This eBook is to teach you how to get unexpected success from blogging,

GROW your blog and become an authority in your niche!

The lessons in this eBook stem from personal experience. I am not a pro-blogger,

just a passionate blogger who failed on several attempts but has experienced

success after overcoming frustration. This eBook is entirely free.

Copyright and All Rights Reserved ThatNaijaBlog

Can Success Be Suspicious?

When a universal rule is defiled to actualize a milestone, it becomes success. When

you are a successful blogger, you become exceptional and people tend to look at

you with great admiration while other look at you with envy of epic proportion.

You become the auto-pilot of your life, your blog and your creation; a rare asset.

Your folks can't just stop patting you on the back. And you start receiving offers

beyond the scope of your imagination. Here is where danger looms: Because you

are an exceptional blogger, you become convinced that rules don't apply to you and

so you tend to break them.

Breaking rules isn't entirely a bad idea provided success is the only alternative.

Always remember that the best virtue any successful person can ever have is

humility. Here is what the Bible has to say about pride: Pride goes before

destruction and a haughty spirit before a fall. Do not be arrogant. Be humble.

Success could be life-threatening. With all the attention, the ego, the praise, the

power and the money that come with it, success is a heavy responsibility to bear.

You need skills and a lot of grooming to handle it. Those who cant bear the

pressure self-destruct.

Nosa E. Nosa

Table of Contents

What is Blogging? ..................... 1

How to find a niche for your Blog . 5

Principles of successful blogging ...7

How to stimulate your blog ... 10

The creative mindset of a blogger ... 14

The money mindset of a blogger . 16

Solving problems as a blogger ... 18

The spirituality of blogging ... 21

5 tips before accepting guest posts .. 23

5 tips to becoming a good blogger ........ 26

5 tips for optimizing your blog for mobile users .. 31

How to press the restart button . 35

About the author ........... 40

1

WHAT IS BLOGGING?

Blogging is an online chain-reaction, where a person known as a blogger does the

hard-work of researching about an issue or talking about his life entirely, while

visitors which soon become dedicated readers completes the cycle. A blogger if

successful is seen as an authority in whatever field (niche) he decides to explore.

Blogging is increasingling popular today because it allows people to interact with

each other. No matter where you come from, once an internet connection is

established, a blogger and a reader can be locked in a conversation and in the

process, learning occurs. Blogging has also become a popular search engine

optimization (SEO) tool because search engines like Google, Bing and Yahoo have

seized the opportunity to have relevant articles indexed on their first page. This is

possible because search spiders visit blogs frequently with the sole aim of

gathering new contents.

Blogging gives you the right to talk about eventually anything, this is way too

much freedom and you are carried away by such unlimited powers. Talking about

anything does not mean you must talk about everything. You must create a niche

for yourself and build an audience. Successful bloggers know this and it is part of

the reasons why they have stayed in business.

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Is Blogging Dead?

Sensationalist tech pundits have over the last few years opined that blogging is

dead; they attribute their claim to the evolution of microblogging platforms such as

Twitter and Tumblr. Many have already been misled into believing some of the

theories, but to be sincere, the blogging cyberspace has never been more vibrant

and alive.

One of the reasons why microblogs are extremely popular is that it often takes

minimal effort to reach a targeted audience. Within seconds you can share a link or

a short thought about yourself. But the same cannot be said of blogging, since you

need a well written article and which should naturally takes hours or even days to

craft.

Microblogs are nothing but a branch of blogging, simply targeted toward an online

audience thats stereotypically perceived as having a short attention span. As a

professional and technical blogger, you have nothing to fear, one hundred and forty

characters is perfect to share how you feel, link to a touching story or share your

thoughts about a football match, but it is completely worthless when you want to

share a full article about a subject neither it is suited for How-Tos on

technology. Rather, think of microblogging as a complementary way of blogging

and broadcasting your messages.

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I see microblogging as megaphones, it amplifies the voice of the author to reach a

wider audience. It takes a great deal of time, hardwork and patience to be

established and have loyal followers and readers. One of the common mistakes

people make is that they give up at a point when they are almost reaching the top.

Just like the megaphones comes with built-in echo generators by default, your

audience automatically becomes the blogging echo, reason being that they are the

ones who would rebroadcast your message through social networks or on their own

blogs, helping you reach an even larger pool of interested readers.

