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| Unwinding after the 1st day at the festival! |
I led an intensive blog workshop at this year's Winchester Writers' Festival. I had eight enthusiastic attendees and five hours in which to share everything I've learned about blogging in the last six years.
I take hours preparing for workshops because I love to read about successful bloggers and find out what advice they offer. I'm grateful to Joy the Baker and Jim Lin of the Busy Dad Blog, for their top blog tips:
Tips for a Successful Blog
“Consistency is a big deal. If readers feel like they can count on you for consistent, reliable, beautiful content, they’ll definitely come back.
Being accessible is important. I love readers to feel they can connect with me on Facebook or Twitter.
Being an enthusiastic and vocal part of a growing community helped my site. I joined baking groups online, and I would comment on fellow bloggers’ work nonstop.”
“Be authentic, or else you will never enjoy it enough to put the work in. If you aren’t funny, don’t try to be. If you aren’t deep and thoughtful, don’t try to be.
Make connections. Be social, be useful, be entertaining and be friendly.
Be patient. That’s why you have to do it because you love it, not because you want to make money from it. It must be a passion, not a job."
Planning blog workshops forces me to look at my own pattern of blogging and assess what I need to be doing. For blogs to thrive they shouldn't be too random, but have a definite theme, and voice, and fulfill expectations...
"The narrower your focus, the broader your audience," writer and entrepreneur, Jeff Goins writes.
Goins sets some excellent questions in this exercise to focus your blog content. I shared them at the workshop and was thrilled to feel a boost of energy in the room as vague ideas developed into clearer ones.
Two attendees sent me their blogs a couple of days later: Footprint Marketing UK and Kill the Boss - Turning Corporate Bollocks into Comic Fiction - I wish them good luck on their blogging journey!
I'm back in sunny Mallorca now but I will be popping back to England for a week in August.
My next Blogging and Social Networking Workshop will be on Sunday 9th August in London.
There are 8 places so book soon - and please don't hesitate to get in touch if you have any questions or Visit my Workshops Page for more information.
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