If you were born on a desert island, raised by a pack of wolves, would you make a good blogger?
No. You’d suck. Because the truth is our ideas ultimately spring from other people’s ideas.
Skellie writes:
“There are no new ideas. When we create, we dig into our well of knowledge and experience, grab a handfull of stuff, mash it up and recombine it in new ways. But the idea is still built out of other ideas that came before – ideas we’ve consumed.” [Bold emphasis mine]
Since reading really is the key to writing amazing content, are there strategies that can help us get the most from it?
Absolutely:
Read more than just blogs
For starters, make sure whatever you do you’re not only reading blogs. While that should be an important part of your strategy, just reading blogs results in stale blog posts. It’s well known ideas are bounced around the blogosphere like an echo chamber. Reading books and magazines stimulate ideas and angles that aren’t showing up on every other blog, which makes you stand out.
Also, don’t only read relevant non-fiction. Read novels. Read history. Read comedy. Reading widely will not only expand your mind but will help you construct sentences more clearly, more compellingly and more creatively.
Reread important books
What books you read multiple times depends somewhat on your niche.
However, all bloggers are copywriters, too. Seriously, you gotta get your copywriting game on to bring your blogging to new levels. For me, one book I’ve read more than once and will reread yet again is Joseph Sugarman’s The Adweek Copywriting Handbook.
And if you think rereading is only for rookies, think again. It’s actually the method of some of the most viciously successful content creators out there.
Take Sonia Simone for example, who’s a senior editor for Copyblogger and successful entrepreneur. She writes:
“When I had a commute, I used to listen to the same marketing CDs over and over again. They burned a neural pathway in my brain. The information became second nature, as automatic as changing the channel when Leno comes on.”
She also recommends rereading the classics which for her are, Robert Cialdini’s Influence, Seth Godin’s Permission Marketingand Eugene Schwartz’s Breakthrough Advertising, among others.
You bet your butt I’ll be picking these up.
In addition to rereading books on writing, do the same for insanely insightful books that pertain to your niche. Since I often write on personal development, I’m now reading Awaken the Giant Within by Anthony Robbins for the third time. It deeply resonates with me and is a source of constant inspiration for future posts.
Let’s face it: You probably won’t master the material in a book if you read it just once. But read it more than once and the book’s benefits will make a permanent home in your brain. You’ll be able to quote from it and use more of what’s in it with greater affect and regularity.
Be picky with blogs you read
I’m sorry, I don’t understand people having hundreds of blogs in their reader. What the hell’s the point? And if you think it’s necessary to be a successful blogger, think again.
Leo Babauta, one of the world’s most successful bloggers writes:
“Limit your feeds. Blog subscriptions, newsletters, other updates and news subscriptions and so on. Limit them to a handful of essentials, and let the rest go. The more you have, the more attention they require.” [Emphasis mine]
I currently have 35 blogs in my reader, many of those blogs update rarely, too. Just as with books, I recommend you follow varied blogs and not exclusively ones that pertain to your niche.
I also recommend you read a few blogs that are extremely successful. You’ll learn just as much by watching how they blog than by the very information they share.
Skellie writes:
“You might listen to the recommendations of blogging experts and practice blogging regularly, but do you actively study other blogs and bloggers that have achieved the kinds of goals you’ve set for yourself? This kind of learning is as practical as it gets: it deals in real-life action and examples rather than abstract lessons.”
Study the methods of successful blogs and see what you can apply to your own blog.
Stay consistent
Everything I explained above comes down to disciplined regiment. Read 30 minutes a day of books or magazines. If you could only choose between that and your RSS feed, I’d unhesitatingly recommend you make books and magazines priority. To ensure you read 30 minutes a day, you can set a timer.
Ideally, you’d read books and magazines and be a consistent blog reader too. But as mentioned earlier, subscribing to less blogs is wise. Find the bloggers that enhance your life most and spark the most ideas for your next post and stick with them.
By the way, did you notice all the quotes I included in this post that improved my arguments and made this piece more interesting to read? That’s attributed to my dedication to reading consistently a few blogs that I find most useful.
Amazing ideas and skillful writing spring from judicious reading. So make sure you’re doing plenty of it.
Bamboo Forest created an online timer that helps make bloggers ridiculously productive. He also writes for Pun Intended, a blog that’s hilarious and enlightened.Want to guest post on HowToMakeMyBlog? See more info here.
Image by Moriza.
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{ 36 comments }
Nice post.. ! “Limit your feeds” Great point. i already done it… These are some great tips buddy.
Thanks for sharing this great post buddy. Keep it up.
@ Dev: Glad you enjoyed the post. Glad you’re also limiting your feeds.
Yes that one is also mine pick from your post. So that I can have neat and clean bookmark list.
What a great piece!
I reads many blog’s per day. Actually I read blog’s with my mobile, because THE SMALL SCREEN GRAB MORE ATTENTION and also this post I’ve read from mobile. As the screen is small, so I roll over only the main content, the most valuable part.
Eunus Hosen
Thank you for the nice words.
You make some great points in your post. I limit the amount of sites I subscribe to, but I have stopped using my RSS reader as I found I became easily distracted. I have a lot of sites in my reader, but I subscribe by email to the blogs I really want to stay in touch with.
Now I am going to head over to Amazon to price up The Adweek Copywriting Handbook.
Thanks for the heads up.
It’s a great book. One I believe you’ll find highly useful for blogging and writing in general.
Thanks for the post. I don’t have that many feeds yet, but I already feel like I may have to many. However I think I will add one more for your blog, howtomakemyblog.com.
