Writing a blog post about the importance of blogging regularly is something I’ve wanted to do for some time. In examining why he had not done so, the following interesting thoughts were examined. My hope is that by sharing with you what I am doing or not doing, it will encourage you to post more often on your own blog.
1. Don’t bite off more than you can chew!
I’d rather have one good idea and the time/energy to implement it than 100 good ideas that never see the light of day. I was so excited about the potential of blogging as a way to express my interests and learn a lot more about our world, that I went out and set up about a dozen blogs. Yeah, that’s like something I would have done as a kid. I remember trying to open all the Christmas presents at the same time. I guess I liked the “high” that all the excitement gave me or something, but don’t do what I did. Rather, set up one blog at a time so that all your hard work complements each other. Focus your energy towards a blog and do that blog very well.
2. Regular posting is more important than high frequency!
This is where I have become so dissatisfied with my own efforts. We’ve all read about how regular blog posting can help our SEO and page rankings, that a regular writing schedule encourages loyal readers, and that writing good blog content is vital to our blog’s success. … but we don’t. My number one opponent is trying to do too much at once (see #1 above). My number two enemy is thinking that everything I write must be perfect. Well, life isn’t perfect and our blog posts don’t have to be too. Our posting of valuable content on a regular basis is what is important. Just don’t do a sloppy job and be sure to check your grammar and spelling.
3. Create a regular writing schedule!
I just finished reading a blog post that suggested the idea of sticking to a regular writing schedule. What a good idea! Except that getting up and starting to write blog posts seems to come at unusual or awkward times. May I suggest that you try to schedule a specific time of day or day of the week to write? For me, I’m going to start getting up an hour earlier every morning for the purpose of writing while enjoying my morning coffee. And I’m going to schedule a regular time each weekend that I plan to work on developing my blog posts. Setting aside time is what seems to be important. I’ll let you know how it worked.
4. Choose topics for the next day!
Write down the ideas and topics of your posts at the very moment you think about them. Carry a folded 3X5 blank card in your wallet or purse and write a word or two to remind yourself of your thought later that day. Start a 3X5 file of cards that you can review whenever you need to locate something to write about. Do this every time you get that “good idea” and you’ll see a steady increase in timely blog posts.
5. Develop regular features for fun!
Another good idea I got from doing research on this topic is to create a regular feature for your blog that can be fun, unusual, or entertaining. You can try to find an image, cartoon, or video to accompany your blog posts to keep readers coming back for more than you have to write about. Also, having a regular writing feature can increase the frequency of your blog posts.
6. Less promise and more delivery!
Sometimes I get so frustrated that my blog post isn’t regular, that feeling bad about it really hinders the courage to write. Does this happen to you? Don’t get sucked into the trap of telling your readers you’re going to write daily or weekly and then finding out you can’t make it happen. Rather, tell them you’ll post twice a week or twice a month and then post more often. I tend to let my general “positive attitude” get in the way of the real consequences of what happens, and I over-promise all the time. Try “overdelivering” instead!
7. Have someone or something drive you!
Find the kind of friend who you can ask to check in on you, to set up a time to see that you’ve made an effort to complete your writing work on schedule. Set your computer or cell phone calendars to remind you that a blog post is about to expire. Use post-it notes! It’s good to set deadlines and once you get used to meeting them, your blog posting frequency will increase.
So, go out there and write some great, brilliant posts for those blogs. Check these tips out often and watch your blog post frequency improve. Make sure you come back to me. I would be interested to hear from each of you!