Like many bloggers, I’m a regular reader of Darren Rowse’s ProBlogger and have had an eye on his book, 31 Days to Build a Better Blog for a while. I initially didn’t buy it because I’m stingy and in true Gen Y fashion, figured I could find all the information I needed for free.

Convenience is very much underrated though, especially for people lacking in the finances department. So while 31 Days can most likely be found in various forms on the ProBlogger website, it was absolutely worth the $20 I shelled out to have it as a concrete guide.

Blogging Is Overwhelming

Almost every single one of my closest friends now has a blog and I’m always like, “Ah! You should include YouTube videos!” and “Why aren’t you on Twitter?” and “Start linking between posts more!” Not a-one has actually included any of my tips and I think they’d really like me to shut the hell up. The thing is, there are so many blogging rules now that it’s taken me a year to get them all straight and incorporate everything into a daily and automated machine. While I love the catchy title of this book, 31 days can build you a better blog, but I think it takes up to a year to build a really great one.

That said, those steps you take during that year? All in this book. It’s THAT good. And… here’s the kicker: Some of this stuff I didn’t already know.

Gasp! Oh my! Yeah, I know.

In all seriousness, I’d like to think I’m relatively blog competent, so learning something new was a really great surprise. To give you a taste of some of the things I learned:

1. Build a Sneeze Page. This is basically a page built around a specific theme. For example, I could create a separate page just on Twitter advice. ProBlogger has one on making money. Apparently it’s supposed to get people to keep reading your content, even if it’s not recent.

2. Come Up With 10 Post Ideas. This one seems generic, but Rowse is a God among men. He shows you how to make a kick ass brainstorming chart where you come up with one post idea, and expand on it. For example: The first idea is “Why you SHOULD Use AdSense on your Blog”. Then Rowse takes it ten steps farther by coming up with ideas off that idea:

• Why You SHOULDN’T Use AdSense on Your Blog
• Write a case study on a blogger who’s successfully using AdSense
• Collect links from around the web on how to improve AdSense earnings
• Interview someone on AdSense

Pretty brilliant, right?

3. Write an Opinion Post. I see a lot of bloggers not doing this and it’s actually a really great way to jump start your community. The first opinion post I did got me a whole 6 comments. This was maybe a month after I started my blog and while most of the comments weren’t nice, it was a rush to get people arguing on my site. If you’re a blogger and wonder why no one’s commenting, get your opinions out there!

Pros & Cons

My one complaint with 31 DBBB is that the book links to various ProBlogger posts, and I feel like that’s a bit of a cop-out. Still, that’s really my only complaint. Like I explained above, it’s the convenience of this book that makes it worth the money. Going through the chapters and implementing some of their tactics has been extremely helpful in the week I’ve had it.

Any blogger who’s even remotely serious about having a great blog should spend their time reading these tips and putting them to good use. I can’t disagree with anything this book says and highly HIGHLY recommend it. Click here to buy.

UPDATE: Ugh, I am so annoyed. The ProBlogger site ran a challenge back in 2007, that’s laid out just like the book. Some of tips are different, but the idea is the same. Click here to see all 31 blog challenges. Buy the book for the updated 2009 version, but keep in mind the layout is basically available for free on the site. I’m feeling kind of ripped off…

Tagged as: blogging, reviews