Five Mistakes Commonly Made When Blogging

It happens so often it's almost like clockwork. Business blogs are started with high hopes and then disillusion sets in when the results aren't what they hoped for. A lot of it has to do with these simple but common mistakes.

Not Asking For Comments Bloggers always agonize over the lack of comments. But the problem is not that people don't read the blog or don't want to comment but the blogger hasn't given the opportunity for readers to comment. Just like asking for people to order a product, you've got to coax people to spend their 3 or 4 precious minutes to comment on your blog. Ask for opinions. People love giving it. Ask for reader's experiences, input or help to accomplish something. Ask people to suggest something to you e.g. You're getting incorporated, ask people for suggestions, tips and recommendations. Asking is a way of telling people it's ok to speak their mind and that you're open to alternatives.

Not Hosting On Their Own Domain This is one of the most ironic things. Let me ask you a question. Would you host your website on a free host? Of course not. It's almost criminal. So why would you host your blog on a free blog host? Quit using Blogspot or Wordpress dot com domains. Nothing against them they are awesome services but if you're blogging for business, you need your own domain.

This way you control where you want to publish the blog to. Tomorrow, if you outgrow these services, you can easily export your blog to another tool, another host without losing too much established traffic. A domain is also easier for people to remember and easier for you to publicize.

Not Maximizing Their Blog Content Many businesses quit blogging because they feel it's too much work. True, like everything else, you gotta work on a blog but you don't have to break your back over it. Sometimes you may have a paragraph here and there about a topic that just isn't big enough for an article. You know what? You're going to have many more of these impromptu thoughts and ideas – publish it to your blog. Later, you can come back and gather these paragraphs, compile them into a complete article or even a book.

That's only one way of maximizing your work. Have you written articles in the past? How about e-courses, audio transcripts or books that aren't in publication anymore? Recycle. Break them up and post them on your blog. In fact, if you have lot's of this type of content, you can even get your assistant to post them for you.

Publishing Too Often Wow. Did I actually say that? Isn't that like the opposite of everything you've ever learnt about blogging? Yes and no. You see, the blogging world changes. What works yesterday may not today. This is one of them. There are countless of blogs out there and more being started by the day. Who has the time to read so many posts? It's come to a point people cherry pick the blogs they read and even that you're not safe yet. If they can't keep up with you, they'll drop you no matter how good your information is. Try to keep a balance. Feed information to your readers not dump a truckload on them.

Falling For Short Term Methods Ah, this is my favorite. If you can have a favorite pet peeve that is. Every week, you hear about people dishing out the newest, coolest blogging tactic, best blogging tool that's sure to sky rocket your business to success or bull doze your way to the top search engine listings. Consider how any offer will help you advance your business two, five or tens years from now. Is it really in line with your marketing direction? If it isn't drop it. It also helps a lot if you can have a reliable source whom you can consult and help put things into perspective for you. One of the most powerful qualities of a blog has nothing to do with search engines, tagging or pinging. These things do have a place, but they aren't as powerful as the relationship opportunities between you and your customers.

And those, are the top mistakes made while blogging for business. You'll see they aren't rocket science and they don't need a lot of work to apply. Start putting a few of the suggestion to work today.

Comments? Questions? Email Here

© HowtoAdvice.com

How to Advice .com