A Blog is a great tool to spread your important message to the world. Whether you are an aspiring author or an emerging author it is a great place to start building your author’s platform. You know one of the top elements any potential agent/publisher is interested in most. They know your author’s platform will help sell books. According to how influential your platform is, it could help sell a lot of books. A blog will help measure your growing influence in your field or topic.
So, let’s get started growing your great blog. Here are five tips to increase your influence and brand yourself through a blog.
1. Choose a niche. If you are an aspiring author, a perfect niche for you would be the same topic your book is about. If not, your passion is a great guide. When you choose a topic you are passionate about, it eliminates the natural procrastination associated with scheduled writing. Since scheduled writing is something you will be doing a lot of to keep your blog flowing with fresh ideas and interesting tid-bits to your readership. Remember consistency is key. Updating your blog will not become a chore when you are writing about your passion.
2. Find a happy medium with your topic. When choosing a topic, try not to go too broad nor too narrow. Your topic needs to be big enough that you can find lots of sub-topics and directions of growth to write about. On the other hand, it needs to be narrow enough that you can write specifically to your audience. This way, whatever you write about in your field or area of interest will be interesting to your readers. For example, with this blog I narrowed the broad topic of writing to book writing. You may have noticed the subject of book writing has lots of directions to grow or naturally branch into. For example, most people that are aspiring or writing books naturally are interested in publishing, marketing and more.
3. Choose your blog platform. In the beginning, you’ll have to choose free vs. your domain hosted. I encourage you to choose domain-hosted. Yes, there’s a learning curve and a small expense involved. But trust me, you will be thankful later when your great blog is successful. You won’t be giving out a long free name that no one can remember – to your blog. Also, you won’t have to move and notify all your subscribers of the new branded address. You will be starting out ready-roll, branded and ready to monetize your blog when you are ready.
4. Deliver what you promised. Again, consistency is key with your emerging blog. Keeping in mind that a fresh blog has post two to three times a week, set a time you will post and do it. Stay on topic with your post. If your readers signed up to read about gardening, they won’t be happy when you consistently post about the current events of the world or your spiritual experiences.
5. Brand your blog with YOU. Develop and refine your About page. Tell your story and your why. Put your mini-bio in the sidebar of every page. Or at least link to your About page. What I’m trying to say is, be personable on your blog. Let your personality shine. If you’re eccentric, funny or just a plain techie, be yourself. You will attract people that can relate to you. They will love you for being YOU and read everything you write. I know most marketing advice tells us to strip all the I’s and Me’s out of our writing. This is true most of the time. But on your blog, letting your light shine will boost your connectivity, build community, translate to influence and even dollars if you choose to monetize later.
More Tips About Building A Great Blog to promote your book: Book Money Series
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Earma Brown, 12 book authorpreneur and America’s book success coach
About Author Earma Brown
Earma Brown, aka America's Book Success Coach, 12 Book Authorpreneur, Indie Publisher, and Creator of Book Success Academy, teaches entrepreneurs, experts, professionals, writers and wow women how to write and publish a 24/7 lead generating book YOU and their readers love and create multiple money streams for life.” Visit New! Jumpstart Resource: Free Book to get started with a book of your own.
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Thank you Earma! I am about to start my first blog. These are some great tips that will save me time and money and help me grow my blog. You are the best!
Thanks Bonnie for your kind words. Best wishes as you start your first blog.