31 strategy tips for your blog in 2011 (thanks to #blogchat)

If you want to know the value blogs have for a business, company, brand and your personal brand, consider these facts:

  • 95% report higher search rank due to their blog
  • 55% drive more viewers to their website
  • 45% see revenue from their blog
  • Positive company perception increase by +36% if their website has a blog
  • #1 social channel for gaining trust

(Source: comScore, Neilsen, eMarketer)
If you want to bring out the best in your blog in 2011, consider #blogchat.  For those  of you who don’t know, #blogchat is a Twitter Chat that occurs every Sunday at 9 PM ET.  It attracts some of the best bloggers in the country who, for an hour or more, share ideas, support and have fun with one another.  It’s the #1 Twitter Chat and one of the strongest communities in social media.
#blogchat is hosted by Mack Collier.  It doesn’t matter where you are in your blogging life cycle; Mack makes you feel welcome.  Whether you’re a newbie or someone who been blogging for years, thoughts and ideas are equally shared and appreciated.
Last Sunday night’s chat was a great case in point.  The topic was strategy and goals for your blog in 2011.
Here are 31 strategy tips for your blog in 2011 (by author) that came from that #blogchat.  They were thought valuable enough, they were shared (re-tweeted) multiple times in the hour.
BEGIN FROM WITHIN

  • The biggest Q you need to ask before you goal-set: Why am I doing this in the 1st Place? @Starbucker
  • To create a blog strategy, 1st know 1) why you blog 2) for who 3) what you want from it (income? conversation?) @tiasparkles
  • Success criteria for my blog? Simple. I hope I enjoy it as much then (12/31/11) as I do now. Purely subjective/qualitative @japhychron
  • Blogging is supposed 2 be personal otherwise it’s a website @moondustwriter
  • Consider why you blog: Are you a business owner with a blog, or a blogger who owns a business? Big difference @sueyoungmedia
  • Your blog should reflect 90-95% of your personal brand @dgupta5150
  • Most blogs fail because they never get started. Paralysis by over analysis @dgupta5150
  • When you ask yourself what really matters, goals + strategies become easy & clear @TiaSparkles

GIVE AND OTHERS WILL GIVE BACK

  • Ask your audience what they want to know!  There are an unlimited number of perfect blog topics waiting to be tapped @chrisgarrett
  • Spend a 1/3 of your time writing your own blogs and 2/3’s reading and recognizing others’ blogs @robpetersen
  • Those you make time for are more likely to make time for you (and your blog posts) @RobertPickstone
  • I have found commenting on related blogs is my best way to grow audience @GinaMarieWisdom
  • When seeking out other blogs…is it your goal just to comment or really read, connect, and build relationships? big difference @bobbyrettew

CREATE GREAT CONTENT

  • You may not be a “thought leader” but your experiences/expertise/knowledge can be huge value to others @sueyoungmedia
  • Keep a list of topics & just write them down everytime you have an idea @skooloflife
  • Remember, every post could be the first post of yours someone reads. Make it a goal for every post to be amazing @allison_boyer

CARE ABOUT YOUR COMMUNITY

  • Don’t care bout building numbers ..care about building a community of readers that will ACTUALLY read my blog @ginamariewisdom
  • 100 who engage is better than 10,000 who don’t know you or care to @ArtseyC
  • I hope that by end of 2011 I have 10 – 15 blogger friends who all promote each other @SoloBizCoach
  • I think if you create a killer community, they will care enough to support you & spread the word about your services @sheneeh
  • Comments are 1) community 2) valuable feedback 3) source of insight 4) future blog topics 5) social proof @chrisgarrett

GENERATE BUSINESS

  • If you want your blog to generate business for you (directly on the blog, or indirectly) then WRITE THAT DOWN, then work backwards @mackcollier
  • Remember to make your business goals align with your personal ones or you have internal battle-> Excellent! Funny to still see folks say “Money is not my goal” wondering what world they live in so I can move there @prosperitygal
  • My strategy is to make money because of my blog not from my blog. I see it as very different @BillBoorman
  • Have two simple goals for my blog this year: 1) tell my story 2) tell my clients stories – that is it @bobbyrettew
  • Since when did making money equal a prob with integrity? Unless you’re all homeless, you’re making money, right? @chrisbrogan
  • If you just measure visitors, that won’t help you much, you dont want more visitors, you want more clients @mackcollier

INSPIRE

  • Here the bottom line: Be useful be relevant be helpful be interesting focus on the people and forget about the numbers @amoyal
  • Not every reader is looking for community. Most want information. Be informative = attract reader @gigigriffis
  • Best way to make money is helping others achieve their goals @chrisgarrett
  • My rule of thumb: Seek to be helpful, first. If the post is doing that, hit the publish button @Ribeezie

These tips apply to blogs.  But they also apply to social media.  Maybe, they’re even a good approach to life.  Are they worth considering to you?

7 Comments

  1. GinaMarie

    Thanks for the mention! 😉 Great post #blogchat is a great way to network with other bloggers and get the best advice…so many connections are made there.

    1. Rob Petersen

      Thanks for your contributions Gina Marie. They were very valuable to me and I noticed, in the transcripts, they were RT’ed many times. I agree #blogchat is a great way to network and connect with other bloggers…good to make this connection with you. Rob

  2. Victor Canada

    Great job Rob. Nice to have these golden nuggets summarized. Your closing thoughts are right on, these nuggets are good for blogging, Social Media and life. #BlogChat is one of the best non-secrets for business. The relationships with top notch people are priceless. Nice mention of my better half, @ArtseyC she is an incredible resource.

    1. Rob Petersen

      Thanks Victor. I was glad to just be the scribe. #blogchat is a great resource and this was a particularly valuable one. I’m glad I’ve gotten to know both halves of the Canada’s. It was a great contribution from Amy.

  3. Ricardo Bueno

    Rob: Thanks for the quote/shout-out! #blogchat is by far, my favorite twitter-chat. Everyone is so giving and helpful and you always walk away feeling inspired to create. Thanks for pulling all of these ideas together and sharing them with the great community.

    1. Rob Petersen

      My pleasure, Ricardo. Yours was a significant contribution and a great summary tip. Look forward to seeing on #blogchat again. Thanks for the comment. Rob

Leave a Reply

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *