5 Signs that your Blogging is Effective
It’s perfectly normal to question whether or not your blogging is effective. It’s probably a good idea to keep checking in with yourself every once in a while: Am I blogging in the most effective way for my company? If you’re asking yourself that question right now, go through this list of signs to know if your blogging is effective.
Look at it like taking your car to the mechanic—no matter how skilled the blogger, every blog needs a little tune-up once in a while.
Signs that your blogging is effective:
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You’re reading Stuff (yes, with a capital “S”) that doesn’t directly relate to your industry.
Reading Stuff outside of your industry is usually a sign that you’re also writing about things that don’t directly relate to your industry. And that is a sign of variety, the life-force of maintaining an interesting blog. Keep your blogging interesting by varying your style, format and, of course, content.
A second benefit to varying your writing? You, the writer, will not be bored. And if you’re not bored, neither are your readers.
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You’re writing. A lot.
You know the best way to improve your writing? By writing. There’s no magic formula, just like there was no special formula for making your free throws in grade school basketball. If you’re writing a lot, your writing is improving. Simple as that.
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You picture your audience when you write.
Remember, you’re not writing for you. You’re writing for them, your audience. Write about your audience’s problems and solve those problems for them.
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You’re still you when you write.
Hiding your personality when writing makes for ineffective blogging. Why? Because it’s boring. You should be a good mix of professional, corporate blogger and your charming, vibrant self. Sure, they’re coming for the content, but they’re staying because of you.
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You’re doing things besides blogging, too.
At the end of the day, blogging isn’t the end-all, be-all of your marketing strategy. Remember to keep the big picture in mind. If that means whipping out a quick post on the fly or reusing the content you created last month, do it. If blogging takes over your work life, you’ll burn out. Give yourself a long, happy blogging life—go on and get other work done.
You’ll notice that a couple of these signs seem to contradict each other. It’s true; you should be writing a lot and also devoting plenty of time to other projects. You should be writing like you, but not thinking about you. Blogging is a balance. Keep yourself, and your blogging, balanced and effective by running through these signs every so often. Your readers will thank you.