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Mr. Belvedere’s 7 Keys to Successful Blogging
By dana | September 20, 2007
Ok, we don’t have to limit it to Mr. Belvedere. Really any old school sitcom will work. So depending on your generation or preferences, feel free to substitute The Honeymooners, The Andy Griffith Show, Happy Days, Three’s Company, the Cosby Show, Golden Girls, Full House, the Fresh Prince of Bel Air and so on.
My point being that all of these shows share common elements that could teach us bloggers a thing or two:
- Have a clear moral to your story before you begin writing
- Quickly identify the problem or issue to be resolved or discussed.
- Put a little effort into trying to address said problem in a new, unique or at least somewhat entertaining manner.
- Keep it short…these shows had 20-22 minutes without commercials to get their point across…in blogland that roughly translates to a 1-3 minute read.
- When in doubt, oversimplify your message. Don’t intimidate your audience.
- Make it clear how you feel about the issue without sounding too preachy. Or if the issue does not have a clear resolution, find a way to leave it unanswered that encourages the viewer or reader to keep thinking or discussing their feelings.
- When in doubt, add a random song or celebrity (guest blogger) appearance or take the whole gang on a vacation (maybe post on something a little different…think outside of the box every once in awhile)!
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9 Responses to “Mr. Belvedere’s 7 Keys to Successful Blogging”
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September 20th, 2007 at 2:28 pm
Cute comparisons. Good points. Worth a stumble
September 20th, 2007 at 2:36 pm
Ah, thanks Ad!
September 20th, 2007 at 3:11 pm
LOL - I love it!
September 21st, 2007 at 5:56 am
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September 21st, 2007 at 12:54 pm
Nice throwback to the Belv, I wish there were some re-runs on YouTube. So true, so true though!
September 21st, 2007 at 12:59 pm
@Linda I know! It’s a shame really…I don’t know why Nick at Nite never picked up on it! The only thing I’ve seen lately is Stewie on Family Guy singing the theme song
Streaks on the china, never matter before…
September 21st, 2007 at 8:10 pm
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September 23rd, 2007 at 10:54 pm
But this is why I never liked American situation comedies: everything is so formulaic!
I think it depends on why you’re writing and what your subject is. There are times when I think it’s good for a blog post to ask more questions than it answers.
September 24th, 2007 at 12:18 am
So true qwerty. And then we try something new over here, it’s a rip-off of some great show from overseas and then, if that does well…that’s the new formula…a la the Office!
The leaving more unanswered questions is definitely something I have to work on…I know those are some of the best posts I’ve read, but it feels so unnatural. That and actually having active readers and commenters is still pretty new to me, and it looks pretty sad when you ask questions and no one leaves their thoughts