Be strategic about your platform going forward and save yourself time and money.
A discussion was spurred on my Facebook page by my sharing a post by Carol Tice over at Make A Living Writing, Why You Should Stop Writing Blog Posts (And What To Do Instead).
In the process of sharing, I commented that I have been espousing this advice for years.
Let me just be clear about what I am saying. I am saying that blogging is the slowest path to credibility, if credibility is what you are after.
Blogging also comes with a lot of other responsibilities that can eat up a writer’s time, ultimately pulling the writer away from the projects she would prefer to be working on.
Bottom line for me, when I’m working with writers: don’t blog until you have products. If you don’t have a book or other products to put at the center of your blog, then blogging is the slowest, most inefficient way to build your credibility.
What’s better? Here’s a quick list:
- Take classes that help you build your skills to a professional level. You might keep a blog, but if your skills lag behind, then you are not doing your platform any favors.
- Get traditionally published in short forms. The quickest path to getting your name out on good work is to aim to write and submit short forms of writing. Don’t go straight to a book if you are completely unknown and you don’t have any street cred.
- Once you have a consistent habit of getting published in short forms, up the ante and pursue some longer forms. Can you get a few features or opinion pieces published? If you have a track record established, they won’t be coming out of the blue.
- If you are writing a book, build a community into it. Reach out to and include as many established experts in your book as you possibly can.
- Get testimonials for your website and for your books and products. Credibility means others say people should listen to you.
- Appearing in the blogs of established others is likely better for your credibility than only appearing in your own blog. But I would be selective about this or you will spend all your time guest posting.
- Finally, pursue traditional publicity. If you can balance a mix of traditional publication and indie publication throughout your career without going to extremes with either one, you will be viewed as a professional who gets along with everyone.
If you blog, your blog can and should embody that you serve anyone and everyone interested in your topic and that you are open to the possibility of both indie and traditional opportunities. Blogs need to communicate, not isolate.
The bottom line for me is that your growth strategies as a writer should always be pushing you beyond your comfort zone and into territory where applause from new fans is possible. If you do all this while increasing your skills, and expanding your professional connections, you’ll always be more successful tomorrow than you were yesterday.
Questions or comments? Please put them in the comments below…