SEO, Teach, Work, Writing

How To Blog Like The Best Of The Best – Poweblogger’s SEO

A few new bloggers have been asking me for blogging tips … so here you are …

Personally I don’t see other bloggers as competition, so I wouldn’t call researching other blogs as “competitor research” more “colleague research”. Why I say this is MOST, in fact almost all elite bloggers I’ve been in contact with are charming and lovely.

I’ve never thought I was carved from a different piece of cloth than others, we’re all capable of succeeding, we’re all of us talented people. Plus, there’s enough of the pie for everyone, we’re all different and have different styles. Of course there’s the occasional grumpy one in the “elite”, but their only reward is to go into my “ignore” list of bloggers on WordPress.com. Usually permanently as I’m generally too busy to check back and find out if they’ve grown a sense of humour.

Gifted

Every one of us has a gift, something to offer, so please use those gifts, and say “fuck-you” to the critics, the sceptics and the pessimists. They’re only envious because they didn’t think it, do it or say it before you … or grieving over the barren nature of their own self-obscured potential.

Elite bloggers don’t need to manipulate, coerce, force, troll, bully or otherwise behave badly in order to be popular, they have already learnt the art of charisma. They are already being popular through their skill and talent, often their humility and their respect for other people. Most I feel have a desire to share their talents for other’s enjoyment and enhancement. Other people like them because they like other people, I think is what it is in it’s simplest form.

That’s their gift … What’s yours ?

Promoting And Marketing

Authors and writers tend to be promoting the “me” brand, pen-name or not. Marketing their books or materials. It’s not all that different for any kind of “artist”. EVERYONE is marketing or promoting something, whether these chose to admit it to themselves or not … only person who isn’t is probably a monk meditating on top of a mountain with only goats for company … and he’s happy enough there by himself, with his, erm, goat friends 😀

And spare me the dreary cliches about how holier-than-thou you are about money … “let them eat cake” a completely out of touch French princess once said about starving peasants …  Odd really that people think they’ve somehow transcended the rest of us because they don’t need to work for their living … no, it continues to baffle me, daily … we all need money to live our lives, but it’s not why we live our lives.

Businesses sell products OR services (or both), for profit. There’s no such thing as a not-for-profit business, that’s called a hobby or a tax dodge …

Technically a “.com” means commercial, which is for-profit … a “.org” or “.edu” would be much more appropriate for not-for-profit “altruistic” website … it always does make me laugh when someone with a .com website is holier than thou about their alleged altruistic activities. At the very least that’s very ignorant, at worst is hypocritical …

Any-ho …

What are you promoting and marketing through your blog ? Be honest, and if you can’t then at least lie convincingly …

Unique Selling Point

Successful blogs and bloggers tend to be a little bit different, they have a “Je ne sais quoi”, a Unique Selling Point (USP), something that’s interesting and differentiates them from others. That’s not to say they don’t fit, conform and flow with “normality”, because they do. Far too much very different from others is just too difficult for most to digest. The downright offensive, distasteful or fanatical isn’t most people’s cup of tea, so these blogs will stay niche, if they survive in the long term at all.

What’s your USP ? Why would people visit your site rather than a colleagues site ?

Blogging Royalty

There’s only a handful of “elite” blogs on WordPress.com, these guys all have more than 50000 followers, and many many millions of page views between them. For example’s sake – here’s a few of the top of the top in the WordPress.com blogging community. With what they are selling and their USPs. In no particular order … Obviously all “in my opinion”, I’m not all-seeing-all-knowing omnipotent, just a dude with a keyboard and a lot of persistence … and a fair amount of experience now.

Charisma-SEO-DonCharisma.org-660x

A Good Blog Is Hard To Find

1. bucketlistpublications.com/bucketlistpublications.org – I’m super impressed with this lady’s charisma, she’s amassed 30 million page views on what’s a really VERY cool blog. Her USP I feel is just having grasped the “bucket list” concept, and made an awesome blog out of it. What she promotes is herself, her family and their adventures with a “life’s too short” attitude, do the stuff she’d like to do now. I don’t know her exact business model, but she/they get some revenue from advertising. So she’s selling “lifestyle”, “adventure” or “vicarious living though others”. Also I believe travel companies are keen to promote their services, so I imagine there’s “work” in this arena. Super impressed with Lesley’s amazing blog, and inspired by what she publishes on it, and who she is.

