If you ever watched the TLC show What Not to Wear, you know some people choose to wear cringe-inducing outfits when left to their own devices. It generally takes an ambush by the show's hosts, approval (or rather, disapproval) of the person's loved ones, and a look in the three-way mirror for the fashion-challenged individual to consider changing.  In other words, sometimes you need the outside perspective.

[caption id="" align="aligncenter" width="351"]<a title="What? by judepics, on Flickr" href="http://www.flickr.com/photos/judepics/159365806/"><img alt="What?" src="http://farm1.staticflickr.com/49/159365806_da2bcb4684.jpg" width="351" height="500" /></a> What? by Judith (judepics) on Flickr[/caption]
<p style="text-align: center;"></p>
Here's my outside perspective on what you should not be doing on your blog:

<strong>Pulling a bait and switch.</strong> You tell readers you have five tips for doing something but in reality you want them to buy your e-book or webinar. Not cool.

<strong>Selling</strong>. You can funnel your readers to something you are selling, after you have given them value. In other words, your blog post is not advertising copy.

<strong>Letting down your readers</strong>. If your headline promises the ten best ways to do something, then you should deliver those ten tips.

<strong>Making readers cringe at your inability to use spell-check (or understand grammar)</strong>. We all make mistakes, and we all forgive one or two typos and grammatical slip-ups, but there's a limit.

<strong>Not understanding how people read on the web (or on mobile)</strong>. Your post consists of a single paragraph, no breaks, no bolding, no graphics, no bullet points, nothing. And it is really long.  The web makes people <em>scan</em> content (so make your content scannable!).

<strong>Closing off comments</strong>. Why be social if you don't want people to interact with you? You can and should have a comment policy, and you don't have to approve every comment, but do have a way for people to interact with your blog post.

<strong>Being jargon and buzzword crazy</strong>. Few things make me want to scream as much as a blog post filled to the brim with buzzy phrases and cliched jargon ("try to find your sweet spot by selling the c-suite on the low hanging fruit...").

What would you add? Tell me in the comments, which I moderate but always check and respond to!

<em>Want to have an effective blog? Attend the next <strong>How to Write Your Blog</strong> workshop on November 12 in Washington, DC.  <a href="http://dbmcbloggingworkshop.eventbrite.com/" target="_blank">Get more details and register today! </a>Early registration prices available until Friday.</em>

&nbsp;