As a technical blogger, its up to you to decide how to use such a megaphone, but

youll be surprised by just how handy it is to have the same circulation as a local

newspaper.

Exact blogging statistics are hard to come by, but at the time of this writing,

Technocrati reports that they are over there are over 158 million blogs floating

around. As numbers like that clearly show, blogging is indeed alive and well.

4

HOW DOES BLOGGING WORK?

Now, who ever told you that blogging is easy must really be kidding and if you are

a newbie in blogging, you have to ask yourself some certain questions; why are

you blogging? Do you have passion for the job and will you be committed to the

task ahead? If you are sure your answer to all of these questions is yes! Then

welcome to the blogosphere. But if all your effort is solely centered on how to

make money from blogging, then I am sorry, blogging might not actually be for

you. I spent the last couple of years improving my writing skills, trying to stay

committed and even when I failed on six embarrassing attempts, I got the strength

to remain in the blogoshpere. Blogging is not something I started by chance; it was

a deliberate attempt to become a successful blogger and impart as many people

within my reach.

If you ever thought of becoming a successful blogger, one of the fundamental

principles is to choose a niche for your blog. I will tell you the truth, no matter

what niche you eventually choose, it requires much more than writing skills but

passion, dedication, commitment and above all; sacrifices.

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What Is A Niche?

I wanted to assume you already knew what a niche is but I realized that sometimes

a word might become popular, yet only a few know what it actually means. A

Niche is the act of creating a blog with the intent of using it to either market or

write about a particular thing and/or inter-related things. Things here in my

definition could mean Soccer, Gaming, and Religion. Inter-related things mean

combining things like Soccer and Religion.

How Do I Find My Niche?

Finding your niche simply means finding your passion and exploring it. Your niche

is what you like passionately. What you like passionately, you learn easily. This

makes you an automatic pilot of your blog. In that way, you constantly want to

learn more about your niche because you attract a special kind of emotion to it. It is

easy to know a blogger who has a passion for her blog because the blogs piloting

almost effortlessly.

One of the mistakes a blogger can make is to choose a niche where he has no

passion. Why would a blogger do that? The answer is simple, that kind of blogger

is a money-mindset blogger and not a creative blogger. The blogger might have

seen a particular niche attracting success; he is not interested in what led to the

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success but thinks that particular niche has an automatic birth-right to success.

Unfortunately, success is tied to the creative force that initiates a blogger into

blogging. Choose your niche wisely; a careless mistake in this regard would most

likely cost you alot as you walk through the path of blogging.

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Principles Of Successful Blogging

It is important that once you have committed to the journey of blogging that you

stay connected with it. The principles of successful blogging which I will discuss

here would try to highlight some fundamental components of blogging to the top

that will forever shut the back door of your blog.

1. Write Like You Are Talking Professionally

Take blogging like you are dealing with a client whom you have never met. For

example, when you receive a call from an unknown caller, do you go about using

slang or impolite words? I assume the answer is no! Blogging isn't different;

approach every topic and commenter professionally. Take blogging as an extension

of your voice. Be polite and talk in a language that everyone can understand.

2. Edit One Last Time Before Publishing

Avoid common grammatical flaws and ensure that your spellings are correct. This

gives you a better command over your blog. Overall, you get respect from your

readers. When you know how to use sub-headings and how to break paragraphs,

your readers will see you as someone who cares about them. Readers will not spare

you, if lots of grammatical errors are found in your blog post. They will think you

are telling them; "hey, I know you want this information, but I can't spell, please

swallow this sholveware down your throat". How does that feel? Not just cool. The

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point is this; No matter how quick you want to get done with that post, just take a

few minutes to correct any error that might have happened without your conscious

thought.

3. Treat Your Commenters Like Kings

As you journey through the blogosphere, it is important to recognize your

commenters. By recognition, I mean attending promptly to the needs of your

commenters, answering questions to the best of your ability. If you lose one

commenter, you lose ten readers. That's how it works. When you have numerous

comments without interaction from the author, if feels like a slap right in their

faces. Be polite in your interaction. No matter how you try to be professional, you

would always come across trolls, but by enforcing strict commenting policies,

trolls would find it difficult to dwell in your blog.

4. Be Accurate and Research your Topic Properly

Successful bloggers know this principle. No matter what niche your blog is, it is

better to always provide accurate information about an event or a tutorial. Should

your readers discover elsewhere that you provided them false information, the trust

they had for you will diminish. No man is perfect, and we are all prone to mistakes

but you can also show your sincerity by appending an update to correct false

information within the post with questionable information.

