Jenise Fryatt Bio

There are a few things that readers notice right away about your blog that can be very difficult to overcome. Just one of the following issues can counteract all the work you've done to create an effective social media marketing strategy. So take some time and check to see if you're blog needs a little resuscitating.

1. Enough about you. Let's talk about ME!
 Blogs that blindly broadcast information without offering ways for readers to interact are a huge turn-off to most readers. But particularly when you are in the business of facilitating face to face meetings, you want to be seen as being responsive to your audience.
Polls, questions, contests will engage readers. They help you gain valuable information that you can use to improve your marketing and your event.  

Likewise, not responding to comments makes both commenters and readers feel that your business or event is not interested in what they have to say.

2. About that novel you always wanted to write...
Long posts with long paragraphs will get your readers clicking away in droves.  Here's a tip to remember: Blog readers are scanners.  They will quickly click off of things that require a lot of concentration. If they go to your event blog and see 2,000+ words of text, only the truly brave will continue. 

Try to keep your paragraphs under five sentences. Don't be afraid of one-sentence paragraphs.  Use sub headings.  You can even break things up by highlighting a quote in large font.

3. The blogger I write, the punnier I get!
Sometimes we think we have the cutest, funniest idea for a headline. But more often than not, no one else get's the joke, let alone what the article is supposed to be about.

Your headline is the most important sentence in your blog post.  It needs to entice people to read it or click on a tweeted link. 

Write interesting headlines with your audience in mind.  Lists, like this one, tend to be popular. How-to's are also a good bet.  For inspiration look at newspaper and magazine headlines.

4. A picture's worth
Pictures add interest and command attention.  When they are absent on a blog, the page looks boring and lifeless. However, chosen and placed with care, they go a long way toward adding interest to your post and making your blog, in general, much more aesthetically pleasing. 

You can use pictures posted on Flickr Creative Commons at no charge as long as you attribute them to the photographer.  Flickr provides a search box to make it easier to find relevant photos.  (I like to include a link to the Flickr page for the photographer.) 

If you have time, you can also set up and shoot your own photos.  Or choose from many sites on the internet devoted to selling rights to photos that can be used in blogs.

5. Be an island unto yourself
Don't have the time to link to other bloggers on your blog? Can't be bothered with commenting? Well, get ready to be a lonely blogger with a lot less traffic.

Commenting on other blogs helps you build a community of readers who will comment on your blog. AND the search engines favor blogs that get comments. Each time you comment on another blog, you have the opportunity to add a backlink to your blog that will increase your presence in the search engines.

In addition, a blogroll in which you list other blogs you recommend, will encourage those blog writers to return the favor and list you, thereby adding valuable backlinks that will increase your rank with the search engines.

6. Who needs Twitter?