Becoming a “rockstar blogger” takes a lot of patience, dedication and effort.
Success rarely happens overnight, so if you’re determined to become one of the top bloggers in your niche you will have to put in the work to see your blog soar to the top.
No matter what niche you blog in – even if it’s very targeted – you are going to be competing against thousands of other bloggers who are at least as knowledgeable as you are, if not more so. If you hope to grow a successful blog with a large following, here are a few tips to help get you going in the right direction.
1. Be Genuine
No one wants to read a blog that sounds as if it was written by a robot. Well, maybe some people do – but that’s not going to get you to the top of the blogging charts.
When writing any blog post, it’s important that you write like a real person. A good rule of thumb to live by is write like you normally speak (keeping proper punctuation and grammar, of course.)
Inserting conversational words or phrases into your blog posts gives you a personality and will make you seem more relatable to your readers.
You should also not be afraid to get personal. When you pepper your blog posts with personal anecdotes here and there, you’re more likely to build a rapport with your readership and encourage them to engage with you, your blog and your followers.
Even if you’re writing a business blog, you can still share amusing tidbits about your family, your dogs, etc. to help humanize yourself and make your readers feel as if they actually know you. Far from being unprofessional, injecting personal anecdotes into your blog writing will help you stand out from the crowd.
2. Be Nice
Part of being a rockstar blogger means being nice to all of your readers – even those you don’t agree with. Instead of engaging in diva-like behavior and responding to negative comments with a bitchy attitude, for example, simply delete the comment and move on.
No one wants to follow a blog where the blog owner feels as if he or she is above everyone else and can do whatever they want without consequence.
Additionally, make it a point to respond to comments, emails, etc. in a timely fashion. The last thing you want to do is alienate your readership by failing to follow-up with them. Being nice also applies to your interactions on other blogs.
If you regularly read and comment on other blogs within your niche, make sure you are respectful and polite.
3. Be Consistent
Remember how I said you would need to dedicate yourself completely to your blog if you wanted to succeed?
Part of that means being consistent – posting on a regular basis. This doesn’t mean you need to post something every single day, but even if you are only posting once a week you need to find a schedule that works for you and stick with it.
Adopting a consistent posting schedule will allow readers to know when they can expect something from you. On a particularly busy day when you know you won’t be able to post, you can schedule posts in advance so there will be something there for readers to enjoy.
Part of being consistent also means staying within your blog niche. For example, if you’ve started a fitness blog, you need to make sure all of your posts relate to that. You wouldn’t start blogging about cameras one day, than pet food the next.
Stick to your niche and follow your posting schedule and people will learn to count you as a reliable blogger in your field.
Becoming a Rockstar Blogger
Becoming a rockstar blogger will not happen overnight, but it’s certainly doable for those with the drive and dedication to succeed.
There are numerous ways to propel your blog to a top spot within your niche, but by being genuine, polite and reliable you will be well on your way to being a popular, successful blogger.
So very true Brian. Whenever people ask me for my secret or strategy I tell them to be yourself. That is what people want to see or read. They want to know the person. They want to know that the person isn’t a machine. That there is a face, thought and passion behind the content.
Hey Scott very well put my friend
Thank you Rob!
You very welcome Scott
Yeah, I’ve tried starting a number of blogs in niches that I didn’t particular like – yet thought they could be lucrative.
My passion areas are WordPress, social media and the internet so I find that the most satisfying (and successful) way to spend my time is to blog here on those very topics.
You are so right Scott. You can’t try to imitate anyone other than yourself. People see right through that.
Hi Brian very good points, being devoted to something you love doing helps you devolope the skills you need to advance. Great post
I can’t wait to start blogging… as soon as I make myself my own client to take my site to the next level and get it on Genesis. I went in to add portfolio items last week and decided that doing anything at this point was a waste of time.
At least I’m piling up post ideas that I can trickle out for weeks by waiting for my turn to get my own redesign work.
I think you should do two things on your site. Blog about your experiences online and becoming an entrepreneur and also write up tutorials and how-tos on using Genesis to establish (more) authority and expand your traffic and brand.
Great points Brian that’s just what Im doing thanks.
