After continually hearing myself say ‘you should start a blog’ I started to research the topic and found it was a bit more involved than I thought.
We highly recommend our clients include a blog in their online marketing strategy, but each clients level of writing and technical skills differ and I have to admit that since we mostly concentrate on social media marketing and websites, my knowledge of the in’s and out’s and do’s and don’ts and best practices of blogging can get outdated very quick.
Blogging tactics and strategies when done right, can be a very effective way of increasing traffic to your site. It is great for SEO and as a way to feed content out to your social media profiles. However, we regularly see this valuable strategy being ignored, neglected or done badly.
Since I have admitted that my in-depth knowledge of blogging is a little lacking, I thought I should do some research and find a product that we can recommend to our clients and friends who are just starting out in the Blogosphere. If you search for ‘free blogging resources‘ you will be sure to come across thousands of different informative sites.
After hours of trawling through the search engines, I found I was repeatedly gravitating towards the blogging superstars and what they had to say on the subject. Then I discovered there are hundreds of blogging superstars and after getting myself lost in all the great posts for a couple of hours, I finally narrowed it down to a local superstar who I was convinced really did know what they were talking about.
Since I moved to the Gold Coast a couple of months ago, I have been actively networking with Australian’s in the online industry and one name that kept popping up on all the social networks I frequent was Darren Rowse.
Darren’s site ProBlogger contains a minefield of information and after spending a few hours reading his posts, I really began to get an understanding of the scope of blogging, and the many different tactics and strategies that can be used for producing content and attracting visitors. For beginners and professional bloggers alike, ProBlogger is the place to go. So then I was convinced I had found my go-to man and I purchased his book - 31 Days to Build a Better Blog. It has been the best purchase I have made in a long time and I have put it down as Educational Material because I have learnt so much from it.
31 Days to Build a Better Blog is presented in a workbook format where you can work though the lessons as fast or as slow as you want.
(From the Preface)
The idea is simple. By the end of this challenge you’ll have learned 31 aspects of blogging and put them into practice. It is designed not only to fill your head with knowledge ABOUT blogging but also give you some concrete things to do to actually DO something with the knowledge.
31 Days to Build a Better Blog is for bloggers at different stages of their blogging including:
- those who have just started a blog but who don’t know what to do next
- those who have had a blog for a while but it’s stalled in its growth
- bloggers with bloggers block and lacking inspiration
This workbook is NOT designed for bloggers yet to start a blog (PreBloggers). It doesn’t cover researching and setting up a blog. If you are at this stage, look at ProBlogger’s Guide to your First Week of Blogging and if you are not great with the technical side of blogging, ask us about our prices for setting up a basic WordPress Blog to get you started.
As the title suggests, there are 31 tasks, one for each day, which focuses on a different area of blogging. There are teachings on that particular area explaining the importance of the task at hand and plenty of tips on how to actually implement that particular task.
31 Days to Build a Better Blog is written in a clear, structured and easily digestible format. The in-depth information is put together well and this workbook will certainly give you the tools, strategies and capability to make your blog even better and especially better than your competitors. You will discover that Darren’s many years of professional blogging experience is apparent throughout this workbook and the tips and tricks he shares is well worth the investment.
While I was visiting ProBlogger, I also liked the look of Darren’s latest eBook “The Copywriters Scorecard for Bloggers” which is of the same quality as 31DBBB and I am planning on purchasing this book also. Watch this space for a review coming soon!
If you decide to purchase this book based on my recommendation, leave your review in the comments below and I will contact you with a free copy of our own eBook - ‘Get Your Social Media Marketing Sorted!’
What are you waiting for? Start your blogging journey today!
[Note: Yes there are affiliate links in this review, cheers for buying me a coffee!]
