The folks over at Young Entrepreneur’s blog (YEB)have been kind enough to review the structure of my blog in exchange for a review and link to their blog. Happy to oblige!This is a blog I subscribe to and read on a regular basis because of their solid content.

Why I read this blog

I started reading YEB because I am young (ish?) and an entrepreneur, for the  most part. I figured, hey, this thing must be written for me.

From what I’m read, I’m guessing that the staff don’t have a long history of starting and raising successful companies. I don’t say this because the advice is bad, I say it because it had more of a “hey, let’s get together and figure this out” feeling rather than a “I’ve done this and this is what works for me” feeling. Nothing wrong with that at all, it’s a great way to build community.

After a while, I really wanted to read about people who had really made it and how it all came together for them. Coincidentally enough, YEB started interviewing experts more and posting words from famous business starters from all different industries. Perfect!

I read the blog for the interviews and the Entrepreneur University section, for the most part. They include write-ups about other things but the unique content they provide me are the sound bytes.

Thanks YEB! Keep it going!

Tools and resources for entrepreneurs and business minded individuals who are growing their business at the Young Entrepreneur’s Blog!

Introduction

There’s usually five hard ways to do something without any kind of guarantee of an available easy way. Sometimes there is an easy way, sometimes there’s just an easIER way, and sometimes there’s just hard ways. Realizing that some things just take hard work is an important step towards growing up (regardless of your numerical age) but it’s also the kind of thinking that can get you stuck. I’m a fan of hard work and, as such, sometimes I work a lot harder at something than I should. Case in point, the story I’m going to share with you.

I’m new to all of this… how can this article help me?

Approaching your technology problems can be daunting - especially if you know only one way to do things and that way is a P.I.T.A. When it comes to computers and the internet, it’s important to always keep in mind that there are probably 5 pieces of software that you never knew existed that do exactly what you need, 5 pieces of hardware that could solve one nagging problem, and a 100 people out there who are better trained than you are and are chomping at the bit to help you out (that’s me). All you have to do is keep your eyes open, your mind working, and your homepage on Google and you’re a step ahead of the rest.

Sometimes, there’s no need to swim uphill

So I know a guy with a blog. I built the blog for this guy. Blood, sweat, tears, and love went into putting together this blog. Then, even more bodily fluids went into typing and editing his blog posts to post on his blog on a regular basis. In the meantime, exponentially more effort went into editing, designing, copyrighting, and publishing his book. I was paid for most of it but, because the project was close to me, many hours flew by sans compensation (willingly of course).

He wrote a lot of material all at once and sent it over to keep me busy and have a “buffer.” This buffer was the only thing he would write for months despite my gentle insistence and cajoling. He said he liked to write but, in the end, if we actually like to do things, don’t we just do them? I like to write and, coincidentally enough, I end up writing a lot (here, at work, emails, etc). It occurred to me that maybe he wasn’t into this writing thing after all.

Still, I was working for him and if he wanted to write, well, dammit, I would do everything I could to make him write. So I bought him books about writing, wrote him blog posts about writing blog posts, and came up with a massive list of every possible industry topic he could write about. I kept (and keep) editing his buffer posts, every week posting less and getting closer to the finale of all of his earlier efforts.  I made him buy cards to promote his blog and his book, despite having very little left to post. I even added my own posts as the “administrator” of the blog talking about what I’ve learned and what to expect. In the end, I was working several hours a week on a blog that wasn’t mine for a purpose that I wasn’t clear on. I had stopped taking payments but kept trying to edit and post what was left. The idea started out so exciting and I was watching it peter out like a match in the rain.

New approach

This client had done radio work back in the day and, every now and then, reminisced about his days behind the mic. His voice is very calming. You can always hear his smile because he’s always smiling. On the phone or in person, he’s always wearing that big, friendly grin and telling you something to which you ought to be listening.

