From Numbers to Publishing a Blog

Do you want to publish a great blog?

Step one is easy: gather as much information as you can find before beginning to publish more on your blog.   Write it down. Use Google Analytics as a starting point.

Step Two is the action step: by now you have used your Google Analytics account along with your Google AdSense account, and found out more about your blog. Then begin to post a blog post a day.  Publishing a blog means a daily ritual where you write and work with your readers.

There are a few points about blogging which differ from almost any other media you can lay your hands on.  A blog is a bit about networking but it’s about writing to a specific audience and getting people there who will read it.

1) People need to see you as an authority.  It’s great when you begin a new blog, and you’ve got a few readers, but are you acting on your chances to make them become a loyal reader?  With Analytics you can quickly tell if what you are doing is working.

If you have about 400 page views a day on your blog, that’s great.  Give yourself a pat, and then figure out what will help improve it.  If people aren’t sharing your writing, or re-tweeting your tweets, you can say you’re not reaching the people who can help you.  You can also, sadly say you aren’t an authority.

Numbers don’t lie, you can quickly see how a blog is doing by various means- going to Alexa to find out their page rank, or even see if they have an author or blog page on Facebook.  If they don’t they aren’t as authoritative as you- or they might like.

2) Your blog is your brand:  Keep it fresh and have a team.  It’s a lot easier to write if you aren’t writing every day.  A blog is something which needs to be updated, and the more you can publish a blog the more people will see you as a brand they trust.

3) It boils down to trust:  You aren’t trusted if you don’t care about your readership.  Commenting back, building relationships, and being there for your readers is key.  We all have fears and dreams about writing and publishing but you need people to act on their reactions to have success.

4) Make people care: You want money? You want fame? Great you make people care about you, or your blog, and you might get some money.  Blogging for money is about constant action and constant work.  It’s a full time job to make people care.  They have a million or more blogs to look at in five minutes or less.

If they care about your blog, you have to continue to make them care.  If they leave and don’t come back you lose potential in your blog.  It’s about writing to your audience and when you know about the numbers and the people on your blog, you have a small advantage over others.

5) Make the numbers work for you when publishing a blog:  Sure you can sit there and write a post on comparing something, for example publishing companies, but if you don’t know when your readers are going to go and read your post, you’ve lost the war before it began.  Knowing which posts are popular will make a difference.

By using the power of numbers, you can find out when you should publish a blog post.  It varies with every writer.  Some will say to publish a post in the morning, others in the evening, but it depends the most when your readers want to read your work.

6) Use your numbers wisely: If you use these numbers you’ve learned over the course of time, and use them wisely, you will see more income, but with blogging everything takes time and effort.  It’s a long term commitment where it’s less than 100% fun, but where each time something works for your blog, you learn that publishing is good.

Being a writer is about building on your numbers

Publishing a blog is about writing for a living.  Don’t expect to earn a lot of income if you are unsure what works for your blog.  If you don’t know or understand your numbers, you will run into challenges and problems.  It can take years to build the following you need to become successful but the numbers are the key.