New to SITS? Welcome!! Go read this to get started.
Your SITS Feature Day.
Chances are it’s something you’ve waited months to arrive. And if you’re anything like me, when the e-mail from Tiffany pops up in your inbox saying, “Hooray! Your big day is finally here,” you panic a bit. You’re not exactly sure what to say.
That’s why, in an effort to help out our SITStahs, Tiffany, Mama Kat, and I put our heads together and came up with a list of tips for the Featured Blogger post.
A well-crafted Featured Blogger post is very similar to your About Me page. It tells your readers who you are, what your blog is about, and why your site is worth reading. What’s more, it is well written. Whether you are funny, informative, controversial, or just plain entertaining, your Featured Blogger post should grab your readers’ attention and keep them coming back for more.
So how can you accomplish this? Here are a few ideas…
Give us your elevator pitch: Remember this from our 31 Days to Build a Better Blog Challenge? Your Featured Blogger post is a perfect chance to show off your elevator pitch and explain what makes you special.
Share a picture of yourself: Show us your pretty face! Doing so helps readers connect with you.
Know what your goals are: Understand why you have a blog and be able to communicate that message to your audience. Are you looking for readers to share your daily stories with? Do you have a store you want us to know about? Are you a food blogger looking for people to use your site as a resource for recipes? Whatever your personal mission may be, craft your post so that readers understand what you want from them.
Be your own advocate: Only you can give readers the most compelling reason why they should read your blog. Help people understand who you are by adding your personal touch to your post. Maybe list a bit of trivia about yourself or talk about how you got started blogging. A good story will hook an audience every time!
In recognizing what should be included in your Featured Blogger post, it is also important to keep in mind what you should avoid doing…
Balance is key: Sharing your personal life history, from birth to the current day, is not a good idea. Remember that you want to give your readers a reason to come back to your blog. You can’t do this if you tell them everything there is to know about you in a single post.
Be concise: Your list of 100 whatever should be avoided. If you can get away with describing yourself and your site in about 15 sentences, great! If it takes a little more, that’s fine too. Just know that if you’re still writing by paragraph eight, you’ve probably lost most of your readers.
Avoid giving your readers too many links: Three is the magic number for SITS. By directing your audience to three posts that you are particularly proud of or that define you as a blogger, you are very likely to ensure people take the time to not only click, but also to read and comment. Give them 8-10 links, and they’re not sure where to go.
Now it’s your turn. What do you think makes for a great Featured Blogger post?
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And, as always, when you see this:
such prudent advice sweet bellas, I think the most important thing is to be true to who you are, and to keep sharing the same kinds of things that you are sharing with your audience already – authenticity is so important and as you so wisely mentioned, not to choose your feature for a chance to start working on the mini-novel LOL. Can’t wait for my day in the spotlight!!!
This is such great advice- it can be so intimidating when simply putting a paragraph together to explain your blog! There are so many great blogs out there it can be tough to measure up. Thanks for the tips!
Great post! So helpful….I can’t wait for my SITS day!!! Hope it’s soon!
I’m sure we’ve all said it before, “be real.” There is that fine line though, between exposing everything (TMI) to making yourself sound like Super Mom!
I’ve read a lot of new mommy bloggers looking for blogs to read. They aren’t interested in giveaways, just a good, quick read.
I wonder if the soap operas are taking a hit from the mommy blogs!
Thanks! That’s great advice.. I wasn’t sure on what to write as a feature blogger.
Great advice! And it’s FRIDAY! I can’t wait for me email..I’ve been waiting FOREVER!
I dont know why I have such a hard time writing my About Me page or a small paragraph about myself….these are great tips to help out!
That was so helpful! Thanks for the advice. I can’t wait for my day to roll around so I can put it to use. Have a great weekend.
Great Advice, now I just have to remember it : )
Great advice! I definitely like only have three favorite posts– I’m more likely to go visit them than if there are much more.
Another good tip would be to tell them where to keep in touch (Twitter name, Facebook page link, etc).
Thanks to bloggybootcamp I’ve taken that giant leap for womankind and created not one but two blogs!! WooHoo! I would love to get some comments so if you have time, please check them out:
blog.magneticpursenality.com
blog.safetrainingllc.com
So the question is . . . now what? How do you all keep up on everything and everyone?
Twitter: sheswrite
says:
As usual, excellent advice! Thanks SITSahs! Checking in late today, just getting off work and can hear my bed calling my name.
Trust your instincts girls! 99% of the time YOU ARE RIGHT!