“Following my dreams of traveling and experiencing life to the fullest has taught me that the world is full of endless possibilities.”

Lesley Carter (bucketlistpublications)

2. thepublicblogger.com – Kendal has a unique talent for multi-media, putting together visual, audio and the written word into a mega post. So his USP for me is similar to mine, the “all-rounder”. He’s also a published author. So he sells the “me” brand, and books. He’s also a participant in the WordPresws.com approved advertising program WordAds. I DO LOVE THIS FROM HIS BLOG – “writing is a performance art and every post is a show.”, I entirely agree, however I’d probably cross out the “writing” to say “blogging is a performance art and every post is a show”. An embellishment Kendal, not a criticism, as it’s very much how I feel about it 😀

“writing is a performance art and every post is a show.”

Kendal F. Person (thepublicblogger)

3. aopinionatedman.com/HarsH ReaLiTy – This dude is special to me because he gave me a shot, well several in fact and continues to be someone I consider a friend. He’s actually an excellent writer, and all round cool guy, in my opinion. His USP I feel is charm with a hint of persistent genius. Moreover he knows how to be a leader, and how to make a blog really buzz. What he promotes is obviously himself, his writing works and his black-belt social-media skills. Don’t know his business plan etc, think there’s small revenue from his published works and perhaps coaching others in social media. Sorry Jason in advance if I got that wrong !

“My goal with this blog is to offend everyone in the world at least once with my words… so no one has a reason to have a heightened sense of themselves. We are all ignorant, we are all found wanting, we are all bad people sometimes.”

Jason Cushman (aopinionatedman)

3. sfoxwriting.com – Steven’s a young guy with some balls – it takes a lot to admit having suffered from depression and to write a book about it. So I think Steven’s USP is humility in being able to admit publicly what others are too afraid to. He works in partnership with a friend, and they have published works. So I think they make small revenue from book sales, and a little from the WordPress.com advertising initiative. Steven promotes the “me” brand, the “Foritude” publishing brand, and the “Having some balls brand” 😀

“I aim to give you a greater understanding of how writing can positively effect your life and overcome issues you may have with the world or yourself.”

Steven Fox (sfoxwriting)

4. blog.longreads.com – The majority of the WordPress.com community are writers or wannbe writers. So it makes sense that one of THE-MOST-POPULAR blogs here is about, well, erm, reading. As for USP, well it’s very professionally laid out and I think in this case people are attracted to the impersonal side of this blog. I couldn’t find an about page, and seems it’s probably an extension of WordPress.com. I don’t know their exact business model, but suspect there’s affiliate commissions received for recommending books, plus they operate a subscription service which is a “support longreads” type of deal. Couldn’t find any inspiring quotes on their site, guess it’s more faceless persona is it’s appeal ?

5. matt.wordpress.com/ma.tt – Matt, well who doesn’t love Matt, he’s the brainchild behind WordPress.com and WordPress.org. This has made him tremendously successful, and wealthy. The vibe I get from Matt, is he’s a pretty cool guy, whilst being incredibly charismatic. His USP for his blog is, well, it’s my personal blog, I just blog “stuff” here, nothing strenuous or too serious. So a slightly personal view into life as a glitterati-geek. What he’s promoting and selling is blogging itself, and the “me” brand. He has currently over 212000 followers, which is hardly surprising due to WordPress.com saying “Matt, he’ll be your friend” to new bloggers … however he’s yet to follow me back, so I’m still pissed about that … *tongue in cheek*, joking aside, Matt, you are awesome dude, thanks for setting this up for us.

“I am a founding developer of WordPress, the Open Source software used by over 22% of the web, including this site. The website says WordPress is “a state-of-the-art semantic personal publishing platform” but more importantly WordPress is a part of who I am. Like eating, breathing, music, I can’t not work on WordPress. The project touches a lot of people, something I’ve recently begun to appreciate. I consider myself very lucky to be able to work on something I love so much.”

