31 Days to Build a Better Blog Days 15-22

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Yes I have.  I’ve worked with a wonderful blogger and the relationship just came about naturally.  I love this blogger so much and she recently started her own network where she features other bloggers that she’s found.  She just featured me as the first Phenomenal Blogger on her new Mama’s Little Nestwork.  It has sent me so many more visitors than I would have been able to do alone for the same amount of time I put into it.  It’s an awesome place full of support and encouragement!

2) How have you reached out to other bloggers in your niche?  What has worked best for you to make connections with other bloggers?

I have not yet reached out to too many other bloggers in my niche.  I’d say one so far.  My niche is still rather broad in my mind.  As one of my good blogging buddies says, my writing is evolving.  I’m still finding my voice.

Key Concepts

• If you’re solving problems for people, they’re more likely to come back to your blog and tell others about your blog
• How to Identify Problems to Solve:

1. Solve your own problems
2. Look for questions in search referrals
3. Analyze internal searches – Lijit is great tool for this.
4. Ask readers for questions
5. Look for problems on other sites
6. Use social media to gather questions
7. Ask friends and family

• For problems of a more advanced level, find an expert that can solve the problem in a guest post, interview, or one question answer.

Questions

1.  Which of the seven ways to identify a problem to solve has worked best for you in the past? Which is a new method that you’ve never tried before?

I’ve written posts in the past to solve my own problems, and in response to questions in search referrals.  So far, solving my own problems has worked best for me – I found that a lot of people were struggling with the same types of questions I had.  Occasionally I’ve used social media like Facebook to ask questions and gather answers for a post.  Once I asked a friend and our conversation became a part of another post.

2.  In the past, have posts that solved problems received more comments or created more buzz for you?

In my case, no.  My blog is still in transition.  In the past, I’d written to solve problems but hadn’t built readership yet.  Currently I’m building a following and not actively writing posts that solve problems yet.  So this is a great task today!

Day 17 – Watch a First-Time Reader Use Your Blog

Day 18 – Create a Sneeze Page

A sneeze page is a concept ProBlogger came up with as a strategy to direct readers deeper into a blog by highlighting previously written posts. You can create a sneeze page with posts revolving around a single theme or a period of time. By promoting it prominently on your homepage, you can develop another opportunity for people to link within your site.

Questions:

1) Have you created a sneeze page before and if so has it been successful in driving traffic to other parts of your blog?

I saw this as a discussion over at SITS, I believe it was a couple months ago in June.  And so I followed their examples to create an “Best Of” page.  It’s named “Articles”.  I haven’t really promoted it too much.

2) What type of sneeze page do you see yourself creating if you haven’t done one before?

The sneeze page I created revolves around 4 categories of my blog’s theme / elevator pitch.

Here’s a link to that page:  http://jinnialow.com/articles

Day 19 – Write an Opinion Post on Your Blog

Today’s task is to write an opinion post.  Simply put, opinions get more clicks.  Maybe the opinion is outrageous and you’ll get a lot of click through from people both supporting and opposing your view.  Or perhaps your opinion isn’t very controversial at all, but your authority on the matter can help influence others.  It’s important to let out your opinion every once in a while, lest you leave your readers wondering if you’re a real person.

On to today’s questions!

1. Have you written opinion posts in the past? (LINKS!)  If so, do you notice a difference in the way your readers respond to these posts?

Yes!  I just wrote one couple days ago!  http://jinnialow.com/whirlwind-week-and-weekend/

My readers commented about the specific incident that I offered my opinion on – and gave their thoughts, opinions and personal experiences with it.  They also wanted to check out a couple recommendations I gave (unrelated to the incident).

2. Do you tend to like reading opinion posts, or do they make you uncomfortable?

I love reading opinion posts!  I love knowing what other people think, feel, experience.

Day 20 – Leave Comments on Other Blogs

Today we’re to spend 10-15 minutes commenting on other blogs.  Every time you comment, you leave a little invitation back to your site for others to follow.  More importantly, through comments you can connect to other bloggers in your niche (or with your interests) and see what other readers have to say.

It’s very important NOT to come across as a spammer when you’re commenting.  Leave thoughtful, relevant comments.  Don’t ask others to visit your site just because you’re visiting theirs.

On to the questions!

1) Do you normally spend at least 15 minutes a day commenting on other blogs? Why or why not?

Yes, at least 15 minutes a day.  I love interacting with people about what they share on their blogs!

2) What are some reasons you DON’T comment on an entry you otherwise would have?  (For example, a registration process deters me from commenting.)

Initially it was word verification but once I got used to it, I comment on entries that require it.  One time I had a hard time finding the actual comment box, maybe due to the registration process, and I almost didn’t comment.  But I found a way however it took quite a few more minutes.  The content was great and I had something I really wanted to comment on, so that one worked out

Day 21 – Breathe Life into an Old Post

Key Concepts

When updating an old post, if it’s a significant change, write a new post. Be sure to link back to the old post so readers know it’s been updated.

7 ways to update a post (I’m going to look at this list every time I post)

1. Crafting your post title – Make it catchy
2. Opening lines – Must be enticing
3. Call to Action – Get readers to do something
4. Add Depth – Illustrations, examples, etc.
5. Quality control – Proofread, old links, inaccurate?
6. Polishing Posts – Great looking posts do better
7. Conversation – Readers continue to interact with old posts

Questions

1.  By reviewing my old posts, this exercise helped me figure out where I need to improve as a blogger.  When reviewing your old posts, did a majority of the posts fall into any of the 7 categories above?

The call to action.  My old posts don’t have much on getting the readers to do something.

2.  Which post did you choose to rewrite and why?

A post on “Being Yourself”.  Why?  Because I want to simplify the post, cull out some unnecessary points, and present a clearer call to action that’s immediately applicable to the person.  Typically this post gets search engine traffic so it tells me people are really searching for answers on how they can be themselves.  I want to update this post so that it’s more to-the-point.