The idea of a podcast floated into my consciousness a few months ago but, in my head, it sounded like an expansion plan and I was not interested in expanding something that wasn’t going anywhere. The podcast idea wouldn’t leave my head, however, and today, after a rousing conversation about the matter, I just blurted it out.

“This blog thing just isn’t working. He should just do a podcast.”

And, with that, this blog thing was solved.

Despite what he says, at least for the time being, this client just doesn’t want to write. There’s no point in forcing something that isn’t happening. He has, however, had his ears open for a broadcasting gig hosting his own show on the radio without much luck.

A book and a blog, if it takes off and starts gaining attention, is just going to get more audience members for the blog and, at best, a great offer for a new book. For someone that finds it difficult to make the time and energy to write, this is a punishment in disguise.

If, however, he took this great wisdom he has, spoke it into a digital recorder, and emailed the final product to me, he’d never have to write another word in his life. The audio can be posted and hosted on the blog, submitted to iTunes, compiled and sold on a CD, or even be a spring-board to videos if he wanted. Not only that, if the audio broadcasts take off, there is the possibility of a book, sure, but it’s more likely that someone who knows what they are doing will want to keep him in the same format, the one that he’s succeeding at.

Exciting stuff

In the end, the solution to the problem was actually the expansion plan for the original idea. The middle point actually should have been the starting point. I kept trying to make something work that just simply wasn’t going to happen.

The way forward could be the one in your head, it could be the one in your friend’s head, or it could be the one that has not materialized yet. There’s no point pushing against a brick wall if, at the other side of that wall, there’s nothing you want. My mistake was not thinking down the road with the blog idea. I thought that, with a blog, he could go anywhere. But the blog was not only the barrier to entry, it wasn’t going to lead to anything better.

In the end, if you don’t know exactly what you’re doing and there’s not a big risk in taking your time, maybe it’s better to explore as many options as possible and see which one fits the best. If it sucks and sucks and sucks and you’re not getting anything out of it, chances are that you’re not going to continue doing it indefinitely (and that’s a good thing). Save your tenacity for the IDEA itself, not the execution. If you know what you’ve got is gold and it’s not going anywhere then you’re probably barking up the wrong tree. If I decided it was my calling to make hip hop beats, a blog about it probably isn’t the best way to go (though it might be). If I wanted to make money off graffiti art, it’s not likely that handing out fliers at the hot club downtown would get me anywhere (though it might).

There’s nothing wrong with trying something out… in fact, if you’re NOT trying out new things and exploring new markets, you’re definitely doing something wrong and probably selling yourself short. But you have to know when to bag it, when to try something else, when to stay true to your idea and just bark up a new tree. Staying true to yourself and staying true to your ideas means doing whatever is necessary. Plugging away over and over at something that isn’t going anywhere is doing a disservice to your talent and your product.

If you need some help trying to find a new tree, let me know.

This is a guide I wrote a few months back. I have it posted on my homepage and at Squidoo but my homepage is going away in favor of a much simpler system so I wanted to move this. It’s also a bit more visible here, where I’m getting hits, rather than on the homepage, where I’m getting no hits!

If you’re considering whether or not you want to start a blog, ponder this:

By posting a great piece of advice or a guide for someone or your professional insight, you contribute to the incredible equalizing power of the internet. By making once-obscure and restricted information public, you engender a sense of community, a virtual, digital community that pulls people together across geographic and cultural barriers.

Want to be a part of something great? Put yourself out there! But how?

There are many different guides out there offering the best way to write or the easiest way to start or the quickest way to 10K subscribers. You might find some excellent information out there (I have, no doubt) but none of them really tell you how to find and connect with your readers in the most organic, benevolent way possible.

In this post, I offer 6 steps to write a great blog entry for any type of blog you could imagine. These will help you appear more often when real people search, garner more attention from those that matter, and, generally, be more successful as an RSS author. I’m writing these not from the position of a famous blogger (I’m not one of those) but from a chair in front of a monitor that has seen countless posts pass by.

I’m your audience. You better listen up!

