Are you worried about differentiating yourself from the millions of other blogs out there? After all, one could view the blogosphere as a massive haystack with a few valuable, glittering needles hidden inside it – the blogs with valuable content. The search engines help people discover the needles, but it’s up to the individual bloggers to get them to use the needles to sew and make something great (okay, I definitely stretched the limits of that metaphor).

One of the best ways to be sticky is to create a site that is a feast for the senses – an elegant design and bold images for the eyes, interesting videos and podcasts for the ears, and luscious language that paints a picture in your readers’ minds. Be creative with your word selection and try to choose the most precise, accurate terms to express your ideas.

First of all, a thesaurus is your friend, whether you rely on an printed and bound book or you use websites like Thesaurus.com. Thesauri are especially valuable when you notice that you’ve been using the same words too many times and as a result, your writing is flat, boring, and/or redundant. A quick trip to the thesaurus to find alternative options can liven things up in no time, and you might discover new terms that work even better than your go-to phrases.

You don’t have to neglect SEO and your keywords to writing appealing posts, either. First of all, it’s important to integrate a significant variety of keywords into your posts – using only two or three constantly is a dead giveaway that it’s SEO copy and many people will click away (and it doesn’t matter how much traffic SEO sends your way if they leave within a second or two). After all, don’t you want people to stick around, so you get multiple pageviews, interesting comments, and incoming links?

Another way to inspire your writing is to keep a folder or set of bookmarks filled with quality writing by people you admire. You can pull it out when you’re feeling unmotivated to get your creative juices flowing. Personally, I use del.icio.us for this – I have tags for “inspiration” and “writing” and “creativity” and more in my account. Social media is for more than just connecting people – you can use it to organize your ideas, sources, and inspirations.

Last but not least, it’s important to remember that the number one way to become a skilled writer is to practice, practice, practive, and then practice some more. If you’re serious about improving your work, it’s important to write something everyday, even if it’s just a short paragraph or two, and to read the work of other writers – you never know where you’ll pick up a new technique or interesting insight.  Remember no matter how much you SEO, search marketing is still about writing great content.

Yesterday I talked about the importance of using the correct spelling, grammar, and puncuation in your posts, because it seemed logical to start a series on writing with the basics, and because words are the backbone and the heart of your blog.   Now it’s time to discuss how you can use those words to make a powerful impression.

One of things that makes writing compelling is the active voice. Using the active voice is attention-grabbing and usually results in clearer, more direct prose than the passive voice. You should use the active voice when you’re telling a story and you want to draw the reader in.  Here’s an example of each voice:

In a sentence written in the active voice, the subject acts:

The smart business blogger wrote an excellent post.

In a sentence written in the passive voice, the subject is acted upon:

The excellent post was written by the smart business blogger.

Although writing in the passive voice is not necessarily wrong or always a bad idea, using it all the time can lead to flat, uninteresting writing or awkward sentence construction.  The passive voice is a good call, however, when you’re writing about observations or research and you want to maintain objectivity- academic and scientific writing is typically done in the passive voice.  Also, sometimes it’s just the best way to convey your intended meaning (check out this article from Essay, I Say for more advice on when to go with the passive voice).

That said, there’s no denying the fact that the active voice is more compelling.  It’s clearer, more comprehensible, and less wordy, and when it comes to blogging, simplicity and brevity are key.  Don’t believe me? Take a look at some of your favorite bloggers – I’ll bet they use the active voice more often than not.

Inspiration and creativity are tricky. Sometimes the ideas are flowing and you’re on fire, sometimes it feels like your well has temporarily dried up. That’s when it’s time to look outside your niche or domain for fresh content.

It can be extremely beneficial to look outside of your general topic area for ideas – to concentrate on making associations, to figuring out how some seemingly disparate ideas are linked.  Figuring out how to link widely varied topics or thoughts together in a coherent way is also an excellent mental workout (and hey, so is blogging), and you might as well boost your critical thinking skills along with your blog.

