Don't Be Afraid of Your Blog

Although I am an experienced blogger now I was very green for quite a while. When I first began blogging in 2004 I had great difficulty figuring out how I wanted to communicate with my readers. For the longest time I found myself teetering relentlessly between writing in a professional, authoritative manner and blogging in a laid-back, casual style. Needless to say, my hodgepodge writing style didn't work very well and my readership numbers suffered as a result. If you are going to be a great blogger you need to find your own individual writing voice and stick with it.

I often recommend to new bloggers that they should blog like they speak to their friends, that way their writing remains genuine, authentic, and honest. Blog readers really appreciate honesty and like to see "the person" behind the blog. If you enjoy debating about timely items in the news or relish a strong political debate, for example, then you should opt for a casual, snarky, yet informative and knowledgeable writing style. If you are an expert in your field, you need to adopt a very professional tone to not only establish your credibility, but also to put your clients, customers and readers at ease. You don't want to sound juvenile or immature especially when people are paying you for your services. Above all, you know yourself better than anyone. Let people get to know you and learn more about you via your writing.

Blogs that are the most successful established their voice early on and continue to stay close to the script. If you are a relatively new blogger, take a moment to decide your blog voice and determine if it is consistent with how you honestly want to represent yourself on the Net.