Matt Mullenweg (ma.tt)

6. cristianmihai.net – This guy’s a writer and author, published quite a few books. I like his openness about his finances, that takes a lot of guts and seems to work well for him. His USP I feel is actually being a writer rather than a wannbe writer, he’s walked the walk and can talk the talk. People aspire to be where they want to be, so someone who’s already published and successful, well that’s a USP. And then there’s the personal/intimate touch on his blog, again that’s a USP – There’s a lot of Cristian that goes into his blog, so there’s a “real person” to connect to. He sells and promotes his books, his writing and in the mix the “Cristian Mihai” brand. It does look like he uses his real name not a pen-name, another USP – authenticity. Seems like quite a young chap too born in 1990 – so around 24 years.

Cristian Mihai (born 25 December 1990) grew up in Constanta, Romania. And he’s still growing up, or at least trying to. Sometimes he writes. Sometimes he gets lucky and writes something good.  He can’t, however, draw a straight line. No matter how much he tries. Not even with a ruler. And, please, don’t ever ask him to sing.

Cristian Mihai (cristianmihai)

Bloggers For Thought

So some examples of blogs to study, to learn from in terms of “how-to” blog. Personally I’m more interested in the blogger themselves rather than the what they blog about – it’s people I trust, not what they do/are … and it’s people that I learn from.

I could go on with the list of blogger “royalty” … but this is already longer than I’d aimed for, and, well, do some bloody work yourself !

Final Musings

I wrote this for new bloggers and those who are looking to improve what they’re doing with their online activities. I don’t generally suffer fools gladly – that probably comes across. There’s some misplaced shame around money, stupid people seem to perpetuate it. If you want to be successful financially, then you need to know that :

Money is a how in our lives, not why we live.

– Don Charisma

IF YOU WANT TO HAVE A “SUCCESSFUL” BLOG, you need to look at what’s behind what people are doing. The slight of hand, the magic, it’s a nice illusion, it’s pretty, it’s absorbing. But in order to be like those people you need to look at what they are really doing, how they are doing it, not the blingy wrapping paper. Make friends with these people, help them, and learn what you can -That’s the ticket for success … of course perhaps I’m wrong maybe you are “more special” than the rest of us ?

Also opportunity tends to favour those who pro-actively look for it and are persistent. Matt, Steven, Kendal, Jason, Christian and Lesley didn’t sit around waiting for visitors to their blogs, because they are more “special” than everyone else. Likely I’d guess is they worked HARD to bring those visitors to them, using their own skill, talents and effort to make their blogs outstanding. Well, except Matt, he’s special for sure 😀

Or perhaps there’s a silver platter ? … personally I’d rather do it now, and get on with it rather than wait … prince charming may show up on his own, then again he may not …

“A good blog is hard to find” my friend Jason said … and yes a good blog is hard to find amongst the endless reams of intelligent spam that’s produced daily, that’s true … so don’t be like everyone else, have a USP, do your blog how you want and NEVER EVER be ashamed of making your living to support yourself and your loved ones … that’d just be insane !

And don’t expect it all to come together on day one, take time to find out what works, make mistakes and try and have fun learning to be all you can be 😀

Cheers

Don Charisma

(Thanks to Pixabay for the Buckingham Palace photo)

Comments are invited

Don Charisma Warning Improvised Writing

Comments are often welcomed, provided you can string a legible, relevant and polite sentence together. In other cases probably best shared with your therapist, or kept to yourself.

Charisma-SEO-Banner-DonCharisma.org-1024x512

125 thoughts on “How To Blog Like The Best Of The Best – Poweblogger’s SEO”

  1. That was a lot of information for me, but I finally got the email running if you want to check it out, funny thing my thing…. or not so much but might as well take it funny.

  2. Well, my blog is a .com one. Yet I have nothing to sell. The reason is that the .fr was already taken and that the .com sounds better than the .org 🙂
    I admit that I thought .com meant “communication”. 😀

    1. Without referring back to the post, as I remember I gave the correct usage for domain extensions at the time. Virtually nobody pays attention, so name it what you like !

      Thanks for stopping by, I’ll try and stop by drop some likes for you when I get time 🙂

      Cheers

      Don

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  6. “Personally I’m more interested in the blogger themselves rather than the what they blog about – it’s people I trust, not what they do/are … and it’s people that I learn from.”

    I came back again today and read your post again— the thing that resonated with me was the quote above about trust first— and then People I can learn from. 🙂

    I learned some valuables things from your post and will be visiting often.

