How To (Not) Write A Successful Blog

Photo Credit: Adam Mulligan via Compfight cc

As someone who writes a blog, I tend to read a lot of other blogs. It perpetually amazes me how many blogs are not about people's lives, thoughts, or experiences. No, the great majority of the blogs out there right now are focused on...wait for it...telling other people how to write a blog.

I've looked over many of these other sites, and have come away with two potential conclusions. Either I don't have the slightest idea what I am doing, or everyone else in the blogosphere is out of their minds. See, the most successful writers out there are making suggestions on using their platform to make money by telling people how to create a blog that will tell other people how to make money writing articles talking about using your blog to make money.

Go ahead and read that sentence a couple times, if you need to. Essentially, it works out to being a pyramid scheme at worst, or a distributor/representative kind of relationship at best. The product being sold is nothing more than the idea that you can be successful selling the idea. It spins the head right around, but that is not preventing people from shelling out money to buy guides on how to achieve success.

Why, on Earth, am I tackling this subject? I've finally gotten one too many emails from supposedly well-meaning souls who claim they have read Misdirected and want to sell me their special guide (for anywhere from $.99 all the way to $49.99) telling me how to fix it. Curious, I have gone in search of some of this information for free, and I have learned I am making the following mistakes:

"Misdirected comes out too regularly." Apparently, I should be "reserving" my content for publication only one day a week. I should write down post ideas as they come up, but not share them immediately. I should spend the rest of the week after writing my one article out on social media, promoting my special single article for that week.

"Misdirected articles should be in a bulleted or numbered list." Called "listicles", I have written a few of these for other blogs and websites. Not sure how that would translate here: "5 Things That Lead To Obesity" or "3 Ways to Not Fall Off The Roof of Your House", perhaps?

"Misdirected should contain a lesson and end in a challenge." Hmm. How about "Overeating leads to obesity. Now put down this blog and head to the gym!" Is that about right?

Seriously, now, folks. I write Misdirected more as a journal than an advertisement. It is a conversation I have 4 days out of every 7, with about a thousand people a month. I included AdWords support a few months back, yes, but that is probably about as far as I want monetization to go. I have no desire to start heavily promoting the blog - what would I say? "Obese person records his life! Film at 11!"

Thanks to everyone who is reading Misdirected due to their interest in the journey Lor and I are taking through Bariatric Surgery. I have no intention of embracing the "fix your blog" advice I get on a daily basis, but if you want to write your own blog, feel free to use the tips above to drive your creation to many thousands of hits a day.

You know, no charge.

Monday Is Liquid Diet Day,

- Hawkwind