So you want to be a power blogger? Here are some attributes that you will find in all of the great bloggers that have tens of thousands of subscribers, hundreds of thousands of unique visitors every month, and high PR blogs that everyone wants a link on. This doesnt happen by accident, and it definitely doesnt happen overnight. It takes hard work, discipline, and these 5 attributes below.
What makes a power blogger?
She dares to be different.
She forgets what everyone else is writing about and tackles a unique angle that no one has even thought of before.
She constantly pushes the envelope to be unique and to set herself apart from the other thousands of blogs online.
She does things that no one else dares to try because they want to play it safe.
She knows that its pointless to have a blog that is just like hundreds of other ones.
Why would they bother coming to his site if there are 200 more just like it?
She is passionate about every post.
The power blogger knows that every post needs to be written as if its the best article she has ever thought of. If you dont think the article you are writing is very good, then neither will your readers and they probably wont come back for more.
No matter how tempting it is to do otherwise, only write on topics about which you are passionate. That passion will show through and will make the post easy to share with other people through Digg, Facebook, and Twitter.
She creates timely posts.
There is nothing worse than blog posts that are out of date. The power blogger knows whats going on in the world in her niche and will write about things people are concerned about right NOW. Forget what they were talking about 1 year ago or even a month ago. People want to read the latest information, and if you are constantly providing it they will always come back.
The best way to establish a loyal fan base? Write often and write about current issues.
She interacts with people great and small.
The thing I love about people like Seth Godin is that they are approachable. The more accessible you make yourself to your readers through email, social media, and forums, the more they will care about what you have to say. The old saying, People dont care about how much you know until they know how much you care. is very true here.
Try to answer every blog comment directed at you and reply to emails and private messages as if they were from Darren Rowse himself.
She inspires people instead of just writing for search engines.
There are a lot of struggling bloggers out there and their posts are as depressing as can be. People dont want to read negativity all the time. They want to be inspired to be something greater. A power blogger inspires her readers with encouraging thoughts and helpful advice. If she sees an area of trouble, she will not just point it out but will explain how to work through it. If you are writing to inspire people I guarantee they will be coming back for more.
**Blushes** She’s just who I aspire to be… have you read my blog?!
That’s one awesome blog you’re running there, Suzy. Seems you’re precisely the person you should be.
Blog Blog Blog… Thats the way to go… well done…
I can’t wait to finish updating my site to wordpress. Thanks so much for this article. One question though: I am a newb web designer myself and would like to not only blog about my business such as seo, design, programming, but would also like to blog about life, poems, current events. What are your views on mixing different topics in your blogs? Especially when I am using that blog, to ultimately advertise my business as well? Could it make or break me?
Heather, glad you enjoyed the article. To answer your question I am not a big fan of mixing personal issues and life experiences with a business blog. If you are going to do a personal blog that’s great. But more people will be confused and turned off by mixing the messages. People follow SEO, and web design blogs because they want to learn more about their own websites, and my mixing in poems and current events (as riveting as they may be) will just discourage visitors from coming back. I don’t think it would break you, but it’s not a great way to grow your blog.
Jon makes a good point, Heather: people are goal-driven when reading a specific publication. Mixing it up just, well, mixes it up.
The thing is, to be personal on a blog you don’t need to make it into a personal blog: you just have to bring your voice to your blog. If after a year of reading someone’s articles you don’t have an idea of their personality, likes, dislikes, quirks, hobbies, etc. … then the writer isn’t present enough.
Todd Mintz opens every post here with a quote from a song. My author box talks about coffee,
Mention other things; don’t necessarily write about them,
Great article, but unless you’re going for the transgender motif, you might want to change “himself” to “herself”… “She constantly pushes the envelope to be unique and to set himself apart from the other thousands of blogs online.”
Sharp eyes, Mark: good catch. Thank you for pointing out the error. Corrected it right away. Thanks again 🙂