Writing Style and Posting Schedule

As I mentioned in the first post when starting out you need to write for your audience and pick a style that fits your blog. Most people don't think about writing styles when they start off, but it is important to have consistency within your blog. 

There are several different writing styles that you can choose from for your blog. The tone of your writing should reflect the content of your blog. If you are blogging about fluffy bunnies, they try to stay away from dark and depressing words. Using sarcasm and satire should be done for blogs that are not about a serious subject matter. Even if you mean it as a joke, it might not come off that way in the written form. Just be cautious with humor. 

There are many literary devices that can be used in your writing. Using hyperbole and alliteration is a good choice to keep the tone light and fun. For blogs that are deeper in thought you can use either similes or metaphors. To better engage your readers it is good to paint a visual picture with words. Imagery and symbolism are great tools to use to create a set tone and theme.  

Now it's important that the tone and message of your blog fits with the audience that you are writing for. Chances are younger audiences might not have a big vocabulary and might not know certain words. Don't assume your audience knows everything. Older audiences might not be up to date with slang words and lingo. Also if your audience are horror fans then they might prefer a darker tone, whereas fluff bunny fans might not. 

The last thing you need to do when writing your blog is stick to a regular posting schedule. If you prefer to post on the weekends because you have more time, than try to post on the same day around the same time. If you post every day then try to post around the same time if you can. This lets your readers know when they should be reading your post. It is a good way to get readers to return every week. If you skip a post without notification, some readers might forget they need to return. The key to a successful blog is to be consistent in your writing and posts. 

5 Powerful Writing Techniques

http://thewritelife.com/5-powerful-writing-techniques/

Using Social Media

When you write for a blog you can use your social media accounts to promote your blog or communicate with your readers. Social media is a good tool that can be used with your blog. For those of you who do not have any social media accounts, you might consider signing up for soon depending on the type of blog you have. It could drive more traffic to your site. 

Most blog sites make it easy to use social media sites on your blog. One thing that is common is at the bottom of each post there will be a bar of buttons each with the logo of a different social media site. This is what it looks like if you use Blogger. Clicking each button will allow readers to share your blog on their social media accounts, such as Twitter, Facebook, Pinterest and Google+.  

If you don't have an account consider signing up for one. Some might be better depending on the content of your blog. If your blog relies a lot of photos, then it might be helpful to create either an Instagram or Flickr account. You can post the photos with a link back to your blog. This will give some exposure to people who are not aware of your blog. If you blog is mostly written based, then Twitter might be the better choice. You can post a link to your blog and start a discussion about your current blog post.  

Another way you can use social media with your blog is to link your blog with an RSS feed. What that does is allows people to follow your RSS feed, and it will notify them every time you have a new post. These forms of social media enable you to reach out to readers and allows them to share your blog to new potential readers. It’s a great way to build up your blog's fanbase. 

So there are many benefits of using social media with your blog. When writing on your social media account, use keywords and keep your message concise, so that it catches the reader's attention. It's ok to use shorthand text in social media, but try to keep that out of your blog to remain somewhat professional. Social media allows you to interact with your readers and get feedback to improve your blog. 

Getting Started on a Blog

When it comes to starting a blog, most people think that it is simple and easy. However, it does require some preparation. To create a blog there are a few steps that you should take to ensure that you have a quality blog that people will enjoy and continue to read.  

Firstly, you will need a topic to write about. It's best to pick something that you know and are interested in, either professionally or as a hobby. The other thing you could do is pick a new topic that you will explore and learn about, and share that journey in a blog. The key thing is to make sure that it is something you want to learn and write about. Otherwise, you might get bored and give up. It's best to pick a specific subject. Instead of just sports in general, focus on one or two sports games.  

Once you have your topic then you need to figure out who your audience is. Who do you intend your readers to be? It's ok to have a general audience but you can also tailor your blog posts to a certain demographic. Sometimes this can get more readers to your blog. For example, if you are doing a nail polish blog you could choose to do more classy styles to appeal to more sophisticated women, or you could do trendy styles to appeal to a younger audience. 

After you have figured all of that out, then you can start looking for a site to host your blog. There are several sites that you can choose from, including WordPress, Blogger and LiveJournal. Choose a site that best suits the needs of your blog. All of the sites mentioned offer a free service to start your blog, as well as offer paid upgrades and services. Check out the links to each site to see which one best fits your needs and goals. 

So, there you go. Pick your idea, focus what you are going to write about, figure out your audience and find a hosting site. Do all of that first and then start posting away! If you want to get more in depth with blogging then make sure to read the next few posts for more advice. 

www.wordpress.com

www.blogger.com

www.livejournal.com