Building trust doesn’t happen overnight, but it’s an important ingredient to cook up a winning product. Here are few tactics to employ in order to build trust on your blog, and in turn, become a better blogger.

– BE YOURSELF. Successful blogging requires that you insert yourself into the written world. Not every blogging situation calls for it, but if you are looking to build an audience and earn readers’ trust, you need to give them (at the very least) a glimpse into who you are. We trust people we know, and if readers don’t know you, how can they trust you?

– STICK WITH IT. The longer you blog, the better your odds of earning trust. It shows people that you are in it for the “long haul.” In a world where many blogs fizzle and disappear after a few weeks, readers will not vest themselves until you prove that you will not “abandon” your blog. Also, the longer you keep you blog running, the more you prove your commitment (not to mention, search engine love). Quality beats quantity, but standing the test of time will earn you some clout.

– BE ACTIVE AND CONSISTENT. We trust people we can depend on. Get readers to depend on you, not only with the content you provide, but when you post it.

– BE AN AUTHORITY. Talk to folks within your blog’s niche to boost your “street cred.” Like it or not, people are judged by the company they keep. If you are blogging about cat whiskers, and are connected to the President of the local Cat Whiskers club, you will instantly garner respect from your readers. At the very least, you’ll prove you have some knowledge of what you are writing about.

– TALK YOURSELF UP. There’s a fine line between highlighting your success and being a braggart, but with a little bit of grace, you can achieve the former. Don’t be afraid to put your impressive blog stats out there for the world to see. If there are things going on behind the scenes that could increase your trust quotient, use ‘em!

– BREAK NEWS. Showing readers that you are “on top” of things can earn you trust. Getting to a story first (and reporting well) will help you gain the respect of readers and fellow bloggers. If you miss a story or make a mistake, acknowledge it! (See #1)

Bloggers need to build trust in order to be successful. What are you doing to build that bridge?

CREATIVITY
One of the biggest challenges a busy freelance blogger faces is conceptualizing article topics. Bloggers are a dime a dozen.  But bloggers who can produce compelling content are a much rarer breed. Interesting articles generally begin with a thought-provoking topic. Hiring a blogger who can come up with ideas on their own, as well as enhance the topics I have provided, is a tremendous asset and a big time-saver for me!

A RE-WRITER
You’ve undoubtedly heard some variation of the expression, “every good idea has been taken.”  That being said, almost everything has been written about in some form or other. The best bloggers can take pre-existing content and quickly put their own spin on it, turning it into 100% original content. From adapting press releases to covering a topic that has been explored a million times, good bloggers can customize on the fly and deliver a written product that cuts through the noise.

COMMUNICATION
Allow me to generalize. Writers can be a reclusive bunch.  I mean no disrespect, but in my experience, many great writers are not great communicators. When hiring a freelance blogger I look for two types of communication.

A) The majority of the blogs I own and write for require a conversational tone.  That mandates that the blogger understands who the audience is and can “speak” to them in a language that they understand and can relate to.  This takes a good writer AND a good communicator.  The last thing you want is a blogger who misunderstands the audience, or worse yet, is perceived as talking down to readers.

B) For most people, freelance blogging is a hobby or a way to generate supplemental income. Because of this, many bloggers have a hectic schedule.  I never expect a blogger to drop what they are doing to make time for me, however, it is important to hire a blogger who communicates efficiently and regularly; someone who is willing to ask questions — the right questions.

The bloggers I tend to hire back for repeat assignments also tend to be outwardly optimistic, critical thinkers, and have a proven track record (though it doesn’t have to be within the blogging world).

If the above sounds like you, I look forward to possibly working with you one day!  Connect with me on LinkedIn.

I’m not sure how enrollment for these classes looks, but based on the sheer volume of offerings, I’m going to venture to guess that they do quite well. With that being said, I wanted to offer some tips for any readers who are considering taking a blog course.

The first thing you’re going to want to do is vet the instructor. Since you’re talking about digital media, their work experience should only be a few clicks away. Take to the Internet and do your own research on how popular their blogs are and how they maintain their social media profiles.

I’ve come across quite a few blogging instructors who do not have a proven track record in the blogosphere, or worse yet, teachers who have no blog at all.  If they have set up a blog as a prerequisite to teach the class, it will be obvious.  Do your homework.

That being said, there are great baseball managers who never played in the major leagues.  And I’m sure there are great blogging instructors who never made it to the blogging big time. However, personally, when I want to learn something from someone, I want to see that they have been where I want to go.

Since many of these courses have been taught before, I would ask the school to see success stories from previous students. In essence, you’re asking the academic institution to provide contact information for students who will act as a reference for the course and or the instructor.

As a possible student, part of your research when choosing a course/school should include checking out former student blogs to see what they’re doing with their blogging skills out in the real world.

One of the major pluses of organized education is post-course support.  Be sure to ask the school what kind of post-curriculum support is offered. Will you be able to contact the instructor after the course ends? Will your blog or digital property be listed on the school’s website?  Distributed in an e-newsletter?

But the biggest…most important…absolutely necessary thing to do before you take a blog course is…

KNOW YOUR GOAL.

It sounds overly-simplistic, but far too many people hide in the corridors of academia because they don’t know what else to do.  Before paying one cent for an education or investing your valuable time, have a solid idea of what you want to get out of the course – and be sure the course will serve as a means to that end.

Questions?  Concerns?  Hit me up in the comments section below.

If you are looking for an experienced freelance blogger with a proven track record of writing compelling content that is loved by people and adored by search engines — you found him!  I can manage all of your blogging needs. From content creation to comment management, Blogger Freelance does it all – even getting your content and links published on other blogs.

Want to hire me to blog for you?  Start here.

A few writing samples:
U.S. News & World Report
FatWallet.com
SocialTimes.com
BloggingPro.com
PersonalBrandingBlog.com

Jobacle has been featured in/on The Washington Post, Chicago Sun-Times, Globe & Mail, Nielsen, Reuters, NBC,  Forbes, Gawker, SIRIUS Radio, BBC Radio 4, Yahoo! and dozens of other major blogs.

Andrew G. Rosen in the News:

– Fast Company: How To Quit Your Job Gracefully

– Forbes: 8 Tips For Dealing With A Know-It-All Coworker

– The Wall Street Journal: Turning to Headphones to Tune Out the Noise

– Glassdoor: Why Working From Home Is Not For You

– AARP: How to Avoid Résumé Writing Scams

– Public Radio Interview: Is it time to quit your job?  I field listener questions.

– Modern Man: How to Quit Your Job Like a Man

– NBC News: When Resigning, Don’t Follow Conan’s Example

– AOL Jobs: Interview Handshake Horror Stories

– Talent Zoo: Interview Like Charlie Sheen

– Business Insider: How to Be Productive When Working From Home

– CheatSheet.com: Job Stability? 5 Types of Employees That Companies Don’t Want Anymore

– We Are Dino: What Not to do During Your Elevator Pitch

– Almost 2,000 comments on my Yahoo! article