Twelfth Day of Christmas – The Art of Blogging

Before I share my thoughts on the art of blogging, I’d like to say it’s been a grand Twelve Days of Christmas! Again, Merry Christmas! I also want to remind everyone, the various sales going on at Lanetta’s Creations will end tonight! But, you’ll only find the coupon codes within the individual articles posted on this blog, beginning on the First Day of Christmas! The free shipping and handling on all items also ends tonight.



Photo by vtgard

Over and over, I beg the question: What is the art of blogging? What is the magical key, the way in which to attract readers, followers, and receive comments? What content should I include that others will want to read, comment on, then share the article’s link with their friends?  

Photo by Sean MacEntee



I'm always wondering, did I spike any interest, anywhere? Have I inspired anyone? How about encouraged? Did I possibly influence someone to create something new? Accomplishing any/all part of this is the art of blogging!

To get the answer to my original question, I've read oodles and oodles of articles on the subject of blogging. According to most "experts" I’ve gone about it all wrong!

I’ll critique my blog right here in front of you as I go through ~ item by item ~ what Pamela Vaughan wrote concerning the 7 Reasons No One Shares Your Blog Content.

1. Your Headline Sucks. Well, I don’t think “Twelve Days of Christmas” really sucks. I wanted to use the Twelve Days of Christmas when it was the appropriate time to use it, not before Christmas Day like retailers. Guess what I wanted didn’t work and catcher, snappier titles should have been my focus.

2. Your Timing Is Off. I can’t figure out the “scheduler” within blogger or the “networkedblog” within Facebook… sometimes they work, other times not. According to research, the articles should hit early in the morning for best exposure. I'm trying!

3. You Don’t Have “Regulars”. I’ve attempted to “spark” conversation as Pamela suggests, but rarely receive comments. Note to self: work on this!

4. You Write About Yourself. Yep! That’s it! That’s the big no-no I did all over the place, especially over these past Twelve Days of Christmas!!! However in defense, I believe over the course of this blog’s life, I’ve sprinkled it with how-to articles, lists of tips, and have shared a bunch of resources/links in between.

5. Your Posts Are All the Same. I totally agree and need to work on breaking up the format with different visuals, to make it “look” different on each post.

6. You Ramble. Probably so!

7. You Make it Difficult to Share. Just checked, that shouldn’t be an issue with Facebook. The Facebook share button is right up there top left! I think it works, although I don’t think anyone’s ever used it! I’m using hubspot’s Ultimate Cheat Sheet for Creation Social Media Buttons to add other social shearing buttons like LinkedIn, Google+ and Twitter to my blog. 

So I don’t commit #6 and ramble here, I’ll simply say I’m going to go over and over Corey Eridon’s 16 Quick Ways to Squeeze More ROI From Your Blog. (ROI = return of investment). And, I’ll work on implementing Janet Aronica’s suggestions found in her 10 Kinds of Shareable Headlines To Try On Your Blog.

With all that said, I'll also follow my heart, especially after reading The 10 Commandments of Unique Blogging:

Personality

Sincerity

Confidence

Design

Competition

Originality

Innovation

Meaningfulness

Communication

Memorability

I’m excited about the upcoming changes! Hope you will be, too!