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5. Advertisement

Advertisement is good. Infact, it is fantastic and brings reward for you hardwork

but if not done properly, the reward might turn out to be regret. It is important that

you do not scare your readers with so much advertisement, when a reader find it

difficult to differentiate the loads of advertisement on your blog from your content,

it could retard the retaining factor of that reader. Everyone loves revenue, but when

you force it on readers especially with low quality content, you might as well be

opening the backdoor of your blog.

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How To Stimulate Your Blog

If you are a beginner in blogging or already have a good understanding of what

blogging is all about, you might want to stimulate your blog to reach a larger

audience and get better rewards.

I will discuss five ways in which you can stimulate your blog to reach levels of

previously unseen heights.

1. Linkage

How do you make people stay on your blog? Reduce bounce rate? Firstly, visitors

will not stay on your blog reading just one article, staying on your blog simply

means navigation. Visitors will navigate through your blog when you have quality

articles and each quality article is linked to other similar or related articles.

It is necessary to always have related articles at the end of your blog post and

wisely link to your previous posts if you ever need to make a reference or give

further information about something

Linkage is absolutely fantastic but do not bore and annoy your readers with too

much links on one blog posts. I would suggest a maximum of 4-links in a post.

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2. Social Media

Social networks like Facebook, Twitter and Google+ are vital parameters to

stimulate your blog for higher traffic. In the past, there was an argument that

Microblogs (the social networks) would eventually retard the conventional

blogging system. Obviously, that argument is no longer valid as they have actually

helped in re-echoing the voices of bloggers.

The key is to always share your blog posts on social networks, for every 10-person

that sees an update on social networks, there is a possibility that at least one of

them would share or re-retweet same blog post provided it be of relevance.

3. Design

To be considered a serious blogger, it doesn't all have to be all about good

contents, content is king but when the king is housed in a (mushroom)

"unprofessional blog-design", the king becomes a mockery of itself. I know you

can argue that it doesn't matter, you are wrong, I love you but you are wrong. I will

rather visit a blog that doesn't have the entire frame-work of the blog cluttered than

one that will waste the first 1-minute of my precious time trying to navigate my

way through it.

Designing a blog, you must put ease of navigation at the back of your mind while

also selecting colors that are calm to the eyes.

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Hint: Avoid dropdown menu as much as you can.

4. Accept Guest Posts

When your blog starts to grow astronomically, you will start receiving offers from

people who want to leave a post on your blog. Not all guest posts would stimulate

your blog, so you have to choose wisely and by doing so you and your readers

learn new things. It would be a mistake not to take guest post seriously. What

happens if no one wants to guest post on your blog? You answer that.

5. Connect With Other Bloggers

No man is an island; you can't stand alone no matter how intelligent or smart you

think you are. To stimulate your blog, you have to drop your ego and connect with

other blogs. As a beginner do you even have an ego? So why not connect with

bloggers ahead of you and learn new things. No matter what, your readers would

always be your readers; every blogger has different ways of writing and appeal to

different set of people. My folks who know me very well know I have high regards

for Ben Duka of Psxextreme. Anytime I wanted gaming news and information the

blog Ben writes for was my permanent starting point. He is my mentor and has

imparted alot in my works.

13

Leaving comments in commentluv enabled blogs is one of the best ways to connect

with other blogs. Basically, while connecting with other blogs, the bloggers should

be of a similar niche with yours. Should that be too hard?

14

The Creative Mindset Blogger

In Blogging, there exist two types of mindsets; the creative mindset and the money

mindset. These two kinds of mindsets play a major role in differentiating a

successful blogger from an ordinary blogger. Success doesn't happen by accident,

it all comes after mistakes and the capacity to avoid similar pitfalls.

A blogger with a creative mindset has the following characteristics;

1. Readers First

The creative blogger put his reader first; he spends alot of time and resources in

publishing quality posts. One of the most effective ways to have genuine

readership in your blog is tell your visitors you care about them by not shoving the

ads on your blog in their faces. The truth is that people will always appreciate

quality and informative post, but if this is lacking, readership will not be

guaranteed. The creative blogger knows this and has this singular idea at the back

of his mind whenever he decides to write a post.

