My Many Kickass Lessons in Blogging 2010

I believe it’s important to take stock every so often and reflect on what worked and what didn’t work in business. Same is true for blogging. Blogging is a business and it grows every year and changes too so it’s vital to stay on top of some trends, while avoiding roadblocks when you can. Here’s what I learned from blogging this year.

Well this is my second year blogging and a much more successful one than the first. I attribute much of that to treating the blog as a business this year. Many of the lessons I learned in 2010 were courtesy of those who have been blogging for quite some time already. This year I took part in the Type A Mom conference, a good experience despite my flight woes and dreadful migraine most of the trip. Also I was named one of Canada’s most connected women and truly was lucky to be part of ShesConnected, a group I look forward to continuing learning from this year as well.

So, here are a few of the savvy blogging tips I got this year

1. From Angela England at Type A Mom. Be a professional. Also guard your work.

Periodically people steal your words on line and when that has happened to her England has successfully sent out invoices to the person who has illegally borrowed her work. Something to the effect of: “You have 7 days to remove my article from your web site or you may pay me a $50 (pick a number here) reprint fee.” Writing is writing. On line, or otherwise, stealing is not okay.

2. Also from Type A Mom.

Never take a picture and use it on your blog without checking copyright first, or asking if you may use the picture. Same goes for pictures. They are protected by copyright and when you steal you are impacting a photographer’s livelihood. If in doubt take your own pictures, or seek them out through picture sharing sites like WikiCommons.

3. From Amy at Momspark.

Create a media kit with levels of sponsorship for when you wish to be part of a conference, but need a sponsor to get there. Tell the company you are approaching what they can expect in return for their investment in you. Also have a similar kit for ads on your blog.

4. Blogging and social media is a two way conversation.

Engage, engage, engage. It can be as simple as throwing out a question at the end of the post.

[tweetthis]Always remember your manners in this line of business too [/tweetthis]

5. Remember your manners always.

(I ran a whole post on this and it was well received – The Bloggess even commented on it) Lee Allport and many others at Type A Mom were very clear. Even when you are a blogger with 50,000 people following you on twitter you do not have a right to act entitled to free stuff and to be rude to other bloggers.

6. If you review products, do so in a timely fashion and send the company a link back to the post.

That goes hand in hand with being professional. I still have some improvement here.

7. Multi-media blogging is huge and growing.

If you aren’t vlogging yet, what are you waiting for? Also webcasts and podcasts are other ways to deliver the goods.

8. Do not sterilize comments.

If you have a nasty troll lurking on your blog publish the comment and leave it alone. Do not engage. Chances are, as I have learned this year personally, they will disappear quickly or be eaten alive by your faithful fans. That tip was courtesy of Velveteen Mind and Scott Stratten too.

Happy New Year! Happy Blogging and Thanks for Reading,
Paula