IAMBorntoBLOG

In the book "Born to Blog" written by Mark W. Schaefer and co-author Stanford A. Smith, it discusses that we are all naturally skilled bloggers.

 I decided to read this book because it focuses on self-discovery and how blogging is simply about having a conversation. I have compiled a list of the key highlights that the authors discuss in the book, highlights that I took away from the most. Let's get started!

 1.     Have COURAGE and be CONFIDENT

 I decided that I was going to start a blog- excellent. Or at least that's what I thought. I began to do some research on what consisted of blogging; great writing skills, using keywords to drive business to your blog, developing eye-catching titles, and the list goes on. I was very intimidated by the list of expectations that I created in my mind. It resulted in discouragement and not believing that I had skills to write a blog. Well I was definitely wrong, because Born to Blog taught me otherwise.

In the second chapter the authors directly begin with saying "You're not a writer, you're a Blogger". This really caught my attention, as I thought I had to have a PhD in order to be a successful writer. They go on to further explain that we all have the skills required to write a blog in fact, we already possess them! All that you need are topics that you are passionate about, confidence, and the courage to start it. The most important part that I learned and still struggle with, is the art of comparing. The author's clearly state that we should not compare, but instead relate. Everyone has started to blog for a reason, we are all in it for a different purpose. Instead of comparing, we can relate to other content writers and gain new skills by seeing what they've done that may benefit us! Once we understand all of this, we can be confident and write a flawless blog. All that's left is the courage to publish that post.

 "And yes, it takes a lot of courage to push that "publish" button" -Mark W. Schaefer

 2.     Find your Inner Blogging Voice

 The truth is, anyone can blog. We all have dreams, stories, teachings that we feel strongly about. That is indeed something to write about! It is also a way where we find our "inner blogging voice”; Our tone in which differentiates us from the rest. In the book, the authors have included a Born to Blog quiz to help identify your skills and determine what type of blogger you are: Dreamer, Storyteller, Persuader, Teacher, or Curator. My results after completing the quiz were, Teacher & Curator. This means that throughout my writing, I love to teach and implement curation for my love of photography and eye for design. I highly recommend reading this book, as the quiz definitely helped me realize which areas I feel more comfortable in as a blogger. Once I realized how I prefer to deliver my content, I felt a lot better. I decided to make a list of what I feel most passionate about. One being mental illness and the struggle with perfectionism. It's important that we understand our skills before we begin our blog. That way we are building an audience surrounding what we have to bring to the table-to ensure that we are writing with our inner blogging voice.

  3.    Google Analytics & SEO…you're not alone! There is help.

 In the last portion of the book, the authors discuss the importance of understanding the tools that we have at hand to help drive success towards our blog. Now that I have the courage, confidence, and have discovered my blogging voice, I am able to create an audience that take interest in my content. The first tool is Google Analytics. Prior to reading this book, I didn't quite understand how this could help increase my followers and overall traffic to my blog. Google Analytics tracks your visitors, the time spent on the page, and bounce rate. It also helps you discover where your blog is getting most of its visitors from and how there are certain words that contribute to gaining that traffic. I really enjoyed learning about these concepts and how the authors presented the information so simply. They explain how there is help, we're not alone! With SEO (search engine optimization), we can research and compile a list of keywords that will optimize your content. It is however important not to solely concentrate on using those words to build your content, but to add them after you've written your post. Mark W. Schaefer reminds us that we are writing for human beings and not to turn our content into advertising. We must consistently ask ourselves " is the content aligned with the original goals and do the metrics support that?"

As a blogger, no one has the fear of being forgotten, if you're a blogger, you're leaving a digital footprint. "Seeing your thoughts on screen will give you the power to change how you respond to the world".

And now I write… I believe I could, so I did.