Morning!
Well, okay, afternoon. The day went by so quickly for me! First off, I was able to have a great conversation with an extremely dear friend of mine and (making sure to take ownership of my own emotions and feelings, and *not* saying, you made my feel xyz!) explain from where I was coming and then understand from where she was coming.
Lots of healing commenced…I really am blessed by the fact that not only family members value open discussions, even if potentially hurtful…my friends do as well. Major wootness!
But I digress. 🙂
Today, I'd like to continue my exciting adventures of relating mastering the art of blogging to attaining a Martial arts Black Belt.
As I had earlier described, to earn a Black Belt in blogging, you have to progress thru:
- White Belt – Utter Beginner
- Yellow Belt – Newbie with some confidnce
- Green Belt – Proactive voice in the niche
- Brown Belt – Knows and pursues the definitive personal path
- Black Belt – A Master of Blogging.
And no, it's *not* sheer coincidence that the belt colors corresponds with my blog colors.
No sirree. 🙂
Anywhos!
I earlier discussed what a White Belt Blogger should know – today, I'd like to focus upon the skills required by a Yellow Belt Blogger.
You can read over at PSSSST!! Here’s what a White Belt Blogger Knows the skills required by a White Belt Blogger. Basically, they involve:
- 1.) The ability to start a blog by themselves.
- 2.) The ability to write, publish and edit a post
- 3.) The ability to limit spam on their blogs
- 4.) The need (and ability) to respond to comments
Basic stuff indeed! But critical to becoming a master of blogging.
The next belt level, the Yellow Belt blogger, has to become intimately familiar with the following.
1.) Blog security
Blog security is a Big Thing, as many GoDaddy folk realized earlier this month. Apparently some jerk managed to inject thousands of WordPress blogs with a malware thingee that wreaked havoc on the site.
Now, sure, it's easy to wait for hosting companies to fix such things, but Black Belt Bloggers will always feel comfortable in hunting down solutions and implementing them asap!
That requires them to understand WordPress and/or site security. And contrary to popular belief, it's not a difficult thing at all!
Some resources to help out with that include:
- 10 Useful WordPress Security Tweaks
- Top 5 WordPress Security Tips You Most Likely Don’t Follow
- 25+ Most Downloaded Free WordPress Security Plugins
There's much more one can do, mind you, but the above gives you a nifty taste of blog security.
Next, a Yellow Belt Blogger gets comfortable with:
2.) Social Networking
Social networking is key (kinda sorta like "oxygen" is "key" to surviving extended periods of time)!
You can have the most magnificent blog and writings in this world, but if nobody finds them or tells their friends….it will avail you less benefit than an extra ice-cube in a glacier.
Yellow Belt Bloggers will set up Twitter, Facebook and LinkedIn accounts at the very least. They'll download and (more importantly!) actually use applications that allow for a post-once ability (ie, post once and get the update at your various accounts).
Some resources for understanding Social Networking benefits and blogging include:
Black Belt bloggers have mastered the art of social networking to promote not only their blogs, but their forum posts, their products, their newsletters and much much more.
It's when a blogger is a Yellow Belt that they begin these adventures.
And finally, a Yellow Belt Blogger *must* tackle:
3.) Starting A List
Yes.
It's true.
I firmly believe that if you don't start your own list, you're not serious about blogging success.
"Starting a list" simply means you give visitors an opportunity to optin to receive more information from you.
It could be as simple as opt in for a newsletter, or a free 7 day eclass, or a white paper, what have you….the main goal is, compel visitors to become part of your personal mailing list.
Want some video help? Check out:
Make no mistake about it – shedding your fears about building a list and simply giving yourself permission to make it happen – it's one of the crucial skills a Black Belt blogger possesses.
The above 3 skills are the bare minimum required to become a Yellow Belt Blogger.
And of course, it's one thing to read about it…but quite another to commit yourself to building up your skills and becoming a force with which to be reckoned in your niche!
Remember, blogging with skill and style – it's a personal journey. Your path might be different than mine…but the end results of mastery are the same.
Do you have any suggestions for what a Yellow Belt blogger should know? I'd love to hear them below!
Grow strong,
Barbara Ling
Get Started Here
You’ll love what you learn… Promise!