Whether or not your brand is relevant to your content, it will quickly develop one relevant attribute: a reputation. Everyone who reads your blog will come away with an impression, either good or bad. They will like it or not. Surprisingly, that’s not the most important issue for your Blog Empire, because no reader, not even your most loyal, is going to like or agree with everything you say. The important issue is whether that reader believes your blog to be important. If a reader does not find a blog important, she will probably not return even if she liked a story or two: there are simply too many other blogs to see. If a reader finds your blog insightful, entertaining, and relevant, she will return even though she disagrees with your commentary or doesn’t like your layout. In order to be a serious empire, your blog must exude seriousness. That doesn’t mean your subject must be serious, but you must be serious about your subject.
For political and technology blogs, that means accuracy and timeliness. Rumors must be noted as such. Opinions must be noted as such. You can be a partisan – in fact, your theme may be a very partisan view of something - but you’ve got to be fair to your readers, who will form an opinion about your subject based on what you say. If your blog is an art blog, you’ve got to focus on quality. If your blog features model trains, entries about your daughter’s dance recital will lose readers. If your blog is a reference or news blog, you’ve got to be thorough. Once your reputation is established, readers will come to your blog to see what you have to say because they will expect you to know more than them. If you miss the big story or are shown by later events to be completely off-the-wall when you said you were certain, they may not return.
Reputation is everything, so as you build your Blog Empire, remember what you want a reputation for and consistently strive to earn it.
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