Now, I know you have a wide variety of interests outside of your blogging niche, so take a look at your favorite subjects and see if you can make any connections between them.  For instance, I’m a major football fan, so I occasionally use football metaphors and stories in my writing, especially in the fall.  Can you relate your favorite sport to your business/blog topic area somehow?  Are there any lessons to be learned on the field/court/ice/etc. that translate to the rest of the world?

What about hobbies?  Are you particularly crafty, or do you love to bake?  How are these skills related to your blog?  If you’re an aspiring gourmet and passionate about quality food, share your passion with your readers.  Can you use a cooking metaphor (e.g. spending hours slow cooking barbeque or Bolognese sauce that has to simmer all day – someone who actually loves to cook can probably come up with a better one) to tell a story about how careful, meticulous work is worth it in the end?  Or you could talk about how experimenting with a recipe turned out incredibly well, and compare that to trying out new marketing concepts for your business?

This could even apply to other individuals – is there anyone you admire in a different field than your own?  A look at why they are worthy of admiration could still be valuable advice for your readers even if they’re in a different niche.  A smart, talented individual might have insights and knowledge that prove useful to people in a whole variety of fields.  For instance, if you own a small business, is there another business owner in your community that you could interview (whether you are in the same niche or not)?  Whether or not they have a blog or website of their own, it’s excellent way to participate in the community and add some inspiring content to your site.

You could also write about a favorite author, a family pet, or a beloved spot in your hometown.  Really, the possibilities are endless once you remove any self-imposed limits to going off-topic.   Just be sure to tie it in to your main topic(s) somehow, and be sure to get some of your keywords in there as well.   After all, going temporarily off-topic is one thing, but don’t derail your blog completely.

Next time you’re sitting in front of a blank screen, the cursor blinking like a cruel taunt saying “aren’t you supposed to be the brilliant creative one? Why can’t you think of something to write about?” (or maybe that’s just me), try writing about something you’ve bought recently.  It doesn’t matter if it was as small as a cup of coffee or as large as a new home, just as long as it was remarkable.

1.  Write about a delicious meal.  Writing about a fabulous restaurant or great little cafe can be an excellent move even if you’re not a foodie blogger.  For instance, if you own a store of any kind, tell your readers about the best “hidden gem” eateries in the area.   Hey, it’ll encourage them to check out the neighborhood and establish you as a local authority.  Besides, it’s a good way to help out another business owner.

2. Write about a book or magazine.  Have you picked up a new book or discovered a new magazine lately?  Why did you buy it?  Link to other articles about the book, explain why this particular book appealed to you, review it if you’re already read it, etc.  If you come across an excellent new resource in your topic area, tell other people about it.

3.  Write about a new gadget.  Did you get a new computer, phone, camera, or other fun shiny object recently?   Share your experience, talk about it’s functions, explain how the gadget is valuable to you.  Try to make it relevant to your niche by telling readers how this particular shiny object makes your life and business better.

4. Write about an experience.  Did you go to a cool concert or attend an interesting seminar?  Why not write it up for your readers?   Don’t forget to check out YouTube for clips of the event in question, especially if you know it was being recorded.  After all, if a picture is worth a thousand words, a video is worth at least a million.

5.  Write about excellent customer service.  Did a company impress you with their amazing customer service?  Talk about it!  Relate it to your business (almost everyone has customers/clients to deal with), use it as a stellar example how a company succeeded. Of course, the flip side to this is to blog about poor customer service, and if you do that, take the opportunity to deliver some constructive criticism instead of just complaining.

So if you’re ever at a loss for blogging words, think about the last few things you spent money on, or the last remarkable customer service you had.  Recommending quality products and experiences is just one more way to establish authority, after all, and if something improved your life and business, your readers want to know about it.

I was very, very impressed by this guest post on Problogger from Gala of iCiNG about the 9 Lessons she’s learned from blogging.  Yes, she’s a niche blogger -her blog deals with fashion and style, which are common topics in the blogosphere but she definitely adds her own unique spin to everything. She points out an incredibly important aspect of blogging that I’d be willing to bet all successful bloggers know.

