-blogger. Everything requires a balance. Blogging and
social life must be balanced as well.
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What Next?
You read it all and we have come to the end of this eBook, you might be
wondering what next. The balls in your court friend. If you are doing the same
thing with the same approach and you are not getting results, it therefore means
that it is time to start doing same thing with a different approach. Blogging is
incredible; a lot of pro-bloggers have got lots of unbelievable stories to make you
re-check the fabrics of your blog. There is no other time than making the desired
changes right now. If you have been trying a single niche blogging and you are not
getting results why not try multi niche? I did a couple of things backed with
enormous resources yet I still failed, but each time there was a lesson accompanied
with it. If I had quit 3-years ago, you wont be reading this e-book but I guess I
have the spirit of a Tiger.
I will tell you the truth, its was not innate, but a calculated attempt to succeed in
blogging which has always been my desire and each time I fell there was a new
discovering to a solution over a problem that caused the initial fall. I am not special
and you are not different. You too can develop that mindset and aim for success as
the only alternative.
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I dont want to bore you, I have written so much already. I like to know how your
blog is doing; feel free to shoot me a mail on my m
I am also available for blogging consultancy to shoot your blog to unbelievable
heights, my consultancy isnt free, but I promise to be moderate in pricing.
Regardless I am always available to help out.
define your step in blogging.
book here. More to come and
Nosa E Nosa
Aka thatnaijablogger
Add +Nosa on Google+
, I have written so much already. I like to know how your
feel free to shoot me a mail on my mailbox:
I am also available for blogging consultancy to shoot your blog to unbelievable
heights, my consultancy isnt free, but I promise to be moderate in pricing.
s available to help out. I really hope this has helped you re
define your step in blogging. You can drop your testimonies after reading this e
More to come and thanks for reading. I love you.
, I have written so much already. I like to know how your
I am also available for blogging consultancy to shoot your blog to unbelievable
heights, my consultancy isnt free, but I promise to be moderate in pricing.
I really hope this has helped you re-
You can drop your testimonies after reading this e-
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About The Author
Nosa E Nosa is pro-charity, a wonderful friend to hang out with. He has spent a considerable time of his
life investigating the fabrics of blogging. He is a gamer and loves the PlayStation brand. He is
fundamentally honest and only interested in finding the twin flame of his heart's burning desire. He is an
author of several blogs and lover of the Manchester City football club. His full name is Nosagie Nosa Ero,
born and raised in Nigeria.