Note – this is Jason, thanks to Ben for the decent guest post. I will be ending my exams on Sunday, and will be working on a project – a social network of sorts for young internet marketers, an idea that I had before but didn’t have the funding or the knowledge to bring about. The funding is there now, but the knowledge is not (sadly 
) so if you have any experience in running a social network and are not a pain to work with, add me through instant messenger 
Hello Tuk readers! I have volunteered to relieve our UniKid of posting responsibilities for a day. He will be able to focus on knocking out those exams. Good Luck Jason!
Normally I am the primary content writer over at Big Ben Patton’s Place. I like to think that I can live up to the very large shoes which Jason has left empty for me today, so if you like what you read please stop by and say hello. I will also take this time to plug Big Ben Patton’s Contest Extravaganza. My sponsor’s have offered up over $2000.00 worth of wonderful prizes. Stop by today and check it out. You have nothing to lose and some pretty nice prizes to win!
So often I find myself reading someone else’s blog and I feel like they just are not getting the point across in a manner suitable for the content. Many bloggers have utilized many different methods in the past years to put their stamp on the blogosphere. Today I am going to elaborate on a few mistakes many bloggers are still making in hopes of helping you drive that coveted content bus to the bank.
The Thesaurus and Dictionary. Yea who would of thought I know, but you can find them respectively through Google on the world wide web. Use them. Please learn the use of a synonym. And if you don’t have Firefox and just can not spell, hit the dictionary up. These two wonderful resources will help to spice up your content while making it easier to read. To many posts in the blogosphere are just chock full of random spelling variations of the same word, or worse yet using the same adjective to describe nearly everything they have ever written. These two alone will add immense depth.
Its already been hashed to death, but for the sake of academia I will say it one more time. Research your topic and have a clue before posting. You can see so many posts that appear to be written from a sketchy point of knowledge. All it takes is the reader to realize that your wasting their time just for stats points or money. This would be considered a cardinal sin in blogging and once you set this ship to sail your pretty much doomed to a decline in popularity with your readers. Passion is great but make sure you are armed with the sword of knowledge. Passion alone will not keep people coming back.
Whatever you do please avoid making a blog just to share your journey to riches with the world. It has been done, and more than likely it will be just as disenfranchising as all the others before you. Instead you could be blogging about what is hot in the blogosphere and capitalizing on it with a personal twist. Anything is going to be a bigger hit than another hobbit on his journey.
I find that if I do not already have a draft post ready from a previous brainstorm session that Google news usually can provide me with some sort of idea as to something people will appreciate reading about. The biggest tip for any blogger new or old that I could give is to just not publish everything you write. I try to save at least 25% of what I think would be my greatest posts. Thats right keep some in the bank. You may need to skip a day or just not have a suitable topic come to mind at a later date.
Another option is to use a trackback to another blog to offer up more insight on the same topic. Something I have not really seen done lately is this same method but then basically tearing apart the post from another point of view. Read that as your controversy post. They are very good to gather new readers and keep old ones riveted. Keep in mind that if you bite off more than you can chew that you may lose the bet and your readers. Make sure to proceed cautiously.
I am going to cut this post a little shorter than I usually do to leave open a part two. I am interested in hearing your opinions on some of these ideas; as well as, hearing new ideas from you.
If your interested in learning more about effective blogging stop by and check out Big Ben Patton’s Place
May 9th, 2008 at 9:58 am
Thanks to Ben for the cracking guest post.
I completely agree – the more effective you are at blogging, the more time you have for other stuff – stuff that actually makes you real money
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May 9th, 2008 at 10:22 am
Great post Ben, I usually come up with ideas for posts, write the first draft, edit it for any mistakes and then use a thesaurus to change some of the repeated words. Then when I’m finally happy with it, I will publish it
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May 9th, 2008 at 11:30 am
Good post there Ben
Was a good read and nice to see you guest posting here.
Chetan’s last blog post..The Amazing Subscribe and Win Contest
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May 9th, 2008 at 1:07 pm
Great post! Especially about using trackbacks to create a bit of controversy
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May 9th, 2008 at 2:50 pm
I agree with this completely. It’s good to see someone stepping up to guest post, and also, I agree 1000% with what you’ve said. Many new blogs don’t understand the importance of their own brand. No one wants to read the same crap 100 times.
Moneybites’s last blog post..What If You’re Wrong…
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May 9th, 2008 at 5:55 pm
Nice guest post Jason! I think that if you want to be effective in blogging than you should write quality and unique posts. If you are in lack of ideas and don’t have the unique content than you could write a post on the headlines theme from a popular newspaper.
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May 9th, 2008 at 7:12 pm
@Jason Thanks for the Guest Spot. @Rajaie I am the same way with the draft bin its great to have extra work available. @Chetan Thanks @Alex Dead on sir. @Moneybites I have to say if it were only a 100 times we would be ok still, but it seems like almost 1,000,000th time. Hopefully this touches base with some new bloggers and starts a new trend. @Moldova I have used that technique a few times lately as I am holding back some of my content for a little later. I covered most of the Microsoft / Yahoo / Vista news with my own twist. It drove in substantial traffic that has been coming back every day.
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May 9th, 2008 at 10:12 pm
Nice post Ben. Looking forward to part 2!
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May 9th, 2008 at 11:01 pm
Great post Ben!
I’ll be sure to check out your contest
EmmaB’s last blog post..Budget Plan Planned Out
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May 10th, 2008 at 2:42 am
Ha. You are trying to tell people about using a dictionary and thesaurus when you used the phrase “who would of thought”? It’s “have thought” and you might want to consult a dictionary! Ta ta.
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May 10th, 2008 at 5:20 am
@Carrie yea its the southern speech effect puts a personal twist on it. Besides Ill stick to the excuse that I was awake 27hours when I wrote that.
Big Ben Patton’s last blog post..Weekly Round Up
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May 10th, 2008 at 11:30 am
Nice post. If you write enough that’s a privilege to have spare posts.
Aleks’s last blog post..Funny picture – Really got to go
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May 19th, 2008 at 5:58 am
I highly recommend guest posting to anyone that is able to. It helps your think a little outside your own comfort box and cover topics you might not be able to on your own blog.
Big Ben Patton’s last blog post..Traffic Generation part 5
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