This is the 5th anniversary of my blog! With over a half million views last year and near the top of almost every list of best leadership blogs, it has been successful beyond anything I had imagined.
I am passing along the biggest the lessons I’ve learned. In this post, I focus on the biggest driver of a successful blog – great content. My post Three Blogging Essentials focuses on the other essentials for a successful blog.
Why do you want to write a blog?
This is the most important question you need to answer. I thought about it a lot before I began, and my first blog post listed my reasons for blogging. It also included a fabulous 2-minute video of Seth Godin and Tom Peters discussing the benefit of blogging. (I’ve included a copy of that video at the bottom of this post for those who have never seen it).
Review your reasons for why you want to write a blog regularly. Over the years, some of my original reasons have become more refined and others have become less important.
If you are writing your blog solely to promote your business services, products or books, it will be difficult to stay focused and committed.
My top 10 tips to write a blog with great content
The appeal of your blog depends on the appeal of your content. It’s that simple. Bill Gates stated this in 1996 and it’s still true – “content is king.” Which means, you need to very clear about who your readers are and what are the ideas and tools they need to learn, grow and achieve their goals.
1. Provide new ideas: Don’t just rehash other people’s stuff. If you’re saying the same thing everyone else is saying, why would anyone besides your mother want to read it?
If you have original thinking, this is the place to share it. Over a two year period, I unpacked every concept in my book Full Steam Ahead! Unleash the Power of Vision, and then linked them up in a summarizing post: How to Create a Shared Vision That Works. This post has had over 75,000 views to date!
2. Provide new ways to apply old ideas: New ideas might not come easily, but you can draw on wisdom of the past and find new ways to apply it to today’s world. The 4 Decision Styles: When to Involve Others in Decisions simplifies and extends the work of Victor Vroom to focus on today’s challenges around collaboration.
3. Provide new solutions to a familiar problem. Lots of people give suggestions for how to help a team that is stuck. But I haven’t seen anyone suggesting it might be a good idea to end the team. So I offered a new solution in: Caught in Team Drift? Consider Honorable Closure.
Want to write about listening? Don’t just list the old “active listening” stuff. In considering a new way to address listening, I looked at underlying attitudes in: Great Leaders Assume a Listening Attitude.
4. Test your newest thinking. If you are interesting in growing and learning, your blog is a great platform to test out your latest thinking. Put out your ideas that are not yet fully formed. You’ve got nothing to lose and a lot to gain because you get immediate feedback. If you are onto something, people will read, share and comment on your post. If not, they will ignore it.
I like to test new models – ways of making sense of the world around us. My post How to Influence Without Authority was an experiment that has been extremely successful. With over 60,000 views, it shows up on the first page of an Internet search for “influencing without authority.”
5. Help your readers see things differently. Give them a new way of understanding a situation they commonly face. If you want to write about a common topic like “how to create a life you want to be remembered for,” provide something different like a counter-intuitive story. See Alfred’s Wake Up Call.
6. Provide practical suggestions for actions they can take.
Don’t make blanket statements like “leaders should create a culture where…” unless you are able to provide suggestions on how to do it.
Instead, give practical tips for things you do know how to do. A simple, but popular post was Why You Fall Off Track and 4 Tips to Get Back. You have more credibility when you provide realistic, actionable tips.
7. Stay “close to your knitting.” Provide a consistent view of who you are, what you stand for, and who you are speaking to so your tribe can find you. I write about leadership and personal mastery that enables people to take responsibility for creating positive workplaces. But occasionally, it’s ok to go off-topic, like I am doing with this post. It keeps you from becoming boringly predictable.
8. Be who you are. Don’t describe yourself as a “thought leader,” unless you have been among the first to develop a new concept. You can be more powerful and credible as a great “subject matter expert.” When you know your stuff and can help other people understand it, you are offering a valuable service.
9. Speak from your own experience. You lose credibility when you spout unsubstantiated opinions. And armchair quarterbacks are not appreciated. Don’t tell people they should do something you haven’t done yourself.
If you want to write about the qualities of a great leader, write about your own experience as a leader or your experience of leaders you have worked with.
If you want to make a list the qualities of a great leader, don’t just makeup a list off the top of your head. A lot of good research exists on this topic. Include links to the research that substantiates your list.