I have found plenty of good stuff here while building my new blog, TheBlogQuest.com. I look forward to applying many of your tips to my blog. -Jason
Great post on reading. I need to make more time for reading because I have a book addiction! I also love getting the audio book and the print book. Maybe crazy but I learn a number of ways and I feel they reinforce each other for me.
Do you write more on personal development here or on another blog?
Actually, this is a guest post by me :]
I write a great deal on personal development here:
http://ticktocktimer.com/blog/
Feel free to check it out
Your blog is also neat, clean and well organised as your thoughts.
Really appreciate this, will you please tell us your top posts so that we can read them first.
Luv this post. I try to read something new everyday that directly and indirectly will help me with my blog.
Amazing as you blog more, you will see and experience things in a lil different way.
Essential stuff,
I luv what Sonia Simone said – reading and hearing stuff once isn’t enough, you have to consistently drown your head in your favorite recordings/readings. It must become a part of your membrane. Gotta re-read Influence again, great info but tough read, as try as the Sahara desert.
Focus is everything,
thanks for the grrreeat info,
I will try out your timer
I’m a big rereader. I believe it’s essential to really derive the greatest benefits from a book. Thanks for trying out the timer
Makes sense, 100%!
I think the one aspect that many don’t realize is the “Limit them to a handful of essentials’.
Good quality post!
//K_Wasseem
I recently reread Salinger’s The Catcher in the Rye. Amazing what a different angle you get when you’re not reading it as a mad teen.
Also, just started playing Billy Joel CDs again. I heard The Piano Man at a store, and got a wave of nostalgia. Great writer. His words take on new meaning with time and lived experience.
Thanks for the post.
The art of trying to become an amazing conductor.
That’s exactly why I spend so much time perusing Barnes and Noble…always looking , dreaming, and brainstorming of new things. Without reading, man, where would i be?
Brandon
Great ideas that help novices like myself. Thank you for the insights.
Excellent post for bloggers! Reading is really one of my most favorite activities however it can consume all my time. Less is really more when it comes to reading. I think it is important to choose only the best resources that can be helpful or inspiring. I never read something that does not grab my attention and does not seem very valuable (even if it is a highly-praised resource). I’ll skim through it trying to find that key points that might be of interest to me and then I’ll move on to a better piece of writing.
Now I don’t feel so guilty about reading all kinds of info instead of reading o
blogs. Thanks.
People can have worthwhile things to say, even if they can’t read. But I do agree that reading good stuff is important when we do read.
Certainly. But I’d argue that the more you read, the more resources you have to develop ideas to the fullest. Reading simply gives you an advantage. One we should all seize.
Before I started blogging I have a passion for reading good books. I believe that the more we read, the more our horizons expand. Now that I’m blogging, I’m expressing my thought about what I’ve learned and my real life experience. It’s amazing how we can see life in a different light if we are avid readers.
Awesome post with few great examples.
Really agree that you should read every kind of taste. Comedy, tragedy, romantic.
I got many ideas while reading posts of many established blogger. I simply note them down and later I elaborate them more.
Tips taken from this post is limited reading and I am going to delete all those blogs which are in my list but I have not read them from months.
Marko,
This is spot on advice.I cant’ tell you how many of my best concepts have come because I spent time reading books. When I used to have an hour drive between my parents house and Los Angeles I would listen to audiobooks. I still do that even though my commute is only about 20 minutes. But I say that with the amount of time people spend in traffic in LA they could learn a foreign language.
In the balance sheet of big corporates we will be able to see new expense or loss head as Traffic Time Loss.
Certainly this is a big loss to our time.
Srinivas I like your post on Blogussion as well …
You described really well about comments …
Great advice. I think they only way you get good at anything in life is to be a) talented b) a continual student and c) by immersing yourself in the topic. Great ideas for becoming a better blogger.
I totally agree with being selective about what you read. I actually have a lot of feeds in my Reader – I definitely need to sort through since I honestly there are only a good handful of those that I actually (I know that’s pitiful).
Anyway, integrating outside sources, especially non-blog sources, is a great way to make your content stand out from the rest.
I am a huge believer in the reading novels as a way to improve writing style. Once you have read a few Iain M. Banks culture sci-fi books you can at least recognise superb writing.
I think to have a good blog you have to enjoy writing in some way shape or form. I see people launch blogs who hate writing which is just an appetite for disaster.
Reading from this post, I can deduce that the links you provided are the blogs you have in your RSS feed. They are pretty much informative blogs.
When I started off blogging, reading as much blogs as I can and filling it up on my RSS was my goal. As I carried on, the blogs seems to repeat one another so I had to slowly unsubscribe. It kind of works the opposite for me. Load it all up and strip it away slowly and gently, peeling off the layers that don’t work or stick. It takes time to learn but that’s me. It’s what works for me.
Most of the readings I’ve be doing lately are from e-books I’ve downloaded. I’ve found great classics on copywriting like Joe Sugarman’s Ad Week. However, I’m more of a reports person so I’ll look for Jimmy Brown’s stuff since I like his style and try to imagine how the online community was back then. Nostalgia helps me blog better and it also inspires the words I write to willfully try to bring value to someone else.
Great post!
I’m glad you mentioned RE-reading great books. I think that’s really important too. Also cutting down on getting too much input. Thanks for posting this! Really good stuff.
Peace,
Darren L Carter
Thanks for sharing these tips! Reading is something I have to train myself to do. I’ve recently started reading more and i’m surprised at how attached i’ve gotten to blogs and books.