Three Things I'd Do Differently If I Started Blogging Today

Three Things I’d Do Differently If I Started Blogging Today

The following post is an excerpt from my chapter in Danny Iny’s new book, Engagement From Scratch: How Super Community Builders Create a Loyal Audience and How You Can Do the Same.

It features lessons in community building and content marketing from the likes of Guy Kawasaki, Brian Clark, Mitch Joel, Kristi Hines, Gini Dietrich and many more.

In this excerpt, I share lessons learned and what I would have done differently if I were a new blogger on the scene today.

I Would Have Posted Less Frequently

I started off writing a blog post a day (and sometimes I posted more than once on the same day). Sometimes this made me publish stuff that, in hindsight, could have (should have) been better.

In the middle of 2011, I made a conscious decision to post less frequently, and really ask questions of things in the stuff I wrote about. It made me a better blogger, and resulted in the ensuing comments going through the roof.

I Would Have Been More Honest

Let me rephrase that: I would not have been afraid to speak more honestly.

There were times early on when I wouldn’t have said anything negative about certain people, since I (incorrectly) thought they were right. Turns out we all get blinded by vacuous respect.

When I realized this, and began writing openly about bad practices and calling out bullshit, it once again raised the level of engagement through the roof, as others were clearly thinking the same thing. Be honest, and you’ll have engagement.

I Wouldn’t Be So Closed Off

One of the things many bloggers complain about is that social sites like Twitter and Facebook have seen comment numbers decrease, as conversations about a post shift there, as opposed to taking part on the blog. Heck, I even wrote a post about Twitter killing blog comments!

But that’s missing the point – engagement comes in all shapes and sizes, and while your blog may be the most desired place for discussion, true engagement allows the discussion to expand in all directions.

If I was to do anything differently, it’d be to get active on Facebook sooner (and now Google+). Because, ironically, I’ve tended to find that the more willing I am to converse away from my blog, the more likely people are to click through and read more of my stuff.

And that’s a win-win for every blogger.

How about you? If you could revisit your early days, what would you change the most?

Engagement From Scratch: How Super Community Builders Create a Loyal Audience and How You Can Do the Same is available now. 50% of all profits from book sales go to support the teaching of entrepreneurship.

Buffer

Chris_Eh_Young

Solid advice Danny. I get very few comments on my actual blog but I get some on Facebook, Twitter, and G+. In my opinion, it’s about where the conversation happens, as long as it does.
Chris_Eh_Young

Solid advice Danny. I get very few comments on my actual blog but I get some on Facebook, Twitter, and G+. In my opinion, it’s not about where the conversation happens, as long as it does.
- http://dannybrown.me/ DannyBrown
  
  @Chris_Eh_Young Amen, Chris. We get so wrapped up on location but never really think about the curation part which, as @JudyDunn mentions, is where the *real* gold is.
Peg Fitzpatrick

I am reading Engagement from Scratch right now and am excited to have Danny come on my chat to talk about it.

I think that the being honest, really being comfortable speaking your mind, comes with time and experience. Maybe some people never get there but I aspire towards badassery to the likes of you and dino_dogan I share my blog on Facebook and Google+ but am still working on building the blog engagement through those venues.
Thanks for the solid advice.
- http://dannybrown.me/ DannyBrown
  
  @Peg Fitzpatrick Hey there miss,
  
  It’s a great collection of ideas, isn’t it? Danny Iny did a great job on the whole concept, from idea to execution – loving it!
  
  And yes, the honesty part can be a tough one, especially for newer bloggers. But sometimes setting that stall out from the start can actually help you more. But I hear you on it being a thin line to tread.
  
  Cheers, miss!
http://www.RyanHanley.com/ Ryan Hanley

Danny,

Taking the conversation to where it’s meant to happen is something that I have struggled to get through to my fellow insurance professionals.

Too many of them will say, “I don’t like Twitter I’m not using it…”

Well if the conversation that you NEED to be part of in order to extend your brand message and develop new relationships is taking place on Twitter and not your Blog comments or Facebook page… Well you NEED to be there.

I think that’s a hard concept for many newbies to find out and I think it’s refreshing to know that someone of your stature enduring the same conflict.

Thanks!!!

Ryan H.
- http://dannybrown.me/ DannyBrown
  
  @Ryan Hanley Completely agree, mate – you only need to look at some blog posts that use Livefyre and their SocialSync option to see how integral (and important) Twitter especially can be to a blog post.
  
  It’s definitely a hard concept, but one that’s so rewarding when overcome.
  
  Cheers, mate!
http://judyleedunn.com/ JudyDunn

Hey Danny,

I, too, have done a complete turnaround on the obsession with comments thing. When I started blogging, when Bob would hear a long sigh, he knew I was looking at the empty comment box, wondering WHEN someone was going to come in and start talking. Since then I’ve learned that the social shares are probably way more important because that means more eyeballs are on my content and more people may decide to start following my blog. I believe that comments are the gravy, but the real gold is in the sharing of your content across multiple networks and platforms. Excellent post here.
- http://dannybrown.me/ DannyBrown
  
  @JudyDunn Haha, you and me both, miss! Like you, I love the conversations that happen around a post, but always got a little “miffed” that they happened elsewhere.
  