2. Has a Vast Knowledge of his Article

A creative blogger knows he has to give high quality articles to his readers, for that

reason, he would attempt to write articles only when he has gathered enough

information and resources about a topic. It is not about writing lengthy articles, a

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medium-written article that proves you know what you are talking about will be

much appreciated. The reading span of humans has reduced and a creative blogger

must know this. Being original and providing as much details is the key.

3. Has A Goal

As a blogger what will you achieve? A creative blogger spends time skimming

through other blogs and forums, asking and answering questions knowing that

learning is a continual process. If you sit in your comfort zone and not observe

what's trending in the blogosphere, sooner or later your relevance would be on the

decline. The goal of a creative blogger is to strive for more knowledge and acquire

it when necessary.

Your character is your blogging integrity, if you handle it without guard, you might

just be blogging in vein.

16

The Money Mindset Blogger

A blogger who sets up a blog without long terms goals and focuses only on how to

maximize profits within the shortest period of time is regarded as a money blogger.

It is pertinent to know that money never yields creativity but creativity itself can

yield money beyond any anticipated expectations. Now that you already know who

a creative blogger is, let us examine what makes one a money blogger.

1. Low Quality Posts with Loads of Affiliate Links

The money mindset blogger is not interested in writing good posts; he spends less

time in planning his post because all his interest is centered on how to sell his

affiliate links. A blogger who doesn't watch football suddenly finds himself writing

about a club's jersey because he assumes anyone going through his blog would

automatically buy the affiliate links cluttered all over his blog; this is a scenario of

a money mindset blogger. The money mindset blogger does little or no research

about his topic and cares only about the money.

2. Google Ads

A money mindset blogger is so passionate about Google's ad network because he

probably had read success stories of bloggers enjoying proceeds of their

HARDWORK. He set up his blog and registers with an advertising network

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preferable Google. After publishing several low-quality posts, nothing happens, he

becomes furious and maybe give-up entirely. The key to success is to learn from

instructions; experience has always been a bad teacher. That's why I always

suggest bloggers to identify with a blogging mentor before attempting to start a

blog. Many bloggers have failed today because they couldn't re-ignite that initial

blogging spark after having one terrible experience.

3. Asking Wrong Questions and Being Selective

Even when a money mindset blogger has decided to seek professional advice from

pro-bloggers, he asks the wrong questions. A money mindset blogger would rather

ask what kind of ad placement and/or network would suit him best instead of

asking what makes a blog successful. Even when the right question is asked, he

might be too uncomfortable with words like; persistence, dedication and

commitment but words like earn and earn more will constantly form vibrations

within his nerve cells.

The truth is that no one likes blogs that tend to take advantage of them, when a

visitor finds it difficult to differentiate between affiliate links and actual blog

contents; that becomes a big letdown. When you lose one direct visitor, you

automatically loose 10-visitos indirectly. Words spread and a blogger with a

money mindset won't have his blog spared.

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Solving Problems As A Blogger

One of the first questions I ask newbie bloggers who claim they want to succeed is;

what kind of problems can you solve? The kind of response you have to questions

like this determines your path in the blogosphere.

Two things exist in life; one is a problem and the other is a solution. But then

again, you can also create problems for yourself when you decide to follow the

path of solving problems for people. The point is this; do not focus on making

money from blogging, rather focus on solving problems.

Money making is not about focusing on your-self, on your wants and needs. You

must think about helping other people. The fundamental principle of creating

wealth is nothing more than creating a system that effectively solves problems,

provides value or saves time and money. You need to understand what people are

constantly finding difficulties in overcoming and what you are willing and capable

to provide as a solution.

When money is lost, nothing is lost; when health is lost something is lost,

but when character is lost all is lost.

This is a famous quote by Lord Milner and has formed the fabrics of my blog.

Losing your reputation as a blogger, your blogging career is finished. This point is

this; as a blogger who has decided to help solve problems, you must be very

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careful. It is important that you are being honest and have equally tried the

solutions you are providing. In the case where you havent, you must inform your

readers that you havent but anything arising from carrying-out your instructions,

you hold no blame. But when you plagiarize someone else work and lay

unreserved claim to the guide or instructions contained in it, you also automatically

become responsible for whatever happens subsequently.

Lots of people are making money by building reputation and solving problems.

