We’re back with part seven of The Net Fool’s “Creating A Blog” tutorial series. We’ve come a long way since week one, and it’s time to learn the finer points of writing articles and marketing your way to the top. Remember my motto, work smart and get rich. Blogging is all about keeping that balance between writing and marketing to maximize your traffic flow. Let’s work on getting your blog on the map from the get-go!

Finding Your Blogging Equilibrium
I am a firm believer that there are essentially two parts to blogging success, content and marketing. To think about it one way, nobody is going to like your blog if the content is poor, yet nobody is going to see your blog in the first place if you don’t market it. I have seen thousands fall toward one side of the spectrum and as me “why is my blog not more popular?”… and I tell them! Either you are too focused on marketing and getting networked that you fail to spend enough time making your blog worthwhile for readers, or you are too concerned with writing all the time so you never give your website any exposure.

I’m going to talk now, brief as it may be, about both sides of the coin. It is important to write awesome content that will separate you from the pack, but you cannot forget to secure links and traffic from other sources so that you have someone to visit your blog. Let’s learn how to do each part correctly, and you will need to judge for yourself where your blog’s content-marketing equilibrium really lies.

Style/Organize Your Content
There are so many tips for writing good blog posts out there, so I am going to try my best to summarize the finer points of blogging. First things first, you need to find your blogging style. What the heck is your blogging style anyway? In short, it is the way you write. There is a difference between “writing your content  utilizing this methodology” and “laying out some thoughts man.” You do NOT want posts that vary in writing, because you can never maintain the attention of your readers if you are all over the map from one day to the next. Decide right now how you are going to write, and stick to it… your future readers will love the consistency.

One you know your effective writing style, its time to learn how to organize your thoughts. The purpose of a blog is to keep people informed without all of the mindless rambling, so don’t give that to your readers. People generally zip in and out of blogs in just a few minutes, so cut out the ‘fluff” from your posts in the editing process. People want useful information, not senseless jibber-jabber.

The Pre-Post Strategy
Before I sit down to write a post, I like to do about 30 minutes minimum research. This has no exception, I like to open up a Notepad file and jot down things I come across. If this is a stock market post, I open up a file and jot down company names before I do research and whittle the list down. This process is the same for an article about SEO, where I would collect different methods I know about and cut it down into something more manageable. Know what you are writing before you start, and things will always look much nicer. Oh, and if you don’t know what to blog about, check out my “Ten Things To Blog About” guide.

One of the more obvious ways to improve your blog posts is to edit them down for organization. It’s really as simple as taking time to go back through your article, even if you are just browsing, to correct for spelling errors and make sure that the post title fits neatly in the content area. I’m all about things looking professional, so if I see that I have a line where one word is hanging over, I will re-write that sentence to make it fit.

Going Back for a Second Look
Appearance is everything in a blog. If you are not using images, or if you are double-spacing the heck out of your content, you are not blogging effectively. I wrote an entire post about using images effectively in your blog posts, and I recommend at LEAST one image in every post you ever write. Why? People are lazy, and if you don’t have something fun to entire readers to continue on… they will simple ignore you. It’s a sad fact of life. I like to “justify” all my text to make it and the images flow nicer. In addition, I like a 10-pixel spacing between text and image at all times. These are just a few tricks you can use to make things appear sharp.

Getting The Word Out
Marketing your blog is very important, and when I say “marketing” don’t think that you need to start throwing money into the mix to get your traffic. I had over 100 RSS subscribers before I invested my money in sidebar advertisements on other blogs in my niche. You can get links coming back to your website in many ways, let’s discuss my top six methods of marketing your blog from the start.

1. Make A Link Bait Post
Some people go over the top in trying to pick a fight in order to get some exposure. I want to emphasize smart writing, you never need to take the offensive and start making yourself look less professional just to score a pity link from a more popular blogger. What I do suggest is making an interesting and controversial article here and there to spark some conversation. You can do this by twisting a popular thought, making a reply post to something a popular blogger writes or even by doing something outrageous. These posts can get you an immediate traffic bump, and have the potential to instantly lift a blog into the spotlight.

