There’s Really Only One Main Secret to a Great Blog – the Other Secrets are Secondary

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The secret to a great blog? Content.

Oh man… sorry. I know you were hoping for some nifty trick, an easy tip, a no-effort technique or some earth shattering revelation that would finally (and instantly) make you a great blogger. Haven’t you figured out those things DON’T EXIST?

Content, content, content. I’ve said this a thousand times, and I’ll say ten thousand more. Why? Because this is the essence of a great blog and minus great content, you have NOTHING.

You can link, you can comment, you can do advertising, you can spam, you can buy traffic… and all you will get is little temporary spikes in your blog activity but nothing LONG TERM and nothing LOYAL.

This is a point I will hammer on routinely from every angle imaginable. It is the HARDEST part of blogging, and the reason why 98%+ of all blogs fail and wilt away.

No amount of gimmicks, wishing or preparation (alot of people “prepare” endlessly but never “do”) can replace that number one, top priority, first in line, head of the class, king of the mountain, top of the pile SECRET to a successful blog: fresh, great, consistent CONTENT.

And what is content? Writing. Throw in some photos and video but primarily writing for the overwhelming majority of blogs. Some people try to shortcut the effort by tossing up a lot of photos, but even then, if you don’t have some purpose, some vision, some captions, and some good photography, photos are only going to take you so far.

Why is “content” a SECRET? It shouldn’t be. But given the amount of blogs that fail due to a lack of great content, it MUST be a secret. But not to my readers.

Given the importance of GREAT CONTENT, I’m going to continue to do series on this topic routinely. So guess what? Time for one now.

Folks, if this topic bores you… you’re in trouble as a blogger. If you think you have nothing to learn, you’re wrong (I learn every day; if you know everything about blogging, start your own blog and don’t waste your time on mine). If you think can NOT come with great content, you’re even more wrong.

Of course, if you simply don’t CARE if anyone reads your blog, then this series isn’t for you… maybe. However, you might be blogging to “chronicle” your life and family for future reading (or for future generations of your family). Wouldn’t you like it to be the BEST it can be so you can really enjoy it down the road? And if you are going to do something, don’t you wan to do your very best?

I don’t want to write just to hear myself “talk”. I want to write about what YOU want to know, what you want to learn, what YOU want to discover about great content.

Here’s a list I am beginning with for this round. Leave a comment, and add your questions, topics, difficulties, roadblocks and wishes for what YOU want to see me write about in this series. Now is your chance to get me to write about what YOU want. Don’t pass it up, then gripe when I don’t hit on your need.

Here’s what I’m planning so far:

• The 10 basics of great writing
• The Number One Secret To Creating Content… NUMBER ONE.
• A great way to come up with topics
• Ten types of blog posts the will fuel your creativity
• How often should you post?
• 12 ways to use, and not use, photos and video
• What about when I’m “stuck” and can’t come up with a blog post idea?
• 10 ways to promote your blog posts
• What is best: one time posts or series of posts?
• Five reasons to do regular features, 5 reasons to do random content
• The 10 biggest mistakes in blogging
• A dozen ways to MAKE TIME to blog
• My Top Ten Daily Reminder List for Consistently Writing on Your Blog
• What if I’m just doing a “family” blog and don’t care if I grow an audience?

That’s what I have planned… now help me add to the list with your questions, needs, difficulties and wish list…

I would be very grateful if you would share this with someone, or put it on one of the social sites:

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