“To thine own self be true”… Kemetia Foley shares some trade secrets
I think there is a myth about blogging or some kind of misunderstanding. Most people ask me if I have a production schedule or a specific number of times I blog per week or month.
The fact is I have no plan.
There are corporate blogs, personal blogs and private blogs. Some bloggers focus on a specific arena of interest or expertise. Blogs are about sharing a perspective, a point of view. And in my humble opinion, the best blogs are the ones that when you’re reading them, you can hear the writer’s voice. You intuitively know that there is no posturing behind the post.
Here are five keys to being an authentic blogger.
Write about what you know or what interests you
I write about my personal experience as an administrative professional. In one of my favorite blogs – Advance Style Blog – the writer documents and comments on the fashion styles of glamorous and fearless older adults. Another of my favorite blogs, Momastery, the author is a mother who shares her trials and tribulations of motherhood, but it is also about being a wife. She uses her blog to inspire and encourage other women to not be so tough on themselves or other women. And her motto is “Love Wins!”
Share your knowledge and resources
If you’re an amazing organizer, why not share your tips and tricks? Perhaps you have a knack for being at the forefront of discovering the latest and greatest apps. You could share a story about your experience of researching and purchasing a new tablet.
Be sure to acknowledge sources and include links
There’s a special inferno for bloggers who copy other blogger’s content. I don’t know where it is, but I’m certain it is not a nice place. Just think about the time that person invested in writing and editing their blog posts. It’s not only rude, but if it is a corporate blog, you could face copyright charges.
Acknowledging a source or an article that sparked your post serves two purposes. One, it gives context to your post for your reader. Two, it drives additional traffic to your blog and to your source’s blog. I take the time to email a blogger if I am referencing their post so they can track the increase in visits to their site. Bloggers love to promote each other’s content, but it is always the right thing to do to document your sourcing as well as making certain you are obtaining permission to use it.
Use your own voice
It is important that your posts are coherent and, even better, if they provide a point of view on a topic that is relevant and useful. Avoid trying to sound a certain way. Write as if you are standing on a stage telling a story. Yes, I know it is annoying when bloggers do not use the correct grammar or punctuation. I’m guilty of this issue. I’m not writing for a corporation or government. I’m writing from my heart for me.
Avoid blogging for blogging’s sake
In other words, share when you have new and fresh content to share. Forced-content blogs are not genuine and it is transparent to the reader. For many years I blogged frequently but over the last two years, the number of posts I write has slowed down. Many administrative professionals are now posting articles to LinkedIn, or on their own blog site and I don’t have anything to add to the topic.
I do sometimes re-blog a post. This means that I share a blog post and in the comments above the content, I’ll state why I’m sharing this post and how I think it is relevant to readers who follow my blog (November 2014) Ayanna Castro’s blog post, “Ambition is Awesome… but Get Your Priorities in Order!”
There are hundreds of posts on blogging (maybe thousands) when one does a Google search, but my advice is just a start!
And, to thine own self be true!
