Blogging Tips From Darren Rowse And John Chow

In the past two weeks we’ve had the pleasure of interviewing both Darren Rowse of ProBlogger and John Chow of JohnChowDotCom.  In these two videos we are bombarded with some amazing blogging tips.  As I spoke with both of these blogging giants I was amazed at their true knowledge of the topic as well as their honesty in sharing their thoughts.  Nothing was watered down, but instead we were given straight forward, insightful answers to every question I threw at them.

In light of this I decided to go back through the videos, pull out this great advice and expand upon it in this post.  Keep in mind that the bullet points are their thoughts and everything else is from me.  I don’t want to speak for them, so I wanted to clearly separate their thoughts with my own.

Darren Rowse:

• Create content that is engaging and useful to people.

I know we hear this a lot, but it’s something that many blogger fail to deliver on.  Let’s face it, it’s hard to keep putting out good stuff day in and down out.  Especially when most of us work full time doing other things as well as take care of families.  But the reader doesn’t know this or even care.  They want to read something that provides them with answers they’re looking for or inspiration they haven’t yet found.  Give it to them and they’ll give you their confidence.  Don’t and you may never see them again.

• Be first on the scene of an emerging trend.

Darren had pointed out that he was one of the first ‘Pro Bloggers’ and therefore had the advantage of becoming an authority on a trend that was just getting started.  Now, the pro blogging niche is so bloated we can hardly breathe, let alone see new rising stars in it.  Keep your eyes open to new trends and then hitch a ride early.  Who knows, you may be the next ‘Pro _______’?

• Provide useful content in areas OTHER than your blog.

I’ll admit that Darren backs this tip up with action.  When he tweets, I listen.  Why?  Because he never fails to share extremely useful content.  It’s just that simple.

• Showcase your writing in the comments section.

When Darren mentioned the idea of a 1000 word comment as a good thing, it took me a second to wrap my head around the idea.  But if that’s helped others land a guest post on ProBlogger, who am I to argue?  And there’s no doubt that even our short comments will make a much greater impact if they are done with thoughtfulness.

• Love your readers to death.

There are so many ways to do with, but the fact is our readers want to feel a connection with the blogger.  Addressing them in comments, social media and even the occasional email is a great way to not only grow your reader loyalty, but your blogging friends as well.

• On Twitter: Be as useful as you can on a particular niche.

As I stated above, Darren is always sharing worthwhile content on Twitter and that is why I pay attention when I see his latest tweet.  So many bloggers share everything from their most random thoughts to their type of breakfast cereal.  And this is fine for general socializing, but not if you want other bloggers to be engaged by your tweets.

• Don’t try to sell something you wouldn’t buy yourself.

This one hits home with me because I’ve certainly dropped a few posts that just didn’t cut the mustard.  And looking back on it I think, “Why was I trying to shell out content that I myself wouldn’t want to waste my time with?”  If it doesn’t pass the smell test, you’re better off with nothing at all.

• Keep posts in reserve in case of emergency.

But, when the above DOES happen, be sure to stock up on some worthwhile posts so you can fill that void until you get your head back in the game.

• Subtlety can be key in making a post go viral.

I thought this was an interesting insight on Darren’s part.  The fact that what he pulled from the 250,000 hits he got from social media on Digital Photography School was that it was the subtle nudge he gave the post that made it blow up.  Not to say that there weren’t many factors involved, but that just a light suggestion was the perfect platform for a powerful PUSH.

This is how I look at it.  The key to a post going viral is that it has that special something that makes it extremely flammable.  Like kindling on a fire, it shouldn’t take much flame to light it up.  And then it will spread on it’s own.  If your trying to push a wet, stail post, it won’t matter how much flame you try and pour out upon it, it’s going to go out the second you stop with the effort.

• Learn to be satisfied with where you are, but always allow yourself to grow.

