With all the talk of niche blogging, search engine optimization, and monetization, it's hard to remember that sometimes, people just come to a blog to read it because it's funny. The internet is cluttered with millions of blogs telling how to do something- how to parent, how to get out of debt, how to feed a wild squirrel, you name it. If you want to be a humor blogger, the secret is to just be yourself.
Naming Your Blog
If you're planning to start a humor blog, the name of the blog is everything. The name should make sense to people, or be catchy in some way. Your name does not have to be a part of your blog title. Check a site like register.com to see if your domain idea is available. Also check twitter to see if you will be able to get a twitter username that will 'match' your blog.
Be Original
There are tons of 'funny mombloggers' out there so if you're planning to start a blog to tell funny stories about your kids, get in line behind the millions of other people doing the same thing. Hugely successful national-level humor blogs like Cakewrecks and Sh*t My Dad Says are successful because they have a very specific funny thing (one: messed up hilarious cakes, the other: hilarious quotes from a baby boomer) they accomplish. What will make your blog different from the others?
Social Media
Yeah, it's important. The majority of pageviews on humor blogs come from Twitter and Facebook. You will need to be your own best marketer. Promote your posts on your Facebook page (have a separate fan page for your blog) and send tweets on Twitter linking to your posts. Facebook has half a billion users and their Networked Blogs application has a humor section. When you register your blog on Networked Blogs, choose humor as one of your topic categories.
What is Voice?
In addition to being unique in some way, your blog should have a distinguishable voice. Voice is what fancy writing experts call your writing style. It's how you 'sound' when people read your work. Don't try to pretend to be someone you're not- there are plenty of bloggers out there who write one way on a blog and then are a completely different person in real life. Decide whether you want to be a 'character' on your own blog, or just yourself- and it is probably easier to be yourself.
I've been writing a humor blog for two years. I can't say I'm as successful as the above mentioned blogs, but I have a decent number of readers and most importantly? I have fun doing it. You will too!
Write on!
Mary McCarthy - Mary T. McCarthy is the blogger at pajamasandcoffee.com and Editor of Chesapeake Family magazine.