Lawyers protect names from being tarnished, while psychiatrists help heal the

troubled mind. Every day problems are being solved by different people. Some are

giving solutions free. Others are selling them for a price. When a problem and

solution meet, a relationship of trust is built between the two parties. If what you

are offering as a blogger helps your visitor, he would always come back because

trust has been established. It doesnt stop there, he informs his friends and they get

their problems solved also.

There is a connection. The problem solver-blogger becomes more popular as more

problems are solved for more visitors. Every time you solve a problem in a way

thats better than others, you add undeniable value to your blog and the person in

need.

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Having the thoughts of being a pro-blogger is a long-term plan at growing your

blog. This isnt just about making money; it is about making money the only way

that promises you long-term success. It is about being a blogger with a creative

mindset. When you act the victim, you will never see the opportunities around

you.

21

The Spirituality Of Blogging

Whatever is it you are thinking is a perfect reflection of what is in the process of

becoming. Your thinking, if visualized becomes a thought and then it becomes

reality. The thought first happens in the spiritual before entering the physical as a

product of your most passionate imagination.

The point is this; becoming a successful blogger first starts in the spiritual. You

begin to think of how you would structure your blog, what kind of niche would

best suit you and how you would get your reward for handwork. The spiritual

controls the physical hence you cannot afford to fill your mind with negative

thoughts.

As you begin or continue your blogging career, it is important to surround yourself

with thoughts of a successful blogger. That kind of conscious thoughts is capable

of interacting with positive forces to produce results that conform to the kind of

thoughts you have produced. In your journey through blogging, you will be

obstructed with a lot of obstacles; you will be annoyed and feel really frustrated. It

is at this point of frustration that the spirituality of blogging surfaces. At the point

of frustration, you would want to quit, you would regret why you ever became a

blogger, things won't just go right no matter how you try. You begin to think

22

negatively and not surprisingling, negative thoughts will only produce negative

results.

I always tell my friends, if you can overcome this period of frustration by lifting

your spirits with positive thoughts, eventually ideas will flow through your veins

like water gushing out from a pipe. After frustration come fulfillment, most

bloggers fail because they let the frustration overwhelm them and get sucked there.

The frustration limit determines who becomes a successful or a failed blogger.

When you supply your mind with positive thoughts, it has no other option than to

return to you positive ideas that will uplift you from the point of frustration to

fulfillment.

23

Before You Accept A Guestpost

They are two things a guest post can add to your blog; it can either add value to

your blog or de-value it. When the latter happens, be ready to get the hammer from

Google. Google takes the issue of useful contents very seriously and if you are not

providing this as an author, your blogs reputation is damaged. It is even worse

when guest posts do not inspire your readers, it is important to know the kind of

guest posts you can accept, certain criteria have to be met before you let the post

go live. If the guest post is empty, it is the blog reputation that suffers.

1. Check The Posts For Plagiarism

This is one of the most vital aspects of deciding whether or not to accept a guest

post. Search engines especially Google treat the issue of plagiarism very

ruthlessly. Googles Panda update which has affected a lot of content stealers is a

proof to the prescript. You wouldnt want your blog to be associated with stolen

contents; hence it is paramount to check whatever post the guest author is

presenting for publication. Plag Tracker seems to be a vital tool in checking for

plagiarism. They are other equally great and premium tools to achieve this task; a

random search on Google can release you to some of them.

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Hint: You can equally search the guest post author on Google, this will enable you

decide if the author is known for notoriously spamming the web with meaningless

contents.

2. Edit Guest Post

You wouldnt want your readers to read a content that is misleading or providing

things thats against the philosophy of your blog. Should anyone wish to send in a

guest post to your blog, it therefore means your blog has reached a certain standard

where trust has been built. It would be insane to let one guest post soil your effort.

However, before attempting to edit the guest post, inform the author that you

reserve the right to edit and proof-read the entire contents, including adding and/or

removing links and also not excluding other alteration that might be necessary to

let the article fit into your blog. If he accepts, then you are only a few steps from

publishing a new guest post.

3. Images

Google requires bloggers to have original images on their blog and in the case

where one cant find owned-images that fit into an article; it is best practice to

always credit the image used to the copyright owner. If the guest post has images

without credit, request the guest author to provide one.

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In addition, you can also add and remove images from the post. This is in line with

the second tip above which gives blog authors the unlimited rights to edit the guest

post before publishing.

