You want a blog that people can’t stop talking about, posts that go viral, and massive traffic generated through word of mouth by influencers. That’s every blogger’s dream, but few achieve the goal.
For most bloggers, failure to generate a conversation in people’s lives is caused by generating excessive content. Content is considered excessive when it’s repetitive, not useful, or cranked out to meet quotas. In other words, it’s written for gaining an advantage in the search engines, not for getting a message across to readers.
Blogs that focus on cranking out content rather than serving readers are often found in the top search results, but readers won’t stick around. Those blogs are a dime a dozen, and they publish the same mundane content.
Your blog deserves a better fate. There are two ideals you’ll need to drop if you want people to talk about your blog: “more is better” and “copy someone successful.”
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Don’t Copy Or Emulate Successful Bloggers
The push to crank out content causes people to look for examples when they can’t come up with their own content. Copying your mentors is perhaps the most common piece of advice given to anyone who wants success. In business, that advice has merit. When it comes to blogging, it’s a little gray.
On the surface, advice to copy or emulate successful bloggers appears sound. In business, people are taught to emulate their mentors and do what successful people do. For instance, many budding entrepreneurs get up at 5 am every morning simply because their mentor gets up at that time.
Your mentor might get up at 5 am, but that’s not why they’re successful. Emulating mentors requires a deeper understanding of how they operate beneath the surface.
When you copy someone’s actions, you’re missing the driving force behind their behavior. The force that drives successful bloggers is passion, and without passion, any actions are unsustainable.
Still, new bloggers hit the scene and start writing posts with similar titles and content to what their mentors have published. Just as thoughtlessly copying your mentor’s actions won’t produce results, copying their content won’t work for several reasons:
- Your mentor might be writing about a subject from direct experience. Without direct experience, you’ll need to write about the subject second hand, and that makes an article less powerful.
- If you’re not knowledgeable on the subject you’re writing about, it will show.
- If you’re not an expert, you can’t compete with your mentor for traffic. Your visitors will recognize your efforts to copy that person. Unless you add something unique to the conversation, they’ll probably stick with the original source.
- If you don’t mention that your mentor has inspired your blogs, people might notice and think you’re a copycat. They might even notify your mentor, and that could lead to legal action.
Outsource Your Content Creation Only To An Expert
It’s tempting to outsource content creation to save time and money, but your blog content needs to be created by someone with in-depth knowledge of your industry. Outsourcing blog posts to contractors you find on the internet will get you content, but if they’re not an expert, it probably won’t get you leads.
For instance, if you’re a vintage watch collector, outsourcing your content to contractors who rely on the internet for information means you’ll end up correcting most of it. People want to know if their grandfather’s pocket watch is worth a small fortune, and a contracted, non-expert writer will undoubtedly mislead people. The intricacies of distinguishing pieces aren’t easily learned from Google.
Likewise, blogs dealing with sensitive issues like drug treatment programs, need content written by someone who understands the psychology of addiction. Research shows that when a recovery blog is managed properly, 57% of companies acquire leads directly from their content. Readers looking for help need content that reaches them intentionally and guides them to take the first step to seek help. Their life depends on it.
Copies Never Achieve The Same Success As The Original
A common content creation tactic is to find out what people are interested in and then turn it into content for people to consume. It’s why television production companies crank out remakes, despite their high failure rate. They’re hoping the next remake will be a hit. If you’re looking to remake someone else’s blog, you can bet your blog will experience the same failure rate as those remakes.
A marketing strategy can drive traffic, but it’s the in-depth content that converts traffic into leads. When your business depends on your expertise, you can’t afford to outsource content to people outside of your field.
If you are interested in even more business-related articles and information from us here at Bit Rebels then we have a lot to choose from.
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