If the blogosphere seems like totally foreign territory to you, you’re not alone. Countless yoga professionals recognize the benefits of blogging but psyche themselves out before they even start. How many times a week should I post? I'm not a writer -- how do I come up with content? Am I allowed to use other people’s images? The unknowns are enough to stop you in your tracks!
Instead of coming up with a list of unknowns that keep you paralyzed, focus on the positive aspects of blogging instead! It’s a great way to showcase your expertise, share your personality, and interact with your students, future students, and fans!
To help you navigate the blogosphere, there are still some “ground rules” that will enable you to have confidence as you move forward. Just like with yoga, writing your blog is a practice -- one that should be fun, fulfilling, and ultimately rewarding!
- Be Yourself – This is key. If you’re not authentic, your audience will sense it, and quickly lose interest. Instead, speak like you. You’re not writing your Master’s Thesis, you’re writing a blog post! Keep it fun, engaging, actionable and write like you speak – don’t try to sound smart. Share your knowledge in a relatable way, and your readers will appreciate your down-to-earth, understandable tone.
- Keep it Simple – Don’t overthink it. You don’t have to share every single thing you know about given topic (that’s what your future book will be for), instead share a few key points that are particularly helpful.
- Keep it Short – Conciseness is greatly valued. Think about the posts that you gravitate towards, and remember that your readers will likely appreciate the same. Do you like bulleted points, action lists, lots of images? Replicate what pulls you in when you write your own content
- Be Consistent – Write regularly – notice that I didn’t say write daily? Give your readers something they can count on. I recommend posting at least once a week to keep your content fresh and interesting. If you don’t update your blog enough, readers will lose interest when they check back and there’s nothing new to read. But remember, you’re not writing a novel, you’re writing a blog post – an image with a short paragraph can suffice if it gets your point across!
- Give Credit – Don’t be afraid to borrow ideas, pictures, or even content from time to time. Just be sure to give credit where credit is due. If you use an image from Pinterest or Flickr, provide a link to the source. If you want to share a quote or paragraph from a great article you read, include a link to the original piece. Keep it on the up-and-up, and when in doubt, ask permission! 99 times out of 100, the original poster will thank you for sharing their content with your audience.
- Share It – This is essential, especially if you’re a budding yoga entrepreneur. Don’t just let your post sit there, lonely, on your site – share it! Post a link on your Facebook page, tweet it out to your followers, or send it in an email to your contacts. Not everyone is following you as closely as you think, so don’t be afraid to share it in every way you can. Show up where your students, fans, and followers hang out, and they’ll thank you for it!
i originally wrote this post for LKR Social Media as Blogging Basics for Beginners.
