Posted ByDave SynderBecause of curiosity and my love of all things Internet related, more than three years ago I attended a bloggers’ get together. When asked if I had a blog, my answer was that “I do so much writing already, why would I ever need or enjoy creating a blog?” Since that memorable evening I read a few blogs, but still felt no desire to have one of my own. And then, it happened! I was bombarded by glowing reports of the importance of and marketing payoffs of having a blog.
Great ideas alone are very unlikely to make you rich. There are many people who have become extremely rich without having a single ‘great idea’. The trick is not to focus on your idea but to concentrate on your execution. This unfortunately requires a large amount of work and dedication to making your idea succeed. Just remember that ideas can’t be patented.
A friend of mine (an author) just chalked up a huge publicity campaign for her book where her motto was “no outlet is too small.” She wrote guest posts, participated in interviews, and sent review copies of her book to anyone and everyone that was interested.
But don’t just limit yourself to Google! Search anywhere people can talk about you– get inspired, news sources, forums, social media sites, etc. Making a plan to ensure you control page one of Google’s results and other sites was the most important part of taking control of our online presence and turning our reputation around. If this seems too daunting or you find you don’t have the time manage Google’s first page of results, you may want to hire a reputation manager to help you get this fine tuned like we did.
And if you just want to write your diary and private thoughts down, then go for the blog as well. Just be aware you may end up being surprised at how many people will read those thoughts.
OMake your blog visually exciting. Choose an attractive background colour and provide photos or images. Consider sound. Develop your blog as you would a web site, with the same visual appeal. Some bloggers even add video and sound to their blogs. There is no need to spend many hours composing art works, but know that simple text on a white background may simply not draw as many readers as you like.
Others believe this alleged filter that is placed on new websites is an illusion. These skeptics argue that the phenomenon merely echoes already existing Google algorithm calculations.
Take as much care writing a pitch for a blogger as you do for a national magazine, TV show, or other outlet. Many bloggers don’t respond because they get blase pitches that treat them like the sewer rat of media. Not cool.