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The Kids are Back in School: How’s the Old Blog?

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September 18, 2012

September is upon us and that means the kids are back in school, fall is in the air, and there is a sense of change. I don’t know about those of you who run a blog, but combining summer and a blogging schedule can be tricky for me. A lot of things get put on the back burner and focus seems to go completely out the window.

Perhaps your posts are short and sporadic.  Maybe you’ve been hard to get a hold of by email and your PR contacts think you fell off the face of the earth. Or possibly the focus of your blog is off track and you’ve lost your voice.

If this sounds familiar, trust me, I get it and can completely relate. But just because summer might’ve been bit of a bust for your blog, it does not mean it’s a lost cause. You can get back on track and now is a great time to do it. Here are a few tips to help you step back, take a look at your blog and start moving forward again.

Ask yourself: What’s my topic?

I personally believe that successful blogs can no longer be all over the place in terms of subject matter. There are millions of blogs – which means you need to find out where you fit in. Do you love to review products? Narrow in on one subject matter. Do you like to educate people? Then determine your passion and the topics you are knowledgable in. Do you find yourself consistently visiting blogs on a certain subject? Maybe there’s an underlying passion to consider.

If your blog has a clear topic, your blog will be more successful. Your readers will know exactly who you are, what you write about and will look forward to visiting on a regular basis.

Ask yourself: Why am I blogging anyway?

  • Are you blogging as a hobby and love getting products to review? If so, there’s nothing wrong with that, but just realize general product review blogs and their popularity are fading.
  • Are you blogging for a little extra money to fill in the gaps? Blogging can definitely be good for that, but don’t be afraid to think bigger.
  • Speaking of thinking bigger, do you want to turn this into a full-time income? Niching down your topic, having a clear goal of your direction and treating this crazy blogging thing with the seriousness it deserves, can lead to absolutely phenomenal things.

Ask yourself: Do I have any old blogs I should revive?

I won’t even tell you how many blogs I’ve started over the past 8 years – or how many domain names I own – because frankly, it’s embarrassing. But I will tell you that I had one particular blog sitting stagnant over the summer, gaining Google love without me doing a thing. One day I checked an affiliate account  and realized I had made some money from this blog. I then checked my stats and realized people were visiting it!

After the initial shock and excitement wore off, I went to work and researched the blog topic. I found there was a wide open space in the blogging world for me to have some success with this topic. So, I revamped it and have been consistently working on adding content.

Maybe you have a blog that’s just been sitting there.  Why not go check your stats? Do a little keyword research to see if it’s worth working on again. Or check Pinterest to see if people are pinning this subject like crazy. You just might be surprised.

Ask yourself: Would I read my own blog?

As I look back on some of my old blogging articles, I cringe. I think I might have even shed a tear once … it was that bad. I was all over the place with my thoughts, rambling like crazy and there was no organization to my posts what-so-ever. I thought to myself, “If I visited this blog post, I would have exited in a hurry.”

Go through some of your latest posts and analyze them.  Compare them to well-known successful blogs and write down ways you can improve. Are your articles too long? Can you break them up with sub-headings? Do you make any sense? Is what you have to say interesting? Do your pictures grab your attention?

These are just a few questions to ask yourself as you resume blogging again.

I hope some of these tips helped get you excited about your blog and to see the possibilities that lie in front of you. Don’t be afraid to dream big, set goals that make you a little nervous, and burn the midnight oil if necessary.

How’s the old blog? It’s about to be fantastic.

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