When it comes to blogging, pretty much anything is free reign. Blogs, for many, are places where you can express yourself candidly, and write and share about whatever your heart’s desire. However, there are a few things that cross the line and shouldn’t be done, regardless of whether you blog for your business, professionally, or for personal reasons.
When you blog for your business, these things are especially crucial not to do, because you risk jeopardizing your reputation and potentially losing business and the trust of your customer base and readership in the process.
If you’ve been blogging for any amount of time, then you’ve probably encountered at least one of three of the blogging blunders I’m sharing with you today. If you’re new to blogging or doing it for your business now, then you will be a step ahead of the game when it comes to blogging etiquette.
The number one blogging blunder is a pretty obvious one, however, for some reason, it tends to be the most common committed offense of all blogging blunders:
1. Featuring someone’s content without their permission; includes graphics and any other elements from their site.
– Always ask prior to sharing these types of things.
– A backlink to their site is a must
– When you do share content, be sure to remind the person that you will be sharing their content on that day (because people forget!)
What to keep in mind:
If you’re just doing a simple roundup with a text link to content, you are most likely okay to not have to ask for permission. However, it never hurts to shoot the person you’re linking to a message (via email or social media) letting them know you’re linking to their content.
Many times when you do this, people appreciate it and are more apt to share your content with their audience. It also helps from an exposure standpoint, in that you can use sharing their content as a networking opportunity to get to know others in your niche or industry, and vice versa.
Related reading: Creative Spaces | Attribution & Giving Proper Credit
[Tweet “Blogging Blunder: Featuring someone’s content without their permission.”]
[thrive_leads id=’11093′]
The number two blogging blunder is one that I’m sure most bloggers have committed as well, especially when they first start out blogging. *Raises hand ??*
2. Posting content that is all over the place.
– Not everyone wants a super niche-based blog, but these days that’s pretty much the way to go.
– You can still post about a number of topics, however, ensure that the bulk of your content is consistent.
– A random lifestyle or “off-subject” post is fine every now and then, because, as much as you always want to give people an inside look at your business, people enjoy little peeks into our offline lives as well.
What to keep in mind:
When you first start out blogging, it can be hard to decide what content is most appropriate to share. This is why it helps tremendously to know your why and your target market/audience. Knowing who you’re specifically writing to help you to gear your content as such. When you’re speaking directly to someone about a specific topic, you stay on topic and consistent with the type of content you produce.
Building consistently is essential to your success, because you establish trust with your audience this way. Your audience will come to expect certain content from you, and if they know they can rely on you to produce it, they become loyal…as well as raving supporters!
Related reading: Why You Need to Have a Strategy for Your Brand | How to Blog When You Don’t Feel Like It
[Tweet “Blogging Blunder: Posting content that is all over the place.”]
The number three blogging blunder is one that can be so easily avoided but is oftentimes not because of selfishness or insecurity.
3. Not sharing other’s content.
– We all know that selfishness gets us nowhere and it definitely doesn’t foster community.
– A huge part of being successful comes down to the community you build around your brand.
– When you don’t share, people usually won’t share your content either. – If people are constantly sharing your content, and they get wind or start to notice that you never theirs or anyone else’s I can bet you that they will stop.
– Be a team player and good community member, because even something as small as tweeting someone’s post can start a wonderful relationship between you and like others in and outside of your niche.
What to keep in mind:
Being so focused on your own business or blog that you neglect your community is actually bad for business. Sharing other’s content should be a priority because it shows that you care by sharing. It also shows other’s in your niche or industry that you’re willing to support and that you foster an attitude of community over competition.
As much as we have to keep in mind that competition exists and that it may be somewhat intimidating as time, it actually serves as an immense benefit. It gives us an opportunity to stand out in our industry, but still, be well connected to it.
Having friends in our industries and niches also helps with having someone to relate to, because they may or have been through similar experiences and struggles with their businesses. Whether our competition is established in the industry or just coming up, we have the opportunity to both learn and help in both scenarios.
Related reading: Dealing With Competition & Comparison | Why Commenting on Others’ Blogs Is Awesome for Your Blog
[Tweet “Blogging Blunder: Not sharing other’s content.”]
[thrive_leads id=’11093′]
As with everything in life, we learn through our experiences and making mistakes. We can’t get better if we never mess up or fail. The important thing to recognize is that when we know better, we do better. Blog better for your business, so that your content marketing efforts are effective, garner you the support you need, and make you the income you desire.
Sometimes, all it takes is a small change to tweak things and we’re on the right track. It’s one reason why I focused on three main points in this post. We don’t have to “fix” everything at once, because well for one that’s impossible and if you try you, you will burn out fast.
Our brands are ever-evolving and our businesses are works in progress. Starting small and improving little by little allows us to take in and process what we really need to do to take our businesses to the next level and create a memorable brand.
[thrive_leads id=’11093′]
[Tweet “Blog Better: 3 Blogging Blunders You Never Want to Make…& how to fix them!”]
Listent to the accompanying Branded Bliss Podcast episode below:
I’d love to hear! What blogging blunders have you committed? – What steps did you take to correct them?
Thanks so much for this! Not what I expected and Help-Full! Wish you had a “like” button so I could show my support a bit better!
Blessings to you and ps, I LOVE your Gold Heart browser logo.
Jasmine
Good blogging guidelines to live by! Sharing other people’s content is such a win-win. You get to connect with other people and become known for linking to helpful resources.