Professional Blogging For Dummies®

Chapter 15. Ten Common Mistakes and How to Avoid Them

In This Chapter

• Planning your blog

• Staying away from shiny objects, overcrowded sidebars, and buried contact info

• Checking your blog on multiple systems

• Keeping your RSS feeds and audience in mind

• Promoting your blog

• Updating copyright data

• Keeping records

The first nine mistakes that I discuss in this chapter are some of the most common mistakes of professional bloggers. They're also easily avoided if you plan the work and then work your plan. The last mistake applies to any small business and is probably one of the hardest hurdles for most small businesspeople. Don't worry, though. You can avoid these mistakes, and I give you some tips for doing just that.

Failing to Plan is Planning to Fail

You don't have to have a complicated business plan, with P&Ls and cash flow projections, but you need to at least have an outline of your business objectives (which I tell you how to define in Part I) and a general idea of what you can afford to invest in your venture. And you absolutely should have a plan for the blog development, especially if you're hiring someone to help. The plan doesn't have to be much more than the blog specification (see Chapter 9), an editorial calendar, and a target launch date that everyone aims for.

Without a plan, you're liable to succumb to the next common mistake: shiny object syndrome.

Succumbing to Shiny Object Syndrome

Shiny object syndrome is when you feel compelled to add the latest and greatest widgets, plug-ins, ...