Before you read this, you may want to be sure you’ve checked out the first post of this series, Choosing A Domain Name.
Developing your blogging strategy, whether it be for a personal blog or that of a company, should be a mandatory step in your overall business plan. If you (like me) are hoping to create value through great content, and possibly be able to earn some moeny for your hard work, then you most certainly need a sound plan of action. The first step in developing this “plan” is to find a “meme” that defines what you are trying to accomplish and whom you are trying to reach.
A meme for your blog is really a vision statement with a little bit of mission statement mixed in, all in a few sentences or less. To develop your meme, ask yourself some questions, and write down the answers:
- What am I blogging about?
- Who will read my blog (or better: who do I want to read my blog?)
- Can I narrow the focus even more?
When answering these questions for my own blog, I came up with a short, concise meme that covers these aspects:
“NickThacker.com is about small business innovation and marketing, and examines key issues and questions related to starting a small business while in college.”
Short, sweet, and to the point. I know exactly what I should be blogging about every day, and while I allow myself to deviate from the plan on occasion, I usually am able to follow through with “examining key issues” relating to entrepreneurship, business, and marketing in college. By having this one-sentence plan in front of me at all times (it’s on a sticky note on my Dashboard), I have a pretty well-focused niche blog.
What kind of meme is right for you? A one-sentence meme like mine, or a longer one that talks about monetization strategies, etc.? The answer, I believe, depends on your need for specificity. If you are someone who has a lot to talk about and might stray off-course too much, maybe a longer meme would be better. If you are like me, and have to struggle for subject matter as it is, you can probably get by with fewer words in your plan.
Finally, as I mentioned in my first book, write it down. I have a terrible time with this, but the truth is, when I do write something down–it sticks. If I make a plan to write a blog about SEO–and then write it down somewhere (I use a cool plugin called Post Ideas)–I’ll write a post about SEO. If I don’t write anything down, I may never get that post done.
Developing a meme for your blog is not only about finding your blog’s focus and goals, but also about sticking to them. When I wrote mine, my blogging became easier because I knew what to write about and what to stay away from. I may have to revise it somewhere down the road, just like any other plan, but at least I’ll be able to produce a steady stream of relevant posts for awhile. Try to come up with a meme, and see what your results are like. Don’t forget to let me know how it goes!
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