How To Be A Successful Blogger

Blogging, content marketing, and writing in general is one of the best things you can do to build your own personal brand.

I got into writing because it's a great way to sell more of what you are good at.

Here is how I got into blogging:

1. Consume A-grade content

The best part about the web is you can literally learn from the best for free. When I got started, I read some of my favorite writers (and friends now) such as Neil Patel, Ramit Sethi, James Altucher, John Rampton, Murray Newlands, and many many more.

Learn HOW they write, what format they use, word choice, etc. Take time to really grasp how they do it.

2. Write about what you are passionate about

Once you've learned how the best people in the industry write, it is now time to start writing!

I use Wordpress where there are a ton of free templates that can help get you started. In fact, it would take you less than 1 hour to set one up.

My biggest suggestion is write what you are good at and what you are passionate about. In my case, I stick to content marketing, social media, PR, and growth. Focus on informing others about what you are all about, not selling what you do.

3. Connect with and help other bloggers

Once you've admired and learned from the best, tried writing a few posts, it's now time to reach out.

I use Content Marketer .io to help with my outreach, but first reach out to people that are in your domain that will understand what you are writing about.

Here's an example of what to say:

Dear blogger,

I've been a huge fan of your content, and especially loved the piece on B2B Marketing for Ecommerce companies.

I recently wrote a piece on B2C Marketing and would love your feedback to learn how I can make it better.

Thanks,

Chirag

From here, you will most likely here back from them if they aren't too prolific and give you honest feedback. Take it. And make your posts better.

I use products like Qualaroo to ask my community directly what would be interesting topics or things they are struggling with for me to write. 

4.Syndicate across other columns

The last step is to start writing for larger publications or audiences so you can increase the reach of your message.

My go to way to this is my reaching out to bloggers in my domain that have a sizable audience. You have to be careful because if you are writing a great post you don't want to post to a website that only gets 100 page views a month.

Ideally you want to start writing for Inc, Forbes, Entrepreneur, Huffington Post, etc. in order to spread the message behind your writing and continually build your brand.