Welcome to all the new readers who discovered me through TheMetroMom! I am so excited to have you as part of the Maven Community.

Here are some tips to help you begin to write your blog:

1. Your blog is about the reader. Always remember this: It’s not about you. Always ask yourself – “How does this add value to my reader?”
   
   Remember, it’s all about them - you’re building relationships with them.Use the word YOU often and liberally in your posts. If you get too involved talking about your company and how great it is or how great your products are, you’re going to lose your readers.

   Instead, emphasize how your products and services help people.

2. Don’t be scared to rock the boat. Don’t be afraid to be you with all of your glorious quirk, opinions, and unique personality eccentricities.

   Take a stand. A lot of bloggers are scared to go against the crowd.

   Write about something that you read in the news. Talk about someone who is an expert in your industry and say, “I don’t agree with him/her and this is why…” or, “I think so and so is right, but they’re wrong on this point.”

   What you are doing is starting a conversation with your readers (i.e. your prospects and customers).

   You are letting them know how you feel about things and you are taking a stand.It will help them understand you and build your credibility.

   So have an opinion - a big one! Because that’s what keeps your blog fresh and interesting.

3. Stay on topic, but be creative. It’s easy to get rangy on your subjects. So, make sure that your blog stays focused on your area of expertise.

   This doesn’t mean you can’t be creative. Just be sure to bring it on back home.

   Here is an example. Last year, I wrote an article about Sarah Palin. Now obviously this isn’t a blog about politics.

   But in my post, I wrote about Palin’s personal brand, so it still related to my core topic of marketing strategies, branding, and business success.If you keep asking, “What is of value to my customers?  What is of value to my reader?” you shouldn’t have much of a problem with this.

4. Be patient. Some new bloggers make the mistake of expecting to have a successful blog within…oh…about three weeks.

   Don’t forget - there are millions of blogs out there.What are you doing to stand out among those millions of blogs? How are your getting links back to your blog? Keep driving traffic to your blog (commenting on other blogs in your industry is a GREAT way to do this) and continue to think of lots of different ways to do that.

5. Post frequently and consistently. It’s best to adhere to a schedule. Posting once one week, five times the next week, and then skipping three weeks is not a good way to establish consistency with your readership.
   
   Ideally you want to post two or three times a week. If you find that three times a week works for your readership, then try to get on a schedule of posting Monday, Wednesday, Friday or Saturday, Tuesday, Thursday - whatever works for you. (You can use Google Analytics to track your blog stats).

6. Develop a blog personality. Every blog has its own persona and voice. This is something that is developed by you.

   Everything on your blog from its look, the colors, the tone in which you write your posts – it all comes together to give your blog its own personality.It lets your readers know who you are and what you’re about.
   
   The exciting thing about this is that you can really get into character once you’ve determined your personality.

   Whether you decide to be the snarky “I’ll tell you what you need to do” guy or the well-dressed, ultra fashionable “It’s like this daaahling…” gal, it’s all possible! And every personality will attract an audience.

   It’s your blog and you can do what you want!

   So have fun with it.  After all, if you’re going to be contributing posts to it week after week, you’ve got to have a blog personality that you will really enjoy (and it doesn’t have to be like you are in person).

Best of success and happy blogging!!!

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