Morning!
Ah, the day after Christmas – it's a simply joyous time of kids playing with their toys, Mom using her nifty new spin bike, the mooses, well acting moose-like….all in all, a great time!
If you celebrated the holidays, I hope it was grand for you as well!
And now it's time to return to business. All together now…wheee!
Today, I'd like to start with a possible theme of Black Belt Blogging.
As in, how do you really GET to becoming a Black Belt blogger?
Do you go from, say, the blogging equivalent being able to stand on two feet without falling to being Jet Li's sensei?
Ummm…the answer, she be no!
Instead, Black Belt bloggers starts off as white belt bloggers.
In other words, they begin with the basics. And then, if this was a typical American karate school where I could charge the parents $30 for Belt promotions and $50 for the actual Belt test, they'd become a:
- Yellow Belt
- Orange Belt
- Blue Belt
- Green Belt
- Purple Belt
- Brown Belt
and THEN test as a Black Belt.
No no, wait wait, I forget – they'd also *first* become
- High Yellow
- High Orange
- High Blue
- High Green
- High Purple
- 3 levels of Brown
for a grand total of 14 different belts which means 30 times 14 which equals $420 for the belts and $700 for the tests and and and …. you know, you really can't make lots of money in the Martial Arts, did you realize that?
But I digress. 🙂
So instead, I'm going to simplify belts for blogging like so:
- White Belt
- Yellow Belt
- Green Belt
- Brown Belt
- Black Belt
And the fact that these are the colors of my site has absolutely *zero* to do with it.
Really. 🙂
Let's now talk about what earning each belt will demonstrate, shall we? We'll first start with a White Belt.
Now, I'll bet you think a White Belt Blogger is everyone online who either hasn't done blogging or is just starting, right?
Bzzzt! Wrongo! Do not pass go, do *not* collect $200!
No indeed. Like the Martial arts, a white belt is not simply a beginning…..she or he is a beginner who wants to learn.
That heartfelt burning desire…it makes all the difference imaginable!
Think about it. Joe Coffeedrinker or Jane WeightLiftingWolf decides to "get online" and "get a blog" and even might create a title and a post or two.
Are they white belt bloggers yet?
Heck *no*!
They haven't yet earned that privilege, you see.
They first need to commit to themselves that they will put in the effort to learn the skills of a Black Belt blogger; they need to internalize that there's no silver bullet that will magically Jackie Chanize their fledgling skills.
So! With that dramatically magnificent introduction, here are some things a White Belt Bloggers must master.
1.) The ability to start a blog by themselves.
Yes, I know. I'm a tough task-master. Sure, someone can create a blog for them. Bzzzt! Creating a blog these days is sooo push-button easy, anyone who wants to become a Black Belt Bloggger simply *must* take ownership of their blogs and create them themselves.
And truly, it's very simple indeed:
As you can see, it's "click a button, type some words and wow, me blog! She's online!"
So a White Belt Blogger knows how to start a blog.
2.) The ability to write, publish and edit a post
White Belt Bloggers learn how to get into "edit mode" and create a post by themselves.
Not only that, but they can also get *back* into edit mode and update their posts too!
Again, this is something your typical grammar school child could easily wrassle to the ground, as you can see by this tutorial.
White Belt bloggers don't have to contact their host support to ask for help updating their blog posts – they are comfortable enough to do so themselves.
3.) The ability to limit spam on their blogs
Spam can kill a blog faster than a snowstorm can delight various and sundry mooses! So a white belt blogger knows what plugins are critical to reducing spam on their blogs.
They learn the concept of 'plugins' and how such delightful blog ingredients can really shape how readers view their blogs.
4.) The need (and ability) to respond to comments
Responding to comments quite often is a dandy way to build a great blog readership….it's something that all serious bloggers need to internalize right from the get-go!
It's a grand way to generate a fledgling blogging community, and something that's extremely important for success in the long run.
These 4 skills are absolutely critical for a white belt blogger to master!
Remember, you do not become a Black Belt blogger by following an easy work at home course (well, actually, if you're really dedicated and can learn like the wind and have a memory like a steel trap, you *can*, but that's not the norm)!
Instead, anyone serious about gaining a Black Belt in Blogging needs to put their skills into practice…..first.
They need to really understand the path of how their skills grow…and also just why they want to master blogging in the first place!
But those reasons….that's the subject for another post sooooon in the future.
Are there skills *you* think white belt bloggers should master? I'd love to hear about them below!
Grow strong,
Barbara Ling
Get Started Here
You’ll love what you learn… Promise!