blogging tips
Top 10 Tips for Successful Blogging
There are no hard and fast rules to blogging, but here are a few handy hints:
1) "BREVITY IS THE SOUL OF WIT" (Shakespeare’s Hamlet, 1603): Ideally, a blog should be about 500-800 words. If you’re tackling an issue that absolutely demands more length, consider developing your ideas across a series of 2 or more blogs.
2) MAKE IT FRESH: A blog should be an original piece of writing.
3) TALK OPENLY: Blogs should express a personal opinion, or put forward a position; they are not meant to be impartial.
4) STEER AWAY FROM ‘PR SPEAK’: Re-hashing a media release or policy statement for a blog is a bad idea.
5) NO TOPIC IS TOO SMALL: Some of the best blogs are those which illuminate a small facet of a bigger, more complicated, issue.
6) BE SPECIFIC: It is good practice to finish a blog with a question or invitation for comment.
7) ENGAGE WITH YOUR AUDIENCE: If people do honour your blog with a comment, take a few minutes to respond.
CREATE AWARENESS: Blogs are a great way to provide an informal introduction to more serious, extensive, drier research or material which can be included as a link or attachment at the end. This provides segue for people who want to learn more, and at the very least raises awareness in others.
9) ATTRIBUTE YOUR SOURCES: It is great to quote other people or sources in blogs, just make sure you reference them (embedding a hyperlink to the original source is best).
10) SELF-PROMOTE: Keep your intended audience in mind, and don’t expect them to just stumble across your blog in the vast expanse of cyberspace once it is published. Send them a link and invite them to comment.
From Open Forum - Australia