4. Niche Factor

A lot of people can argue against this but I wouldnt attempt to over-flog the issue.

The bottom line is this; your audience is accustomed to receiving information

about a niche or a group of relating niche. Anything other than this will piss them

off and trust me, whatever happens next if the same thing occurs in rapid

succession is a story that no responsible blogger wouldnt like to author.

5. Guest Post Guidelines

You dont have to explain your requirements for publishing a guest post each time

you have a request. Having a set of guidelines exclusively for guest posts would

save you the stress of informing guest posters on what is accepted and not accepted

on your blog. Anyone submitting a guest post must have read and understood the

guidelines before committing to the task ahead.

26

How To Be A Good Blogger: 5 Tips

Where did I go wrong? This question torments a lot of bloggers. As hard as you

try to make blogging work, things never really happens the way you want. Every

time you think about your blog, you wonder if you could have been a better

blogger.

In contrast, there is another blogger next door who is putting in lesser effort than

you do and he seems to have succeeded. Admittedly, it is not easy to sleep at night

with this kind of thoughts, but there are basic principles that can help.

Let us consider some of principles that have turned terrible bloggers to outstanding

bloggers.

1. Make Quality Time For Your Blog

As a blogger, how do you show your blog that it is important to you? Surely, there

are many things you can do including the sacrifices you make to ensure your blog

is in perfect shape. You wouldnt do such things if your blog was not important to

you. Yet if you do not spend much time with your blog, it might conclude that you

spend your time in other things and you start to see decline in traffic or get totally

annoyed altogether.

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To whom much is given, much is expected. You cant expect to spend 20-minutes

on your blog and expect automatic success. The point is this; as a blogger aspiring

for success, you must spend QUALITY time with your blog; fixing bugs,

increasing load speed, checking for little detail that require improvement.

I will tell you the truth, there is no week something isnt done on my blog,

although you dont get to see it in the front-end, I am constantly trying new things

to make both humans and bot happy. This consumes a large chunk of my time but

its a sacrifice that has to be paid if one ever wishes to be a good blogger. The

bottom line is to constantly research your niche and follow the trend.

2. Good Bloggers Are Good Communicators

In order to communicate effectively with your readers, you must be a careful

writer. You need to cultivate the ability to write without unnecessary whining. A

lot of bloggers have set their standards to 500-1000 words per article. This can

really be annoying especially when you have nothing more to write. And then, you

begin to add extra load of junk that dont matter to your readers.

You know what? Readers are smart and can tell if you are feeding them with low-

quality articles. Once they realize, you would be amazed how love can be

transferred to someone else with ease. If you lose one reader, you lose 10 readers.

Thats how it works. The point this; treat blogging as an extension of your voice.

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Write like you talking to humans; add a little bit of emotion. Smileys also works

like a charm and gives your readers a reason to appreciate you more.

Treat your commenters like kings, read their comments carefully. Your reply

should show that you are genuinely interested in them. They will in turn be far

more likely to share their precious thoughts and feelings on your blog.

3. Learn Search Engine Optimization

Now, you have given more quality time to your blog and know how to

communicate with humans. How about the bots? This is where Search Engine

Optimization [SEO] comes in. SEO has been hyped like the second of coming of

Christ but I have never fallen for the hype. I am pro-the-content and that doesnt

make me ignore the importance of SEO, but everything must be done moderately

in relation to SEO.

Alot of bloggers have manipulated search rankings with SEO and having

unbelievable low-articles. Google Penguin update was deployed and still being

deployed to combat bloggers who spam the web with fake contents. You want to

be a good blogger? Then you must balance SEO with quality contents.

Know the principle of keyword targeting; this simply means what people are

searching for on the internet. The next thought should be on how to make search

engine users notice your blog. Use eye catching titles so that even when you dont

29

make the top spot which receives 70% conversion, you can still get juice from the

remaining 30%. Also know that some keywords get more searches than others.

Some are high, medium while others have low competition. You can use Google

Webmaster Tool to have better insight. SEO is something I will really talk about

some other time as it outclasses the scope of this eBook.

4. Be Specific And Unique

If you are blogging entirely about entertainment, then it would be out of place to

make a post of Leo Messi vs C.Ronaldo. If you dont stay focused, your visitors

would be confused. I have had several offers and plea for sponsored post about

things that are very dissimilar from what my blog is all about. But I am not entirely

a money mindset blogger so I have the will to always decline the offer. Its hard,

but you just have to discipline yourself.

