Every one who is jumping into wagon of blogging, want’s to get into the list of A List Bloggers. Saying, that they want to be popular, make handsome money and want their blogs to be listed as top blog everywhere. Though, have you ever though what make these Bloggers like Darren Rowse, Harsh Agrawal, John Chow, OM Malik so popular.
Why they have cult followers and what make them get into the list of popular bloggers. Blogging is not a money-making scheme, rather its a platform for sharing knowledge. Ever wondered how and why those top bloggers earn the amount that we can’t even think of, what is it that makes them unique and stand apart from the millions of blogs in blogosphere? Well the answer is, that it is their habits that make them stand apart and be successful. By personal experience and observing top bloggers, I have realized a few habits that every “A List Blogger” has.
How to Become One of the A List Bloggers
Let me start with one thing first, Blogging is not only about hard work or smart work. It’s a combination of both and a uniqueness within you. It doesn’t matter if you have started years back or you have started now. The key is if you started it right, getting into the A list of Blogging, won’t be tough. One thing, which is most common about these popular Blogger is they picked one niche and stick to it. They never jumped from one niche to another and maintain their blogging voice. They experiment, tried and shared the same with their readers.
They are passionate about the subject they write about. Which is precisely why they love sharing it and revenue just become a by-product of such sharing. It is just like being a singer, you just love singing, you learn it with passion and sing it with passion. Of course you get a lot ofand money by doing this, but these things remain secondary. Similarly a top blogger just loves his subject, and all stats like monthly visits, page views, revenue earned remain secondary. Here I must mention that although those stats remain secondary against his passion but they don’t loose their importance. Just like money and fame are important to a singer, these stats are also important to a blogger.
Must read: 5 Factors which shows Passion for blogging
Think as a Reader
Yes, every top blogger think as a reader. They think exactly what their reader is thinking after reading their blog. This helps in realizing what their readers expect of them. Before writing an article they ask themselves various questions like :-
- Why would a reader read it?
- Who are the readers I am writing for?
- How should I write in order to help them?
Write for Readers
They always and only write for their readers. You might wonder “How obvious is that?”, well there are many bloggers who just write to make money, and this way you can’t exist for long. The main motto of ” Top Bloggers ” to write, is to share and help their readers and not just to make money. Even if they are affiliated to some program to promote certain application/software, they will let you know each and every aspect of that application/software including negative ones (although language might be subtle!!). I can tell you that this certainly pays a lot in long run, particularly in growing a large and loyal reader base.
Value and Respect their Readers
They truly value and respect their readers. They reply to each and every comment of their readers, even if some reader has pointed out their mistakes or has criticized them, they not only approve that comment but even thank to reader for letting them know their mistakes. They try hard to keep readers engaged in their blog by doing stuffs like :
- Starting a poll
- Providing some free stuff
- Running a contest with a lucrative prize
- Simply asking readers what they want next or what they think of their blog
Grab every Opportunity
They always seek opportunity to do things like :
- Promote their blog
- Be the first one to write about any topic
- To provide something valuable to their readers
Let me explain it a bit further, for example, there is a blog on sports and football world cup is to begin after six months, here in this situation “Top Blogger” will grab this opportunity and will start planning on what he/she would offer to his/her readers (Like wallpapers, themes etc.) and what he/she will write about. He/she will start this planning way before his/her readers or even fellow bloggers will start thinking. Whatever your niche is, you will always get such opportunities every now and then. So start looking for them now !!!
Keep themselves Updated
They always look for knowledge or some extra information in their niche, their habit #1 do help them in this process. They search all the blogs, forums, social networking sites to gain any little information in their niche. Reading is one habit, which should be part of your daily routine. Specially, if you looking to be a niche expert, you should be first one to know about what’s happening around and what’s coming. Don’t only just read, but use social networking site like Twitter, Facebook and Google+ to spread the word. This way, people will look at you with your expert opinion on your niche topic.
Well developed Network
All “Top Bloggers” are in a well-developed network with fellow bloggers of their niche. They do so by
- Commenting on each other blogs
- Exchanging links with similar niche blogs
- Following each other on social networking sites
- Guest posting on each others blog
This not only help themselves but also help their readers to find some extra information.
They are honest in many respect like
- They do not take credit of something that they have not written, even if they quote some text/points of other blogger in their article, they don’t forget to show the source of that text/points, they put name and URL of that blog in the source.
- They don’t hesitate to share their weakness and failures with their readers.
- They don’t give fake advises, they actually practice them as well.
Easily Accessible to their Readers
If any readers wants to contact them, they are always available i.e they always have a “Contact Us” page in their blog. Apart from this they also have links to their all social networking id’s somewhere in the blog ( sidebar, top, bottom). Their effort is that a reader should be easily able to contact with them. They also have very less follow up time i.e as soon as the reader sends any message, it will be followed up in no time.
Are still a Learner
As i mentioned in habit #6 that they always seek knowledge in their niche. They also try to learn each and every aspect of blogging. You might wonder that why they need to do this, they already know everything. The answer is simple, blogosphere is an ever changing world, if you stop learning you stop growing. This habit also allows them to come out with their best every time.
Unique Style of Writing
They have their own style of writing and they stick to it, so that their readers can identify and make a relationship with them. You should maintain your blogging voice, and stick to it. If you have a typical sense of humor, maintain the same in your blog post and also in social media presence. Also read:
To be a successful blogger, you have to think like these A list bloggers but also you have to act like them, so in that quest I hope that the above listed points might help you.