If you want to write about mindfulness, if you are a serious long-time student or teacher, your thoughts would be helpful. If you are new to this field, provide links to the articles or books that influenced your thinking.
If you are writing about how to change an organization’s culture, describe an effort you were involved in. If you haven’t done it, provide a reference to the case study by the experts who have.
10. Don’t self-promote in your post. Focus on adding value to your readers, and they will see the value you have to offer. A blog post that is primarily a sales job is a big turn-off.
If you want to promote your services, do it after you post is done. Here’s an example of how Dan Rockwell aka @Leadershipfreak does this quite professionally: 4 Surprising Times to Leap for Joy
Take a moment to watch this fabulous 2-minute video of Seth Godin and Tom Peters talking about the benefits of blogging.
Happy Anniversary Jesse Lyn! Here’s to another 5 years.
Kate
Thank you, Kate. I came across your blog when I was first starting and I still read it regularly.
You should know, Jesse, because you write a lot of great blogs that I love to read! That short video you provide of the conversation between Godin and Peters is brilliant. I show it to many of my Personal Branding classes. The comments by Seth Godin are especially brilliant. Keep up the great work!
You were the first person who pushed me to get my content out there. You were the one who told me that “content is king” and that I shouldn’t wait to setup a polished website. It means a lot that you commented on my first post and again on this one. Thank you, Bret.
Hi Jesse,
Congratulations on your milestone. Even more significantly to me is how you have truly made an impact for so many of us.
I have enjoyed your blog, if not from the beginning, from very near the beginning. In fact when checking my blog, I found a reference to “6 Tips to Set Goals That Will Get You Where You Want to Go”. While written in June, 2011 it is still as relevant today. Here’s the link for those reading these comments:
https://seapointcenter.com/6-tips-to-set-goals/
I look forward to your continuing success, both in creating new blog entries and in having all of us cherish and “get” so much from your writing.
Cheers,
David
Thank you for you kind words, David. It means so much to know I’ve made a difference.
This is such a gift, Jesse. Even more meaningful because of the inherent integrity. Your blog effectively reflects all of these tips. One can easily move between this and your leadership & personal mastery blogs with no dissonance. So not just tops but living examples. Pretty amazing. Thanks.
Thanks so much for your observations, Sharon. Very helpful. We need feedback to know if our intentions align with reality.
As always, Jesse, such a great post. I always learn something new when I read your blogposts! Which means you’re really good at point no.1!
So I’m taking away that in my own blogging, I need to do more of 5 & 9! And for that insight, thank you!
Thanks, Gurprriet. I always appreciate your viewpoints because they are grounded in reality.
Congratulations Jesse! A great list of suggestions and a great milestone 🙂
Thank you, David!
Congratulations Jesse! Well deserved! Life has led me back to school for the last year so I have had limited time to read and comment on all my favorite blogs as I once did in the past. So please know I still value you and your blog, yet work, class, and very long textbooks prevent me from keeping up as much as I would like.
Thanks for all your wisdom over the years.
Kind regards,
Samantha Hall
How nice to hear from you, Samantha! Best wishes with your education and fulfilling your vision.
Congrats, Jesse! Keep challenging us with your insights (which I know you will)! Thank you, Jon
Thank you, Jon!
Great post as always, Jesse! Thank you for the inspiration.
Thanks so much, Doug!
Congratulations!
What a great post! While you say in point 7 that you are off-topic by writing this blog, you do after all teach about leadership! I see this as leadership by example.
Ann
Ah… great point, Ann. And much thanks for you kind words!
Thanks, Jesse, for sharing such practical ideas, based upon your own experience and success. The video clip at the end perfectly sums up the personal value of blogging. Please keep the inspirational thoughts coming!
Thanks, Bill. So glad you found it helpful.
Great post, Jesse, thank you for the insights. I’m approaching the 1 year anniversary of my own leadership blog, and appreciate the opportunity to learn from successful blogs like yours, both in word and in example. Especially loved your point about practical suggestions. Here’s to five more great years for you (at least!)
Ken
Thanks, Ken! and congrats to you on your 1st anniversary. I remember Wally Bock telling me it would take a year to find my voice, and he was right. I hope you continue to grow, learn and to share your thoughts. I can truly say that blogging has transformed my work and my writing.
Thanks Jesse for sharing your wisdom through your blog. I have my leadership graduate students read your blog! Congratulations!
Thank you, Jann. That’s so nice to know!