How to Have Fun With Your Blog
Remember When Blogging Was Fun?
When you first started a blog, you probably started it for the same reason that everyone else did. It was supposed to be fun! It was supposed to be a personal expression that let you say whatever the heck you wanted to the entire world. But somehow, blogging stopped being fun for a lot of people. Many people are packing up their blogs and hitting the superhighway because it's just gotten to be too much pressure. Here's how to reclaim some of that original enthusiasm.
Forget the Keywords
To bring in more readers, many bloggers resort to using keyword-stuffed blog posts that use the same obnoxious phrase over and over. It doesn't work. As soon as people see that you don't really care about the subject, they tune out. Keyword stuffing is extremely overrated and really isn't necessary. Some of the search terms that I'm ranked the highest for on Google are ones that I barely use in my blog. There really isn't any reason to repeat anything. As long as you update often, you will be ranked highly and will attract readers.
Forget Blogging About Something You Don't Like
To get readers, plenty of bloggers start taking their blogs into new and commercial directions to take advangtage of affiliate programs or just to pull in more readers. The problem is, it's pretty obvious when a blogger's heart just ins't in it. Please don't blog about iPod batteries or NetFlix memberships. Seriously. Blog about something you actually have a passion for and the readers will come.
Not only will blogging about your specific interests be more fun to write and interesting to read, you will probably get ranked higher. There are more than 700,000 Google results for iPod batteries. There are half that many about metal lunch boxes, which are infinitely more interesting.
Forget Providing a Service
Far too many blogs start out as a labor of love before morphing into a blog that is fanatically focused on providing useful information about a niche market. I've seen writing blogs start with posts about the love of writing and end up with daily link lists of potential markets. Fun! I've seen collection blogs begin by talking about acquiring that next great piece and end up with affiliate link posts that simply list places to buy things. Woo.
When the passion is gone, all you're left with the is push to sell something. If we wanted that we'd simply read ads. If you want to blog, then blog. Don't worry about selling anything. If you have passion about your topic, enough readers will be drawn by it. That in turn can lead to sales, even if the whole blog isn't about selling. Your passion for a topic can inspire that passion in others, and that's what can make you a few affiliate dollars.
Don't Write About What You Think People Want to Read
Choosing a topics based on what's popular is a pretty bad idea unless you have a new angle that hasn't been covered to death. Not only is it not the right way to find out what you're passionate about, it's a good way to get lost in the shuffle and end up with no readers whatsoever.
Hey! People love American Idol, don't they? I'll blog about that! Wrong. Not only is American Idol indescribably boring, but it's also blogged to death. You will not be adding any extra insight. Also, there are so many thousands of American Idol blogs that yours will never even be found, even if you do have some type of magical insight.
Choose instead something you have a genuine passion for. If you love the Swedish Chef from the Muppets, you have a much better chance for internet fame and AdSense dollars by blogging about that. That's a niche that doesn't have that much written about it, so it will be found much more easily by anyone interested. And, your passion on the subject will mean that you can deal with the subject creatively and keep people coming back to read more.
Don't Be Too Afraid to Offend
I've always said that there are people literally waiting in the wings to be offended about things. They wait and watch for things that they can rant and rave about. Not only does it give them their much-needed shot of attention, it also makes them feel like they're doing something terribly important for the world. They're not. And you're not doing anything terribly important either if you get too caught up in not offending any person who could possibly ever be offended by anything you say.
If you want to really keep that creative spark, and you truly don't have bad intentions toward any one group, then don't worry about it. A potentially-offensive joke or two is funny. It's a break from reality and it's a personal expression of your sense of humor. Stripping you blog of anything like that is stripping out some of its life. Just say no.
