5 tips for blogging your way to success By Megan K. Scott

Blogging can bring you personal satisfaction, give you an outlet for expression, help you connect with others and even assist you with leveraging a business. Along the way, you may even come across a little fame. Here’s how:



• Blog about what you are passionate about, said Jennifer McLean of blog search engine Technorati. Coming up with fresh and interesting content is easier. And if you’re only blogging for money or fame, readers will pick up on it, she said.




• Make sure you post frequently, said Gretchen Rubin, who blogs about happiness. “That is a sign of vitality on a blog.” And have a clear idea of what you are blogging about. Blogs do better when you have a focus.




• If you are an aspiring author, show that you have a loyal following, said Brooke Warner, senior editor at Seal Press. “When someone says I get 25,000 unique visitors a month, we pay attention,” she said. “They have readers and either their story or writing is really good.”




• Develop your unique voice. Powell, who blogged about cooking all the recipes in a Julia Child cookbook, had a “unique hook — nobody else had done that,” said Ellen Gerstein, vice president of marketing for John Wiley & Sons. She also brought a lot of humor to her blog.




• Spend time on marketing, said Darren Rowse of ProBlogger.net, a blog with tips for bloggers. With millions of blogs afloat on the Web, writing posts isn’t enough to attract followers, he said. Focus on writing guest posts for other blogs or networking, for example. – AP