Although I am not the biggest golf fan in the world, watching Tiger Woods in the U.S. Open this weekend was something special. Even though he ended up in second place, it was still a thrill to watch him walk the fairways of Oakmont; especially since the course is only a few minutes from home.
Just like anything else in my life, I began to contemplate what Tiger could teach us about blogging. Even if golf is his forte, he probably knows darn good and well that he affects people in a number of different ways. And as a blogger, he definitely did this for me.
Here are three things that Tiger can teach us all about blogging.
1. You cannot always be the best, and not giving up is something to be proud of. Think about it this way. Tiger plays several tournaments each year, and more times than not, he comes up on the losing end of the stick. But with that being said, he comes back time and time again. You may not have the most popular blog in the world, but as long as you stick with things you will make small victories along the way. Do you think Tiger is going to skip the U.S. Open next year because he came in second this time around?
2. It is important to know what you are good at, and then follow through with this day in and day out. Tiger knows what he is good at, and how to make this work for him. Instead of going against your strengths, you would be much better off doing what you are good at. You will find out that this helps you to become a better blogger in the long run. This is not to say that broadening your horizons is bad, but in blogging, you need to do what you know. If golf is your favorite sport, why not blog about it? This is a much better decision than starting a blog on quilting or some other random topic.
3. Persistence pays off. Even when it looks like Tiger is down and out, he is always working hard to reach his goals. Be persistent with everything that has to do with your blog. This includes everything from making regular posts to marketing on a regular basis. If Tiger would have given up after his first loss, where would he be today?
Tiger Woods is an icon, has millions of dollars, and is living large. If you want to follow in his footsteps (at least in the world of blogging) you should consider the lessons that he teaches on the course!
The question of when to write blog posts is talked about time after time. Luckily, there is no right and wrong time to create the content that you will post on your blog. When it comes down to it, this is nothing more than personal preference combined with the way that you like to run your site. Early on in your blogging career you may have a hard time setting a schedule, but soon enough, you will know just when you need to put together some new posts.
There are several key details that will dictate when you write your blog posts. They are spelled out below.
1. Some people like to write one blog post at a time, whereas others would rather do them in larger batches. Once again, this is up to you. The main benefit of writing more than one post during one sitting is that you can create plenty of content for the days to come. In other words, you will not find yourself having to write a new post everyday of the week.
2. To make things easier, if you are using a WordPress blog, you can timestamp posts so that they are added to your blog at a particular time in the future. For instance, I could write five posts, and then timestamp them to post at the same time for the next five days. This is a great advantage to have if you are going to be on vacation or away from the computer for an extended period of time.
3. Make sure that you write your content in correspondence with when you like to post them to your site. For instance, do you usually add new content at lunchtime everyday? If so, you need to make sure that you always have at least one post for that time. There is nothing worse than wanting to post at noon, just to find out that you have one hour to write a 500 word article. To be a successful blogger you need to be able to plan in advance.
All in all, you can write your blog posts anytime that you please. When you write is not important. It is the quality, quantity, and time that you post that you should be concerned with.Â
Starting a blog is something that you may take lightly. But as you move forward with making posts, marketing, and tracking stats, you will begin to notice that it has become part of your life. The fact of the matter is that starting and running a blog will change your life in more ways than you ever thought possible.
Here are three ways that blogging can, and probably will, change your life.
1. As you continue to run your blog you will feel a sense of connection with it. After all, if you are going to spend time each day with your blog you should expect this. And guess what? These feelings only continue to increase as your blog grows in terms of size and traffic. You will feel as if you have an obligation to your blog and your readers. And all in all, this is a good thing!
2. If you are lucky, blogging will change your life in a positive financial manner. Even though making money with a blog is not easy, if you are patient, some profits will begin to trickle in over time. And if you stick with things long enough, you may become one of the lucky few who can turn blogging into a full-time career. Obviously, this is a huge career move that would surely change your life.
3. By blogging you may find out that you are reducing the level of stress in your life. Believe it or not, simply getting your feelings onto your blog can help you to release tension. This is especially true if you keep a blog about your personal or work life. Some people have no intentions on making money or increasing readership. Instead, they write for themselves and that is good enough.
As you can see, blogging can change your life. But do not let this scare you. If you watch what you are doing, it will never change you in a bad way!
