Folks, there comes a time in every blogger’s life where he looks at his traffic and his flagging adsense revenue and has to ask, is it ME?  You go out, and promote, and promote some more, and you’re posting at a pretty good clip and at regular times of the day, and by all accounts, you’re doing the right things.  Your posts have plenty of keywords but they’re not link bait.  You’re drawing attention with your headlines but not ignoring the SEO possibilities.  You read Problogger and Slyvisions EVERY DAY to try and catch new ideas (okay, so maybe I’m getting a bit grandiose there, but still).

And your blog just still isn’t going anywhere.

So like I said…you have to ask the toughest question of all.  Am I any good at blogging?

This isn’t a question people want to ask.  No one wants to hear they have no talent.  That’s why most people would rather WATCH American Idol than go ON American Idol.  They want to hear how badly OTHER people suck, not how bad THEY suck!  But you can find out.  Talk to your friends, any of your blogging contemporaries.  Send out links to your blog.  Specifically request they not spare your feelings as you want to improve, and MEAN it.

Then, see what’s wrong, and try to fix it.

There’s only one way to be a better writer, folks, and that is TO WRITE.  It’s the very definition of “writer”.

Writer. Noun. One who writes.

But if you’re willing to practice, to turn in the work even if no one’s watching, keep up the promotion and everything else, chances are you can become a good writer…even if you aren’t right now.

In response to a comment on one of yesterdays posts, I thought I would share my thoughts on developing your craft as a writer and how that will help you increase the amount you write without increasing the time it takes.

Writing is like any other skill, it stakes practice. Some have a natural talent, but, even with a natural talent, practice will make that natural ability shine. Think of athletes, even if they have a seemingly natural gift, they still have to practice for hours to try and perfect it, when they don’t practice as much their ability is never quite enough to keep them at the top.

Writing multiple posts a day seems beyond many bloggers, but again its really just a matter of practice. I write twice a day here, but I also write in several other places too. I write for businesses, as well as for my own business. I write strategy documents, I write Social Media plans, and sometimes I write just for fun. I write online and I write offline with pen and paper.

By writing in different formats, in different mediums, it makes your brain develop the sense of writing as a natural occurance instead of something that has to be forced. By writing in different ways you develop a depth and a character to your writing that will differentiate you from other writers.

What different forms of writing do you do?

Over the next few days I want to share some tips that I have found to be helpful for writing posts that really zing.

I spend most of my day writing in some form or another, whether it is for blogs, magazine articles, client projects or advice for others.

The first thing that is most apparent when starting out as a writer is, it takes time. Not just the time to build your reputation or craft, but actually to write good content. The amount of time will depend on your experience, both as a writer and with the topic. It will also depend on your attention span. There are some writing projects that I can just sit down at the computer with the research to hand and write from beginning to end. Others however, I have to write in sections, sometimes over the space of several days.

If you have a deadline then making sure you have enough time at the end of the project to do the editing is always a challenge and something that gets forgotten all too often. Unfortunately this can have a really negative impact on your piece and something that you have spent hours on ends up suffering for want of a few minutes editing.

How much time do you spend on your writing?

Why do you blog? Well given the intent of this website, it might be a safe assumption that you either blog to generate revenue or you blog as a method of generating interest in something you sell.

So should your blog be a Media Channel, a Store Front or an outlet for your writing?

Some might argue that it is all three, but that causes some conflicts. After all a media producer is not a store owner, nor necessarily a writer.  Same for the other two.  Whilst they might share some of the same traits they have unique skills to their own path.

Blogs are, primarily written, yes I know some are Vblogs, but for the purposes of this post I am focusing on written blogs.  Some guides available will refer to “Visitors” & “audience”, but hardly ever use the term “Reader”.  People don’t “Visit” a blog, they read it or they don’t, they aren’t an audience - your blog isn’t live nor is it a performance.  Which really leaves them as Readers, which makes you a writer.

So don’t try and be all the other things, be a writer, hone that craft, develop it, maintain it, enjoy it and your readers will thank you for it.

Variety is the spice of life, so they say. This applies to blogging as much as any other part of life.  Having other writers contribute to your blog is a great way to both mix things up for your audience, keep your blog fresh and give yourself time to write a blog article or two to put away for a rainy day.

You can’t be an “expert” at everything in your topic area, so by inviting others to write for your blog from their perspective it can keep your readers interested, provide fresh views and help promote your blog to a wider audience.

What’s in it for your guest? The opportunity to share their thoughts with a different community, to provide them with broader exposure and the opportunity to drive new traffic to their blog.

Obviously you should choose your guest bloggers carefully and be sure that their style of writing is going to be well received by your audience. Choose from blogs that you read on a regular basis, and of course from people with whom you have already made a connection. Don’t expect A list bloggers to come and write for you, but also don’t be shy in asking them for help, whilst they might not write for you they may well recommend someone else who will.

Offer to write a post for your favorite bloggers, have the post ready to go before hand so you can show them a draft. Again make sure you have taken the time to establish a connection with them first.

So who are you going to invite to write your next post?

How much time do you invest in blogging?  When asked that question bloggers often think about how much time it takes them to research and write a post.  But the time you invest in your blog should go far beyond just the time spent researching and posting.

Firstly, how much time do you spend reading other blogs?  How many do you visit on a daily basis or have sent via email or RSS?  The reason I differentiate the two is because, although I have my favorite blogs delivered via RSS I still like to go to the actual blog from time to time to see what layout changes have been made, to read the comments and of course to leave comments.

This is investment time.  This is when, where and how you learn your craft both as a writer and a blogger.  Being a good blogger doesn’t necessarily make you a good writer, and being a good writer won’t necessarily make you a good blogger.  Why are they different?  Being able to write in a compelling way in a relatively short amount of space takes skill.  But blogging is about more than just the content, its about how that content is arranged and how it is promoted.

You should devote time that you spend on simply learning from others.  Of course the A list blogs are a great place to start but so are many of your peers.  Maybe they have found a new widget or just a new way to layout content.  Perhaps they are doing something that you find not to work for you.

Most importantly don’t forget to spend sometime commenting on other peoples blogs.  Some people will say this is a great way to “market” your blog as you can put a link to your blog in your comment. I say that this is a bad idea.  Don’t do it to market you blog, do it because you know what it takes to write on a regular basis, to put your thoughts out there for the world and because you know how good it feels when someone takes the time to leave you a comment.  So pay it forward, leave a comment and recognize your fellow bloggers.