I believe blogging is one of the best avenues to achieve success.
Whether your dream is to lead a great church, build a great company, bring lots of people to faith in Christ, fight an injustice, or anything else, blogging can help you accomplish that. In fact, you’re probably already reading the blog of someone you admire because they’re successful at something similar to your dream.
I want to become a better blogger, and I want to help you become a better blogger, whether you’ve got years of experience or are just thinking about starting your first blog.
Let me explain how we can do this together.
31 Days to Building a Better Blog
Darren Rowse is one of the most successful bloggers on the planet. He authors the ProBlogger blog which boasts 136,000 RSS subscribers and has helped thousands of people earn a living blogging.
Several years ago Darren did a 31 Days to Building a Better Blog project. Thousands of bloggers participated as each day for 31 days Darren posted a blogging lesson & gave a homework assignment.
I bought a copy of 31DBBB for $20. I skimmed it, and it’s fantastic. I could go through it and do it on my own, but what would be the fun in that?
I want to do 31DBBB with a group of people who are as passionate about blogging and self-improvement as I am. Experience is irrelevant. I hope the group includes some people who have been blogging for years as well as some who are just starting their first blog. Far more important that experience is passion and a willingness to commit to about an hour a day, every day, for 31 days.
Yes, that’s a big commitment. But I wouldn’t make that commitment myself if I didn’t believe it was worth it.
How do we make this exciting?
Becoming a better blogger is its own reward, but because this project requires a big commitment, I want to add some incentives and some excitement so that we’ll look forward to all 31 days. This is where I need your help.
What would help make this exciting for you?
Here are some ideas I’ve come up with…
- What if there were prizes for things like the blog that sees the biggest increase in traffic over the 31 days? Or the biggest jump in RSS subscribers?
- What if OCC offered free hosting for a year to any blogger who made it all 31 days?
- What if we found some WordPress theme developers who would offer big discounts or free themes to participants?
- What if we created some sort of forum so that participants could get honest feedback on their blog’s design, topics, writing style, etc from other participants?
- What if we could get a famous, celebrity blogger to participate?
- What if we created our own topic at postrank.com which would allow us to see which blogs are making the most progress. (Example)
I want to finalize the details this week so they can be announced on Monday and we can start the 31 days to a better blog on Saturday May 1. So, before you click away could you real quick answer these questions for me in a comment?
- Do you blog?
- How interested are you in doing the 31 Days to Building a Better Blog?
- Which of the ideas mentioned would you like to see as a part of this project?
- What other prizes, incentives, or other ideas do you have that would get you excited about the project?
Thanks!
68 Comments
oops. answers to questions.
1. yes
2. pretty much – I have other writing committments as well
3. honest feedback, critique
4. increased traffic to my site
This sounds like an excellent opportunity as we have started a new congregation in St. Cloud, Florida and I'm already writing on a daily basis.
1. Yes
2. Yes
3. As the pastor of a new church, with limited resources, the full year of hosting would be great.
4. To be able to reach out to the community online with the Good News and frank discussion on what we can do to help make our churches and our country better.
Love it!
1. yep
2. completely interested
3. love them all
4. I'd simply be happy to learn "better blogging" techniques.
Please?
1. Yes, please.
2. Very interested.
3. Tech toys always top my list (after world peace of course).
4. To help grow my ministry.
Thanks you.
Bruce
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I've had 31 Days for several months and have wanted to do it with a group. So I'm willing to give it a go. But, I'm moving across the country in the middle of the 31 days. I'll try my best to keep up. I know I will learn something from the experience.
1. I have two active blogs and am building a third
2. Been waiting for something likes this.
3. I definitely like the forum idea.
4. Maybe a side group for those of us who might not make the 31 Days, but are trying to push forward.
Great idea, Paul
Susan, would be great to have you as a part of this project.
>>Maybe a side group for those of us who might not make the 31 Days, but are trying to push forward.
Sure, we'll call it "the slackers group" 😉
Seriously, though, this brings up an important issue I've been thinking about. I know there are a lot of people who would like to improve their blogging but are unwilling or unable to commit to 31 straight days. On the one hand, something is better than nothing. On the other hand, if we say it's ok to miss days, then when things come up or we get tired or whatever it makes it easier to skip.
I think it's also important to consider this issue from the perspective that this is a team project. Everyone wants to learn about blogging and get feedback on their blog from others, but this will only work if we're all also willing to share what we know and give feedback to others. When people are hit-or-miss or selective about their participation, they tend to show up when they have questions and want feedback and then don't show up to answer others questions and give feedback.
The bottom line is that I want to do this in a way that maximizes participation. So, I'd love to hear ideas for how we can create strong incentives for participation in all 31 days, and enable those who cannot participate all 31 days to participate and contribute as much as possible,
I would love to participate, to be able to spread the Word and also to spread the information about my business.
1. I have two blogs at present one on WordPress and one on MerchantCircle.
2. I would be willing to commit.
3. I like the free hosting, WordPress Themes, and the honest feedback and blog suggestions.
4. I diffinately like the postrank idea or even software that allows you to create offline then post when you go online via Word (all versions).
Thank you John,
1. Yes, but I feel I'm getting no where!
2. Absolutely rabid! Been wanting this.
3. Feedback and shared journey sound great, but the others could be interesting.
4. Learning, connecting, and getting the Word out are the best rewards I can think of.
I have tried to blog and have several entries… but no one ever reads them. Or at least they never leave comments, so I don't know if they read them. I really wonder if I have written a lot of stuff that no one has ever read. But I would like to use it as a tool to bring more interest to my web site. Right now, things are so tight, that I don't think I even have the 20 bucks to do this… but it does sound interesting and intriguing.
Warren,
I have read your blog and have a few suggestions that might help. If you are interested shoot me an e-mail at thomas@untothehills.net
I'm interested. My blog is mostly family stuff. We are home team missionaries with a mission organization and I have three young children. I like to vary my topics from serious to light-hearted. I'd love to improve!
1. Yes
2. Interested. I think the daily commitment would be tough, but I might be able to do it.
3. Forum sounds neat.
4. Prizes are nice. Blog design is always a bonus and an area I could use help.