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  13. Love your choices, I follow a few of those guys and they’re great. I’m pretty new so I can always use some pointers here. Great post 🙂

  14. Interesting choice of blogs. i say interesting because they are all awesome and I am familiar with all of them. They’re dedicated bloggers who put time and effort into acheiving what they have got and if we want to get up there with the best of the best, we need to put some dedication into our blogs as well.

    You can’t acheive anything worthwhile without hard work.

  15. Oh yes Don Charisma, am loving the art of blogging! Just trying to grow my little blog through seeking advice and guidance from the blogging masters 🙂

  16. Have just come across your blog – great advice for us new bloggers (I started blogging last April – how long can I go referring to myself as a new blogger?). I am going to follow you and hopefully learn a thing or thing two! Thx and happy 2015 🙂

    1. Ah, thanks that great … dunno, I think when you stop doing dumb-ass stuff is when you’ve become a blogger proper … some it takes years, others pick it up in weeks … so how long is a piece of string really !

      As for me, probably still a newbie in some respects, life is a constant learning … and I still do plenty of dumbass stuff …

      2. LOL … don’t take me too seriously … it’s way past bed time and I’m just battling the comment backlog here … main thing is to enjoy what we’re doing, right ?

  17. Happy New Year Don and thanks for the helpful post. I still consider myself a newbie and HOPE my blog is interesting to others. It seems to me its very slow to find followers, but then again, I’m really just posting things I think are interesting (and sometimes just ranting on things that piss me off to get it out of my system). Hopefully that won’t make me an outcast in the blogosphere. 😉

    1. Hey Jill, good to put yourself into your blog … sometimes I take a step back and re-establish boundaries as I think there needs to boundaries present …

      The main thing is that your blog pleases you, and surely others will connect with real things …

      As for more visitors etc … I keep on saying this, but many don’t listen, one needs to get and promote oneself, the nicest way is to connect with others in the process 😀

      Happy new year

      D

  18. Reblogged this on SFoxWriting.com and commented:
    First of all if people don’t know dons blog I would massively appreciate it if you went and checked it out doncharisma.org 🙂 secondly thanks ever so much don for including me in this list it means so much to me 🙂 thirdly and last but not least make sure to read his original article and comment and like on there 🙂

    Happy new year !

    1. Thanks Steven, hope you are well my friend, and glad you liked the post 😀

      You’re very welcome, and keep up all the good work you’re doing, I’m a fan !

      Happy new year 😀

      1. Happy new year don 🙂 I’ll keep it up don’t you worry about that 🙂 it will be my full time job by end of 2015 🙂

  24. You are super-cool for writing this. I have sooo many questions, though. Like the flipside, what’s on your list of annoying things bloggers do (on their own sites) that keeps them in the “unsuccessful” category? And at what point can one no longer say they are a new blogger? Saludos 🙂

    1. Or maybe I’m pushing my luck 😉 I sincerely appreciate this post. Gracias vecino.

    2. LOL … I know bloggers who are still new bloggers after 4 or 5 years, and others who took to it like a duck to water and it’s a couple of weeks … I think it’s an attitude shift, and it takes as long as it takes …

      I’ve a few on my blacklist, I tend not to publicise people who I don’t like, because it’s far too easy to get locked into a battle where there’s no actually gain for me … turn the other cheek, often … occasionally someone is worth the effort 😀

      1. With me it’s the technical stuff, SEO, RSS, CSS and all that jazz that’s challenging because it doesn’t come “naturally” to me. So I can see how it can be a slow process and one can still be a “beginner” after 4 or 5 years. Although I hope that it doesn’t take me that long 😉

      2. I think it takes time for most people … the best way to learn is to have a real project and just get on with it (in my experience) … there are always slow days, which are made up for by the genius days 😀

  26. Reblogged this on Down Home Thoughts and commented:
    Anoher #AWEsome charismatic blog on How to Blog by Don Charisma. Thanks for sharing your hard-earned lessons and wisdom with the masses Don! If you need a ray of encouragement in your day, it’s only a blog away at Don Charisma.

