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Blogging 101: Be Obsessive About Your Passion

by JimRaffel on July 13, 2010

Delivering quality blog content is not always easy work. So, being a tad bit obsessive about a topic you have passion for helps drive you to deliver quality content on a consistent schedule.

I'm Blogging This!This week the theme for posts is blogging 101. You may find this a bit odd because I recently declared that I blog but am not a blogger. The value of these posts lies in you seeing that anyone can have a successful blog. You only need two things; a topic you are passionate about and an obsessive desire to share that topic with others.

Two extra posts. I run my theme posts Monday through Friday and I write about other interesting topics on the weekends. This week, however, you get two Blogging 101 bonus posts. Sunday, my friend Randy Murray shared Why I Write My Blog Posts One Week Ahead as a guest post here. Today, Randy will be sharing my post, Why I Wing It When Writing My Blog Posts, on his blog First Today, Then Tomorrow. Let’s dive into my obsessive passion, writing a blog, shall we.

Writing about your passion will result in organic search engine traffic. When I began blogging a little over five years ago I wrote mostly technical articles about printing and the graphic arts. Most of those posts focused around color verification and process control, which is my business. As as result, many keywords specific to my industry ended up in those posts. Posts that still generate significant search engine traffic five years later. I’ll get back to keywords in a minute but first how do you find an audience?

Finding a broader audience. Last summer I embarked on a journey I affectionately call Jimmy 2.0. I wanted to share the life success I am enjoying because of this journey. Without realizing it, I began to write posts that inspired others and they let me know in the comments and personal emails. During that time, this blog lost focus. I would write a printing and color post followed by a motivational and inspirational piece. I’m sure this was confusing to new and old readers alike.

New Focus. The focus of my blogging has evolved into success and personal development from the perspective of a Small Biz CEO, unplugged, telling it like it is. When I am struggling with the focus of a post I remind myself of that perspective. I’m passionate about being the best Small Biz CEO I can be, so it’s easy to write these posts. I also drive myself to deliver one piece of content a day. That’s where the obsession comes in. If 10pm rolls around and I have not delivered a post to you, off I go to the computer to deliver my thoughts for the day.

Keyword usage improves as well. With a tight focus you will find yourself naturally using appropriate and desirable keywords more frequently. There’s nothing wrong with wanting organic search engine traffic. Let’s be honest, if you didn’t want others to read your blog you could keep it private and call it a journal. Proper usage of keywords will keep people visiting your blog, even if you don’t write a new post for months. You could also give ScribeSEO (affiliate link) a free try to check on how well you are writing for search engines.

What topic are you passionate enough about to become so focused that it becomes an obsession to deliver the content? That’s what I think it takes to deliver a successful blog, what do you think?

Tomorrow I will share my thoughts about the power of guest posts. Make sure to stop back or subscribe via RSS so you never miss a post.

Photo Credit: http://www.flickr.com/photos/salendron

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Continue Reading 6 comments }Blogging 101

Success Runs in Your Second Nature

by JimRaffel on April 4, 2010

You have found your true passion when what you are doing is so easy it’s second nature.

Find work that feels easy, comfortable and second nature. When you have done this look at all the other aspects that come along with that work and find ways to live with them. I’d argue that having a crappy boss but doing something you like is preferable to the alternative. After all, how often do you interact with your boss versus doing the actual work?

Joe, Sarah and Angie

L-R: Joe, Sarah, Angie (photo by Cheryl Raffel)

A quick story: Angie and Joe Sorge joined a group of us at their restaurant AJ Bombers recently to celebrate our friend Sarah’s Birthday. Being their together to relax and have fun, however, did not stop Joe and Angie from doing the little things that make their restaurants a success. I watched as Angie kept an eye on the shelf where fresh hot food comes out for the wait staff. More than once in what I can only describe as second nature behavior she grabbed the plates and made sure they got to the customer promptly.

No looking around to see who’s job it is, just a “let’s get this done to satisfy the customer” attitude.  I’ve been in plenty of restaurants where the owners’ would have ignored this situation or worse yet thrown a hissy fit asking which server wasn’t doing their job. I’m positive neither Joe or Angie thought about the little things they did over those couple hours to server their customers and support their staff. They just acted and did what needed to be done.

Following a passion you are comfortable with doesn’t feel like work. Instead of being work it’s just what you do. Sure their are parts of the life that are hard and we don’t want to do. That my friends is life. If I never had to look at another financial statement or process another invoice I’d be the happiest man on the planet. Instead, I’m talking about the core of what you do which in Angie and Joe’s case is running restaurants.

If your business is say, running a blog, then writing blog posts better not feel like work. Writing blog posts should just come naturally and easily. Does it become more natural and easy with time? Sure it does, practice makes perfect and all that jazz. Could the layout and design aspect of your blog be a big pain in your you know what? Of course that or finding advertising to foot the bill. The writing of the core content better be something that is, or is becoming second nature to you.

Did I get this right or are Angie, Joe and I to small a sample size? We all deserve to be doing something we are passionate about so please jump in the comments and let me know what you think.

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