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Sep 14 / Viji Iyer

Launching your blog? Some considerations

Photo by Steve Jurvetson

My mum always told me ‘don’t be shy! Always feel free to express yourself!’ What that taught me was to break away from my own mould and not be my own enemy as I venture into new things. As a natural sequel to my introductory post I’d like to dedicate this post to all the people who influenced me during this process as I was deliberating about starting my own blog. As much as it took me several months of active procrastination to get to this point, I’ve spent the past few months interacting with some great people and gaining valuable advice in return. This post is compendium of all the creative advice I’ve gotten from the people I’ve met and known, thanking them to help me get to this point. I thought it was only fair that I shared what I learnt and spread their magic.

‘Food for thought’ as you get ready to launch your blog

Don’t be stuck in ‘analysis-paralysis’ get moving with it.
Blogging does not have to be sweat-breaking process that follows the sentiments of a white paper, so don’t over think it, let the creative juices just flow and enjoy the process.

Don’t go for perfection or uniqueness – doesn’t exist.
I kept stressing on what could I say ‘new’ that’s not been said before? Then it just hit me; it’s not what you say but how you say it that brings the novelty in it. People will always welcome your viewpoint on a specific topic. So make it unique by giving it your voice.

Always imagine yourself sitting across your boss sharing feedback over a cup of coffee.
Getting comfortable with this mental visual as you write your blog will help keep the tone of your blog engaging and conversational.

First write recklessly with your heart, then go back and revise it with your head.
Try not to be over-cautious as you write your first draft; just write what comes to you initially. This will bring out the spontaneity and allow your readers to get to know you better. Then, imagine having the same conversation with your boss and revise it accordingly!

Find people you can trust who can call a spade a spade.
Networking is key! Find people who you aspire to be like and can learn from. More importantly, surround yourself with people who are not afraid to give you honest feedback about your work. I thank my family for being my biggest critics pushing me to do better!

Content is still king!
If you do, invest in this whole-heartedly, for the right reasons and don’t shirk on the quality of work. If you want your readers to come back, your content must appeal!

If you are out there trying to venture into this, don’t bother to reinvent the wheel – leverage the one that currently exists! These are few of the blog sites that I admire (listed in no particular order) –

What has been some of the interesting advice you have gotten or shared with others on blogging?

Photo by jurvetson
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  • http://staceyalex.com Stacey Alex

    Another great post, Viji. All of those are great pieces of advice. I’d like to add, that it’s ok if your posts are short. People don’t want to spend forever reading it anyway. Just try to get some interesting content up as often as you can.

  • http://staceyalex.com Stacey Alex

    Another great post, Viji. All of those are great pieces of advice. I’d like to add, that it’s ok if your posts are short. People don’t want to spend forever reading it anyway. Just try to get some interesting content up as often as you can.

  • http://topsy.com/vijiiyer.com/2010/09/launching-your-blog-some-considerations/?utm_source=pingback&utm_campaign=L2 Tweets that mention Launching your blog? Some considerations | Viji Iyer — Topsy.com

    […] This post was mentioned on Twitter by Brian McDonald, Stacey Alexander. Stacey Alexander said: If you're starting a blog and need some advice/reassurance check out this post by @viji__iyer http://bit.ly/dqcF2D […]

  • http://squarejawmedia.com Brian McDonald

    I’m going to bookmark this post for when I have people ask me about how to start blogging. One key piece of advice I give is to develop a content strategy and take 30 minutes to brainstorm on 30 topics that you want to write about. This list of topics gives you a “well” to go back to and get content topics to write about on days you don’t feel like writing or have writer’s block.

  • http://squarejawmedia.com Brian McDonald

    I’m going to bookmark this post for when I have people ask me about how to start blogging. One key piece of advice I give is to develop a content strategy and take 30 minutes to brainstorm on 30 topics that you want to write about. This list of topics gives you a “well” to go back to and get content topics to write about on days you don’t feel like writing or have writer’s block.

  • http://www.twitter.com/LainieH Lainie Hoverstad

    Excellent blog post. Thanks for writing this article. It is actually very helpful to me and I’m going to bookmark it. PS you reached out to me on twitter and I remembered you when I saw your face on the blog post. Have a great day! :)

  • http://www.twitter.com/LainieH Lainie Hoverstad

    Excellent blog post. Thanks for writing this article. It is actually very helpful to me and I’m going to bookmark it. PS you reached out to me on twitter and I remembered you when I saw your face on the blog post. Have a great day! :)

  • http://deirdrereid.com Deirdre Reid

    Welcome to the blogosphere! I’m so glad you jumped in. What a great launch! You may find that the focus of your blog changes over time, mine still does. I started by sharing ideas with my peers and challenging industry traditions, but lately I’ve been writing for people like my brother who want to get involved in social media, but don’t really know how. Where will I go next? Who knows! It’s time for me to do what Brian recommends, and really think about content strategy.

    I’m looking forward to meeting you someday (in real life) but until then, see you on Twitter!

  • http://deirdrereid.com Deirdre Reid

    Welcome to the blogosphere! I’m so glad you jumped in. What a great launch! You may find that the focus of your blog changes over time, mine still does. I started by sharing ideas with my peers and challenging industry traditions, but lately I’ve been writing for people like my brother who want to get involved in social media, but don’t really know how. Where will I go next? Who knows! It’s time for me to do what Brian recommends, and really think about content strategy.

    I’m looking forward to meeting you someday (in real life) but until then, see you on Twitter!

  • http://vijiiyer.com Viji Iyer

    Thank you Deirdre! I agree with you completely, I first started out by just listening to other bloggers and making side notes and penning down thoughts as they would come to me. It is an evolving process as are your inspirations! But like Brian suggests, a content strategy always helps keep you on track. I look forward to meeting you too hopefully soon! :)

  • http://vijiiyer.com Viji Iyer

    Thank you Deirdre! I agree with you completely, I first started out by just listening to other bloggers and making side notes and penning down thoughts as they would come to me. It is an evolving process as are your inspirations! But like Brian suggests, a content strategy always helps keep you on track. I look forward to meeting you too hopefully soon! :)

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  • http://vijiiyer.com Viji Iyer

    Thanks for your feedback! I too, started with reading other blogs initially and commenting on them. For starters, it is not tough to run your own blog, so that’s good news! :) However, ‘maintaining’ it with regular updates is key in keeping your blog alive. You can also guest blog for others to get a feel for it initially, if not,make the jump! I let other bloggers weigh-in on it.. @Stacey_Alex,@bmcd67,@LainieH,@deirdrereid.

  • http://vijiiyer.com Viji Iyer

    Thanks for your feedback! I too, started with reading other blogs initially and commenting on them. For starters, it is not tough to run your own blog, so that’s good news! :) However, ‘maintaining’ it with regular updates is key in keeping your blog alive. You can also guest blog for others to get a feel for it initially, if not,make the jump! I let other bloggers weigh-in on it.. @Stacey_Alex,@bmcd67,@LainieH,@deirdrereid.

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  • http://vijiiyer.com/2010/09/lessons-i-learnt-on-how-to-promote-my-blog-without-being-noxious/ Lessons I learnt on how to promote my blog without being noxious | Viji Iyer

    […] your work speak louder than you! Remember, content is still king! If your writing isn’t authentic or appealing, people will roll their eyes and interest will […]

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