The Ten Commandments of Blogging

I cannot begin to explain how I thought to relate the Ten Commandments to social media, but none the less, it happened. Some of reasoning can be considered a stretch, so feel free to comment any additional information that may pertain to these ten rules! Other than that, enjoy!!!!

1. I am the Lord, Your God. You shall have no other gods before me: As a blogger, or social media guru, please stick to your passion. Never stray from what you believe and have confidence in your unique thoughts and ideas.

2. You shall not make for yourself an idol: Do not idolize one person, blog, or company. Branch out and learn from different people, places, and things. Idolizing will only lead to straying away from your personal ambitions and will be viewed as stealing ideas. The best way I have found to branch out is by using Twitter and reading relevant content from professionals in my industry!

3. Do not take the Lord’s name in vain: Do not swear! I have lost interest in a countless number of blogs because of the lack of professionalism. Social media is a perpetual platform that allows for your personal brand to be created, do not ruin that by using offensive language. Although those swear words may not offend you, they may offend some of your readers. Marketing is all about knowing what your customers want, why is marketing yourself any different?

4. Remember the Sabbath day and keep it holy: Take a day off. Blog regularly but keep in mind you must be living in order to learn. Blog content should be insightful, no rush to throw words on a page that are meaningless!

5. Honor your father and mother: Honor your employers; you are a reflection of them. Although your blog may be personal, the web has blurred our personal and professional lives. Never post something you wouldn’t want your boss to read!

6. You shall not kill/murder: Do not talk negatively about any person or situation in your blog. For instance, negative blog posts concerning natural disasters have been published, and that sheds a bad light on the author. Do not murder others through your words, for you are only wounding yourself.

7. You shall not steal: If you are using someone else’s material, give them the credit, but that doesn’t mean you shouldn’t use others’ content. The basic rule is 70/20/10. 70% of your posts should be sharing resources. 20% should engage conversation and connections. 10% should be your own personal thoughts. (Success Stories of the Social Media Marketing Superstars – by Mitch Meyerson)

8. You shall not commit adultery: Although this relates to the first commandment, it must be reiterated: Do not stray away from what you believe in. Find your vision, your focus, your passion. If your blog content is material about social media, do not spend your next mode of content talking about how great one-way communication is!

9. You shall not bear false witnesses against your neighbor: Do not lie. Everyone is your neighbor and they are relying on you for resources, opinions, and engaging conversations. Be truthful on your blog to build loyalty with your readers.

10. You shall not covet anything that belongs to your neighbor: Jealousy is your own worst enemy. Do not compare yourself to others, make your blog exactly what you want and be proud of the design and content you have published.