How Personal Should You Get in Your Blog Posts?

April 7, 2011 By Leave a Comment

One of the questions that I get asked quite often is about how personal should you get in your blog posts and honestly my only answer is “that depends on what your blog is about”. 

For example if you are writing a review on a product or service then your point of view is important.  If you are writing a site on relationship problems and how to solve them, then your own personal experience might be relevant and helpful.  If you write about politics you can be opinionated but if you are updating your workplace blog then third person anecdotes and factual information might be more appropriate.

Personally I share as much of myself as is necessary to get my point across.  If I am writing about “make money tips’ then some of the things I have done and tried would be good examples to use in a post. 

When I write book reviews I give my opinion and the reasons for it.  There are times, like in the relationship niche for example, where I have used life experience to illustrate certain points but personally I don’t think that topics like what I had for breakfast, what I watched on TV last night, or what my mates and I got up to at the beach last summer is really important – because none of my blog topics are based on television programs, food or hijinks. [Read more...]

Filed Under: Don't Do It, Wordpress Tagged With: , ,

How many ads should I have on my site?

March 11, 2010 By Leave a Comment

If one ad unit is good, two ad units must be twice as good.  Right?

Not exactly.  One common mistake made by noob bloggers looking to start monetizing their sites is getting over excited by how easy it is to put up ads.

9 time out of 10, the new blogger joins every ad network they find and starts putting up one skyscraper after another.  Before you know it, there’s 8 ads on a single page from 4 different ad networks.

It’s a flashy, animated, blinking, weight loss, acai berry drinking good time all right.

Unfortunately, that means they’ve made one of the critical mistakes in blog business.  They took their eyes off the ball. [Read more...]

Filed Under: Business, Don't Do It

Don’t Tell Me About Your Business

March 9, 2010 By Leave a Comment

That’s right. Don’t.

Bear with me on the following journey.  I promise, there is an important lesson to be learned that will make you money.

I happen to find myself at a variety of business networking events in New York City through out the year.  I tend to go there because I have to go.  I’m usually dragged there by co-workers.

Hey, if there’s an open bar, why not.

Inevitably, someone ends up trying to force a conversation on me about their business.  Most of the time, I could really care less.

Can you tell I am not in sales?

Well, since I’m not in sales, I end up telling these guys what I do, and start asking some questions about their websites (or lack thereof) because I really don’t want to them give me their hard sell anymore. [Read more...]

Filed Under: Don't Do It, Strategy

Design By Committee: The killer of great ideas

December 29, 2009 By Leave a Comment

A colleague of mine sent me this video the other day.  I didn’t know whether to laugh or cry.  It video so perfectly summarizes the problem with the creative process, it is hysterical.  At the same time, it is truly sad for those of us tied to big business.

To sum it up, design by committee is the killer groundbreaking ideas.  Period.

Sure, some great products and/or services have come out of committees, but think how much better they could have been.  Think about how many amazing ideas have been smashed to bits in the board room.

0 Design By Committee: The killer of great ideas

Too many cooks in the kitchen?

Maybe.  More often, it is too many cooks that think they are gourmet chefs when in reality they don’t even know how to make a turkey sandwich.

Without fail, the design by committee process quickly devolves into a contest of who can sounds smarter. [Read more...]

Filed Under: Business, Don't Do It, Strategy

Why isn’t anyone reading my diary blog?

April 22, 2008 By Leave a Comment

Because no one wants to read that.

No seriously.  That’s why.

No one cares that you got stuck in traffic, the dog made a poop in the living room, or that your kid made a funny face today.  There’s nothing more boring than that kind of site.

That doesn’t mean you shouldn’t write it.  If it makes you happy, go for it.  Some people just like to keep a diary, and if others want to read it, fine!  However, you shouldn’t expect people to come flying to your site in droves.

If you DO want to have a high traffic site with this format, it better be damn good.  The writing and stories better be phenomenal.  You had better have me falling off my chair with laughter each and every time.  Then, maybe you have a shot.

Otherwise, just be happy with what little traffic you have.

Filed Under: Don't Do It, Strategy Tagged With: , , , , , , ,