5 keys on introductory blogging.. When coming up with a topic for this… | by Anant Somani | ILLUMINATION | Feb, 2023

When coming up with a topic for this week’s blog, I had a writing block so I scoured the internet looking for inspiration and eventually dove into the deep rabbit hole that is blogging. I learned all about different types, styles, and avenues of blogging and here are my takeaways:

Personal Blogs

The first type of blog is a personal blog. This is a type of blog where a single individual writes about whatever is on their mind as a form of expressing their ideas, emotions, and more. Usually, the individual will write about a topic that they feel very passionately about or that they feel they have some expertise in. Sometimes, they just write about ideas to put them into words and so that they can express their thoughts to others. Many of these can be found on Medium, Substack, WordPress, and separate blog sites. Here are some ideas that are written about on a personal blog:

1. Travel: Share your adventures and experiences from your travels, including photos and tips for fellow travelers.
2. Food: Share your favorite recipes, cooking tips, and restaurant reviews.
3. Personal growth: Write about your journey to self-improvement, including the challenges you faced and what you learned along the way.
4. Hobbies and interests: Share your thoughts and experiences related to your favorite hobbies, such as photography, reading, or crafting.
5. Technology: Write about the latest technology trends, gadgets, and tools, and how they are changing our lives.
6. Fitness and health: Share your fitness journey and offer tips and advice to help others achieve their health and wellness goals.
7. Personal finance: Write about budgeting, saving money, investing, and other financial topics that interest you.
8. Creative writing: Use your blog as a platform to share your writing and poetry, and receive feedback from others.
9. Environmental issues: Write about environmental sustainability, renewable energy, and other eco-friendly topics that you are passionate about.

Informational Blogs

This is similar to a personal blog except usually, the writer keys in on a niche topic. Many times we will see these in publications and on company blogs. Topics range from hobbies (technology, photography, etc.) and pastimes (sports, gambling, etc.) to professional topics (consulting, banking, software engineering, etc.). These usually go through multiple editing iterations and through multiple levels of leadership before being published. These blogs are usually more popular than personal blogs due to the publication of companies’ reach and give the writer more viewers and a larger audience.

Marketing your blog

1. Search engine optimization (SEO): Use keywords in your blog posts and meta descriptions to improve your blog’s visibility on search engines. This can help drive traffic to your blog from organic search results.
2. Social media: Share your blog posts on social media platforms like Facebook, Twitter, and LinkedIn. Engage with your followers and participate in relevant online communities to build your network and attract new readers.
3. Email marketing: Build an email list of subscribers and send them updates about your latest blog posts. Offer exclusive content or discounts to encourage sign-ups.
4. Collaboration: Partner with other bloggers or influencers in your niche to cross-promote each other’s content.
5. Paid advertising: Consider using paid advertising options, such as Google AdWords or social media ads, to reach a larger audience.
6. Content promotion: Submit your blog posts to content aggregators and communities to reach new audiences and build your blog’s exposure.
7. Consistency: To grow an audience your product or service will require consistency and blogging is no different.

Marketing will be especially important if you are trying to target an audience above the age of 18 but younger than 30. Psychologically, many of them want to be using their time more productively and for that age group, a pseudo-productive activity is to consume longer media forms. This means you will likely get better retention on a newsletter or email blog.

Going for Virality

If one is trying to bring new viewers to their blog, there are a slew of actions they can take: those that apply to all marketing and those that apply to just blogging. I mentioned the regular marketing tips above; here are some of the virality tips that apply to blogging:

SEO:

Use odd numbers in titles. Articles with odd numbers in the title are often more eye-catching and memorable than articles with even numbers. This is because odd numbers tend to stand out and be more attention-grabbing in lists, making them more likely to be clicked on by readers.

Additionally, the use of specific numbers in the title, such as “7 tips for” or “5 reasons why,” conveys a clear structure and organization to the content of the article. This can help attract readers who are looking for concise and easy-to-follow information on a particular topic.

Blogging for Publications:

To gain viewership and a new audience, you can sample your blog posts for other publications or websites. This helps to reach a vaster audience and drive traffic back to your own blog. On sites such as Medium and Substack, these are built in features.

Networking:

Just like any other livelihood, networking is extremely key in blogging. A way to network is to leave thoughtful comments on other blogs and online forums related to your niche to build relationships and drive traffic back to your own blog.

Monetizing:

Here are the main ways to monetize a blog:

1. Advertising: This is one of the most common ways to monetize a blog. You can sell advertising space on your blog to companies that want to reach your audience. This can include display ads, sponsored posts, and affiliate marketing.
2. Sponsored posts: You can receive payment from companies or publications to write posts about their products or services. These posts should be clearly marked as sponsored content and comply with advertising regulations.
3. Affiliate marketing: You can earn a commission by promoting products or services on your blog and earning a commission for any sales that result from clicks on your affiliate link.
4. Selling products or services: If you have a product or service that complements the content of your blog, you can sell it directly to your audience.
5. Offer premium content: You can create exclusive content, such as e-books, courses, or members-only content, and charge a fee for access.
6. Donations: You can allow your readers to make donations to support your work.
7. Crowdfunding: You can launch a crowdfunding campaign to support your blog and its content.

Above are the basic elements to creating, marketing, and monetizing your blog. When I created this blog, I was in the personal blog space where my goal was to just put my ideas into writing and practice expressing my ideas. But, after this deep dive in blogging, I realize I have many avenues that I can take this….