I would never advocate lying about stats, income, or, well, much of anything on your business blog. (If it’s a personal blog, feel free to lie your hiney off… I do on mine! C’mon. It’s a humor blog.)
However, too many blogs owners make the mistake of being too honest about their lack of experience or lack of success.
I think it was the movie Working Girl where the advice was given: “Dress like the person whose job you want”. I.e. if you want to be an exec, don’t dress like a cheap, trailer-trash, gum-popping hooker. Now ask yourself:
Does your blog dress like a hooker?
Find a blog that you think feels professional. It should be one either in your niche or something compatible. A blog on dealing with bereavement shouldn’t look like one full of celebrity gossip. Open a new browser window and look at it side-by-side with yours. What are the main differences you spot?
I’m not saying clone it, but I am saying you can learn a lot from others! Likewise, when you visit a site you don’t like, ask yourself if you make any of those same mistakes. When you visit a blog that annoys you, or something causes you to hit the “unsubscribe” button in your reader, it’s a good time to evaluate why, so you can learn from it.
Because with all blogs, big and small, what you think is “homey” or “funny” on your blog could very well be gum-popping tacky. And even your friends don’t like it. Seriously.
When you decide on a theme, make it your own. Change the header or logo at the very least. I’ve been working very hard at that at my blogs, but this one is the last to get the treatment because A. I see this theme less often than I was tripping over clones of my other sites and B. I gotta admit I really like this theme as it is, so improving it is going to be difficult!
This is doubly-triply-fortymillion-tupply important if you use something like Blogger.com. If I see one more blog with the “Dots” theme, I might strangle someone.
If you have low stats, keep them to yourself
- Don’t put up feedburner stats showing you have 6 subscribers.
- It doesn’t look good when you have post after post after post with ZERO comments. (I’ve noticed that blogs, such as celebrity blogs, who rely on google and not community don’t seem to get many comments. But those aren’t the type of blogs I’m talking about here… I’m talking about community blogs that require feedback in order to survive.) Comments are one stat that you can’t fake. Well you could, but it would be time-consuming and awkward to comment yourself. But you CAN ask friends to post comments for you. But more importantly, comment for other people. 9/10 people that I write comments for visit my sites and comment in return.
- Don’t make posts whining about how no one visits. Find out why, and fix it. Or take a day off. But complaining will only drive people away.
DON’T: lie, pretend you’re an expert if you’re not, or fake stats (Trust me… people can tell. Or at least I can, and I’m a people.)
DO: talk up the successes you HAVE had, talk about the things you HAVE learned, talk about your blogging “journey”.
DON’T: talk yourself down, talk your blog down, or most importantly talk your readers (or lack thereof) down (it’ll only offend whatever lurkers you might have.)
If you’re not enjoying the success you expected, ask someone you respect to take a look at your site and give you an honest evaluation. And no, don’t ask John Chow. Ask someone you know. [NOTE: If you don’t know anyone else who blogs, that’s your problem right there. Get out there and talk to people!]
I’m a big believer in honesty, but there’s nothing wrong with letting the truth that shines through on your blog be one that makes people want to be a part of the community you’re trying to establish.
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