And I quote:

Blogging isn’t about shouting the loudest or being really important, it’s about connecting & engaging in a dialogue with other people. If you’re not actually interested in interacting with anyone else or hearing other people’s opinions, you might as well be keeping a diary for yourself. Like it or lump it, having a blog is like being in retail. If people don’t like you, they will go (& spend their money) elsewhere.

If I’ve said it once, I’ve said it a million times – successful bloggers manage to connect and communicate with their readers, and that’s what makes them so popular.  On the most basic level, they create value for their readers, and that’s why readers keep coming back.

Yes, listening and responding to your readers takes some time, but remember that they are like customers – keeping readers interested is essential to your success.  If you put in the hours creating compelling content, whether it’s a how-to or a round-up of useful resources, it will eventually pay off.  Of course, you need to promote it with SEO and link-building, but you had better concentrate on creating something quality to market first.

One excellent way to create value is to teach your readers something.  If you’re a business blogger, chances are there’s at least one area where you possess some expertise, so share your knowledge with your visitors.  By helping others you can help yourself.  An example from the sports world – hockey great Wayne Gretzky recorded more than twice as many assists as goals (1963 career assists vs. 894 goals), and he still holds almost every possible scoring record.  It’s clear that he helped his teammates succeed, and now he’s considered one of the greatest hockey players of all time.

Focus on what you can give to your readers – “ask not what your readers can do for you, ask what you can do for your readers“.  Yes, I took some serious liberties with John F. Kennedy’s classic phrase, but it’s important for bloggers to remember that they must contribute to community in order to reap its rewards.

Blogging is essentially a social, conversational medium, so it only goes to follow that you can’t successfully blog in a vacuum.  You have to read and respond to other bloggers, link to outside websites, and be aware of what others in niche are talking about by participating in the popular social media networks.

Basically, you have to read at least as much as you write.  First of all, reading and absorbing the work of talented writers is one of the most important things you can do when it comes to developing your own writing voice.  It only goes to follow that, if you want to get the most out of your blog, you have to read other blogs as well.  Besides, being aware of the current popular topics in in the blogosphere is valuable, and you’ll never know where you’ll pick up a great tip or two.

You don’t even necessarily have to read tons of blogs about blogging (although as your Blogging Coach, I would say that you should definitely keep an eye on a few meta-blogs); useful, well-written advice and positive examples can be found on blogs in any niche.  It’s also important to check out blogs that discuss similar topics to yours, so you can pick up on market trends and see if anyone has written, linked to, or created anything interesting.

One of the key differences between blogging and more traditional forms of media, marketing, and public relations is that it’s a two way street.  Yes, your readers can and will respond to your posts in the comments, but other bloggers can write responses on their blogs too.  Reacting and sharing opinions are a key part of participating in the blogosphere, so it’s not only useful, it’s imperative that you read at least a few other blogs.

Don’t think that you have the time to read?  Try subscribing to your favorites and scanning them in a reader (I personally prefer Google Reader, but there are tons of options out there), or tagging posts that intrigue you with a “toread” tag in del.icio.us and coming back them when you have time to spare.

What other blogs do you read? Do you read them for news, education, inspiration, or entertainment (or a mix of all the above?)

Promotion and marketing are usually the main motivations that business bloggers have for starting their blogs.  Yes, they may want to join the conversation in the blogosphere in order to learn more about their niche and interact with other smart people, but in the end, their goal is promote their brand – and there’s nothing wrong with that.

However, many business blogs focus on how wonderful the company is, or how awesome their products are – and while that may be true, a company may provide top-notch services and their products may indeed change users’ lives, these bloggers are neglecting to realize that they are not taking full advantage of their presence in the online community.

In order to really promote your brand, you have to take the focus of you, your abilities, and your products.  You have to make the reader the hero.  Tell your readers what you can do for them, use your blog to provide value by sharing your knowledge, and show them how you, your company, and/or your products can improve their lives.