Thanks for all the Advise. It’s been great getting to know several of the Ladies. I wish I had more time to read through more Blogs.
Thanks for the tips! This is a great site…
Nicole @
http://blessingsandbling.blogspot.com/
This is a great post! thank you for the info!
-CK
Twitter: Leslie_Limon
says:
I hope I get to write my featured blogger post soon. In the meantime, I will use the helpful tips to write my About Me page!
Love the tips! I agree to keep it clear and concise. If it gets too long a wordy I feel like I’m reading a biography and slowly loose interest. Pictures definitely help keep my focused!
I will have to go back to this when my day comes around!
Hey Ladies, I just wanted to come by and say congrats cuz I just gave you an award!! come by and pick it up!!
Good tips. I love authenticity, that is what keeps me coming back to blogs I love. I don’t like bland, generic, “careful” writers that seems to be trying to appeal to everyone too hard. I love real. There is lots of love to go around, if you are real and some don’t like that, that is OK, lots will!!
Thanks for these tips! It will work equally well for creating an about me page on our blogs!
I like my about me page…I believe I updated it when I was featured blogger. I am going to go back and make sure I cover all of these points.
I love reading an interesting about page that gives me a glimpse into the person.
I don’t have anything to add, but I agree that too many links is too overwhelming.
Been waiting years, not months…but alas!
This is such a great post and is really useful in general when doing something like a guest post too. I agree with too many links of a features post I don’t know where to start!
More great tips! I’ve had a few opportunities to be a featured post and loved it. Even though I did have these tips at the time, I think I pulled it off pretty dang well.
Thanks for the pointers. Now I will make a great intro on my SITS day.
This is a great post. Thanks!
What a lovely lady
A great post, once again. Thanks!
Such great advice!
Hopefully I can see my name on that “featured blogger” list one day!!
excellent advice for the featured blogger — on any page!
great tips for a newbie like me as well! I am sure it will be a while before I get to that FB status but it is fun to read about it! And the tips can be used right now!
I think I may be way down on the list for upcoming featured blogger…..like #398,004.
But I’m uber excited about my day in the spotlight in 2027!
Till then, I’m working on a dandy post! I know you all are eager for my day. I may have to change to The Grandmommy Mambo by then and feature fixadent and tucs medicated wipes!!
first of all, still waiting to be featured!
I would die… but yeah i like when the desciptions are focused, but short and sweet.
happy saturday sharefest, a day late.
Great tips! I hope to use them someday as the SITS featured blogger!:)
Awesome tips!
Excellent post and great advice. I think being true to who you are & communicating in your own blog voice is incredibly important. Because your SITS feature introduces you to 100′s of new readers, I think it would still be important to share something new with your regular readers in your feature post.
Twitter: elizabeth_agd
says:
You ladies summed it up wonderfully. Now send me my special message so I can show you my featured post! LOL
I thank you for this amazing post! I am not a good writer, but I hope to build that skill through blogging. I have sooo much to say!
http://www.mimimariedesign.com
~mindy
Great advice! I recently did my About page as I am just starting out.
I need this as I haven’t started my About page just yet..Thanks for the advice!
I am now officially awash with information,all of which has been so very useful. I started blogging a week or so ago and now I feel like I’ve entered an extremely exciting world. I can hardly stay away from the internet and I’ve thoroughly enjoyed all the blogs I’ve read. This one was very helpful and I shall file it for the great day when someone wants to use my blogging abilities (fingers crossed). Thank you. Carol
It’s amazing how much there is to do and learn in blogland! I had NO idea when I started that there were so many layers!
Ha! I’m so new I forgot to mention my last post and website:
http://www.facing50withhumour.blogspot.com
last post ‘To sleep, perchance to dream’
http://idolator.com/5609331/emmys-red-carpet-glee-photos/attachment/61438113/comment-page-1#comment-1472852
Good advice! I should write my About Page soon. There is just so much to learn.
This is difficult! I’ve been struggling with it for the past 2 hours, and still don’t feel I’ve gotten it right.
Thank you ! I’ve been holding up on this for months – not exactly my “featured blogger” post, but my “about me” page. I feel like I can bore my readers with all my babbling and such, and this will help me a great deal to figure out what to really write about in that page !
I appreciate having the ideas for a good featured blogger outline listed; I can see where I am weak and can tighten things up. And since I am still trying to figure all of this out for myself, looking at these questions is helpful as I define my blogging identity.
Thanks!
Best,
Colleen
Ugh, I am still working on my elevator pitch! It’s so hard for me.