The first step is deciding what topic you want to blog about. Once you have decided on a topic you have to establish a theme that will carry throughout your blog. All of your topics should be related to the blog’s overall topic. All of my entertainment posts have contained information regarding the news, celebrity happenings, or just funny stuff. When you are trying to establish a theme, think of what the readers will be interested in. The biggest goal for a blog is to please the readers because without them the blog goes no where.
Once you have established a theme for your blog you need to get ideas to write about. Keeping up on the news and looking through articles online gave me many ideas. Some sites I like to look at are etonline.com and theinsideronline.com. Even though I look every day the articles are hit and miss, but you will never know something is out there unless you are always looking. Readers love to see the same topic discussed on more than one blog so using other blog sites is a great idea. I look at perezhilton.com as part of my daily article search. Perez is an avid blogger with the latest and greatest stories in the entertainment business. Perez has a very unique voice that cannot be duplicated so it is fun to tie in my ideas with his, mostly as a follow up to his blog. Also just watching television is a great way to find things to write about. There are a lot of shows that are very popular right now and fans are interested in what other people think about them. I watch “Grey’s Anatomy” and “Desperate Housewives” every week so I decided to start writing about the shows because I like watching them and that makes reviewing them fun. I quickly learned that friends may be your biggest influence. I have a friend who is always surfing youtube.com and she has found some very funny stuff. When she thinks something is funny she just wants to show it off to me, but the first thing I think is, “I wonder if that would be a good topic for my blog?” Don’t be worried when this becomes a common question after only a few short weeks of blogging.
After finding a topic, you have to make sure readers are going to want to read the blog. I think creating a catchy title is very effective. I like to include the topic but do a little bit of play on words. I wrote a blog titled “Desperate for more,” and the blog was about “Desperate Housewives,” but it also implies that viewers are hooked on the show. I found an entertaining YouTube video that was titled, “The Seven Stupidest Women Car Crashes” so I titled my blog “Crash and Burn.” Also including photos or videos attracts readers. While skimming a blog page, I am personally drawn to pictures on a page full of words. Also providing several links off of your page is helpful. I like to reference other sources on my blog because then the readers can get more information if they want to. This allows them to go to outside sources, which will keep them reading your blog.
Throughout the entire blogging process I have found a few effective writing techniques. I start by skimming the articles, as I stated before, and decide if it is something I am interested in. If it keeps my attention and I think it is entertaining enough to be in the blog I start to plan out the blog post in my head. Not all bloggers will have a word limit but I tried to make sure my posts were 200-300 words. This is a reasonable length because it allows me to include a balanced amount of fact and opinion. When picking something to write about I also consider if the readers will be interested. I think the planning process is one of the most important steps because you have to ensure the quality of the post. When writing a blog the best way to keep readers coming back and keep it up to date is to post frequently. I try to post three times a week. It is best to post as frequently as possible but make sure they are spread out over the entire week. Leaving a day or two in between each post is good because you will get more readers throughout the whole week rather than over just a few days. At the beginning of each post make sure you briefly explain why you picked the topic you did so that readers realize what they can get out of reading it.
Developing and maintaining your voice is the part I had the most difficultly with. I found through my blogging that practice really does make perfect. I struggled in the beginning to find the right amount of opinion to include without being offensive. When you get discouraged don’t give up. Sometimes it helps if you don’t focus on your voice when you are writing. When the words come naturally the blog flows better.
There are a few odds and ends, mostly dos and don’ts, that I want to include to help you get on your way. First, make sure you enjoy blogging because if you don’t it can begin to feel like a chore. When you get bored, your writing gets boring and your readers stop reading. Do include facts, but don’t forget your opinion. Do let your personality shine and don’t act like someone you’re not. You also need to be patient because your blog will not be an instant hit. Everything takes time so don’t give up. Be open to constructive criticism from the readers; don’t act like you are perfect. I received a comment that was very negative and I deleted it on impulse, but later I realized it was probably more helpful than I thought. Not everyone will agree with your opinion and what hurts you only makes you stronger. In the end, write about things you are interested in, use a natural and appealing voice, and readers will come with time. Don’t worry about checking your blog multiple times a day, it will become a natural habit!
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