1. Understand the format and write to it

While it’s really your blog’s content that determines whether or not I will return, the reach of your blog (meaning the amount of people that see it) makes a big difference in whether I find you in the first place or not. Want me to find you in the seemingly endless ocean of information out there? Then understand and practice the format that makes you findable. Keep these concepts in the forefront of your mind as you write so they start to become second nature. Thinking in terms of a blog post will cut down on the editing time and make it easier in the future to efficiently put out quality material for me to read. The following are a few things to keep in mind.

Your Title Speaks Volumes

The title of your blog post is a very crucial piece of the blog puzzle. With so many aggregators, search engines, and browsers, it’s the only thing that I’ll see and the big decider as to whether I’m going to click it or not. Keep it short, state your purpose, and tell me why I should go there. Great titles reel me in, just don’t disappoint me with a lame post!

It’s All About the First Impression

A great blog post starts with a great introduction. You want me to finish the article and spend as much time on the page as possible, right. Hook me with a great anecdote or a reason why this post will benefit me right now. Help me along to each section and you’ll make a real audience member out of me.

You’re Nothing without your Head

You’ll notice in this article that there is a title at the top, 6 sub-headings, and sub-sub-headings beneath those; this was not an accident. All three of these headers are critical to being seen by the search engines out there (what you want to happen if you want me to find you). Before you write, plan out your main title, your introduction, and all of your sub-headers. This will help you keep on task and make your article as useful as possible. At the end, make sure all of your headers match the information underneath and incorporate the key words you want to be associated with.

2. Consistency: Keep Me Coming Back for More

Think of your blog as your own personal publication, like a magazine or a newspaper. When I subscribe to Time or Newsweek or The Economist I’m not giving them money to send me an issue when they feel like it or when they get around to it. I receive one issue every month/week of a certain size and on a certain set of subjects.

Just like the New York Times can’t skip a few days here or there, your blog must be consistent in how often the posts are being made. This doesn’t mean you need to post twice a day but if you want to post twice a day, make sure you can keep that pace up ad infinitum. I’m more likely to return if you find a schedule that works for you and keep to it; it’s nice knowing that I have something to read on specific days, regardless of what those days are.

Before you start, come to an agreement with yourself and your co-authors (if there are any) on a frequency and stick to it. If you can write six days a week then go for it. If, however, you think you will only have the time or where-with-all or content for twice a week, then pick two days of the week and make sure those days get a post. You will be more successful by posting every Monday, Wednesday, and Friday than you will by writing 7 times one week and once the next.

3. Make Your Content Unique

The internet is a very descriptive name that gives you a good idea of what is going on behind the scenes. It’s a giant network of interconnected information and benefits greatly from layered information on many different topics. For every topic there exists countless different descriptions, opinions, definitions, and alternatives. How can anything be unique when everything already has a website?

It’s certainly daunting to face a blank page and wonder if your thoughts are already out there so don’t. Unless you wrote them, your thoughts haven’t been published so write away.

Unique content comes from the heart and it comes from experience. Maybe one or two (or ten) people already wrote an article about marriage or family relations or earning trust. Maybe there is a whole network of people who write about it all the time but that doesn’t make me more likely to read theirs and less likely to read yours. You might only write a page or two about your topic but it came from YOUR mind and YOUR experience and, as such, is far more important to your audience.

Where people fall into a trap is when they look to other bodies of work to create their own. Referencing other blogs, articles, and web pages is fine but don’t make other people’s work your own (even if you give credit). With so many ways of receiving and filtering information, I certainly don’t need another middle man feeding me other people’s information. Bloggers who fall into the habit of parroting others fall quickly into irrelevancy.

If you write about a book, news article, or blog post that you read, tell me what you think about it. If you agree, tell me why and vice versa. Quote a small piece of the work and tell me what was right or wrong about that passage. Also: always give credit where credit is due.

