Think about blogs you visit over and over again. Think about brands you care enough about to be engaged with their social media. Think about other successful businesses reaching the audience you want to reach.
- What do they have in common?
- What do they do well with their blogs? What topics do they cover? How would you define their voice?
- What do they do differently from other brands that may be less successful?
Studying what other people are doing successfully isn’t about copy-cating or plagiarizing anyone else’s work, it’s about working smarter, not harder.
You think big, successful companies don’t do this? You’d be wrong.
But the key here is not to try to be an exact copy of anyone or any thing else. First of all, that’s stupidly unethical, and second of all, it’s nearly impossible. A copy is never going to be as good as the original.
I really like Ashley Ambirge’s blog The Middle Finger Project. It’s bold and sassy and in-your-face—and full of amazing, practical advice.
But I’m not Ashley Ambirge. Sure, I could drop a few F-bombs around here and talk more about orgasms and wine drinking (which, hey, we all love), but I’m still not going to be her. That’s not authentic Lacy, and pretty soon, you’re going to notice. And you’re going to leave, because you’ll be thinking, “If she’s not authentic on her blog, what else is she being inauthentic about…?”
What I can strive to emulate is developing my own strong, amazing voice. I can try to ensure I’m dropping gems of absolute purest gold whenever I write on here. I can tell humorous personal stories that actually happened to me. I can try to be as amazingly useful to you guys as humanly possible.
Those are the qualities I want to emulate, and ain’t nobody gonna convince me that’s a bad idea.
(See, now THAT was a little more authentic Lacy, breaking out the Texas up in here.)
I’m not suggesting you go out and copy anything word-for-word—that would be totally unethical and wrong. What I’m suggesting is that you give up trying to reinvent the wheel, and start looking at what’s working for other people that you can apply to your own business.
Got some blogs or websites that you absolutely luuurve? Share them in the comments below! We want to be as amazed as you are.
Love this Lacy, it is all about being true to yourself first and first, and many times we need a little inspiration to get the creative ideas flowing.
Ashley's ok, and Lacy is sooo much better!
Here's to you celebrating your independence in style!
Big smiles,
Blaze
I use BlogLovin to follow my blog reading list. And they publish the Top Blogs which is a really good place to start. My problem is I want to write about what I write about and may not have as ready an audience as a travel blog or food blog. But that is the challenge trying to attract a loyal group of follower, readers and commenters.
You are so right Lacy! I have seen way to many copy cats out there. BEcoming a good blogger is a practiced skill, as everything else. You need to FIND your voice and an excellent way to do that is to look for others.
A blog I really enjoy is Copyblogger.com I learn so much about what to write and how to write. I recommend it wholeheartedly!