This is key if you ever want to find real satisfaction in blogging.  Like Darren pointed out, just like money, we can never have enough.  So it’s crucial that we find that balance between satisfaction for the growth we’ve made and drive to continue to reach new heights.

John Chow:

• Making money online gives you choices.

If you go to the home page of JohnChowDotCom and watch his video called ‘The Dot Com Lifestyle’ you’ll see him walking to the park with his daughter Sally.  It’s a weekday afternoon and they’re the only one’s there.  The point of the video is that he doesn’t have to fight the crowds at the part at a peak time because he has the freedom to go whenever he feels like it.  He’s not tied down by a schedule and he doesn’t have to answer to a boss.  But the point he makes in the interview is that even if it’s not a full time income and you still have to work elsewhere, you are still given more choices with that extra income.

I think that many of us are so focused on make that FULL TIME INCOME that we loose sight of the freedom we can gain JUST by making a little extra on the side.  The full time stuff may come at some point, but until then, it can be nice for a little financial breathing room.

Branding: How are you going to stand out?

• Restaurant reviews.

For John, restaurant reviews make his brand unique.  Like he said, it’s our differences that set us apart; something a strong brand requires.

• Personality.

We ALL have them, but many of us fail to let them shine.  Be yourself, share your opinion with the blogging World and stand out from the crowd.

• Always reinforce your name/brand.

Basically, anywhere you can strengthen the name that defines you in the blogging world, DO IT!  It’s far too easy to blend in when we live in such a crowded community.  BRANDING!  BRANDING!  BRANDING!!!

The future of blogging:

• Social media like Twitter and friendfeed will continue to grow and connect everyone together.

I don’t think it’s a coincidence that we are seeing such a powerful rise in Twitter popularity.  People want to connect and solutions such as this are making this happen.  Whether blogging is around by name in the next 10 years, we know that interconnected online communities will most certainly be flourishing.

• Blogging will become more corporate.

There’s no doubt that this whole blogging thing has finally caught the eye’s of many a CEO.  We’re getting further and further away from the grass roots feel of the average blog and moving our way toward businesses using blogging to grow their bottom line.  It will be interesting to see where this all goes.

• Only the passionate bloggers will stick around.

It’s becoming harder and harder to make your mark in Blogopolis, so it would certainly seem to hold true, this idea of the passionate blogging hanging in through thick and thin.  Those just in it for the money will, as they always have, drop like flies.

• Most bloggers make the majority of their ‘Internet Money’ via means other than blogging.

This was interesting because I’ve always looked, for example, at Darren’s blogs and thought about the fact that Digital Photography School seemed like a much bigger cash cow than ProBlogger.  It’s important that we, as potentially professional bloggers, keep our eyes out for those opportunities that have the greatest monetary potential, and not stay in our little blogging bubbles.  There’s money to be made, it’s just a matter of finding the flow of ‘fresh water’.

• The original John Cow sold his blog to the current John Cow and writes occasional guest posts for John Chow Dot Com under the name Bob Jones.

Just an interesting tidbit I thought you guys might enjoy.

Both Darren and John:

• Darren: Actually have an opinion.  John: There’s a big difference between being a blogger and a reporter.

Both agree that voicing your unique opinion is necessary when trying to set yourself apart from the heard.

• Darren: Leverage your social media profiles like Twitter and Facebook.  John: Use your social media profiles to reinforce your brand.

They certainly think highly of these tools for the purpose of making your mark and strengthening your brand.  I think many of us (*raising hand*) could do a much better job of utilizing social media.  There’s no doubt that the heavy hitters do this and do it well.

• John mentioned that Darren had said this at Blog World Expo: You probably won’t see a monetary return on your blog for at least 2 years.

This one is hard to swallow because it takes that taste of instant success right out of our mouths.  Is it true?  It certainly seems to be the case.  Also, without this grounded perspective, many of us burn out way before the mark of success ever makes its way to our blogs.  Blogging is a marathon, not a sprint.

Eric

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