When I started my new blog, the foundation was built on very similar niche(s). So

anyone who wants to become a reader obviously knows he is going to only get

blogging tips, tech info and gaming. Forgive me if you suddenly see an article

about peace in the Middle East. :D Thats not going to happen anyway, so you just

have to decide what will be in your blog and what wont be from the foundation.

You suddenly found love in Sports and want to blog about it? Create a new blog.

Its that simple.

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5. Promote Your Blog

You will need to promote your blog, dont just sit there and expect your blog to hit

unbelievable heights. You need to spend money, participate in Google Adword and

experiment with Facebook ads. Join forums with members actively discussing

whatever niche you find yourself. Start submitting your blog to directories,

exchange links with others sites and make a blog roll. Its that easy, trust me.

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Optimizing Your Blog For Mobile

NPD predicted that mobile users will overtake traditional PC users by 2016, but I

had my doubts and reservation.

A couple of weeks ago, I decided to study my analytics and I was shocked; it hit

me real hard, NPD predictions happening faster than anticipated; I imagined. Its

just 2013 and mobile users from tablets and smartphones have nearly overtaken

traditional PC users accessing my blog? Honestly, the thoughts that ran through my

mind sent shock-waves across my nerves.

There are lots of templates which come with responsive designs optimized for

mobile but most times; they stack in just about everything from the standard

interface to the mobile interface. This for me is a wrong approach. Including the

sidebar only makes the blog longer and consumes more resources accompanied

with slow load time. In regions where 3G and/broadband network is ineffective or

unavailable, you leave your blog at the mercy of angry visitors who many never

return again.

Let us examine tips to make your blog mobile optimized;

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1. Simplicity

While you create your mobile design, the only thing that should come to mind is

simplicity. A lot of things are not needed in a mobile design. Removing the sidebar

which naturally floats under the contents because of the tiny screen is an automatic

requirement. Links should be clickable and text needs to be easy to read. Larger

fonts always make readers happy. :) There is no need allowing your loyal readers

constantly strain their eyes because they want to read your piece, sooner or later

someone else will snatch them from you. The bottom-line is to keep everything

simple and user-friendly.

2. Integration

Now that your site is simple, it is important that you match the elements from your

standard site to your mobile site. This is a very important feature, if your blog has a

traditional color of black and green, it would be out-of-place to make your mobile

design have red and blue. The point is to incorporate the same branding ideas on

both sides, so anyone visiting either the standard or mobile site wont have to

spend time thinking if his arrival was on the right blog.

3. Avoid Pop-Up Windows

I have visited a considerate number of blogs and when I try to read, Im faced with

a gigantic pop-up window which completely blinds my phone screen. Most times, I

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am unable to close the window, because the screen is not big enough to

accommodate the cancel button. I know many people love pop-up windows which

is either begging for Facebook likes or Subscribers. The truth is that, those who

want to like your page and those who want to subscribe will do same without the

annoying pop-up. If you keep forcing visitors to do something with pop-up

windows, believe me they wont. On a PC, I always close the pop-up window

before it loads, so I dont even get to see what the blog owner is forcing down my

throat. A lot of people still think like me. I can assure you.

4. Desktop View

Yeah, I get it. Your design looks fantastic. You love it and you are confident that

all your users will show same love. That isnt entirely a bad thought. Infact, its an

honest one for any designer who has spent an enormous time and resources in

making a design work. Despite this, you will still find people who dont want to

take a look at your mobile design. They are interested in some of the contents you

have removed.

An easy solution which will satisfy everyone is to create a visible Desktop View

link on your footer where users can be redirected to your standard site under few

seconds. This way, everyone remains happy.

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5. Redirection

Finally, put the redirects in pace that will allow users to get redirected

automatically to their platform. A search on a mobile platform should redirect

users appropriately.

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How To Press The Restart Button

As a beginner in blogging, whoever told you blogging was easy did not only lie to

you but placed you on a journey without preparation. What is not prepared for is

bound to fail. When I hear bloggers screaming and yelling; "I want to quit,

blogging is too hard", I am forced to ask, Compared to what?

