10 Survival Tips for the Newbie Apple iBlogger

If you plan to launch an iBlog of any kind, reporting on Apple news, iPad, iPhone or serving up a fresh pile of Mac obsessed fodder, there are some vital survival tips you'll need to know if you intend to emerge victoriously in the harrowing battle for eyeballs.

I invited a few of my esteemed colleagues from some wildly popular blogs like Cult of Mac, Brainstorm Tech (Fortune) and Krapps to chime in with their own road tested insights. While it's true that content is king, you will quickly learn it's great original content that rules. That's what all of the websites mentioned above have in common.

When I started iPhone Savior in 2007, I examined what the biggest Apple tech blogs did well and then looked at how I could offer something different. I decided to narrow my focus to iPhone news and satire.

I present to you "10 Survival Tips for the Newbie Apple iBlogger"

1. Commit to a narrow topical focus out of the gate and then remain religious to it. You can always broaden your topic down the road.

2. "Choose the right blogging platform. Choosing the wrong platform can be a huge headache to fix later on. I'd recommend Wordpress. Dead easy to use. Very flexible. Big developer community. The downside: security can be a headache." Leander Kahney - Cult of Mac

3. Earn your right to speak by evolving into an expert on your topic. If it's interesting to you, most likely others will agree and pass along a link to your work.

4. "Post something fresh at least once a day. If you can't be original, be smart. If you can't be smart, be funny."  Philip Elmer-DeWitt - Brainstorm Tech

5. Don't spam other blogs with links to your posts in their comments. It makes you appear desperate and pisses off authors who have worked hard to get eyeballs.

6. Have an opinion, a tone and a sense of humor. Readers will migrate to your unique voice. Having no opinion results in forgettable vanilla posts.

7. "Write killer headlines and first paragraphs. If your headline and intro paragraph sucks, you will lose the reader to the next item in their RSS feed." Alex - Krapps

8. Don't develop an appetite for approval. You'll be trapped writing content aimed at trying to "please" rather than what you're passionate about.

9. Pimp your work. Tell it after you write it. Established blogs are always on the hunt for great content, so don't be afraid to email them a tip with your headline and story link.

10. "Never repost another blogger's work without (a) giving due credit and (b) adding value of your own." Philip Elmer-DeWitt - Brainstorm Tech

Blogging is not a sprint, it's a marathon. The feeble and uncommitted are chewed up daily as an afternoon snack. Be prepared to work your tail off and diligently mine for stories if you want to see steady growth. Are you willing to invest at least three years into developing a remarkable online destination for Macheads? If not, you may be in for a huge disappointment.

I'm going to leave you with a fitting quote forwarded to me by Philip Elmer-DeWitt from BuzzMachine's Jeff Jarvis. It applies well to bloggers in addition to the publications and news organizations it was written for.

"Cover what you do best. Link to the rest. That is the new architecture of news."