4. What’s the Point? Ask Often

Most of us like to keep up with family and friends and colleagues to make sure everything is going well. If my mom wrote a blog about her day-to-day activities, I would probably check it out every now and then in between phone calls. But would my friends? Would my co-workers? Would anyone else?

Ask yourself over and over: why am I writing this? If you can’t come up with one or two reasons why, maybe you should re-think the topic. Every post doesn’t have to be a home run and change my life but each post should speak to me and what I want. You are writing for me, not for yourself.

In that vein, it’s important to understand what is important to you and what is important to me. Your experience and your knowledge is why you have the subscribers you do but unless that knowledge is consistently helping me in my life, chances are that I won’t be around for the long haul.

Problogger.com speaks to this point::

Stop writing about yourself. Start solving problems - Surfers become readers when a blog provides something that is wanted. A casual visitor may read your blog because they find training, answers to problems, entertainment, or something else they want. This more than likely will mean that they won’t want to read about you, your girlfriend, your cats, your kids, or your catastrophes (unless you have a personal blog that your friends read). Discontinuing the off-topic posts will help you to develop more repeat traffic and takes exactly 0 minutes to implement.

5. Simple and To-The-Point Language

Ok, here’s the tricky part, picking a font that works. Here are the basic rules:

This particular point is important for those with an extensive vocabulary or those who write about a particular topic with which they are very knowledgeable. It is important to keep jargon and unnecessarily arcane or obscure words from damaging the accessibility of your blog. If you want to appeal to me and all the other me’s out there, it is important that you don’t make me feel uneducated or uninformed. I’m not an idiot but when I fire up Google Reader on my phone and catch a few blog posts on the trolley, I don’t want to have to hunt for a dictionary (that’s what Infinite Jest is for).

Additionally, by using commonplace words (even if you sound a bit repetitive) you are increasing the likelihood that I’ll will find your post through a search engine. Once you’ve had just a bit of experience using a search engine, you realize that being specific is key to finding what you want efficiently.

When you are writing, don’t change what you want to say to fit into a set of words but keep your post direct and avoid unnecessary words. Use short, direct sentences and clear and concise language (this should start to resemble a Strunk & White flashback from your school days). Avoid long tangents that can lose me and make the difference between a returning customer and a bounce.

With a blog post, shorter is better. I have many different blogs I subscribe to and tying up my time with a long-winded post is inconsiderate to say the least. If a particular topic requires more analysis or additional information on your part, consider a multi-part post; you can be sure I’ll come back if I liked the first one. Make sure to plan the series out and tell me what I’m in for.

6. Back It Up

At their best, blogs are charged with providing clear, concise, and CORRECT information. Getting your news from CNN.com is a viable option but I would rather read it from people who were there and saw it happen. Similarly, I would rather read about counseling from a 30 year veteran than just a simple definition on Wikipedia.

The problem with blogs, however, is that each blog has its own reputation to build and maintain. The blog community (called the blogosphere) has done a great job of raising the overall opinion of blogs as information disseminators over the last few years. Your blog will benefit from this but you also have your own work to do.

Make sure that your facts can be backed up and include links wherever possible. Your information is doubly powerful if it is corroborated by a quote from someone or even another blog post. Link out to other site when you can and include short quotes when appropriate.

There is one thing that you won’t be able to source: your own experience. Anecdotes are important in building trust and respect but they must be accurate. A simple exaggeration of a particular experience might seem minor when you write it but if you are ever called out it could be disastrous. Building my trust is paramount to being the most interesting blog writer ever. If the story needs modification to fit the post, you don’t need the story (or the post).

Bonus: Ask yourself these questions as you write

• What am I trying to say? What should the reader be getting out of this?
• Why should the reader care about what I’m writing?
• Am I validating what I’m saying? Are my facts straight?
• Am I including too much personal information?
• Could this be split into several different parts? Am I going on too long?
• Is my title strong enough? Does it accurately explain what I’ve written?
• Do my sub-headings make sense? Do they correctly label what follows?
• Am I considering Seth’s 3 U’s: unique, useful, up-to-date?