When I say the word “blogging,” what’s the first emotion you feel?

If you’re like many entrepreneurs, it’s probably stress, mixed with a little bit of guilt.

Even if you truly love writing, keeping up a blog for your business can be one of the hardest things to get done…if you even get it done at all. Your business might be running full steam ahead, but your blog is lagging months behind!

Today’s episode is all about getting your blog back in gear, minus the stress. I’m talking to one of my favorite people in the online marketing world, Darren Rowse, the founder of ProBlogger.net and one of the first people to recognize the potential of blogging for entrepreneurs.

He’s going to walk us through the bare necessities of blogging, and show you how to streamline your process so that you gain traffic, convert leads and build community with every post you write.

Despite having written an encyclopedia's worth of information about blogging over the past few years, Darren is no stranger to the stress around blogging:

“It’s pretty easy to get to a stage where your blog is running you instead of you running your blog.”

So why keep blogging at all?

Simple—your blog is the cornerstone of your branding foundation. It's the best way to get your name out there, and to help people get to know you.

Just ask Darren:

“I have discovered over the years that when I go to a conference people come up to me and hug me and say, 'I love you!' I always wonder why because I have no idea who they are. But it’s the regular contact, the personal aspect of blogging, that really helps people to like you. Then over time they come to trust you.”

Darren says the key to writing an effective blog post is to focus on one of these three aspects--knowing, liking, and trusting--in each post that you write.

And he points out a few simple ways to get it done:

Helping people know you

Highly shareable content that gets your name out there where people haven’t heard of you yet. This could be humorous imagery, inspiring quotations or informative infographics.

Helping people like you

Personal stories, motivational content, anything that inspires empathy, emotion and a sense of belonging. This is also a great category to embed photos, audio or videos that helps you connect on a face-to-face level.

Helping people trust you

How-to guides, case studies, even sharing mistakes you made in the past and what you learned from them. This is where you show readers that you know what you’re talking about.

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Reinvent the SWOT Test

Would you believe that when Darren started ProBlogger, he’d only been an actual pro blogger for less than a year? With so little experience under his belt, he was fearful of being called out for not being a seasoned expert. (I’m sure we can all relate to that!)

But rather than let his inexperience hold him back, Darren used this “weakness” to his advantage. He was transparent in his posts about aspects of blogging that he didn’t understand yet or was just learning about.

As it turned out, the transparency was a big hit with his audience, and earned him even more followers.

“To position myself as someone who was on the journey, maybe a few steps ahead of you but I still haven’t gotten it all together, really resonated well with my audience.”

Once you’ve run a SWOT test (strengths/weaknesses/opportunities/threats) on your blog, go back and reconsider the weaknesses and threats you found. They can actually be the ideal ways to differentiate yourself in your field. So many people out there position themselves as bulletproof experts, that your audience may find your “inexperience” very refreshing.

Become a Title Master

Darren leaves no uncertainty about the importance of titles:

"The title of your post changes the destiny of your post. …can be the difference between somebody reading it and sharing it and it just sitting in the archives and never being read again."

The simple fact is that people make decisions whether to read your blog post (or not) based on its title!

Lucky for us, Darren offered a few tips on creating irresistible titles, with examples pulled straight from some of his own top posts:

Communicate a benefit. “How to Take Sharp Images”
Ask or answer a question. “What the Numbers on Your Lens Mean”
Creating curiosity or intrigue. “Three Lenses Every Photographer Should Own”
Spark controversy or debate. “Nikon Versus Canon”
Get personal. “Are You Making These Blogging Mistakes?”
Use one powerful word. "Six Stunning Secrets to Help You Break Through Bloggers Block"
Make a big claim or promise. “21 Techniques All Camera Owners Should Know”

How to Find Readers (Without Google’s Help)

The constant changes in how Google ranking works mean that SEO tags and hyperlinks don’t work as well anymore for getting your blog to show up in a keyword search.

According to Darren, that doesn’t matter as much as knowing who you’re trying to reach with your blog, and showing up where those readers hang out online.

"I am a big believer in adding readers one by one. I don’t think you need to be attracting thousands of readers everyday to your blog. For me it’s really about building a presence in the places that my potential readers are and being useful in those places."

Try watching on Twitter for people who use your keywords and respond to them. Be helpful in forums. Join Facebook groups that are on your particular topic and add value to the conversation. What you’re looking for is the opportunity to bring a new reader on who will love your blog and bring their whole network along with them.

EPISODE FREEBIE

Get the Free Download: "How To Boost Your Blog's Business Potential: ProBlogger's Top Ten Tips To Growing Your Email List and Selling More Online"

FREE DOWNLOAD