Marie Powell

I’ve found online learning useful in many ways. For example, I spent one weekend last fall being inspired by the first International Freelancers Day conference.

This online conference brought 25 top freelance writing and design specialists into my home office. Whew! So many great ideas! I’m still sorting through my notes, and finding suggestions I want to try in these pages.

Here’s a list of five to start, all directed at better blogging. I’ve included the speaker names in case anyone wants to check them out for more great ideas:

1. Write for people, not for Google, says Brian Clark, @copyblogger. This could be the main theme of that weekend, repeated many ways by many speakers. We worry about keywords and SEO, but as writers, we should always think: Readers.
2. Great content always gets shared, says Nick Usborne, @nickusborne. And great content might include offbeat or surprising posts, interviews, posts using photos or graphics, or numbered lists  (like this one.)
3. Re-imagine – don’t recycle, says Ann Handley, @MarketingProfs. Create several shorter posts around one set of research or one theme. That’s a great idea for me, since I do quite a bit of historical research.
4. Respect the work. For example, don’t say “tips” – say “strategies.” It shows more respect for the work, says Peter Bowerman, @wellfedwriter. (Okay, I’ve edited the title of this blog already.)
5. Be committed, Handley and several other speakers agree, with a regular editorial schedule. Offer a resource, take a stand, explain the significance of news and events.  From now on, I’m going to try harder to make posts at least twice a week. I’ve targeted Tuesday for travel, and Friday for writing tips.

That’s just the tip of the iceberg. There were a lot of great speakers and great ideas at that conference. What are some of your tips – I mean, strategies – for keeping a blog and making it interesting for others to read? (Please click “Read more” below to add your comments.)