Brian, speaking about Genesis……
I’d like to create a page (on my web design site) that has all the Genesis themes available, with my affiliate code attached to each one. A page similar to what StudioPress has for its themes. Any idea about how best to conquer this idea?
Charles this is my page of Genesis themes… feel free to use the code, I copied it from Brian’s old site.
Just a series of divs.
No hotlinking to the images please.
http://www.wmwebdesign.co.uk/genesis-child-themes-for-wordpress/
Keith, you’re brilliant. Thanks for the information! And great job, too.
By the way, have you noticed any increase in conversion rate by doing it this way?
Also, did you use columns?
Hi Charles
Not been going long enough to see large variations in affiliate sales, but I’ve had a steady increase.
A portfolio of Genesis themes allows you to “invite people over to view”.
I’ve also separated the Pro Plus themes and the Marketplace themes.
You may choose to keep them together.
The page is a full width page with no columns (presumably you mean table columns) and each theme has its own div.
Divs are styled via stylesheet.
Take a look using Firebug if you use Firefox or developer tools if you use Chrome.
Good luck Charles.
Thanks Keith. I’m working on it. I appreciate your help!
It seems that I need to work on “patience, dedication and effort” to be a better blogger. Also I’ll need to work on the other great points you mention to be a even better blogger in the future than I’m now. Continually learning to improve my blogging skills.
Hi James improving will surely come with time, but one thing you have to do is enjoy what you do.
In my opinion, patience is one of the most important things when you’re starting a blog. At some point, and the timeline varies, bloggers experience what is similar to the “wall” that marathoners hit.
This is a point where you think you can’t keep going and ask yourself if you have what it takes to break through.
Surely we all reach that point, but I then ask my self do I really enjoy blogging? and it’s then I realize I love what I do even if I make an impact
on just a few people.
You see online we can be what ever we want I just want to teach people what I have learned hoping things will be easier for then.
Blogging is not like writing a book. In other words, I would never return to someone’s blog if he/she wrote in the 3rd person. I want to know what “you” think…not what “Charles” thinks.
Blogging is all about interaction. It’s not really a spectator sport, because every reader can get involved in the comments and social sharers.
There seems to be some potential conflict between “be genuine” and “be nice/not a diva”. The really only work together if being nice is genuinely you (and me.. I hope).
But for some (aspiring) bloggers, being nice to everyone might not be genuine. Or being their genuine, real self, might not have them at their most diplomatic.
Thanks for using the image of Bono Brian.
Helps me believe that you can become an Old Rockstar Blogger.
Hope for us all.
Heh, if I wanted to really emphasize that point Keith – I would have used Mick Jagger.
That would have been going too far Brian.
Brian,
Your post is right on! I’ve been at it since 2007 and have had some success. I find that I love to write, and I love writing about what I’m doing everyday as a part of my job even more.
I recently moved my blog over to the Genesis framework using your eleven40 Child theme. I love it!
I think the “patience” aspect is one of tension for me. Not just because I’m naturally impatient about wanting to see results, but also because even if you train yourself to be patient, then Twitter is plastered with articles like: “How I gained 200,000 subscribers in 30 days!” and so on.
Really, it reminds me of the promises made to dieters about “losing 20 lbs in 2 weeks!” But it’s distracting and can be hard to keep your head and have reasonable expectations.
Be genuine and mix a post with personal touch is really works, even if the post itself not really helping the readers. I found blogs which whatever the author posts always gaining tremendous comments. That was because the next point you mention here Brian, he always respond to comment nicely and visiting other’s blog to make comments.
Even I sometimes questioning myself about blog niche, is it really exist? because their blog is not consistent on a single topics.
Certainly, if you are producing the post that helping your reader in their problems and you are giving solution to them than the readers will certainly likes to come again and again for the solutions and I think one most important factor to become a rockstar blogger one should need to answer comments asap that’s been very crucial factor creating online authority.
Great tips to keep in mind when blogging. I think consistency is where a lot of people have issues. Life can get in the way, but using tools like scheduling and staying ahead of posts tends to help with that.
I mostly write my blogs to get my own thoughts out. Sometimes people like it and sometimes they don’t but I am always pleased that I am doing it. It’s like some kind of therapy for me I guess.