Testimonials from happy customers can help accomplish this goal, as long as they give a concrete reason why you’re great – be sure each testimonial offers specific examples instead of generic praise.   For instance, if you’re a real estate agent, you would want to feature a testimonial about you found your client their dream home in an ideal neighborhood and helped them negotiate an excellent price, not a testimonial stating “X is a wonderful, hard-working agent.”  If you are going to use testimonials, have your customers tell the blogosphere how you changed their lives.

But while testimonials alone can make your blog good, teaching and helping your readers improve their situations can make it great.  From self-help bloggers like Steve Pavlina (“Personal Development for Smart People) to career bloggers like Deborah Ng (Deborah Ng’s Freelance Writing Jobs), bloggers have used their sites to promote their expertise and brands by helping others.   They’ve made their readers their heroes, and because they truly want to see them succeed, they’ve achieved success themselves.

Making your reader the hero can also lead to a boost in terms of word-of-mouth marketing.  After all, if you help someone solve a problem, they are that much more likely to tell their friends and family about your blog and your business, because people tend to share content that they consider useful and valuable.

In conclusion, remembering that it’s not all about you can have a positive effect on your blog and your business. After all, if it weren’t for your clients, customers, and readers, you wouldn’t even have a business – so make sure they get to be the hero by focusing your blog on their wants and needs.

Traditional media does have a place in the blogosphere – it gives bloggers something to talk about.  This week’s installment of how to beat blogger’s block involves reviewing, criticizing, and discussing items from old school formats.

1.  Review a book.  Has anything interesting been published in your niche lately?  Is there a book that everyone’s talking about it?  Read it and share your opinions.  Go into detail – if you loved it, explain why you think it’s great.  Ditto if you hated it.  Quote the parts you like and give your readers an idea of what they find in the book.  If you’re in PR, for example, cover a recently published book like The New PR: An Insider’s Guide to Changing the Face of Public Relations by Phil Hall.

2.  Critique a newspaper article.  Whether it is your local paper or the NY Times, chances are someone has written something about your blog’s topic.  Link to the article if you can (or provide a summary if you can’t find it online), and tell your readers how you felt about it.  Did the reporters get it right?  Write an op-ed style response or just point your readers in the direction of an awesome piece.  One possibility is for a sports blogger to link to their local paper and provide more detailed coverage of their favorite team (hey, on the web, you’re not limited by column inches).

3. Comment on a TV Show. Television counts when it comes to media (in fact, it’s the most popular form in the U.S.), so if there is a show that’s related to your blog’s topic, talk about it.  For instance, if you’re a real estate agent, comment on Flip That House or one of the many home improvement shows.  Did you see anything really innovative or completely unrealistic?  Be the expert opinion, and don’t forget to search for clips on You Tube to add dimension to your blog.

4.  Provide an overview of a magazine.  Look at any newstand and you’ll see tons of different publications, and chances are there are there are related to your niche.  Pick out the best for your readers and let them know what’s in that month’s issue (chances are you read magazines that cover your field anyways, so why not use that as blog fodder?), or write an in-depth review of a particular article.  Do you own a trendy boutique?  Check out the editorials in the latest glossies, and compare them to your shop’s current offerings, or if you’re a stylist, offer less expensive alternatives to the high end pieces that are often featured.

5.  Respond to a radio show.  If you hear something interesting on the radio, make note of it and talk about it later on your blog.  Don’t be afraid to respond in kind by creating a podcast as well (but be sure to write too, because you can’t use your keywords in a way that matters to search engines in podcasts).  Be sure to check out the radio station’s website to see if they have more information on the program.

When you’re working on your blog, don’t be afraid to look outside the blogosphere for potential blog fodder.  After all, there’s a whole world of media out there that’s just full of ideas.

I’ve suggested before that when you’re creating your About page and your first few introductory posts, you should interview yourself.  But that’s easier said than done, and personally I always find it easier to write about things other myself.  However, your blog is about you and building your brand, so creating a detailed profile is vital.

