How to be the Oprah of Blogging

Oprah is a pretty well known and renowned talk show host. She has become so successful that her name has, in the sense, become a brand. However, by the title of this article, you may think I’m going to try to help you become successful financially in terms of blogging. That’s not the case, well not directly at least. Oprah’s success can be attributed and translated into more things than money. There are multiple things that we can observe that she does that makes her liked by millions worldwide. Here are a couple of tips we all can apply to blogging.

Be Relatable

One thing that made Oprah a very successful and trusted personality is the fact that she is essentially an open book. Oprah shared multiple parts of her life when the topic came up while keeping those subjects that never needed much attention private. In blogging, we can translate this in two ways.

On one end, we shouldn’t see blogging as 100% professional, unless the blog’s tone is just that. We can, from time to time, share some personal part of ourselves. This can range from writing in first-person to sharing news involving your personal life. On the other end, you can prevent over sharing by making sure to not have posts relating to your life that have nothing to do with the website’s topic. So, if you have a technology website, don’t make a large post devoted to the birth of your child. However, you can mention it in a special post about technology for new parents. It’s all about sharing the right amount at the right time.

Touch Readers

If you affect the emotions of your readers, you are destined to a road that can be permanently good or bad. The value of emotions are so important because this is when our readers are the most vulnerable. The question stands, how can we touch our reader’s emotions the right way, regardless of our topics. This can be done by offering opinion posts from time to time, even an opinion column. This is something done on multiple news websites, big and small, and it can be a great choice for you. Offering your honest opinion on touchy subjects are some of the most popular (and sometimes controversial) posts on many websites and newspapers. The key to doing this correctly is to still value the opinions of others.

For example, saying that “I love salad” is different from saying “People who don’t eat salad are destined to obesity and a short life”. You see, the tone of both sentences are completely different, but convey the same message. You should remember when righting to keep an opinion piece opinionated but tolerant.

Reward Your Audience

If you know anything about Oprah, from being an avid watcher to seeing her countless parodies on comedy shows, she is a big giver. From random trips for her audience to Australia to the notorious car giveaway, Oprah knows how to reward her audience for being there for her. You can do this without going bankrupt. In small ways, you can offer users free codes or gift cards. In larger ways, you can have sponsored contests with companies and more. This is a wonderful way to show appreciation to your current audience and to get a new audience interested.

Be Versatile, But on Topic

No matter how much people say otherwise, they love surprises. A change from routine is a great way to keep individuals on their toes. Oprah did this from time to time with her audience. This can be done with guests, controversial topics, and more. You can do this with blogging as well. Don’t write repeatedly on topics that you find are safe, branch out and release yourself from the norm sometimes. For technology blogging for example, it is “safer” to write a top ten or list article on recommended gadgets or tech, but have you ever thought about going outside the box? Maybe you aren’t the best cook, hate the mall, or despise gardening, but there are amazing ways to put two and two together. This can be done with interested cooking gadgets and applications for mobile phones, technology tips for shopping during the holiday season, or the best iPhone apps for gardening. The variety is essential because, despite how hard it is to believe, our readers do have lives outside of the website’s niche topic.

Have a Team

Success doesn’t come alone. There are times when we can’t devote our full attention on the website or blog at hand. However, as we know, a young website needs neutering in it’s early years. This is where a team can come in to help out. On one end, maybe having multiple writers is the key to relieving stress, allowing you to focus on life’s other commitments. Finding your website’s design getting boring and cold, employ a knowledgeable person to give your website a refresh. A team will be the ones to keep you on track, help through the hard times, and have people to celebrate the fun times with.

When we take the steps that Oprah takes when creating a successful talk show, we can find it easy to correlate it to blogging. Both approaches require showing appreciation, care, and time in our audiences. Both also require a strong team to be behind you and rewarding them as well. When we learn from this unlikely source of advice, we can find ourselves becoming successful writers in return.