This is a guest post by Alvina from AccreditedOnlineColleges.com
Writing has always been a huge part of my life, so when I enrolled in an English program at my state college as an undergraduate no one was really surprised.
While English courses helped me perfect my grammar and understand the various works of Shakespeare, my English courses didn’t specifically prepare me for blogging.
No, the skills I learned that made me a self-proclaimed blogger extraordinaire naturally occurred while I worked as a part-time journalist for the student newspaper. To find out what lessons I learned from the news room that can help boost your blogging career, continue reading below.
Always Meet Deadlines
First and foremost you need to establish and meet deadlines. In the newspaper world, there is no such thing as not meeting your deadlines—if you don’t, your scary editor will rip you a new one. But of course, in the blogging sphere there is no scary editor and you’re not running a news operation; therefore you don’t need such a quick turnaround. But giving yourself a personal deadline when it comes to blog posts is always recommended.
In fact, this is the easiest way to ensure that your blog continuously has fresh content. Since I was a sophomore in college I was exposed to the benefits of having an editorial calendar: you can see which days each blog post is supposed to go “live” and you can properly organize for the weeks to come. If you know that you’re not going to meet a deadline, then find a guest blogger, like myself, to help fill in the pieces.
Don’t Write “Sensational/Controversial” Blog post Unless you’re Prepared for Backlash
Not everyone is going to agree with what you write about, especially if you are writing about a very “hot topic.” You need to learn how to respect your readers and not attack them if they don’t agree with what you have to say. Acknowledging their comments and thanking them for reading your post is the better way to approach the situation.
But whatever you do don’t censor negative comments on your blog just because you don’t like a reader’s tone; meaning don’t just blatantly erase the comments like they were never there. Of course if the reader writes racist slurs or profanity then by all means ban them from your bog.
Research on Your Own
It’s always a good idea to do extensive research when writing your blog posts—even if something you’re reading gives you “statistics” or “facts.” Be your own fact checker and go back to the original source or study to make sure that whatever you’re reading didn’t get anything wrong or take something out of context.
You want your readers to trust you and know that they can view your blog as an authoritative source. So just take a few minutes before posting your blog post and make sure that everything you say rings true. It’s also a good idea to link back to studies and other areas where you got your sources of information from to boost your credibility.
Quality not Quantity
Last but not least, don’t assume that your articles have to be long to effectively get your message across. News writers have a restricted word count because they have to conserve space, therefore they are forced to write much shorter, punchy articles. But those articles are the most read in the nation.
If your article isn’t as long as you anticipated but it’s still well-written; have the confidence that it will do well—after all, experts say shorter online articles are better received with readers anyway because consumers only have time to “scan” articles.
I sometimes struggle with the quality over quantity theory — Sometimes when I’m in a bit of a rut, I feel the need to post *something* just to show life. But it definitely needs to be a careful balance
Thank you so much! I need some college guidance for boosting my English because it’s not good. You are also a role model for me to track down your pathway to follow the success in blogging industry.
Hi Alvina,
There is no limit and age of learning and implementing. So, keep learning and implementing things in your life. So thanks for sharing and make us remember these points.
I couldn’t agree more with you. Good thorough research with some personal thoughts sprinkled in will provide enough interest for you readers to value your input. Consistency in writing good quality helpful articles are what will keep your readers coming back time and again.
I do agree with you here, you learn some skills that you cannot learn elsewhere and at the time it may not seem as if your actually learning how to do these things but it comes in very handy at times of writing blogs, I have learnt so much from punctuality to the interaction aspects. Thank you for sharing!
I appreciate the insights you share here. College can provide a dose of both discipline and humility – two things that we all need to be successful. Loads of natural talent and confidence are wonderful, but to be tempered with the responsibility of having to meet deadlines and conducting honest-to-goodness research is key. Thanks! 🙂
About writing controversial posts. I can’t remember who said it but they said all publicity is good publicity. So surely as long as you get people engaged it has got to be a good thing?
Great tips thanks lee
I learned two thing from my college. Do your own research Do not copy friends assignment 😉 otherwise you will see zero marks in your result email. and must meet dead lines otherwise be ready for losing half marks 🙁
but isn’t it better to write sensational or controversial blogs since many will argue and that would increase your traffic?
Great points Alvina.. ! Well, I agree with you completely. These are the basic points (yet important) that can bring out a good writer in us. Since I am a student, I enjoy commenting on the blogs from which I gain knowledge. But surely, your article points will help me create a great blog in future 🙂