  But, like you say, the honour is in having *anyone* talk about your content, no matter where it is, which is why I love the SocialSync option of Livefyre .
  
  Cheers, miss!
http://www.Mazzastick.com/ Justin Mazza

Good question. I would have written more guest posts in my early days to get more exposure to my blog. It took a long time to get reliable search traffic from Google. Blog commenting was the number one traffic source to my blog for 6 maybe more months.
- http://dannybrown.me/ DannyBrown
  
  @Justin Mazza I hear you on that, mate. Then again, does that create a conumdrum, since more writing would leave less time for commenting?
BillyDelaney

Hey Danny!
I’m just about coming up to my first year. My blog was an experiment. Training wheels and all that and a cup of tea. So, I have the luxury of listening to people like you, which I do, a lot as it so happens. I think blogging is going to be right back center stage soon. The web is coming around to being about people again and not just the content. So, a good blogger with a good site and content is the place to be for me anyway!
I’ve stayed true to myself, fell off the blogging bike a lot, but all in all I can’t go too wrong listening in here.
Billy
- http://dannybrown.me/ DannyBrown
  
  @BillyDelaney Hey there mate,
  
  I thought you’d gone a little quiet recently – didn’t see any emails come through for new posts (at least, not as often as they used to).
  
  Are you “rejoining” the blogging party, or just continuing to relax a while? Either way, always great to hear from you, sir.
http://markharai.com Mark_Harai

Hey Danny, you’ve always been an inspiration – I’ve witnessed your online persona grow and evolve.

I’m one of your biggest fans, mostly because you kick ass. The more you reveal, the better you get!

Cheers to you sir!
- http://dannybrown.me/ DannyBrown
  
  @Mark_Harai As always, you’re way too kind, mate, and that trip to Costa Rica should happen sooner rather than later.
KittyKilian

Three Things I’d Do Differently If I Started Blogging Today http://t.co/dzESD5kh via @BlogTipsOnline RT @veehcirra
http://www.ipnostudio.com/ Andrea H. | The Hypnotism Weekly

I would not lose so much time using gurus’ tactics for backinks and traffic and focus on writing , reading and commenting. I’m not into the social thing and I’m really thinking to delete all my profiles except Twitter and StumbleUpon because I don’t have time to be there and also I don’t really like the way they see users. I’ll keep just gmail probably, until I’ll move to my own domain email. But Danny given how many posts you write on different blogs are you sure you’re posting less frequently?
- http://dannybrown.me/ DannyBrown
  
  @Andrea Hypno Hi Andrea,
  
  Hah, I hear you! That ties into the second point in the post, where I probably listened too much to people I shouldn’t have… we all learn, though, thankfully!
  
  Funnily enough, I’m still writing less, as I only post on other blogs once a week, as it’s very much a team effort on the other platforms.
http://wordsdonewrite.blogspot.com/ WordsDoneWrite

Really good tips, Danny!

I totally hear ya on the “be more honest front”. Every time I’ve thought something sketchy was going on and I had the nerve to write about, people chimed in with similar thoughts. They were thinking the same thing to, but just hadn’t had the forum to weigh in on it.
- http://dannybrown.me/ DannyBrown
  
  @WordsDoneWrite It’s often surprising how many people share your concerns, eh? Sometimes you just need to have the “balls” to say it, as the follow-up can be liberating.
http://table4five.net/ Elizabeth_Table for Five

I would resist the allure of creating niche blogs. I believed 3 blogs would give me 3 times the traffic, but instead, it just made it harder for me to focus on any one blog. All three have decent page rank now, and committed advertisers, which is nice, but I miss the days when I only had one blog to worry about
- http://dannybrown.me/ DannyBrown
  
  Good point. I recall once getting advice about using BANS sites – riiiighttt…
http://www.slymarketing.com/ Jens

I would have spent a lot more time talking to people instead of focusing on me and my own blog. Listening to other people, and being part of conversations, that’s what I’ve been lacking for the first years of blogging. It was all about setting up the blog, and finding out what to write about, and then pushing content.
http://seosphinx.se/ Dawey

I do have a personal blog, and I can agree with all of it. I did experiment a lot for about a year with being more commercial and linkbaiting. But I lost some of my best visitors that way. At the same time, always being serious and finding something good to write about took a lot of effort. If you have a normal job and a family, and just have a blog as a hobby, it’s extremely hard to blog with quality.
Oh, a great blog btw!
- http://dannybrown.me/ DannyBrown
  
  @Dawey That’s often the case – your readers can soon see that your heart isn’t really in it, and once that happens, it can be hard to recover for sure.
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http://www.seattleweddingofficiants.com/ ElaineMWay

I’m with you about Facebook. FB is my most used social media platform…that and Pinterest, although Pinterest is mostly for fun and relaxation at this point. And it makes total sense that the more interesting you are on FB, the more likely your posts are going to be read (those linked to FB). I just need to write the posts!!!
- http://dannybrown.me/ DannyBrown
  
  @ElaineMWay I have to admit, I get a lot more great thoughts from Facebook than I did on G+ – another reason to bid it farewell.
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