A Blogger Challenge!

Brent from Ominous Comma was smart kind enough to include me in his latest blog challenge...

"Write a funny post that includes an actual and helpful technical blogging tip or educational material helpful to new bloggers."

And somehow, he was clever enough to disguise this as a "challenge" and not as a meme. He even says so right in his post: "Please note that this is not a meme."

How can you argue with that?

And because I'm naive enough to be flattered by my inclusion in this challenge, I fell for it hook, line and sinker. Therefore, here is my contribution of:

5 Helpful Tips for New Humor Bloggers

1. Don't take yourself too seriously

Self-deprecation sells. People love to read about how much of an idiot you are. It makes them feel normal.

Take Kathy for example - she has self-deprecation down to a science. Here's one of my favorite posts, where she somehow manages to get herself lost in her own neighborhood. And this post, where her nurse used her butt as a table. And even her latest post where she shuts herself in her husband's hot car while she tries to figure out how to start it. These are funny stories!

Now don't get me wrong... I'm not saying Kathy is an idiot, I'm just saying that she's really good at exposing her human side (or fleshy side in the case of her butt post) for the sake of a laugh. You gotta love her for that.

2. Know your limitations

You often hear bloggers say, "Write what you know about." But the flip side of that is true too. Don't write what you don't know about. I know it sounds like the same thing but there is a difference.

For example, I once thought about writing a strictly potato blog. That's right, a blog about all things potato. But then I quickly realized I was no competition for the other high profile potato bloggers already out there:

P. Head
Ida the Ho
(the late) Tim Russert

Another example of knowing my limitations was knowing I could never come up with more than 5 items for this post.

3. Hang around with a lot of unfunny people

The same way that hanging out with stupid people, or preschoolers makes you look really smart. I'm not saying this is what I do, but it is a proven strategy that you can employ.

4. Give away a lot of free crap

Ok, this doesn't have anything to do with writing a successful humor blog, but DAMN - it sure attracts a lot of visitors!

5. Don't abuse the privilege!

As a blogger, you have a responsibility to publish good material. The biggest mistake some new bloggers make is thinking they're "just another blog" and that simply throwing some mundane crap out there will be good enough. They couldn't be farther from the truth. Read this post to learn why bloggers are now being looked at as the newest social heroes. It'll change the way you look at yourself.

So there you have it... 5 tips for new bloggers.

If you're interested in participating in this meme challenge, here's all you have to do - according to Brent:

1. Write a funny post that includes an actual and helpful technical blogging tip or educational material helpful to new bloggers.
2. Challenge five other experienced bloggers of funniness.
3. Post it. (You thought I would overlook that little technicality, didn’t you?)
4. Link and badge up if you so desire.

And so, because I am a man of my word, I will challenge 5 very funny bloggers whose opinions I think we could all benefit from:

Kathy from The Junk Drawer
JD from I Do Things
VE from VE's Fantastical Nonsense
Marie from Memarie Lane
Maureen from I'd Rather Be Blogging

And because Brent said it so well himself, I will simply restate how he ended his post:

As always you don’t have to be handpicked by myself to answer this challenge, every blogger I know is always on the lookout for new ideas to write about and here I have provided one for you free of charge.

Will you rise to the challenge or grovel on the couch of…not-rising-ness?

The choice is yours.

Remember, even though it comes with a badge and backlinks, and is foisted upon you like a highschool chemistry lab partner, that doesn’t make it a meme.

It’s a challenge.

* * * * *

I challenge you to stop by this humor blog!