By Dan King
I spent a lot of time wandering when I started blogging. I spent over a year writing about whatever came to mind. I started feeling the pressure to be a legit content producer as I strove to build my audience. As a result, I started posting all of the things I thought people wanted to see. Inevitably, I experienced a great deal of frustration to find the right formula that would bring in the masses I hoped would read what I was writing.
It never happened. I built it, and they didn’t come. That is until I found some focus. I found something to be passionate about.
Finding something to be passionate about is the first step in achieving #blogawesomeness. [CLICK TO TWEET]
There was a Blog Action Day with the focus on the issue of poverty. I knew that as a Christian, this was a subject I should be concerned about. But I honestly knew very little about it. So I started my research. And what started as one post on the subject turned into connections being made with orgs working in the field. That turned into opportunities to go on trips and do some incredible work myself. And that turned into opportunities to write some books on the subject.
I’ll be honest. Nothing has impacted my blogging more than discovering that focus for my writing. It’s opened doors and brought in lots of new readers
Finding focus like this isn’t just about writing a few blog posts on a subject. It’s about finding direction for everything you do as a blogger. It helps to define you as a writer, and gives you something to guide every decision you’ll make. Some of the things it’ll help you do:
- Design your blog/website – You’ll want your website to ooze your focus. Take a quick look at the homepage for bibledude.net, and you’ll see that I have that strong focus on poverty. Right away, people know what they can expect from the site.
- Define where you to partner – While it’s always important to connect with other bloggers and communities, what does your site sidebar (and elsewhere) say about what you think is most important.
- Where to go for your off-site activity – Doing some writing off of your blog is a great way to expose yourself to new potential readers. But should you write just anywhere? You’ll find the greatest impact from contributing in places that compliment your objectives.
- Tell you what to write – If you build out your strategy effectively, then you’ll never run out of post ideas, especially post ideas that you’ll be excited to write about.
Really, your focus should be so strong that it drives everything you do online. It’ll tell you what you should be posting on social media, which hashtags you should be following (and using). It’ll even help you as you analyze and try to make sense of your analytics (which could give you some things to work on).
Finding your focus can be one of the most refreshing things you’ll ever do as a blogger, and will put you on the path to #BlogAwesomeness.
About 31 Days to #BlogAwesomeness: What started as a month-long exercise for bloggers in Fistbump Media University is now updated in an easy to use e-course format available to everyone. In this program you’ll go through lessons on the basics (and finding your focus), site optimization, design and strategy, and best posting practices. Don’t let achieving your blogging goals feel overwhelming. You can do it, and 31 Days can help you find your #BlogAwesomeness.
