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Over three years of blogging has taught me that you have to think outside the box to stand out in a crowded market. This means you have to be unique, original and different from your peers in the same space. When you go into blogging know that there are already a thousand people who are writing about the same thing, so you need to make sure you bring something different to the table whether it be a unique perspective, entertaining personality or something shocking to get you noticed.
Be a Different Writer
Write so that your readers can connect with your work. This means you don’t have to have a literary degree or advanced grasp of English and grammar but you do have to be able to weave a connection with words. There are many successful bloggers who are kids, or International bloggers where their articles may be littered with fragmented sentences. As long as they grab your attention and leave a lasting impression though it doesn’t matter if their articles came off as slightly less professional or amateurish. One advantage of being a blogger is you aren’t expected to be a journalist, so you are liberated enough to share opinions, feedback and weave your own story and style to anything you write about.
Be a Different Salesman
You sell the same crap everybody else purveys, but you have to do it differently. Choose stuff that your readers connect with you and your blog and don’t start a blog with selling off the bat, you have to build a fan base and a trust before you can convince people something is worth buying. Use passive income earners like AdSense, or sponsored review services like SocialSpark, SponsoredTweets when you start building a little following and the earnings can be rewarding and keep you going.
You also don’t ever have to directly sell products, many bloggers make a good income with passive ad sales from being an Amazon Affiliate, or other retail outlet affiliate.
Be Outspoken
If you are a blogger you need personality and no matter what you blog about make sure that you speak from the heart and from your own perspective. Share opinions, be honest and speak as you would to a friend in the real world. Outspoken bloggers who are opinionated are the ones who get noticed, but don’t confuse opinionated with unprofessional. Always maintain respect and professionalism so you keep a potential working relationship with advertisers and respect with your fans and readers at the top of your priority list.
Blog About Anything
Blog about anything you are passionate about, you don’t need a specific niche or category. Just start blogging about the things you like, dislike, love, hate or what you find entertaining and make sure you engage your readers, ask for opinions and experiment often. Mommy bloggers are among the most popular because they blog about any and all topics without sticking with one genre or another. Don’t underestimate the power of personal blogs, but make sure if you are going to share anything you keep it to only the stuff that would entertain, interest or grab attention.
Blogging Doesn’t Cost Much
There is a minimal investment in blogging and you can pretty much use a free cloud hosted blogging platform like Blogger.com or WordPress.com until you gain enough of a following to move to a self hosted platform (which you may never need to do). One thing you should do however is always buy a unique domain name and keep it up, this way you can move it with you and keep its ranking, recognition and links intact. Trust me on this, always purchase a DNS name and stick with it for the long haul. I have known many bloggers who didn’t spend the $10 per year to get a DNS name up front and regretted it.
There is so many competing bloggers in the Internet, just know that you don’t have to be the best at any topic, you just have to be unique, original and be memorable. Experiment, engage, shock, annoy, entertain and most of all display your passions and connect with your readers on an emotional level and you will gradually start to build a following.
-Justin Germino