2. Start A Competition
Having a solid following of RSS subscribers is the number one way outsiders will judge your blog. Offering a bribe to your readers, most often through a contest, is a fantastic way to see a rise in your numbers. Whether or not they stick around after the competition is over isn’t your concern, you just need that RSS number as high as you can get it. I recommend going around to more popular bloggers and collecting sponsored prizes as an early move on your path to success. People are generally willing to contribute for a few backlinks to their blog, and if you can get people to blog about your contest, you’ll be large and in charge.

3. Participate In Link Exchanges
Many bloggers frown upon using link exchanges to gain popularity. Check out my sidebar… see “Net Fool’s Friends?” This link list is leftover from my earlier days when I branched out to fellow bloggers to exchange links and boost popularity. Don’t be too aggressive, as you should always try to please almighty Google by growing steadily and consistently. However, exchanging your links or offering “blurbs” in your blog posts is a fantastic way to gain friends and leech off each others traffic. Consider yourself like a disease, spreading your influence throughout your niche. It’s a bit messy, but it works.

4. Use Social Media Services to Drive Your Traffic
Social media networks are becoming increasingly popular. Go ahead and sign up to as many networks as you can. I used MyBlogLog, Digg, StumbleUpon and Technorati in my early days, and I wish I had used more. There is no better way to get on the map then to use networking websites to get visitors and returning readers on the fly. For example, if you get one good “stumble” on an article, you can see upwards of 500 interested internet surfers headed your way in a day.

5. Pay The Piper for Instant Traffic
If you don’t want to make friends, then be prepared to tackle blogging by putting down a few bucks for advertising. $100 is a good initial budget, but you will need to increase this week by week once you start to get more popular.  One of my favorite investments is 125×125 banner advertisements on blogs in my niche area. By getting a flashy banner out on a competitor’s website, you can literally leech off their traffic and get some awesome traffic. Paid reviews (at the right price) are another great way to get people interested in your content. If your website is any good, you’ll get a friendly review that will have people lining up to subscribe.

If you are adverse to paying, but still would like to advertise, try services like Project Wonderful and EntreCard to grab some cheap or free advertisements on similar blogs, on an exchange basis. Think of these like banner exchanges more than ads.

6. Actively Comment on Similar Blogs
If you have a blog, you should be networking with other bloggers in your area by subscribing to their websites and commenting regularly on their new posts. Why? Comments are one of the best ways to score a free link back in seconds. Go ahead and comment on every blog you are subscribed to daily if you are able. You’ll get interested people clicking on your comment seeing your website, and chances are they are already interested in the niche you are blogging. Easy traffic, easy linking and Google will thank you.

Utilizing these top six methods (I like even numbers, sue me) will definitely get your blog off the ground and will kick-start any marketing campaign. There are hundreds of other ways you can get your link around, such as submitting articles, registering in web directories, submitting posts to blog submission services and even posting in forums with your link in the signature. I’m not about to go over everything, because marketing shouldn’t consume any newer blog.

It can be very tempting to ditch content in favor of marketing because there are just so many things you can be doing to maximize your readership and daily traffic. Never fall into this trap. Good bloggers like Jim from The Net Fool dot com realize that content is, in the end, king (or queen). Find that equilibrium, and start stock piling well-written articles that your readers will enjoy. You may find yourself repeating information on other blogs, and I think that this is okay once in awhile. However, if you do not start making your own voice heard with unique material, people will drop out in the long run.

Write well and market well, but don’t go over the top. This is the golden rule of blogging. Stay tuned next week for the final part of the “Creating A Blog” series, where I will conclude everything we have learned and discuss planning for the future.

-The Net Fool

If you enjoyed this post, make sure you subscribe to my RSS feed!