You had just one blog, you failed and you want to quit? It would interest you to

know that I failed too failed multiple times. I spent enormous resources, time and

energy but I still failed and I haven't quit. This truth is that failures didn't make me

unfit for blogging, but it proved that each time I did something wrongly. Hence

there was the need to cross-check the foundation of all the blogs I had and what led

to their failure of colossal proportion. I realized that it wasn't the will to succeed

that matters, everyone has that. It is the will to prepare to succeed that matters.

How Do I Press The Restart Button?

Consider yourself playing Fifa13 on the PlayStation 3 console as an armature

against a top gamer; at the end of the day, the score is really pathetic with a

minimum of 5-goals hitting the back of your net. You can't even score a single

goal. What do you do? Do you quit playing Fifa13? No! You awake the next day

and ask for another challenge, you notice some remarkable improvements,

although you still loose but this time, by a lower margin. In the coming weeks, the

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top-gamer starts to find your match more difficult, eventually you start to score and

sooner or later both of you become champions wining and loosing in almost equal

proportion. That's how blogging is. You fail today, go to sleep, do not fill your

head with worries, for it brings nothing but depression. Start to think about ideas

and how it can fit into your blog.

Go on research; find out what other bloggers in your niche are doing. Find their

faults and find ways to make corrections and apply it not in their blogs but in your

own blog. Create a system on how your blog should operate, how often should you

post, the minimum number of posts that must be published per week etc. Little

details like navigation and CSS might also play a dominant role in turning your

"no-name" blog into professional blog".

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Take A Break

I know you love blogging and you are willing to spend all the time with your PC.

But hey! You need a break. Everyone does, you have to create a system that works

for you.

Every Sunday, I dont attempt to publish a post and I never will. There can be

exceptions though, maybe when the annual gaming conference continues over the

weekend.

I have started managing my online life and offline life; I am trying to make a

balance to regain my physical social life. Blogging can really consume your time

you know, so you must work with time management. Play some games, hang out

with friends, go to a gym and all that. Dont just sit in front of your PC everyday

because you want to be a pro-blogger. Everything requires a balance. Blogging and

social life must be balanced as well.

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What Next?

You read it all and we have come to the end of this eBook, you might be

wondering what next. The balls in your court friend. If you are doing the same

thing with the same approach and you are not getting results, it therefore means

that it is time to start doing same thing with a different approach. Blogging is

incredible; a lot of pro-bloggers have got lots of unbelievable stories to make you

re-check the fabrics of your blog. There is no other time than making the desired

changes right now. If you have been trying a single niche blogging and you are not

getting results why not try multi niche? I did a couple of things backed with

enormous resources yet I still failed, but each time there was a lesson accompanied

with it. If I had quit 3-years ago, you wont be reading this e-book but I guess I

have the spirit of a Tiger.

I will tell you the truth, its was not innate, but a calculated attempt to succeed in

blogging which has always been my desire and each time I fell there was a new

discovering to a solution over a problem that caused the initial fall. I am not special

and you are not different. You too can develop that mindset and aim for success as

the only alternative.

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I dont want to bore you, I have written so much already. I like to know how your

blog is doing; feel free to shoot me a mail on my m

admin@thatnaijablog.com

I am also available for blogging consultancy to shoot your blog to unbelievable

heights, my consultancy isnt free, but I promise to be moderate in pricing.

Regardless I am always available to help out.

define your step in blogging.

book here. More to come and

Nosa E Nosa

Aka thatnaijablogger

Add +Nosa on Google+

, I have written so much already. I like to know how your

feel free to shoot me a mail on my mailbox:

I am also available for blogging consultancy to shoot your blog to unbelievable

heights, my consultancy isnt free, but I promise to be moderate in pricing.

s available to help out. I really hope this has helped you re

define your step in blogging. You can drop your testimonies after reading this e

More to come and thanks for reading. I love you.

, I have written so much already. I like to know how your

I am also available for blogging consultancy to shoot your blog to unbelievable

heights, my consultancy isnt free, but I promise to be moderate in pricing.

I really hope this has helped you re-

You can drop your testimonies after reading this e-

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About The Author

Nosa E Nosa is pro-charity, a wonderful friend to hang out with. He has spent a considerable time of his

life investigating the fabrics of blogging. He is a gamer and loves the PlayStation brand. He is

fundamentally honest and only interested in finding the twin flame of his heart's burning desire. He is an

author of several blogs and lover of the Manchester City football club. His full name is Nosagie Nosa Ero,

born and raised in Nigeria.