How to be a professional blogger

The other day I posted about Google CEO Eric Schmidt not seeming to be all that on board with bloggers. Some agreed, some thought he needed to read some WordPress blogs (not just Blogger), some felt he was just being pro editor and not dissing bloggers in general. That’s all good but if you are a blogger you should be aware that you can expand your professional appearance as a blogger without having to resort to saying stuff like, “I’m really a writer; not a blogger.

Bloggers, in my opinion, can be completely professional. There’s a ton of stuff you can do to be a more professional blogger, but since we don’t want to be here all day, following are some of the best tips to keep in mind…

Work for professional wages: With blogging gigs there is crap pay and decent pay. The more decent paying jobs you score the better you appear. For example, editors may look favorably at bloggers who have consistently earned good wages but wonder what’s up with a blogger who always works for free or crap wages. You need to calculate your hourly rate before you sign on for a gig. Taking gigs that make you look good is a huge deal. Your professional image starts with your ability to make professional choices and working for free for years on end, well, it just doesn’t come off as smart or professional.

Don’t slack on email correspondence: Email resumes are a little more casual than a written resume and general correspondence is casual as well but that doesn’t mean you should slack, use LOL or misspell every other word. Yes I do have online editors I joke around with, but I keep it professional. When I’m applying for an online gig I’m just as careful as if the gig was offline.

Provide good customer service: As a blogger you do offer a sort of customer service. You should extend premium services to clients, editors and your readers. Poor customer service in any line of work is bad news but as a blogger you need to work that much harder to prove yourself so make sure you go above and beyond what folks expect.

Do the little things: Little things add up to one big professional image. Have a flipping about page AND contact page at your blog; remember to note your sources; quit wasting time; always write decent (or better yet) amazing posts; and for pete’s sake don’t steal images or posts.

Treat your job like a job: It’s all too easy to take personal calls, grab long lunches and otherwise slack off when you work at home. Don’t. If blogging is your job then treat it as such. Bonus – the more you treat blogging like an actual job the more other people will as well (i.e. family and friends who think you do nothing all day).

When you keep it professional you not only make yourself look awesome but you make other bloggers look better as well.

What other tips do you have for bloggers who would like to be more professional?

Comments

7 responses
  1. Erik Hare Avatar

    I think that the most important thing you can do, outside of writing very well, is to understand SEO and google authority instinctively and have a lot of ways of promoting everything you write. When I provide a service for a client I don’t just give them content, I give them readers and some decent attention for google, PostRank, etc. I don’t even always tell them everything that I do for them, either – it’s just part of the package. I make them very happy!

    Sad that my name never goes on this work, but I think my rep is getting out well enough on its own.
    .-= Erik Hare´s last blog ..Water =-.

    1. Jennifer Avatar

      It is weird when your name is not on your work; but that’s a big part of being an online pro. No glory – well, less glory. However, you’re right your rep is still on the line so it’s smart to be a pro anyhow. I agree that it’s a good idea to understand online issues like SEO, google rank, etc. That’s much more pro then always having to ask a client what to do. In fact being able to be both independent and good at your job is a great professional skill for bloggers to have.

  2. Peggy Avatar

    I think that you look more pro if you don’t use profanity, except for maybe a sometime funny slip.
    .-= Peggy´s last blog ..Review: Little Skiff Books =-.

    1. Jennifer Avatar

      I love profanity! JK. Actually, I agree. I don’t think it looks great to swear. I’m ok with light swear words like damn, crap, etc but I never ever use big swear words in posts. It just looks bad and also doesn’t really go with my topics at all. It’s just too hard to know who you might offend.

  3. Kiesha @ We Blog Better Avatar

    These are amazing tips that will benefit all bloggers in the long run. I believe there will come a day when blogging will be a respected profession and there won’t need to be any hedges or euphemisms to soften the blow.

    Of course if you’re going to call yourself a professional blogger, then you certainly need to behave professionally. It’s that simple.
    .-= Kiesha @ We Blog Better´s last blog ..The Simplest Guest Post Contest Ever =-.

  4. Freelance Angie Avatar

    These tips are great – and they don’t only apply to bloggers. Everyone who’s freelancing can put these into practice.

    To expand on treating it like a job: if you don’t take it seriously, no one will – including the people you want to pay you. Sure, the laundry needs to be done, but you can do that when you get off work. Just because you’re home doesn’t mean you’re able to put your job on hold to clean the house, pick up the groceries and do all the other things that can wait ’til you’re done working for the day. (It can be a real issue getting your housemates to understand that, though…)

  5. Bames24 Avatar

    I would like to thank you for some great tips. I am a freelance writer and I do get clients who ask me to write blog posts for them. It can be hard sometimes when you know that you work so hard only to find out that your work does not bear your name. However, the money pays the bills and I guess that is the endgame after all. Thank you for the tips again.

Leave a Reply to Freelance Angie Cancel reply

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *

This site uses Akismet to reduce spam. Learn how your comment data is processed.

Search

Subscribe