Some Do’s and Don’ts of Blogging, a Post by R. Clint Peters

I recently stumbled upon a request from one of my Linked In connections to subscribe to an author’s interview blog.

The concept was simple: 1 – The blog master would interview writers 2 – The interview would be posted on the blog 3 — All blog subscribers would tweet or post something on their personal blog about the interview.  The blog master even suggested a title for the announcement.

Other than requiring that all members of The Book Reviewers club post something on their personal blogs, the concept is similar to the author’s interviews started a year ago for The Book Reviewers Club.

I have cancelled my participation in the adventure.  I am sure someone is asking why I cancelled a free plug for my novels.

First, the blog master made far too many mistakes in the rollout of the blog.  I have been getting numerous emails about missing or incorrect links, or missing or incorrect author interview information.  It became apparent very quickly that the person running the show did not know what they were doing.  If I am going to hook my star to something or someone, I want the most experienced and professional person possible on the other end of the hook.  Someone who is just learning how to blog is not going to provide confidence they know what they are doing.

Second, if every subscriber of that blog uses the suggested announcement for the interview, the search engines are going to conclude they are being spammed.  (Search engines also look for close similarities)  The search results for that blog are going to dive significantly.

Third, I was getting for too many emails from the blog master.  Unfortunately, those emails mostly talked about mistakes that had been made.  Those are not emails I want to clog up my inbox.

When I started The Book Reviewers Club, my first thought was to keep the membership as informed as possible.   I suppose I might have sent out two or three emails a week, but that would clog up the member’s inboxes.

My answer is to post something important on the blog, and let the club members make up their own minds if it is important.

I have discovered one fatal truth about blogging — blogs are mostly ego trips.  Many blogs are the result of someone thinking they have something everyone should know about.

To sum it all up, there are good things to do as a blogger, and then there are some things that should be avoided at all costs.  If you want to expand your base, try using the SEO rules properly, do not convince your subscribers to unsubscribe by overwhelming their inboxes, and do not answer questions of competence by being incompetent.

The Book Reviewers Club blog was developed for one purpose — to provide a forum for authors.  If you find this blog is helpful, please let me know.

#BestPracticesforPosting #RClintPeters