Judeumeh's Blog

Last week I attended an informal Bloggers Meetup event in London’s West End, mostly out of curiosity, and to see what some of our fellow bloggers looked like in real life. From observing and conversing with a few of the attendees, I started to pick out some of the key qualities that make for an excellent blogger.

First of all, I can gladly confirm that bloggers are real people too, and given the right amount of drinks and nibbles, they can be very talkative indeed – just like everyone else I’m sure. So if like me, you wish to become a great blogger, below are my top 3 list of attributes that should help you on your way:

1. Be Topical – Great bloggers challenge and stimulate their audience with thought-provoking takes on issues (both online and off-line). For example, during a conversation with two Computer Weekly bloggers (i.e. Phillip Virgo and Tony Collins) at the event, it did not take very long to dive into controversial IT / Government topics-du-jour like: The impending Digital Economy Bill; the general elections (and the role of IT); as well as various spectacular IT disasters which you’ll find mentioned on their respective blogs. Result: A very informative and entertaining conversation.
2. Be Experienced / Accomplished – How else can you hope to have an informed opinion on your subject matter? The fact is that most blog audiences are probably quite well informed already, and they are more likely than not to be after some added value, or a different perspective, on topics of interest them. So if you don’t know it, don’t blag it, or else you’ll lose them pretty fast.
3. Be Passionate – Somebody once said that a truly blessed person is one that actually gets paid for doing what they enjoy, (and might perhaps otherwise do for free). So the third key attribute is all about having an emotional connection with your chosen subject, be it about technology or chocolate, and not being afraid to show and share it with your audience. The rewards can be self evident in the higher levels of engagement with that audience.

The above 3 qualities may be observed in any one of the really great blogs out there, and I believe that with these, and a dash of other optional attributes (e.g. style, humour and originality), it won’t be long before you too are on the road to blogging greatness. In any case, the Bloggers Meetup provided an interesting opportunity to meet / network with other bloggers and to see how they look, sound and act like in person. Thanks to the organisers and sponsors for an excellent evening, and I hope they’ll do more of the same in future.

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Note: Originally posted on Capgemini’s Technology blog.  You can see the original post, including comments, at: http://www.capgemini.com/technology-blog/2010/04/blog_on_bloggers_the_top_3_qua.php