I’ve been blogging for quite a few years now and over those years a lot has changed. Marketing techniques, and blogging techniques in general have changed along with the tremendous growth of the Internet. The following top five blogging myths may have worked in the past, but now they’re old-hat.
Wave goodbye and let’s move into the 21st Century, shall we?
- Blog every day: In the early days of blogging the theory was – just blog it! Post something, at least once every day, no matter what it is. Now, however, searchers are becoming much more discriminate. They’re looking for quality, not quantity, and if you don’t have it on your blog, someone else will.
- Keep it short and sweet: This is another myth that goes back to the early days: Keep your posts short and sweet – a maximum of 350 words is all your readers will stand for. While it’s true that we’ve all developed very short attention spans, if it takes more than 350 words to get your message across then do it. Again, readers are looking for quality content and if you don’t give it to them someone else will.
- Outsource your content: Don’t have time to handle all that blogging? Outsource it – pay someone else to do it for you. That’s all well and good, but what if they don’t understand your product or the message you’re trying to convey? What if they don’t know anything about SEO or writing for the Internet? What if they can’t spell and their grammar sucks? I’ll refer you back to the first two points: If you don’t give your readers quality content, someone else will.
- All you need is a good niche: Well, yes and no. It depends on your definition of a “good” niche. If you’re talking about a niche that’s never been covered with millions of searches per month, good luck. There’s no such thing as a “new niche” anymore and you’ll find competition in every corner of the marketplace.
And because of that competition, even if you do find a well-searched nice with little competition, you’re still going to need more than just a “niche.” People may find your blog but that doesn’t mean they’ll all turn into paying customers. You need to have marketing skills, some programming skills, some social skills and great communication skills. Finding the niche isn’t even half the battle. Now you have to compete.
- You’re your own boss: In the early days, yes, a blogger may have been his own boss. That’s part of what made this business so attractive. But these days you have to do so much more than simply set up a blog and direct traffic. These days, because of all the competition, you have to go outside your blog for promotion. That means networking with other bloggers and interacting in the social networks to develop an engaged community. You may be your own boss but you have a lot of other folks you need to consider now.