I read personal blogs. Admittedly, they’re pretty much all I read online. I glimpse at Tweets, skim through emails, and glance occasionally at tech sites. I excitedly awaited Dooce updates back when I was drag-and-dropping at Geocities, installing Greymatter in tables, and dreaming of a future with Flickr and Facebook.
For me, that was where the genius was. Anyone could detail an Apple product and keep me interested, but being able to make me care about your cat’s test results, or your road trip to Washington, that’s what I really remembered.
That being said, even with thousands of new blogs being created every day, my Google Reader is still a bit scant. Although I don’t consider myself an authority by any means, I began to wonder what it was about certain personal blogs that made them so much more entertaining than others, and why I quickly skipped over some while sincerely hoping that others would post a new entry before bedtime.
I eventually ended up with the following list of trends I’ve noticed among the most interesting, fun, and widely-read personal blogs.
1. Write in color
If there was one piece of advice I could offer, it would be this: Instead of typing five wordy paragraphs detailing your complete day from walking your dog to a chat with your mother to OMG work was boring!, think back and try to remember the most colorful thing. Think about the guy at the cafe with the obnoxiously red hat and how he was reading Cosmo, or how your daughter looked trying on her poufy, stark white communion dress, or how your sister’s arm turned purple when you landed on it with that sled.
People have imaginations that can work out their own details. Give them a chance to picture things.
2. Come out
When I first started reading mommy bloggers, years ago, I thought to myself, why would you post a picture of your baby online?
Now I wish I could have a baby so I could post pictures of him online.
There are some anonymous bloggers that I love, mainly because their writing is incredible. Truth be told, not everyone is an incredible writer.
Mix it up. Record some video. Make your sense of humor known. It takes a while to reach that comfort level, but popular opinion has assured me that people feel a greater connection to a person they can see, hear, etc. Words all look the same on a computer screen. Putting a face, and a personality, to the stories makes for a more animated read.
3. Keep it open
Unlike a novel, your readers won’t start at the beginning of your blog. If your most recent entry is, “Remember that thing that happened with Greg last week?” the answer is most likely, “No.” Keeping a running list of moments, with minimal unclear references, will lead to better understanding and less-frustrated readers.
4. Develop a “thing”
Once in a while, when I see a news story, or TV show, or hear a conversation, something will remind me of a blog I read. With Cynthia, it’s cocktails. With Pittgirl, it’s pigeons. With Rachel, it’s Chicago. You’ll be less forgettable if people can’t help but be reminded of your website.
5. Design isn’t everything, but it’s something
This goes back to the originality thing. There are hundreds, if not thousands, of blogs with the same layout. If you’re clueless when it comes to tweaking, ask for help. Google it. There are crazy amounts of resources that will guide you through changing your header.
Make sure everyone can see what you’ve written. I hope you’re not using IE, but hey, you might be at work. Or you might not care. That’s great! I still want my sidebars to line up, so you don’t see an empty column when you come to read what I’ve written.
Unless your writing has been recommended to a new reader, chances are that they wont spend more than a few seconds scrolling down your long page of words. Even if you’re brilliant: stand out, visually, somehow.
“But if I’m in their RSS reader, they won’t see my design anyway!”
You need to get into their RSS reader, first.
6. Travel the internet, and keep your name
One of the first things a fan of your blog may do upon joining a new social network, application, etc. is to see if you’re there. Have the same nickname on Flickr and Twitter that you have as your domain. Let them know you’re there by linking to your profile pages on your blog.
7. Space out the emo
Your depression is human, but there has to be a little more to your life than that. Even if you take a moment to post some pictures of your newly-designed bedroom, or recall a somewhat humorous conversation between your nieces, try to space out the deep, dark, emotional stuff. People are awkward. Readers won’t return if they think they know what you’ve already written.
8. It’s the little things
It won’t be every day that you walk into Panera and see Steve Jobs on a Blackberry. It’s understandable. But don’t use this as an excuse to hide away for two weeks. I mean, seriously, look at what your husband’s wearing right now. Are those knee socks? I have to see that.
At the same time, hug your hometown. A lot of your readers probably haven’t been to your city, or your farm, or your college, and most of them don’t have the money to travel at this time. Show them what it’s like, take them on a bus ride, or tell them why you avoid public transportation completely.
9. Don’t disregard your high school English
Your blog isn’t a newspaper, or a book, and hey, you should be able to let loose, right? Maybe. While people want to connect with a writer, they also want to be confident that the author knows what they’re doing. As a reader, becoming involved with a lovely post about your high school sweetheart, and running into an odvius misspeelling, is like hitting the wrong piano key.
10. Monitor your ego
Make fun of yourself — there are plenty of reasons to. Don’t complain to your readers that they aren’t commenting enough or mention in every other post how you’re so sorry you haven’t gotten around to answering all of these emails — it’s a turnoff. I really am not very interested in where you rank on Technorati. Actually, I’m not even sure what that implies. But that entry you wrote last week about how you met your girlfriend at the train station? You know, the one that only got two comments?
God, I loved that.
Return your comments, answer your emails, and comment (and comment, and comment) on others’ good posts. And give credit where credit is due. If you have 10 unique readers per day, and one emails you a recipe they think you’d like, and you decide to post it, don’t lead in with, “A whole bunch of people emailed me this recipe this weekend…”
No. One did. Maybe two. Get off the giant horse, you’re a blogger.