As a result of my blogging experience (seriously, there are thousands of posts and hundreds of thousands of words that I’ve written on the web), I’ve had lots of experience interview and writing profiles of individuals from all walks of life.  Therefore, I’ve compiled a list of questions that I use as prompts when I interview someone.

Of course, my actual questions change depending on the characteristics of the person I’m profiling, but here’s the basic template (this is geared towards business owners and/or people who are using their blogs to market something).   Feel free to take this as a survey, and answer it on your own blog (skip any questions you don’t like or add your own).

1. Who are you, what do you do, and where do you live (the basic data -this one is a softball question)?  How about family (married, single, kids, pets)?

2. What is your background (education, career, awards, achievements, etc.)? Basically, why should readers be listening to you and reading your blog?  This is an especially important question for authority bloggers – people who blog to promote their expertise on a particular topic – to answer.

3. How did you get to where you are today? Tell your readers about the journey.  What forces shaped you?  Have you always been involved in the industry that you’re part of today?  What interesting twists and turns has your life taken?

4. Where do you hope to be in the future?  You don’t necessarily need to post a five year plan or anything that detailed, but talk about your aspirations.  Where do you see yourself in the future?

5. What are you passionate about?  What inspires you and why?  If you’re in a creative field, what is your muse?  What gets you out of bed in the morning and what makes you happier than anything else?

6. What are some current trends in your industry/niche/topic area?  How do you feel about them personally and where do you think your field is headed?

7. What makes you unique in your field?  In general?  How do you stand out from the crowd? (Again, this falls into the category of why your readers should be reading your blog).

8. Who are your heroes? Who do you look up to? Why are they awesome?

9. On the opposite note, do you have any key advice for newcomers to your field? What do you wish you had known when you started?

10. Do you have any favorite quotes that always ring true with you?  What are they?

11. What is a typical day in your life like?

12. What are your hobbies and what do you do when you’re not working? What kind of music do you like, what are your favorite movies/games/sports?

13. What are some of your favorite places, in your current hometown and in the world? Why are they your favorites?

14.  Name a few interesting facts or unique talents you have.  Is there anything truly off-the-wall or have you done something that few other people have?  Do you have any weird but wonderful accomplishments under your belt?  Share some interesting anecdotes.

15.  If your readers could only remember one thing about you, what would it be?  Can you sum up your brand – your uniqueness – in a sentence or two?

And last but not least, the one question that I always ask at the end of an interview:

16. Is there anything you wish I would have asked you that I missed?

New to the blogging world and wondering what it’s all about?

Here’s a hint: blogging is like writing a column.  Think of the web as a giant media organization, sort of like a community driven, open source version of the Associated Press that is constantly churning out new content.  Each individual reader composes their own local paper of their favorite sites and blogs that they read regularly (and bookmark or subscribe to).

So really, maintaining a blog is not entirely unlike having your own byline and column in your reader’s newspaper.  Like a columnist, you have a dedicated topic -your niche – that you give your own personal spin.  Bloggers and columnists both have personal brands that they promote, and they usually write in their own voices, in the first person.

You may reply, “but I want to use my blog to market something, not to write a personal column.” Yes, but the basic idea is still the same – your blog is simply an advertorial or advertising column instead of an editorial one.  You are still blogging to promote your brand, just in a more conversational, interactive sense.

But that’s about where the similarities end, because as everyone knows, the web is fundamentally different from other media – it’s dynamic, it’s constantly updated, and it’s much more democratic in the sense that anyone who can get a hold of a computer and an internet connection can participate in the conversation.

If the web is a conversation, traditional media is a collection of lectures.  You can listen and even take notes, but you can’t respond.  This what makes blogging such a powerful new form of marketing – it breaks down the walls and lets businesses speak directly to customers, experts directly to their audience in the form of authority blogs, and allows virtually everyone to promote their personal brand.

The level of reader participation is a big part of what makes blogging different from print publications – readers can comment, other bloggers can link to your posts, and you can instantly respond to questions.  Blogging is dynamic, print is static.  Like the rest of the web, it is also much more community based, as it is important to interact with and link to other bloggers in your niche – to participate in the discussion.