What’s one of the first things you ever learned as a kid? Stop. Look & Listen. This was a great phrase to remember and has helped me avoid personal injury – at least on the streets.
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So you want to start a blog? That’s great to hear. As someone who has blogged since 2001 I can assure you, you are going to enjoy the ride. But the first thing you need to do is remember the phrase you learned as a kid but with a slight twist. You should: Stop – Lurk & Listen. Here’s what I mean.
STOP! - How old are you? Now add a month to that age. You haven’t blogged for X number of years and a month. It won’t kill you to wait 30 days. You need a plan. You need to have a reason to blog. What’s the strategy? What’s the message? Who are your audiences? Why should I care? Figure those things out before you set up that blog.
LURK! - 90% of people that read blogs and forums don’t post comments. For this first month, you need to lurk. Learn the language. Learn the rules. Find people making mistakes and learn from them.
& LISTEN! – What are people saying about you? What are they saying about your competitors? What are they saying about your industry? What are your audiences talking about. Listening is going to help you determine what is valuable to your audience.
There are a ton of things you need to know before you start blogging. But, in order to start, I suggest you Stop – Lurk & Listen before you cross the street.
If you want more details on how to start blogging, please listen to the Webinar I did for our friends at MyEntre.net or contact me.
Author: Josh Fleming
www.lessingflynn.com
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{ 2 comments… read them below or add one }
Great suggestions Josh. I stewed over a theme for my blog for 4 months before I wrote the first post. During that time I read as much as I could , I then realized I needed to get over the fear that goes with Blogging (Will people read?) and just write. When people do start writing, it is important they develop a posting schedule and a strategy towards approving/monitoring content…but those items can wait until they get their first post written.
Josh knows his stuff. The webinar he did for us is still on the MyEntre.Net website. I just re-watched it and picked up some new ideas. Keep up the good work guys!