blogging tips

Now let me say right off that I'm not the greatest blogger in the world. I have inspired a couple of people to begin their own blogs, and most of them are far superior to anything I have or ever will do. Okay, so it is with great humility that I offer these ten blogging habits that I've developed over the past three years as a blogger (I made this list for a friend who recently decided to begin blogging):

1. Know why your blog exists.
2. Know who you want to read your blog.
3. Work on your blog at least 10-15 minutes each day.
4. Keep a small notepad of sorts to write down ideas for posts (you’ll forget them otherwise).
5. Keep at least 2-3 posts in draft form so that you have something to post when you get the inevitable writer’s "blo[g]ck."
6. Comment generously and intelligently on other blogs (not just “Hey, cool post”). They will most likely return the favor and visit your blog.
7. Link to blogs on your site. People will be more willing to link to your blog in that case.
8. Mention, give props to and praise other bloggers on your blog (when you type their name, provide a direct link to their blog).
9. Be consistent in the frequency and length of your posts. (i.e. I post once a day, generally. My posts are also relatively short.) I try to steer clear of info overload from too many posts in one day or too long of a post. If you can’t say it in 3-4 paragraphs, create a series. If you must use more than 3-4 paragraphs, do so with discretion and not frequently.
10. Read other blogs… DAILY. I read every blog linked to from my blog every single day--sometimes I read some of them up to five or six times a day. Most of them I have subscribed to and/or read in syndication (i.e. XML, RSS, meta, etc.). I recently started using bloglines to do this. What a program like bloglines does is provide all the new posts you have not yet read in one place (RSS reader). It’s like reading the newspaper. (FYI, if you have a bloglines account and want to subscribe to my blog, you can do so by clicking the link in the bottom of my right-hand column.)

Oh, and a great site full of helpful blogging tips is ProBlogger (Darren Rowse). I've frequented Darren's site(s) for a few years now and have found him to be a wonderful, helpful resource.

(Again, I have to ask... if you're not blogging, yet... why not?)

Comments

[Shawn]

Great ideas! I especially liked the emergency draft posts idea in case of the dreaded blogger's block. Would be very helpful; thanks for the ideas! :o)

[adam feldman]

glad the tips could be of some help!

[heather durkee]

totally agree. great post.

[adam feldman]

hey, thanks for stopping by, heather!

[James Paul]

Thanks, Adam for the tips.

[adam feldman]

you're welcome!

[the forester]

I dunno, Adam ... these seem like good tips for someone who wants to be read. Me, I could care less. I don't blog to be read, I blog to write. I blog for a record of my own thoughts. I blog so that later I can track down articles that caught my interest. I blog so that one day my son (and more children?) will be able to follow my breadcrumbs (obviously this requires backups). And I blog because, every once in a while, I put something into words in a beautiful way that glorifies God, even if no one ever sees it but Him (can you tell I'm an introvert?).

So I'd say yes, your tips are useful for people looking to cultivate a presence in the blogosphere. But I suspect there are others out there who have different reasons for blogging. I'm one of them. And so I flagrantly violate almost every one of your tips -- with impunity! :-)

[adam feldman]

this comes back to the first question: "know why your blog exists." i write to "write," but i also write to be "read." i don't really care how many people read my blog, but i do hope to garner a few steady/regular readers and commenters. thanks for the insights...