  27. Don, thanks for sharing the thoughts and wisdom you have collected along your blogging journey. It gives hope to those of us that are just getting starting

  28. interesting article – wonder if my blog would be regarded as unique 🙂 – i hate sad blogs but realise there is a place for them. also not sure about those who simply ‘retweet’ other peoples talents (but hey someone’s got to pull it all into one place 🙂 ) good stuff d

    1. So it’s a quesiton of balance in things … I know people who are serial retweeters/rebloggers … I personally have no issue, as they help promote others, and we all want visitors, right ? or why would we do a public blog ?

  29. I just got started a few months ago and I recognize how much work is required. I’m also not the self-publicizing type because of underlying fear issues. I’m working through it though. Thanks for this detailed layout to encourage all of our successes.

  30. Thanks for the insights into how a skilled blogger views other skilled bloggers; and particularly for the continually encouraging words you offer to your readers.

  31. Interesting to read! It has me thinking about why I blog and what I want to accomplish. I need to write more and think less. Thank you for following my blog 🙂

    1. Good to answer those questions … and look, I do plenty of thinking before, during and after writing … it’s an important part of the process 😀

  32. Hi Don, cool post. Very you in the presentation and the way you spin your thoughts. I’m familiar with most on your A list. It’s funny, bc I just wrote a post that says what you say about how we’re all marketing. Not trying to have you come over for a look (although you ARE following…. he he). Just timely, and JC also had commented under that post of mine. Keep up the great job and happy new year.

    HW

    1. Thanks 😀 … I’ve long noticed that people are often ashamed to admit they promote and sell themselves … I think it’s the why behind why most writers and creatives are clueless in promoting themselves … and the “anti” people who propagate the pretence that they’d never sell/promote themselves, well just morons really … they seem to want to do it simply to make themselves “look good” … doesn’t look very good from where I’m standing, it’s pretentious !

      My internet connection extremely flaky just at this moment, struggling to even answer comments … a link would be helpful 😀

      Spin, moi, never 😀 That would imply that there’s more than one truth in the world, and everyone knows the great Don Charisma is the only truth 😛

      D

      10. LOL … don’t worry, preferred the first version actually … and wouldn’t have laughed if you didn’t write it 😀

        Happy new year … get some rest 😀

      12. LOL … well for bloggers perhaps a truism …

        … thanks for grabbing my attention, and saying it like it is … we’re all just floating along trying to live our lives 😀

  38. Thanks, Don, for the explanation. Does it mean to have a .com for the wordpress blog in order to earn traffic and eventually to promote my poetry?

    1. YW … “.com” is an abbreviation that means “commerical” … “.edu” is educational and “.org” is organisation generally not for profit …

      You don’t have to conform, many don’t … you can potentially earn revenue and promote from any site … for me it’s more “honest” to use a “.com” for for-profit website and a “.org” for a non-for-profit website …

    1. You deserve it my friend, more power to you for being multi-media into each of your posts … and I what I quoted you on, very true 😀

      Happy new year 2015 😀

  40. Great post! And thank you for the positivity in posting that all bloggers (amateur/elite/business/non-business) are on level playing field and not out to “get eachother” or sabotage.
    Admittedly I am an “extracurricular blogger”, learning a new past time and perhaps to move on to more seriousness later on, as writing is my passion 🙂

    1. Thanks, I do my best … for me it shouldn’t be about competing adversarialy, but I’m not everyone …

      Enjoy it for what you enjoy, whilst it suits you 😀

      2. LOL, sok … my name’s not on the list, either …

        … just part of a project I was working on researching the “top” names … in general I’ve found them to be humble “peasants” the same as the rest of us 😀

        My commentary was more on people’s attitudes to other’s trying to earn their living … “let them eat cake” I find a little pompous and comes from a place of overpriliedge …

        Any-ho … such is the richness of the pageantry some weave in the world …

  42. I appreciate the kind mention in the list Don, but those bloggers are way above my league. I am somewhere down where the peasants play. I hope you have a New Year and Great List All of Those Bloggers! Well done! -OM

  43. Reblogged this on HarsH ReaLiTy and commented:
    I appreciate the kind mention in the list Don, but those bloggers are way above my league. I am somewhere down where the peasants play. I hope you have a New Year and Great List All of Those Bloggers! Well done! -OM
    Note: Comments disabled here, please comment on their post.

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