It doesn’t just end with opening a blog account and
uploading content. To run a successful blog in Nigeria, there are certain
skills that are imperative if you want to earn a living from your blog. Since you
are writing for an online audience whose interests vary from news, sports,
entertainment and so on, the only way you can engage them and keep them coming
back for more is by giving them content produced by your exceptional skills.
So after sampling some websites that educate people about
blogging, I compiled a list of skills that will help you become a better
blogger and make yourself some cool income;
Whether you run a video blog or magazine blog, you need to
infuse text into your page to explain or introduce your page. You need text for
places like the image caption, the About page and call to action phase. The texts
must be clear, concise and engaging. Do not bore your audience with too much words.
Remember it’s called the World Wide Web for a reason. They can close your page
in one click.
Topic finding
In my previous post, I talked about the scope of trending topics
in the Nigerian blogosphere. To penetrate and engage your audience, you have to
write about stuff that connects with them. There are methods you can use to
find interesting topics like YouTube videos, joining internet forums and of
course browsing the social media spectrum to find out what your audience prefer
to search for and read. My personal favourite
is real life issues like relationships, marriage, giving solutions to problems
and tips on how to tackle some technicalities.
Reading skills
To educate someone you must educate yourself. A good blogger
should be a good reader. Learn to read from other blogs and websites until you
have enough knowledge to form your own content. Reading also improves your vocabulary and
diction. If you have a good control of your language ofe communication then be
sure to recieve positive feedback from your audience.
Interpersonal skills
Despite the fact your interactions are via the web space, you
still have to learn how to deal with your audience in person ‘virtually.’ You must
create a good environment for opening a good conversation with them either via
mail or comment feedback platform. You must learn how to swing with human
dynamism.
Be flexible with your interaction with your fans, don’t discriminate
or take sides in some sensitive issues. For example if you blog about Nigerian music
and movies, you must be able to offer posts about the best music and video in
the business for your variety of audiences. Make them see you as a reliable
source of information where they can comfortably share their views anonymously
or otherwise.
Curiosity skills
This is a very important skill. News can break at any time
and it’s who that reports it first and well, gets the applaud from the crowd. Have
a nose for news whether common or controversial. Know how to tweak your words
to inform a sense of urgency and display your originality. In Nigeria,
controversial news travels like wild fire. You don’t have to be there to get
the gist. You can get the information from credible sources and pick out one or
two points that you feel your readers will be interested in.
Don’t join those who duplicate and share the same content. If
you must share the same information make sure it’s relevant and acknowledge the
source. You might show your uniqueness by tweaking you headline to be more
attention-grabbing. When the news about a woman turning into a bird made waves,
you could tweak your headline to something like Human Bird found in the streets of Edo. Anyone that sees this
caption must click on it. I will especially if it has a picture.
Social networking
skills
If by now you don’t know how to use Facebook, twitter, LinkedIn
and the likes, you are definitely on the wrong track. As a blogger, the social networking
sites are your power sharing tool. Your blog content must be sharable and
linked to all your social media profiles. Once you write, publish/share it on
then various social media. Your primary audience come from all social media.
The list doesn’t end here. You can find more tips on these
websites and add your comments below.http://www.dailyblogtips.com
http://www.netmediablog.com
http://www.skilledup.com
http://www.shoutmeloud.com
http://bloggerspassion.com
http://weblogs.about.com
http://www.problogger.net
http://www.lifehack.org
http://www.dummies.com
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